I've seen several references to the NMRA standards for weighting cars. Where can I find these standards? eagle37
if a car keeps getting pulled off the tracks on a curve i load it up with a pound of weight if it isnt enouf 1 1/2 pounds still not enouf i put a diffrent pair of wheels on if thars not the case i load it up with 2 pounds and 2 pounds is my limit
BTW- BB's will give you a pretty good medium for the weighting. Be careful in putting down with glue, making sure that they are evenly distributed. That is just another tip I picked up here at Trainboard.
no its HO the curve is as wide as my layout it is about 5 feet wide and the curve that this has happend on takes up the hole one side and the grade is not the problem but i cant imagine having a model of the tehachepi loop area
You could use small denomination coins. I had a tire company give me a sack of wheel rim weights used to balance tires. Some modelers have used powdered tungsten (used to weight golf clubs). It's very dense. A 30 x 30 inch sheet of shower pan lead costs 94 US$ in San Antonio. I don't know how thick it is, but it is probably enough for two generations of model railroaders. Maybe you could get the lead out of a house under demolition. Lead shot used for loading your own bullets. Are there other materials that can be used to weight cars? I suppose G scale cars don't have to be weighted? Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas for inexpensive weights? Thanks.
Another possibility... Gold coins are pretty heavy.:tb-shocked: But if you go to GI Joe's (or what ever their name is now days). Look in the gun supply section and buy a 25 lb bag of bird shot. Can't get much heavier on the cheap then that. Kent
What about expecptions? I will be doing some logging operation on my layout. Would it work out to use less weight say if the number of cars were kept down (10 or less), so that I could pull a steeper grade? Kent
Less weight will definitely help you pull more cars up a steeper grade. But the whole purpose of weighting is to improve tracking performance of the cars. I would probably run tests to see how the cars did without weight and then add weight as necessary to get the performance you desire along your steep grade. Lighter cars would probably not operate (track) well with cars that are heavier and properly weighted. Hope this helps.
Weight The Longview Kelso & Rainier Ry. uses a modified version of the NMRA standard. We have a minimum weight of 3.5 ounces for cars 35 scale feet and under. One ounce per ten scale feet is the standard so a 50 foot car would weigh 5 ounces a 60 footer 6 ounces and so on. There is a maximum of 7.5 ounces for cars 70 feet and over. As for weights we use the used tape weights from the local tire shop. The weights are free from the owner and are in either 1/4 or 1/2 ounce increments. Just soak the used weights in lacquer thinner to clean the tape off and use contact cement to glue them in the cars. The weight should be as low in the cars as is possible to avoid the cars being top heavy.
I can only speak for N Scale using Unitrak. (right there tells you something). I run cars "as is out of the box". If you don't want to meet NMRA standards then I suggest putting lighter cars at the rear of the train. This works for me.
Do they still sell lead shot? I thought it was a no-no for enviro concerns. Myself, I've used a lot of steel BBs during my N scaling. Boxcab E50
Not having the availability of gun stuff over here, I started off with split shot for fishing lines (not lead), but it was in small quantities and quite expensive. Then I found some 'lead shot' sold for filling cloth animals and the like - got a few lbs for a good price. I use shot for filling in round the underframes of open cars, flatcars, hoppers, etc. I also have a roll of lead flashing (for roofing) which I cut into suitable shapes to replace the steel bits that come with some of the kits. It's heavier than steel, and it doesn't get drawn to Kadee magnets There are some pics of my car weighting on my website under HO Rolling Stock.
