Guidelines for rolling stock tune up and bad order

[chuck geiger]

Starting to unpack my rolling stock after a few years. Couplers popped out,
trucks fell off and need to clean wheels and adjust couplers. Any good
tutorials for this. Also for weighting of cars and how to weight cars that
don't come apart? Only a few are bad order, rest seem fine.

[Bendtracker1]

Found this with Mr. Google:

NMRA - Weighting Your Rolling Stock

I've used this for years. 
Over time I've modified mine to this:
34' - 40' = .80oz
50' - 60' = 1.1oz
70' - 86' = 1.4oz

For cleaning gunk build up on the wheels, some of our members have set several cars in a shallow pool of 70% alcohol, with just enough to cover the wheel below the axle, then move them a bit and let them set.  Then roll them back and forth a bit to loosen any gunk.  Others have gone so far as take the wheel sets out and let them soak in a cup for a bit.  These have all been Micro-train wheel that have not been painted.  I don't know how the alcohol would effect the paint, if you've painted the wheels though.

Others have laid an alcohol soaked paper towel across a piece of track and rolled the car back and forth with good luck.

For adding weight:
Covered hoppers - glue buck shot in the bays with white glue.
Boxcars - glue small chunks of sheet lead over the trucks or near the ends [on inside of car] with Goo.

Gons, Flats and open hoppers - I've tried the moldable lead on the bottom, but I have found it oxidizes, turns white and powders off over time.  On a few of these cars with the moldable lead, after gluing it, I brushed a coat of clear finish on it to seal it, and so far, so good.
I have also glued the small buckshot to the bottom of flat cars and gons [where I can get away with it], in the center beam or next to it with OK results.

[chuck geiger]

Bend thanks, it's been awhile and we all need a refresher.

[Bendtracker1]

Bend thanks, it's been awhile and we all need a refresher.

No problem Chuck.  Sorry I forgot to sign it, it's Allen

I'm not saying this works for everyone, but it seemed to work for most of our members.

It's been awhile since I have cleaned my wheels, but I suppose some are packed with gunk close to a 38" wheel by now!

One other thing, the alcohol soaked paper towel across the tracks works good on the locos to!  Just keep one truck on the towel and the other on the rails.  If it's dirty, you'll see two black streaks. 

Allen...

[chuck geiger]

Yeah I need to clean rolling stock and motive power wheels. I can
just tell there is so much gunk and junk on them, I'm surprised
they roll at all. I have done that with locos and Goo Gone.
http://www.googone.com/

[wm3798]

For adding weight to cars without disassembling them, go to the local big box and see if you can purchase a ceiling fan balancing kit for Hunter brand fans.  These include a couple of little squares of very thin, self adhesive lead sheet that can be trimmed to fit, then pressed into place.  This works great for the cavities under hoppers, which are notoriously underweight anyway.

I also have an old house, and one of the spoils of war was a huge solid lead drain pipe elbow.  I regularly cut chunks off of it and beat it with a hammer to thin it down, then install it with some crazy glue.



Here I've added some weight to the bottom of the Atlas pulpwood car, which is pretty light when run as an empty.

Lee

[3DTrains]

Hi Lee,

Another method, one that I use, is to use #9 bird shot. The small pellets fit nicely into small crevices, but needs to be glued in place using Silicone or Goo. It does, however, go a long way. I still have a small amount left over from a purchase in the early 1990s.

Cheers!
Marc

[Bendtracker1]

  These include a couple of little squares of very thin, self adhesive lead sheet that can be trimmed to fit, then pressed into place. 



Here I've added some weight to the bottom of the Atlas pulpwood car, which is pretty light when run as an empty.

Lee

Lee,
Have you have any of your lead oxidize, turn white and start to crumble or flake off?

Allen...

[DKS]

Tungsten putty is an option for adding weight in odd-shaped spaces.

http://www.amazon.com/Pinecar-Tungsten-Putty-1-oz/dp/B00406K3D4

[MichaelT]

Glad to see this thread.

Over the weekend I pulled some of my rolling stock out and had some FVM metal wheels in my scrap box, so I took the time to change out plastics for metal wheels. I've noticed on a few trucks that the wheels are very tight, and don't roll but just slide along the rails. Is there a fix for this?
I'm pretty sure I put wheelsets on Atlas that were specified for Atlas, not sure about the MT cars, but I have a few of both that are sticking?

[davefoxx]

Glad to see this thread.

Over the weekend I pulled some of my rolling stock out and had some FVM metal wheels in my scrap box, so I took the time to change out plastics for metal wheels. I've noticed on a few trucks that the wheels are very tight, and don't roll but just slide along the rails. Is there a fix for this?
I'm pretty sure I put wheelsets on Atlas that were specified for Atlas, not sure about the MT cars, but I have a few of both that are sticking?

Assuming you put the correct wheelsets in the trucks, try flexing the sideframes in and out just a bit to loosen or tighten the wheelsets, so that they roll nicely.  The Atlas trucks usually take the 0.553" wheelsets, and the MT trucks usually take the 0.540" wheelsets.

[chuck geiger]

Michael and DFF - Good points if you don't have the pin from the wheel axle
in the pit nicely, they drag. I'm using scrap box metal wheels sets and ditching
the nylon plastic ones. I've notices a small bit of either glue or residue on some
of the wheels flanges, these were given to me from a modeler who got out of
the hobby and they need to be cleaned right after putting them on. Going to
try the alcohol sitz bath.