General Discussion (Model Railroader)

I was re-watching a video about trains and the steel industry and I'm still astonished how much tonnage one of those metal ladle cars weighs when it's full--400 tons.  If one were to simulate in HO scale using a model ladle car, how much (in ounces?) would it need to weigh?  I nearly flunked in high school in math so I'm no genius when it comes to figuring stuff out like this.

If you want to scale down weight, you have to divide it by the cube.

First, change the 400 tons to ounces (400tons x 2000lbs x 16oz = 12,800,000oz.).  Then divide the result by 87.1 cubed (12,800,000 / 87.1^3) and you get the result of 19.37oz.

Paul A. Cutler III
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Weather Or No Go New Haven
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Thats gonna need to be a solid steel ladle car to be that heavy.

 @ 19.3 ounces... each one of those cars would be like 5 40' boxcars using NRMA recommended weights... (well, just shy, as 5 40' cars would weigh in at 20oz using RP 20.1...)

that's going to make for one short (and really heavy) train, I doubt any of the smaller locos (read: switchers) would be able to move one of those... much less a cut of them... without some help in the weight dept...

NeO6874:

 @ 19.3 ounces... each one of those cars would be like 5 40' boxcars using NRMA recommended weights... (well, just shy, as 5 40' cars would weigh in at 20oz using RP 20.1...)

 

that's going to make for one short (and really heavy) train, I doubt any of the smaller locos (read: switchers) would be able to move one of those... much less a cut of them... without some help in the weight dept...

 

To get that much weight in that small car you might try to find a source for depleted Uranium. At least it would glow in the dark.

 The best simulation is not weight. Instead of that, get one of those tiny function-only DCC decoders, rig it up to a red LED down inside the throat of the opening, then turn it on so that the red glow is visible looking down on it when you want the car to be "full." This would seem to be a better and more dramatic idea than simply loading it up with weight to simulate it being full of molten metal.