I was given a bag of buckshot years ago. It works well in covered hoppers. Pour them in, then squeeze on some white glue and stir it a bit. For Boxcars I have sheet lead that I got off the roof vent pipe that I cut into small squares and glue to the factory weight above the trucks.
You may want to look at the Pine Car Derby weights. They come in a bunch of various shapes and sizes. The ones I have recently used to weight my Laser Kit cabooses come in a segmented strip of six weights and about 4 strips per package that have to be cut apart. Three of them make about .65 oz for a 25 foot car. However the ones I used are only suitable for use in an enclosed car. Lead may still be available at places with plumbing supplies since it was used with older cast iron pipe as a joint seal. Tungsten Putty is expensive but it is heavier than lead and depending on how many cars you are doing it may be a good way to add additional weight on top of the factory weight. You usually can find that at the same place that carries the Pine Car weights but a cheaper source would be a big fishing supply outfit. And then as mentioned the older homes had lead sheet flashing around the roof sewer vent pipes. However be careful about going on a demolition site and helping yourself since a lot of that used metal has a monetary value today. One other source comes to mind and that is the outfits that carry black powder shooting supplies. Some folks still make thier own bullets in molds.
I use 1/4 " nuts (course thread) which I buy at my local hardware store. If the box car has a door that opens, I use 2 nuts, one above each truck. If the box car has doors that don't open I will add another nut in the center of the car. This gets me pretty close to NMRA standards for a 40' box car. For hoppers I will add so small lead shot either to the bottom of the hopper if there is room or inside the hopper and paint the weights black. For gondolas I will add shot to the bottom of the frame behind the fishbelly where it won't be seen.
Hate to be a stick in the mud...but...they are not 'Standards'. They are only 'Recommended Practice' From their own website... Weighting Your Rolling Stock What has probably become one of the most controversial recommendations of the NMRA is RP-2O.1 Car Weight. An RP is a Recommended Practice. *As you can probably tell...I am NOT a big NMRA fan. ;-) ** Wait...is that stealth "NMRA Compliance Ninja Helicopters" over my house ?....lol
For boxcars, (or any enclosed car), you can buy stick on lead weights commonly used for balancing mag wheels on cars.. Either go to your local tyre dealer and ask to buy some or try eBay.. http://www.ebay.com/itm/13-LBS-LEAD...555?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41708d448b They often have the weight stamped on of each piece in the strip.. I have also been known to flatten a fishing sinker with a hammer, and glue or double sided tape them inside the cars.. As for hoppers, small lead fishing sinkers or buck shot would be your best bet as the others have suggested.. Mark..
Adding weight will also go a long way to reducing the YOyo effect of MT couplers. The key is to have all cars weigh about the same in proportion to their length. The NMRA RP on car weights is a good start but I prefer to increase the amount by a little.
I use steel BBs with a drop of CA. Or sheet lead, which you might find via a local roofer or plumber. Yes, it does help. Which is one of the reasons I add weight to all of my cars. I also slightly exceed that noted NMRA RP.
Like others here, I don't follow the NMRA standards to the "T," but I have found that most N scale rolling stock is woefully underweight, and that affects operation. Properly-weighted cars track better through turnouts, roll more realistically, etc. The downside, of course, is that the extra weight will take its toll on how many cars you can pull with a given engine - probably more of an issue with steam locos than diesels (which are almost always run in multiple-unit lashups). So I start with the NMRA recommendation, but often go a few grams over it. I've used everything for weight; the A-Line 1/4-oz. stick on weights are my first choice when dealing with an enclosed car like a boxcar or reefer. For open hoppers, I glue some #10 lead shot in the bottom and paint it black so that it is less noticeable when the car is being run "empty". For flat cars, I've been known to replace the plastic decking with 1mm lead sheet that I scribe to simulate wood, then paint an appropriate weathered color. For closed hoppers like a PS2 or grain car, once again #10 lead shot comes in handy if you can take the roof off and drop some inside. Ditto for tank cars, if you can get access to the inside of the tank (or small pieces of lead sheet also work here). I will say that manufacturers are getting better about this; I do less weighting of brand-new offerings from Atlas, BLMA, etc. than on older cars. John C.
I think NMRA weight standards regarding N scale are quite silly and antiquated. If we were to weight trains according to length, then Superliners and autoracks would be the heaviest rolling stock on trains. But in the prototype world, they're actually some of the lightest. It also assumes that all trains are made of the same materials. A good percentage of N scale rolling stock is made of diecast metal. Add to that the fact that more trains these days come with metal wheels (and that such wheels are available) and are more free-rolling than in the past. I think weight standards have more bearing in HO and larger scales. When I was in HO I used to Goo pennies or stick lead weights inside everything, including locomotives. Especially locomotives. In N scale, the only thing I've aded weight to are the 1st/3rd/5th bottom containers in certain well cars that are made of plastic and cannot have any weight discretely added to them due to their design. In N scale I can enjoy much longer trains than in HO, and weighting them down too much according to NMRA standards would require a dozen MU'ed locos.
I agree that you can't use the NMRA's recommendation as a substitute for common sense and the "weight according to length" standard is a bit foolish (I actually don't weight my 50' boxcars any more than my 40'-ers). No question that weighting cars cuts down some on the number you can run, but this varies a lot by locomotive, and never found it a problem with typical MU diesel lashups (I've pulled 70 NMRA-weighted boxcars behind a 3-unit lashup of SD9's on our club's N-Track layout, for example). Weight is also less of a factor as your trackwork gets more perfect; on a typical N-Trak layout, however, where the trackwork is far from perfect, the difference between weighted and unweighted cars is very often the difference between making it around the layout without derailments vs. derailing at every module junction as a too-light car bounces off the track at a slight mis-alignment or gap. Been there, done that. YMMV. John C.
Interesting, why do you think the "weight according to length" is "a bit foolish"? I would think that there would be more force exerted on a longer car due to track irregularities or curves or switches. A longer car would tend to act like a pendulum more so than a shorter car would and extra weight, low in the car, would tend to offset it.
Mostly it's the result of experience. I weight all my cars to a tad over one ounce, regardless of length, and have never seen any operational difficulties. There may be situations where more weight is better; I haven't personally observed any. John C.
Essentially then you are weighting your cars to the approximate NMRA RP for a 50 foot car. Maybe that is why you have never seen any operational difficulties. For those who may not know, the RP for an N scale car is .5 oz. + .15 oz. for every inch in length. So a 40 foot boxcar would be 3 inches long and according to the NMRA RP be .5 oz + 3 times .15 or .45 oz. for a total of .95 ounces. A 50 foot car would be 3.75 inches long so the calculation would be .5 oz + 3.75 times .15 oz or .5625 for a total of 1.0625 ounces which is approximately a tad over 1 ounce.
As to a perfect oz to inch ratio, I get it as close as I can, but don't sweat it. I use a scale, and still, its hard to get it exact to those recommended practices, even adding or subtracting one buck shot at a time. I think relating weight to length is a good idea, but if given a choice, go slightly under the NMRA guides. At some point, they just become too heavy if you run long trains. I used to go just a bit over NMRA guides, but you really don't need much to improve performance, so its easy to over do it. Trains tend to stringline on curves and grades if too heavy. So, its NMRA, and if in doubt, a bit light.
Stringlining can be caused by several factors. Catching a trip pin on a guard rail will do it Sharp curves will increase the chances as will having cars with poor rolling ability in the rear of the train. Combine those two factors and your chances of stringlining increases substantially. This is why I advocate consistency. Use the same couplers, wheels and truck assemblies so your cars all roll the same. Add weight to your cars so that there is no great difference between them. Maintain your rolling stock. That will not eliminate stringlining but it will go a long way to preventing it.
OK new to this hobby where can I find the standards for weight? I can see my wife rolling her eyes at me again she has a sweet digital scale in her kitchen LOL Never mind should had read closer I see it now.
Improperly laid track can cause the trouble. I have seen more than a few curves where the gauge tightened. Also speed can be a factor, on the curvatures of a model RR- Which are most of the time much sharper than any prototype, and lacking necessary or properly designed superelevations. Transistions and easements in and out of curves, improperly designed and laid are often at fault. Even when reasonably weighted, model RR equipment does not have the same type of down force on rails as a prototype. So you must take care when positioning lighter cars. Such as flat cars with a long and heavier string of box cars behind. Doing that will greatly raise potential for stringlining. And just like a prototype, when your train gets too long, (in this case meaning heavy), you either add motive power or must make a tonnage reduction.
