Adding weights to my cars

You can use lead weights with some double sided sticky tape and put the weights on the bottom of the cars.

 

If the cars have a metal frame you can add magnets like I did with some Williams passenger cars I have. Radio Shack used to sell magnets.

 

Lee Fritz

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.

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.

Keep in mind that you'll need to properly arrange your cars in the train so that the heavier cars are up front, lest ye suffer string lining. NMRA recommended practice for O scale is 5 ounces, plus 1 ounce per each inch of car length (not including couplers), so a 40-foot car should come in at 15 ounces. Atlas follows this with their Master Line rolling stock, which is why some of their cars are so heavy.

habor freight has wheel weights that would great.

 

wheel weights

 

also come in 1/2 oz.

I use lead curtain weights, fastened in place with double-sided foam tape.

 

WOW, all great responses.  Thanks guys.  Weight problem solved.  I love the idea of the double sided tape.  I would never have thought of that.

 

Rick

Same as Brian

In my lighter weight Weaver Boxcars i'll place two 2oz fishing sinkers one over each truck. Makes a big difference. I use hot glue to old them in place

Steve

Some great ideas posted.

On the lower half of your linked page, listed under "Accessories you"ll need" is shown SKU#67226, which is a bigger package of weights for less $$ ($5.99 vs $7.99).

 

Bill in FtL

Fishing weights from big box store.....clear silicon glue to secure.....did many this way....no issues.

I weigh all my rolling stock when I first buy them and use all different methods to bring them up to NMRA standard from stuff I have..  For example I put pieces of 2x4 wood scraps inside of boxcars, track ballast inside of tank cars.

 

I have the Micro-Mark kit.  The Micro-Mark weights are too small (1/4 oz.) and are made for HO.  It takes too many of them to bring a car up to snuff.  The scale works great but is actually a kitchen scale.

.....

Dennis

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.

USE THE NMRA STANDARD!You won't believe the difference it will make in the way your cars track.

 

You will like it!

Last time I needed weights I went to a well known auction site.  I found 1oz weights previousy.  I can't find a good deal on those right now, however, here are some alternatives.

100 oz. 1/2 oz adhesive stick on wheel balancing weights

1 Box of Wheel Weights 1/4 oz (.25 ounces) stick on adhesive tape 156 oz 624 pcs

 

As Rich says, having all the cars at the proper weight makes a huge difference with how well they behave.

That gets complicated. What comes to mind is some of those die-cast box cars and the K-Line die-cast heavy-duty (8-axle) flat cars. Sometimes the car has an internal weight. If so and you can disassemble the car, you can remove that and replace it with appropriate weight.

 

If you can't remove the weight, the best bet is to just put it at the front of the train and leave it at that since the material usually isn't dense enough for shaving unseen parts to be effective. 

Actually, it's a Recommended Practice and not a Standard --> RP-20.1 Car Weight.

 

Get a copy off new, revised NMRA in pdf form!

 

BTW, there are Standards for Scales with deep flanges --> S-1.3

 

There are a host of options for adding and securing weights.  Securing the well tends to be useful to avoid picking up that car or engine some years in the future and watching the weights punch a hole through the end of the car, engine, etc.   

I bought a big box of 1/2oz wheel weights from Ebay several years ago and I still have a few left. Buy in bulk and save more.

No idea if I'm near NMRA weight but I took all the old light stuff and added weight till they balanced with my New Imperial Railking Reefers.

They track much better since then.

 

Found some lead ingots in the garage that were window counter balance weights. About 15 in long x 0.25" x 1" in cross section. They easily cut into small pieces with bolt cutters. Then I wrap each piece in that tacky mesh that you line your tool chest drawers with and drop 'em into box cars and so on. They stay put, are easy to remove and really improve the coupling and rolling behavior of cars with high performance wheels.

You probably are not, but your cars might be,

 

Semantics. 

I like and use the stick on wheel weight method.  It does make a difference in how your cars ride on the track.

Once again, Gunrunner has lead me (lead me.... get it? LEAD) to another great execution of an idea.  I just ordered the first of his two links.  I have a lot of cars that could use a little weight added.  I had been hot gluing old nuts and sometimes even a bolt into older lionel rolling stock, but for my nicer Atlas and newer MTH/Lionel cars those stick on wheel weights will be PERFECT!

 

Thanks again GRJohn!

No problem, a long time back someone suggested this solution to me, so I'm really the middle-man.

I was this time last year, but something happened over the winter. Someone added weights somewhere or the scale has been is acting up since the spring. My cars are mostly under NMRA weight, except a couple.

I followed an article on this forum back in the late 1990's that stated to obtain a bag of Shot. I got 25lbs of 7mm shot for $25.00. I have yet to use a pound! This stuff while a pain to set is great for those intermountain kits that I have. they hide very well. I also used the shot to weigh down those MTH "top Heavy" autoracks to 30oz. this keeps them from tipping over. I use Walther's gue and cyanocrite mix to hold in the shot. The glue mix works great when dried!

 

BTW, those "sticky back" car weights do come off over time. I reccommend you also use walther's goo with the stickyback to really hold them down.

Thanks, was kind of afraid of that. Don't recall if the ones I have had any weights, but probably not. I am not even sure which ones they were, was in the middle of weighing them when we moved. Will probably start over this fall/winter as I lost track of what had been done and what hadn't. Might try writing it down this time.

In the past, I have used stacks of pennies super glued together as weights. 15 or 20 cents worth glued to each end of the car. Then I tell people that I have real money invested in this car.

NMRA recommended practice for O scale is 5 ounces, plus 1 ounce per each inch of car length (not including couplers), so a 40-foot car should come in at 15 ounces. Atlas follows this with their Master Line rolling stock, which is why some of their cars are so heavy.

 

Atlas Master Line freight cars tend to be heavier than the NMRA recommended practice.  Masterline 40 foot boxcars and reefers in factory 3 rail configuration tip the scales at 19-20 ounces.  The Atlas 50 foot PS-1 boxcars weight 25 ounces.  Trainman cars are lighter and tend to be very close to the NMRA recommended weight.

 

MTH Premier 40 foot boxcars and reefers weight 17 ounces out of the box.  Conversion to 2 rail trucks and Kadee couplers puts them at the recommended weight.

 

Lionel Standard O freight cars are all over the map weight wise.  Some are on the light side and some are well above the NMRA recommendation.  The Lionel PS-1 box cars are about 15 ounces and the steel sided ice bunker reefers are 14 ounces while the stock car is 19 ounces empty and 21 ounces with the cattle.  The 57 foot Lionel mechanical reefers weigh 27 ounces while the similar length 30,000 gallon tank cars weigh only 13 ounces. 

 

 

I like Mark Diff's answer, I added pennies so I have Some $$$ Invested...Thats a

great answer... Truthfully, I have never added weights and had no problems so far. I do

have wide curves, minimum 072--maximum 0120. This might be more of an issue if 

I were backing up the trains....This was a good Question, and lots of great answers.

Happy Railroading

Lead roof vent from Home Depot, etc. Cut to size with snips. Attach with silicone, 

Walther's Goo, yellow glue.