Dave’s been back in touch again.
If you’re unfamiliar with ‘Dangerous Dave’ have a look at him in the Hall of Fame. You can see how he got his name too…
“Hi Al,
just loaded this video, shows adding some weights to rolling stock, we have so many these days that are light and do tend to derail on points etc, adding some of these can be a big help in curing that problem.
All the best from
Dangerous Dave”
Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.
That’s all today folks. There’s just not enough time in the days at the mo.
Beginner’s Guide is here for everyone that wants to start their train journey.
Keep ’em coming.
Best
Al
If I add weight to rolling stock I try to put it on the inside of the car so it is not visible from the outside.
what do you find is the best way to clean your track Dave?
That last bridge span looks a little dangerous Dave? (pun intended) 🙂
Gary O’Connor – Australia
Thanks to Dave, he always brightens my day.
Peter F
If stock derails at pointwork, check the back-to-back measurement between the wheels. For OO this should normally be 14.5mm, and allows the wheels to pass cleanly without hitting the open point blade or the checkrails opposite the crossing. You would think new stock out of the box would be bound to be right, but a friend recently found a new loco with wheels set as tight as 13.7mm, so there’s no guarantee. If your loco or vehicle appears to “clamber over” the crossing instead of passing smoothly through, it’s probably set too tight.
The bit of chat on the sound chip of that class 24 would be the guard telling the driver the load, brake force and maximum speed allowed for the rolling stock, when the loco has just coupled on. I’m just a passenger guard and our line is max 25mph, so our brief to the driver is just number of coaches and weight, such a “six on for 182 tons, Drive” but with freights, different wagons had varied brake performance, and back in the days of brake vans on the back, it was common for only a proportion (or very often none) of the vehicles to have a power brake workable from the loco, so the driver needed to know what to expect when braking.
For track cleaning, I’ve never found anything as good as the humble Peco rubber abrasive block, but would suggest a quick run over with the vacuum afterwards, and not just for the dust: I had to dismantle a power bogie on a DMU car yesterday and found three bits of track pins stuck in it! Oops.
Rod
Nice tip from D.D. Also saw your garden video. Nice! Even better was the Boddington’s. Cheers! NJ Mark
Awesome as always Dave. I have a few oil tankers that are light and adding weight to them would be needed for sure. Love your LaFarge cement. We have LaFarge here as well in eastern Canada. Thanks for sharing.
I have been using these particular weights for a while now. I’ve put them inside coaches and rolling stock where possible and use a weight chart that you can find on the website …………. model-railroad-infoguy.com. This really improves the running and is a big help in reducing derailments.
I know I am probably an idiot but I cannot find these on eBay. Help please!
Amen on the 9:44 AM post
RE post about Ebay 2 searches you can use “Cuttable balance weights” or also “Adhesive backed balance weights” Good luck
Search for wheel balance weights in eBay and lots come up. Those are the ones in the video.
September 18, 2017
Dear Dave.
It’s interesting to know about the weights. I would suggest that you read Model Railroaders article on car weight article. I don’t remember the month or year but in you contact them they will send you the article. The article says that you can find it in a local hobby store. The article also says that you should take the car off the trucks and to install the weight to the inside of the car (out of site out of mind). You will need to go to a dollar store and to purchase a kitchen scale and to follow the guide lines for the length of the car if a 40′ example should use so much weight. Remember to much weight in the car will cause the train to be overweight and to be harder on the locomotive as well.
You just don’t all the weight on bottom of the car like you did, it I came to you house to see your layout and you said that I could pick up a train and I saw that much weight on the bottom like that I would tell you the same thing. If you buy a kitchen scale at a dollar store then it’s only a dollar and you will use it a lot of times when you purchase new rolling stock. KEEP IT IN WITH YOUR TRAIN STUFF NOT IN THE WIFE’S KITCHEN.
Just write to modelrailroader.com and ask for the article and you will learn a lot.
Don’t just grab some weight and stick on there put on the right amount !
I’ve been modeling for years and passed this info to my 5 children and also been passed on to my grandchildren as well. They all have a kitchen scale in the train room and they look at the chart for the right amount of weight. Most of the new cars are with the right weight on them out of the package.
Keep up the good work.
Darrel
Liked the addition of weights to your tank stock. Seemed to make the start off more realistic and solid. Might want to add it to your passenger stock as well. Nice touch! Cheers!
Great suggestion Dave.
Adding weights to your rolling stock is a good move, but should not be randomly added! The AMRA recommends a precise weight for rolling stock based on the length of each one!
This is a fantastic train site, however I am not able to see videos from some of the layout plans. I appreciate any help to view them. Regards. John Battaglia
Mr. Lee,
I just love all these ideas. I am still working on my first layout. I have the table made and I have my concept in mind, the trains and the materials. I hope I can get closer before Winter.
Another tip I saw in a book called 964 tips for Model Railroaders from about 1968 was to simply wind some solder round the axles, it does work very well. just don’t wind so much on that it shorts out the wheels themselves.
Lindsay in NZ
in Australia we call them mag wheel weights you can get them from tyre shops
Ha ha! Found them! Under slim wheel weights.
I agree that weights should be added to the inside of the model.
I saw Dave’s video whilst visiting family in Frome (its pronounced Froome) and with the address shown paid a visit. Met with the couple who are selling the weight strips and got a box full (100 weights) for about £14. They did not know of Dave;s impromptu advert but are very pleased and are now expecting and hoping for a flood of enquiries All the best from North Yorkshire
\Thank you all for your comments …I do realise that they should be added with as suggested looking at weight charts …yes the Bridge does need attention Gary thanks for pointing that out , still one of the best ways for a perfect job of cleaning the track is using the peco rubber , but i also use a CMX track cleaner which with Goo Gone does a very good job …and of course the back to back checking is the first essential thing to try when getting derailment ..but with some of the rolling stock that is very light , these weights can prove very useful ..good buy from mr North Yorkshire ?/LOL …you could have brought me some more ..Dangerous dave