Adding weights to my cars

A plastic-truck Weaver boxcar occasionally derailed on my O-27 curves. At my local hardware store I picked up the largest diameter hex bolt—1" diameter?, 2" long—and corresponding nut. I placed the nut over one truck and the bolt on its side over the other. That did the trick. They are easy to install and remove, and they stay in place. Total cost was ~$6, IIRC.

There are also these for weighting your cars, Stick On Wheel Weights, that some folks here use. This is for a LOT of 1/4 oz. weights, a search would probably find smaller quantities. Also available in other weights, 1/2 oz, 1 oz etc. My LHS also carries some similar to these and I believe Micro-Mark also has them, Amazon, etc. for a few places.

Former Member posted:

Rick, I have used plain ole fishing weights and glued them on the cars. They are available in a wide variety of sizes and weights. I have found they do make a positive difference.

Me to.

The rear truck of a K-Line smoking caboose (smoke off) that I had never run before derailed twice entering the curved path of an Atlas O-54 switch. Track is laid perfectly and have never had a problem with any other car. Has anyone had a derailing problem with this type of caboose? I'm thinking of adding weight but surprised it is necessary.

MELGAR

I would check the spacing on the wheels

Sometimes the wheel spacing is two narrow, which allows the flange, to ride-up on the guide rails, positioned inside the actual rails of the  turnout/switch.  Most adjustments of wheel set, we had to make the wheel spacing slightly larger. 

IMO, Mike CT. 

Here's another way to add weight.   This HHP-8 needed more weight, it's amazing what a bit more than an extra pound will do for a locomotive!  These sucked for their original intended purpose, but they make dandy weights.

Sarah posted:

Let me reactivate this old topic for a question about weighting my cars.

I am currently applying weight to a resin stock car and can easily bring it up to 11 ounces excluding trucks. That car should weight 14 ounces, according to NMRA RP-20.1 data. Just by what my hand tells me the car is already quite heavy. 

When following the NMRA recommendation, what's your experience in operation? What does weight mean to a person with 2% maximum grade in mind? Weight vs. wearing out locomotives? Presuming super free rolling wheels, of course.

I have the idea of staying one third UNDER NMRA weights. What do you think? Is that something that could boomerang back to me in .... three years?

I believe that the NMRA RP for weight (normal cars..not the big auto racks, etc.) to be conservative. I use 12 ounces as my standard for 40-ft cars.
I require the trucks on my cars to swivel freely, with no binding. Check the gauge of each wheel set (here the NMRA RP is useful)..The wheel sets must also roll freely.

Some cars are plain too heavy; the Atlas fishbelly N&W cars are an example. But-you gotta have 'em to run behind your Y-3, Y-6, A.

I keep a small supply of various thickness of steel flat bars, square stock, and round stock on hand to add weight if necessary.  Hacksaw to length, then glue, double-sided tape, or drill and screw on as necessary.

And believe it or not, I have even use some dense hardwood as added weight for box cars and reefers.  Easy to cut and attach. 

John Korling posted:

I use the weight blocks used for balancing automobile wheels that you can get from auto parts stores.  They have an adhesive strip under them so you don't have to glue them in place.  They are available in various weights; (1/4, 1/2, 1, or 2oz for example).  Can be had for pretty cheap.  Some hobby stores carry them too.

You can also get stickyback weights from Harbor Freight too.

rtr12 posted:

There are also these for weighting your cars, Stick On Wheel Weights, that some folks here use. This is for a LOT of 1/4 oz. weights, a search would probably find smaller quantities. Also available in other weights, 1/2 oz, 1 oz etc. My LHS also carries some similar to these and I believe Micro-Mark also has them, Amazon, etc. for a few places.

And Harbor Freight has them as well.

Resurrecting this older thread for a question.

Lots of good advice about what kind and how to add weight to a piece of rolling stock, but I didn't see anything about the ideal location(s) of where  on the  car floor to add the weight - especially to help eliminate a slight side-to-side wobble in a freight car.

Along the centerline with more weight towards the middle - along each side - across the trucks, a combination, etc. ?

Thanks in advance.   

Closer to centerline is better. If you are using individual weights, I'd keep them over the trucks as much as possible. That will minimize sagging in the center. Watch out for Weaver 4 bay hoppers and other long cars. I typically use bar stock in these with oversize holes for installing the trucks. Then one or two small holes in the centerline that match up with the gaps between the hopper bays. Put small screws and nuts through them to hold the bar in place.

Chris

LVHR

Thanks, Chris.

I have access to 1/4 oz. stick-on weights and will be using those.

As I see it, I can use Option A - across the trucks or Option B - down the centerline or Option C - along the sides (see attachment). Just wondering which would be better to help eliminate side-to-side wobble.

@Richie C. posted:

Thanks, Chris.

I have access to 1/4 oz. stick-on weights and will be using those.

As I see it, I can use Option A - across the trucks or Option B - down the centerline or Option C - along the sides (see attachment). Just wondering which would be better to help eliminate side-to-side wobble.

First over the long term [4+ years] the glue on stick-on weights doesnt hold. Use stick-ons with Walthers goo.

Second weights placed down the centerline of the car will curtain the side to side wobble plus create a stronger force to prevent tipping on short curves.

Thord, use the reccomended N.M.R.A. for weighing model freight cars. For o scale/o gauge its 5oz plus 1oz per carbody length.

Its never a good idea to weight cars via the sides farthest away from the truck pin centerline. Remember the model freight/passenger carbody is balanced on the truck pin centerline.

@rtr12 posted:

Lots of good weight ideas here. While we are on the subject, what do you all do when the car is too heavy to start with instead of too light? I think I have a couple that are over weight.

If the car is overweight [ above N.M.R.A suggested weight] ]such as the case with K-Line die cast hoppers, you make it a point to add them at the front of the train and not the back of the train. Light weight cars go in the rear,heavy weights go in the front.

Someone may have said this but you can get them at Harbour Freight.

@prrhorseshoecurve posted:

First over the long term [4+ years] the glue on stick-on weights doesnt hold. Use stick-ons with Walthers goo. - I use hot glue to attach them.

Second weights placed down the centerline of the car will curtain the side to side wobble plus create a stronger force to prevent tipping on short curves. - sounds good.

Thord, use the reccomended N.M.R.A. for weighing model freight cars. For o scale/o gauge its 5oz plus 1oz per carbody length.  I have the NMRA page and will stick to it (no pun intended).

Its never a good idea to weight cars via the sides farthest away from the truck pin centerline. Remember the model freight/passenger carbody is balanced on the truck pin centerline.

Thanks.

Centerline and as low as possible.  As long as the weight is evenly distributed between the two trucks, it doesn't matter if it's over the trucks or in the middle of the car, the effect will be the same.  On some boxcars, I used stick-on weights under the floor.

Thanks, John.

It's this Atlas freight car that was custom painted in MEC livery by Peterson Supply in Oregon and picked up a few weeks ago. It sits very tall on the trucks. I'ved shimmed to get any play out, but can't cinch it down too tight because the screw runs through the coupler and will prevent it from rotating. The underside is pretty detailed w/no room to add weights, so they'll go on the inside.

Yep, looks like inside weights for those.

Does anyone have a solution for adding weight to the Lionel 30000 gal. tank cars?

Lead shot and glue.   You can drill a hole in a out of sight place and dump the shot and the glue in, then stand the car upright and tilt it to equalize the position front to back and then let it dry.

@Richie C. posted:

Thanks, John.

It's this Atlas freight car that was custom painted in MEC livery by Peterson Supply in Oregon and picked up a few weeks ago. It sits very tall on the trucks. I'ved shimmed to get any play out, but can't cinch it down too tight because the screw runs through the coupler and will prevent it from rotating. The underside is pretty detailed w/no room to add weights, so they'll go on the inside.

Richie:

I've weighted many of those "old" (and very light!) Atlas 40' boxcars...and even more of the similar (and also very light) Weaver 40' boxcars.  After some trial and error with different weighting methods, I settled on the stick-on wheel weights from Harbor Freight (mentioned in this thread).  

I use a combination of 1/4 and 1/2 ounce weights applied on the inside floor in the location/configuration shown in the photos below to bring the cars up to NMRA standard weight.  One tweak I've made to my process is adding some hot glue as mentioned by "prrhorseshoecurve" above.

I also replace the "standard/stock" plastic trucks with die-cast ones whenever possible, although this is not necessary.

These cars track exceptionally well!!

Here's an Atlas 40' boxcar like yours...

And here are some similar Weaver 40' boxcars.  You can see the hot glue around the edges of the weights in the 2nd and 3rd photos...

Hope this helps!

I look out my truck’s window at red lights, usually see some wheel weights laying close by.....scrounge !

I have over 40 pounds of these to use up before I need to buy or scrounge weights.

As for where to place the weight, I have four separate engines, which all have rear couplers that are way to stiff and want to derail the first car behind them on any 031 curve.

On all the cars I place right behind these engines, I put the weight right over the top of the front truck, and as flat an low as possible.  A light weight won't work, it has to be pretty heavy. 

This seems to totally cure the derail problem.   I have found that in this context, no weight is required over top of the rear truck.

Interesting to me, that on my long tinplate trains, if I weight the first car so that it won't derail, then I don't need to add any types of weights whatsoever to the other 10 cars to keep them from derailing.   

Mannyrock

Mannyrock

@CNJ #1601 posted:

Richie:

I've weighted many of those "old" (and very light!) Atlas 40' boxcars...and even more of the similar (and also very light) Weaver 40' boxcars.  After some trial and error with different weighting methods, I settled on the stick-on wheel weights from Harbor Freight (mentioned in this thread).  

I use a combination of 1/4 and 1/2 ounce weights applied on the inside floor in the location/configuration shown in the photos below to bring the cars up to NMRA standard weight.  One tweak I've made to my process is adding some hot glue as mentioned by "prrhorseshoecurve" above.

I also replace the "standard/stock" plastic trucks with die-cast ones whenever possible, although this is not necessary.

These cars track exceptionally well!!

Here's an Atlas 40' boxcar like yours...

And here are some similar Weaver 40' boxcars.  You can see the hot glue around the edges of the weights in the 2nd and 3rd photos...

Hope this helps!

Thanks, Joe - although I put weight in my cars as a general matter to help them run/track better, my immediate issue on this scale Atlas car was the side-to-side wobbling that I am trying to help eliminate by putting the weights in strategic locations. 

@Richie C. posted:

Thanks, Joe - although I put weight in my cars as a general matter to help them run/track better, my immediate issue on this scale Atlas car was the side-to-side wobbling that I am trying to help eliminate by putting the weights in strategic locations.

Side to side wobbling is either truck mounting or an issue with the trucks themselves.  That typically won't be solved by weight.

@Richie C. posted:

Thanks, Joe - although I put weight in my cars as a general matter to help them run/track better, my immediate issue on this scale Atlas car was the side-to-side wobbling that I am trying to help eliminate by putting the weights in strategic locations.

Sorry, Richie...I totally missed the part about the wobbling issue.  I agree with @gunrunnerjohn ...I don't think weights will necessarily solve the side-to-side wobbling.

Are those Weaver trucks (pictured on your car) where the coupler shank mounts on top of the truck and also serves as a spacer (or "shim")?  If so, did you alter the Atlas car bolsters in any way to accept the trucks?

@gunrunnerjohn

I have plenty of left over sprue plan on melting into small ingots to weight a few of the clubs cars.

The car was NIB and I haven't changed anything. I agree that the wobbling is caused by either the trucks or their mounting/design. They are thumb tack couplers where the mounting screw goes through the pivoting end of the coupler, so that if you tighten the screw down too much in an effort to eliminate the wobble, it prevents the coupler from rotating freely. I have shimmed and tightened the mounting screws down as much as I can without the coupler starting to bind and don't want to switch to a different coupler.

Just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting that adding weight would totally eliminate the wobbling; the precise question I had is whether, when adding weight to a car to bring it up to NMRA standards and that car also has a wobbling issue, is there a better/different location to add the weight so as to also help eliminate the wobbling at the same time, other than the customary mounting location?     

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Side to side wobbling is either truck mounting or an issue with the trucks themselves.  That typically won't be solved by weight.

Yes & yes.  Weight may in fact exasperate the wobbling and/or result in the car simply leaning to one side.