Adding weight to the Lionel HHP-8

Ingenious, John.....I was wondering where you were going to find room in there!

Peter

John,  I think if these products were engineered correctly you would lose interest in the hobby :-)

Well, there's always some additional "engineering" that can be done.

I have 500 of those lead .45 bullets that I'm not going to use, so I decided they'd make great weights, and they distribute well.

I own two of these models, one from the set and the other one that was sold by itself. I thought that the locomotive was a bit on the light side and wouldn't pull very well. As it turned out either one pulls 8 of the MTH Amtrak Amfleet cars. However Amtrak had retired this model last year so now we need MTH that has already made the European model of the Amtrak ACS64 make the Amtrak model that passes my home along with the last of the AEM7s that we all be retired by early 2016 they have said.

Well, unless you're trying to model the very current time, the HHP-8 and the AEM-7 are good choices for motive power.  The Genesis is still current, I see them pulling trains out of Phila all the time.  They even wreck them on occasion, one recently...

John if you would rather save your bullets for the Zombie Apocalypse, sheet lead is another good solution.  Go to your local Lowes or Home Depot and ask for chimney flashing.  It looks like an Abraham Lincoln stovepipe hat.  When you cut it apart you end up with one large sheet and four strips of lead that are about 1/32 thick.  Cut them with tin snips to the shape you need, and glue the laminations together with rubber cement.  (You can also punch holes with a punch and then locate them on the frame with #2/56 screws.)

I've also used 00 birdshot in the fuel tank (no speaker on my loco) with some success.

I guess  that adds new meaning to the term "bullet train"

Ted, I didn't like the performance of that batch, I prefer the copper jacketed rounds.  I had it in the back of my reloading closet, and I never intended to use them.  So, it's 15 pounds of weight for train cars and engines.

You're right Mike, anyone gets out of line on this train and the engineer has plenty of ammo to deal with them!

Bruce

True, but I'd have to run it without the shell.

Or leave it as an Easter Egg for anyone that bothers to open the doors and look inside.

Good idea, maybe just paint one next to the door as a minion.

FWIW--I have this same engine and it pulls 6 MTH Amfleet cars really well.  

Six was no sweat, but the nine were marginal without the weight.  Now it does the nine and the track cleaner as an additional drag.