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Rolling Stock Weight

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Rolling Stock Weight
Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, November 15, 2003 6:44 PM
I am new to this hobby. I have heard that the rolling stock should be of a certian weight. I can not find this info, can someone help me.
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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, November 15, 2003 9:45 PM
In HO it's 1 oz, plus 1/2 oz for each inch, so a 6" car s/b 4oz

Check out www.nmra.org and scroll down the left hand side and click on beginner's page

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Posted by Hawks05 on Saturday, November 15, 2003 10:44 PM
it's not a mandatory thing is it? cause i don't want to have to weight all the boxcar's i'll be getting. do they have weights already in the kits?
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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, November 15, 2003 11:16 PM
Most are already in weright. only time you may want to add weight is if you've got a car that continually derails and you've ruled out track and wheel problems.

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Posted by Hawks05 on Saturday, November 15, 2003 11:19 PM
thank god for that. i'm glad someone asked this. i'd hate to have to go and add weight on the boxcars i got.
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, November 16, 2003 6:34 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by NTDN

Most are already in weright. only time you may want to add weight is if you've got a car that continually derails and you've ruled out track and wheel problems.




Should additional weight be necessary, consider pennies, two sided tape.
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, November 16, 2003 8:46 AM
Thanks for all the information that was sent in on this subject. We have a lot of great railroader. that are willing to share there information with old and new railroades alike.
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Posted by BRAKIE on Sunday, November 16, 2003 9:03 AM
No,There is really no need to add weight to your cars..It is necessary to insure that your wheels are gauge correctly as well as correct coupler height..These 2 items is far more important the added weight.

Larry

Conductor.

Summerset Ry.


"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt  Safety First!"

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Posted by IRONROOSTER on Sunday, November 16, 2003 9:04 AM
I make sure all of my cars are the proper weight as I put them in operation. Good trackwork and quality trucks minimize the problem. Sharp curves aggravate the problem.

If you have really heavy cars and really light cars you may need to run the light cars at the end.

Craftsman kits particularly those with plastic trucks and/or plastic wheels can be very light and you probably should add weight as you build them.

Enjoy
Paul
If you're having fun, you're doing it the right way.
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, November 16, 2003 1:52 PM
QUOTE:
Should additional weight be necessary, consider pennies, two sided tape.
--------------------
Chuck Walsh

So Chuck is this your 2 cents worth... [:D]
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Posted by dknelson on Monday, November 17, 2003 8:12 AM
It may seem like un needed extra work but it is a very good idea to weigh all cars to standards. Maybe the NMRA standards are not the only ones that work, but they are time tested. Once you start operating your trains there will be derailments and problems that will seem mysterious to you -- track and wheels check out just fine -- and the culprit is often that cars have not been weighted to consistent standards.
The easiest time to do this is when the car is being built.
By the way at Trainfest I talked to the owner of a new firm, Adair Shops, that is making a series of lead alloy weights for cars that otherwise are very difficult to weight to proper standards, such as the Athearn TTX flat cars.
Dave Nelson
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 17, 2003 9:13 AM
I go to the autoparts store and get Mr. Gasket Self Adhesive Wheel weights which are lead strips with tape on them already. You can easily cut and stick on just the right amount. When adding weight its of utmost imporance to keep them balanced so they don't lean and the trucks are carring the same load. If you had a box car that was 2 ounces short and you put it all in one corner you just made it worse. Put 1 ounce in each end. Also, keep the weight as low as pratical. [i] Let me rephase that, add it to keep the center of gravity as low as pratical.../i] FRED
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 17, 2003 9:22 AM
Although not very scientific I usually add a couple of 1/2 ounce round fishing wieghts to my rolling stock glued directly above each truck. I often find that this will stabilise the car quite nicely.

I am not really concerned with being within NMRA standards on rolling stck wieght since there are very few organised MRR clubs in my area and most that are around do not have active layouts.

Adding a little wieght to most rolling stock usually will help make the train roll more realistically however and be less wobbily on the rails especially in turns.

I did learn that using sand in hopper cars is not a good idea unless you put a dummy insert like a piece of foam to fill most of the car. If you fill a car with a load of sand it will wiegh far too much and end up causing stringlines or required MU's to pull the string of cars. It is great to test the pulling power of a new loco though. A couple of hoppers loaded this way are great to give a new engine a workout and guage it's strength once it has been broken in a bit.
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 17, 2003 9:25 AM
QUOTE: [i]Originally posted by flee307
Put 1 ounce in each end. FRED


Actually that'll make it worse to, if you want to add 2 ounces of weight, you'd place it right in the middle between the trucksequal distance from the sides, placing it on the ends will throw it out of wack on curves as one end will be slightly heavier than the other on entering them, thus a derail is prone to happen. Balancing it by putting the weight in the \center of the car evenly distrubutes the weight across the entire car and both trucks, minimizing any dangers of going into curves.

Jay.
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 17, 2003 10:08 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by NTDN



Actually that'll make it worse to, if you want to add 2 ounces of weight, you'd place it right in the middle between the trucksequal distance from the sides, placing it on the ends will throw it out of wack on curves as one end will be slightly heavier than the other on entering them, thus a derail is prone to happen. Balancing it by putting the weight in the \center of the car evenly distrubutes the weight across the entire car and both trucks, minimizing any dangers of going into curves.

Jay.
That makes em look terrible if you run doors open as I do. You center 1 ounce over each truck was what I ment but didn't say. I have not found this to cause any problems. FRED
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 17, 2003 10:09 AM
Sorry, I don't agree with Jay. I find the best place to put the weight is directly over the trucks themselves...in fact for "house" cars, I use steel washers centered directly over the hole where the truck screw comes up through.
As Dave Nelson says, it's a good idea to weight all cars to NMRA standards........[ and I am not an NMRA member, never have been ].....because you get better results under any set of conditions.

For instance, if you have well-laid track, all properly gauged metal wheels, and properly installed couplers, and If you CAN NOT back a four or five car train over your whole layout without derailments, including through your sharpest turnouts, crossovers & ladders, you will probably find that bringing your cars up to recommended weight will fix that issue.[:0]
Really...I'm serious.
This time.
Regards
Mike[:D]
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Posted by detting on Monday, November 17, 2003 10:23 AM
I have found that weighting all cars to the NMRA standards helps substantially in any kind of backing operation. If a car is too light, it will tend to derail in a backing operation, especially if it is in the middle of the train. It is best to place light cars at the end of the train - but simplicity says: "If all the cars are weighted to the same standards, it doesn't matter where they go in the train."

Most car kits are about an ounce light of the NMRA standards. I am a firm believer in cheaply adding weight to cars - pennies, old bolts, and ziploc bags of gravel have all been used. As for placing the weight, keep it as low as possible in the car.

Later...
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 17, 2003 11:19 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by flee307

QUOTE: Originally posted by NTDN



Actually that'll make it worse to, if you want to add 2 ounces of weight, you'd place it right in the middle between the trucksequal distance from the sides, placing it on the ends will throw it out of wack on curves as one end will be slightly heavier than the other on entering them, thus a derail is prone to happen. Balancing it by putting the weight in the \center of the car evenly distrubutes the weight across the entire car and both trucks, minimizing any dangers of going into curves.

Jay.
That makes em look terrible if you run doors open as I do. You center 1 ounce over each truck was what I ment but didn't say. I have not found this to cause any problems. FRED


Ah that makes more sense, Over the truxcks works well, but if toy center it in the car, you can disguise it as frieght as well, so with those doors open it looks good.

Mike I thought he wanted them in the far extremes, not over the trucks, over the trucks or in the center is best.

Thanks,
Jay.
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 17, 2003 12:37 PM
QUOTE: you can disguise it as frieght as well, so with those doors open it looks good
[:)][:)][:)]Well, I got answer for that too, no self respecting railroad would leave the doors open with freight in them. That and their insurance company would cancel them. FRED
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 17, 2003 1:18 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by flee307

QUOTE: you can disguise it as frieght as well, so with those doors open it looks good
[:)][:)][:)]Well, I got answer for that too, no self respecting railroad would leave the doors open with freight in them. That and their insurance company would cancel them. FRED


well by the same token, they wouldn't run with them open either, Insurance would kill them if a stowaway fell out and died.
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 17, 2003 1:31 PM
They use to be on their own and as a child I remember lots of boxcars running 60 mph with the doors wide open, but never with freight. I also don't know about today, we need someone who really knows to answer, but if you are riding illegally and fall off can you sue the railroad. I would say no because a criminal can't profit from a crime, but the law may be different. FRED
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 17, 2003 4:31 PM
Good question, flee307, but in recent times the victum has been sued by the perpetrator and won on several occassions.

I have not noticed any open boxcar doors in recent times, but then boxcars are not as numerous as they once were.

Ed
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Posted by Anonymous on Monday, November 17, 2003 5:30 PM
well speaking as one with a house with a line running past it, I've seen dozens of boxcars go by, but never opened. I believe they probably were forced to make sure they stayed closed for the exact reason of liablity, just don't know when they started to do it.

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