Passenger car dilema

[jcgisel]

passenger car dilema.. I have been waiting and waiting for HO Surfliner cars to come out at an affordable price. I took my wife with me to the hobby shop i refer to as train heven, and she ended up buying me a whole train worth of brass cars for last Christmas. I couldn' t believe it. I was really blown away. My dilema is I put the cars on the track with my athern engine and relized right away that now i Need a heavier engine to make it up a small grade. as i helped it up the grade into a 28 1/2'' radius turn I relized there is no way the cars are going to make my turns. I can't get anymore room for wider radius curves. So now my beautiful cars are just sitting in their boxes with no track to run on.[:(]

[Anonymous]

Those cars are too beautiful to leave in the box. Don't you have a siding you can park the train on, so that at least you can see the train? At $500 a pop, those cars don't belong in boxes! [:)]

Dave

[rolleiman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jcgisel

passenger car dilema.. I have been waiting and waiting for HO Surfliner cars to come out at an affordable price. I took my wife with me to the hobby shop i refer to as train heven, and she ended up buying me a whole train worth of brass cars for last Christmas. I couldn' t believe it. I was really blown away. My dilema is I put the cars on the track with my athern engine and relized right away that now i Need a heavier engine to make it up a small grade. as i helped it up the grade into a 28 1/2'' radius turn I relized there is no way the cars are going to make my turns. I can't get anymore room for wider radius curves. So now my beautiful cars are just sitting in their boxes with no track to run on.[:(]

You can use a helper engine to pull them but Why won't they negotiate the 28.5 inch radius?? You said Athearn engine so I'm assuming HO scale here...

Jeff

[Leon Silverman]

Brass rolling stock typically exceed the recommended NMRA weights. This means that only an all metal locomotive will be able to a descent sized train without assistance.
You stated that "as I helped it up the grade into a 28 !/2" radius turn I realized there is no way the cars are going to make my turns." Jeff questioned why your cars could not make the turn. I suspect your problem is a lack of coupler movement. Typically, long model locomotives and rolling stack have large swing actions built into their couplers to allow them to negotiate moderately small radii curves. A brass model is likely to be an exact scale replica of the prototype and not have any extra swing room in the couplers. I just completed a Branchline Heavyweight Passenger car (85 feet long) and tested it on a 33-1/2" radius curve. The couplers rode over the outside rail. I do not intend to allow any swing action on this model but I also intend to use transition curves on my layout.
Since you do not have room for wider curves, I would recommend that you relay the curves with a 28" radius curve so that you can go into the straightaways with a transition.
You may have to replace the coupler on your Athearn engine and possibly the car connected to it with a long shank coupler to get sufficient swing action to negotiate the curves. My old layout was built with 30"radius curves and transition. Without exception, all couplers were body mounted, yet I could run an ore car behind an Athearn DD40.

[Anonymous]

I would also suggest replacing all of the #58 couplers on the cars with the bigger #5 couplers for smoother operations.

-Jarrett

[Tracklayer]

Sounds like it might be time to build a new layout !...

Tracklayer

[dehusman]

A friend of mine has some of those cars and with all the details on them they are heavy. The only thing I can suggest is buying roller bearing wheelsets, replacement wheels that have the wheels rotating on the axles on bearing.s, They replace regular wheel sets. Very low friction. They are designed for older brass cars that had bad rolling characteristics, but they might reduce the rolling resistance of the cars. You could always try one.

As for the radius, I see two options, surgery on the layout to make wider curves or surgery on the cars to take a wider radius. I would not touch the cars myself.

Dave H.

[rolleiman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dehusman


As for the radius, I see two options, surgery on the layout to make wider curves or surgery on the cars to take a wider radius. I would not touch the cars myself.

Dave H.

How about Truck Mounted Couplers?? May not be 100% accurate but it seems a shame to just let them sit, especially considering the source of the gift.

Jeff

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you also may have a pulling problem. What kind of an engine are you pulling it with? Steam or diesel? Diesels are fairly easy to add weight. I've added up to 8 ounces in a GP-60 and 12 ounces in an AC4400 and a C44-9W.

Plastic steamers have zero room for additional weight. You'll have to go to a cast boiler for a steamer.

You can always double-head the engines!

Mark in Utah

[jimrice4449]

I have a RR w/ minimum mainline radius of 42" except for 2 very short pieces of 36" and an 9 track psgr terminal capable of holding trains of 12-17 full length cars. In the interest of brotherhood and commity I will be happy to give your orphaned cars a home and will even extend you visitation rights. Of course I live in the backwoods of Idaho and that might present a bit of a commute problem but the big thing is they'll have a happy home! People are always taking advantage of my generous nature, but hey, that's just my warm, giving nature and there's nothing I can do about it.

[jcgisel]

I might decide to try different couplings. I'm pulling thecars withan F59P. I don't know how much weight i will have to add. I took off the sping details and I think I might be able to make the turns with either longe couplings or different trucks. As for finding my cars a new home, DON"T think that is going to happen !!!!!![:)]

[Anonymous]

Changing couplers, trucks, wheelsets can get tricky , expensive and frustrating.

You need somebody that's already made the conversion/up-grade to walk you through.

[Don Gibson]

85' BRASS CAR'S are often 12 oz. each. Your engine's combined weight should equal your car's combined weight - on a flat surface. Prototype's used helpers on grades. Somewhere the law's of Physic's has to apply - even on a 'pretend' RR.

85' car's should have 44"r curves to look right and run right. Underframes and trucks have to be 'gerrymandered' ('faked') to accomdate smaller radii. So will you.

Laying 44'" curves requires occupying room corners. I 'd suggest switching to #36 coupler's, first. (It might work ). As for adding 'pulling' power, the LA - SD 'Surfline' was AT&SF territory, and 3 unit ALCO's, FM Erie's, large 3776 class 4-8-4's, and E-2/3/6's all made it up the Sorrento grade south of Del Mar.

Multiple F-7's would not be entirely out of place. (Intermountain and Stewart powered ABB should out 'pull' the Gensis). Walthers' forthcoming ATSF#90 ABA might work work - with all 3 unit's powered.

Early pre war consist's used class 1300 Pacific's with only a few Heavyweight car's.

[wjstix]

I don't see (back to pulling) why you can't add engines?? I see the Empire Builder on my way to work sometimes, it often has three locomotives on the point.