General Discussion (Model Railroader)

You have all heard that from your doctor I'm sure.

I never really paid too much attention to weights of my rolling stock until this afternoon.  A friend of mine has some digital scales (no he does not do drugs).  So I borrowed it for my MRR purposes.  WOW was I stunned.  Some of my cars weighed differently that were even the same model and same brand.  I have an 85' baggage car that was only 5 oz.  Twelve cents worth of pennies and she rolls a lot better now. 

har. as a kid I played with O27, best pullers were the RDC's with magnetraction, they were our locomotives. You didnt put lightweight flat cars at the front, they would get yanked off on the curves with load behind them.

When I saw the title, I was expecting a discussion on aisle width.

TomDiehl:

When I saw the title, I was expecting a discussion on aisle width.

When I saw it I was expecting a discussion on benchwork by a modeler who had yet to discover The Joy of Access Hatches--if you are not rolling on the floor with rib-splitting laughter at this point it can only mean that you did not catch that joke.

Will,Food for thought..Each addition ounce of added weight will cut down on the locomotive's tractive effort...

I have often wondered which is the lessor of the 2 evils-going by RP20.1(outdated?) or leaving our cars at stock weight..For me stock weight won out.I can't see cutting the TE of my locomotives and adding extra strain.

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As far as the other type of weight..We should keep that in mind while designing our layouts even if one doesn't suffer from a case of the dun lap disease.

What a relief. When I saw the title, I thought this thread was going to be a preachy nag about the importance of staying fit. As if I don't get enough of that. My feelings on that were summed up on a bumper sticker that said "EAT RIGHT, STAY FIT, DIE ANYWAY".  I don't want to waste a healthy body when I die.

I have a friend who is a real health nut who also travels on business and he was telling me about a cadaver museum he visted that I think is in Minneapolis. They showed two side by side cadavers that had been cut open exposing the inside of the lungs. One guy was a life long smoker and the other guy was a non smoker who was also an avid runner. He told me how much healthier the tissue looked in the runner's lungs as opposed to the smoker. I told him he missed the point. They were both cadavers. They both ended up in the same place. 

I figure something is going to kill all of us. My choice is to get killed by something that tastes good.

Those spring loaded postal scales many people use (including the club) are pathetic for getting an acurage weight.   I got a triple beam balance to use, it is over kill but it is what I had. It can be acurate to 1/20th of a gram.   If one watches for a school or schools science department closing they can be had for fairly few $.  I think I paid $30.  The biggest issue is cars on wheels want to roll off the pan, so I have to lay them flat.

BRAKIE:

Will,Food for thought..Each addition ounce of added weight will cut down on the locomotive's tractive effort...

I have often wondered which is the lessor of the 2 evils-going by RP20.1(outdated?) or leaving our cars at stock weight..For me stock weight won out.I can't see cutting the TE of my locomotives and adding extra strain.

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As far as the other type of weight..We should keep that in mind while designing our layouts even if one doesn't suffer from a case of the dun lap disease.

True, RP20.1's actual weights given may be outdated, but the concept is sound. Having a given basic weight plus an additional amount depending on the length of the car has been shown to give better tracking. Most production cars, even from the same manufacturer, vary in weight per inch of length. You can easily apply three quarters or even half the amount recommended by RP20.1, 0.75 ounce (0.5 ounce) initial weight plus 0.375 ounce (0.25 ounce) for each inch of car length. Keeping the weight consistant based on one of these formulas becomes more important the longer your trains get.

I have a cheap digital postal scale that I use for this purpose. The accuracy isn't as important as the consistancy or repeatability of the scale's readings.

Proper car weight is very important to me.  One of the facets of model railroading that I find so annoying is watching a video of a nicely weathered, realistic looking freight or passenger train cruising by..........then seeing some of the cars wobble as they hit rail joints.  Ugh! Ruins the video!  Have seen several like that on YouTube.  I've emailed more than one modeler and politely suggested that weight be added to those "wascally wobblers".  

 I had one of those spring loaded postal scales. Got rid of it as the springs were shot. nd am considering buying a digital scale.  Here's one from "Wally World"

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11090896

Product feedback seems to be good and the scale is not very expensive. 

 I got a digital scale at Harbor Freight for $10-$15. Works great, and it's pocket size. If you have no way to lay a car on the small table, what I do it put a piece of track on it and hit the tare button to zero it and proceed from there.

 Most cost-effective weight seems to be pennies. CA glues them together into small equal stacks and I glue them inside my boxcar kits before installign the roof. Evenly balanced is important, otherwise your car will be leaning as it goes down the track.

                                   --Randy

Antonio, why does it bother you to see cars wobble?  I recall a video of Conrail operations (taken in the mid-'70s) where the freight SLOWLY pulling out of a yard looked like a WWII convoy putting to sea in the teeth of a NorEaster.  If it had tried to run at typical model track speed there would have been cars all over the countryside...

I don't follow the RP religiously, but I will add weight to anything that acts up.  Several of my passenger units are not only way heavy, but the weight is unbalanced - all on the end with the motorized truck...

As for that other kind of weight, my goal is 200 by Christmas..

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

 You would think for $15.00 plus they could get the RTR cars weight right! I now uses wheel weights 3 OZ cost me 83 cents a stick. That is 36 cents per OZ where penny's are 10 cents per OZ. But much easier and I don't glue my fingers together any more.

        Cuda Ken

tomikawaTT:

Antonio, why does it bother you to see cars wobble?  I recall a video of Conrail operations (taken in the mid-'70s) where the freight SLOWLY pulling out of a yard looked like a WWII convoy putting to sea in the teeth of a NorEaster.  If it had tried to run at typical model track speed there would have been cars all over the countryside...

I don't follow the RP religiously, but I will add weight to anything that acts up.  Several of my passenger units are not only way heavy, but the weight is unbalanced - all on the end with the motorized truck...

As for that other kind of weight, my goal is 200 by Christmas..

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

 Why does it bother me? Perhaps I should have been more descriptive. I have seen prototype cars wobble or rock slowly. Yes. In fact, I like the slow rocking of cars on rough "Penn Central" style track.

However, the type of wobbling I'm talking about is the annoying "shake like a monkey on crack" type of wobble on model HO freight cars that are too light. Especially bad when they travel over rail joints and turnout frogs.  To me, it kills the realism effect.  Proper weight, properly adjusted trucks, and good track work eliminates this.  To a lesser degree I've seen wobbling on scale passenger cars as well.

Check out this YouTube clip featuring a beautiful Rapido passenger train. 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zADsProK9E

Look at time index  1:06 thru 1:10.

The wobbling is not very bad, but noticeable; don't you think?  My Rivorossi streamliners used to do that until I installed weight inside of them and P2K metal wheels. What a difference!  Those cars now roll super smooth and look very nice behind E units!