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coach weights? ?


Baimor
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Had a good few backwards and forwards runs today on all 3 tracks. All god apart from 2 of my coaches seem to want to derail at any opportunity!! :x:x:x I'm guessing they are too light and need weighing down??? What do I use for this? I'm thinking lead weights?? And where do I put them please?? Over the bogies, in the middle of the coaches or at the very ends?? Any help much appreciated. :D:D:D:D Thanks. Mark

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With a coach it's normally a case of fitting the lead where you can't see it. Since I occasional have to replace the bogies I then use cast ones to get the weight really in the right place. From what I've read the recommended weight is 2 ounces ( roughly 50 grams) per 4 wheels, wagon or coach.

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Did you check your wheels spacing? Wheel spacing is about as critical as anything can get.

Weights will affect things, but even a light car should do fine.

And then, one should always make note of where things are derailing. On my N scale layout I had one loco that was very finicky. Instead of gutting rid of it, it became my test vehicle. If it could track over an area repeatedly, I knew that I had laid good trackwork. If not, I would go and seek out the flaw it was pointing out and fix it.

I once left that same engine with a rake of about 10 coaches running overnight by accident. The next morning it was still running around the layout without a problem.

I often ran 30 wagon trains on that layout after that. I even did a massive test of a huge train without problems. Most of you brits run fairly small trains, compared to American modelers who get into the over 50 to 100 wagon range; that really puts the question of weight to the test, as a car with low weight may string line on a curve if it's in the middle of a longer train.

Weight should have near nothing to do with derailments, it's the track, or the wheel gauge.

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Thanks Griff. I'm sure it's the coaches not the track. If it were the track then surely all the coaches would derail?? As it is I jut have 2 that derail regardless of their position on the train. I've taken one apart and can "hide" a couple of m8 nuts at the extreme of each coach. I will try with one at first and see how it goes. Then another if needed. I'm unsure of how I could do anything about the wheels as they are pre fitted in the bogies. Regards. Mark

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With all my old collection of trains I simply wedge the bogies apart and remove the wheels and axles. I have to re-gauge all of them because they are so old.

Most of mine are Lima, which have steel wheels. Of the two wheels per axle, one is supported by a plastic bushing, otherwise the electricity would short on the axle and wheels. Not knowing what your coaches brand is, they may be the kind that has a single molded plastic axle and wheels. those would not go out of alignment unless they got bent somehow. At the same time, they could be a poor design from the start.

Be thankful you're doing OO instead of N scale. I had several N scale locos that gave me trouble and I nearly pulled all my hair out over it. I eventually figured out that they had come from the factory with their drivers about a hairs width too wide.

Look over your coach wheels to see if they are a single molded unit or of the wheel and axle type. If you warm the plastic in hot water, they should be easy enough to pop out.

Here in the USA it's interesting to see that the new trend in wheels is steel wheels again. A lot of modelers are replacing older plastic ones with these. And here I am with a whole collection of Italian models that already have steel wheels. he he he

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I'd agree with Traingeek boy, Almost all Ready to run Coaches and wagons are built with 26m point to point Axles, if you can't move the wheels on the axles, then it is quite easy to push apart the bogies and fit after market Axles. It is something I do all the time as I run on EM gauge track which is 18.2mm between the tracks unlike 00 gauge track which is 16.5mm between the tracks.

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Have you had any luck running the coaches with added weight? Any improvement?

In my experience you'll come across many instances where you have certain vehicles derailing, perhaps at specific spots on the layout, but with no clear indication of the reason why. There have been times when I've been almost pulling my hair out!

First place I look is the track, especially if derailments regularly occur at a specific place. If you're absolutely sure that's okay then look for any biding in the couplings - in my opinion one of the most frequent causes of derailments. Are couplings the same type and height on the adjacent vehicles? Also, as Griff stated earlier, check the back-to-back measurements of the bogie wheels using a 'back-to-back' gauge. You can usually do that without having to remove the wheels from the bogies. If everything checks out and I'm still troubled with pesky derailments then I have successfully added weight in the form of adhesive car wheel balance weights (as others appear to use). You can usually hide them from view in the corridor ends of the coaches. Just try one at each end otherwise you'll be needing to double-head your trains!

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Thanks Mick, Griff, Q et al. I've used an m10 nut hidden in the extremes of the offending coaches and it's worked a treat! :D:D:D I did try an m8 at first but it wasn't quite enough but the m10 has done the trick! :D:D I've run the coaches back and forth at full speed today without any problems even though I prefer a more realistic "scale" speed so they won't be running at full speed when the line is completed. It's only temporary tho as today I've ordered some balancing weights off eBay so the nuts will be replaced in due course! Many thanks for the advice guys! :D:D

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  • 3 months later...

When I did N scale all of my problems arose from the wheels being too close together on the axles. I had locos that could not traverse a point; a little pressure with a tiny screw driver and I was able to increase the gauge enough that it fixed everything.

Lima cars have wheels that can slide on the axles. Often they can get banged out of gauge over time. When I got my oval done on my layout, I took all my coaches outside with me and proceeded to adjust my wheels to the track I am using. A lot of them where beyond out of gauge, but after an hour of work my entire fleet was in good shape. I must say, derailments are something of the past now.

Most of my HO scale is lima, but it is designed for Lima track which has a bigger rail top than my Atlas flex track. So while there are special tools for measuring wheel gauge, I prefer to use a piece of track in order to set my wheels.

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