"Rescued" car with video
I had picked up what I think was a Tyco Central Vermont 50' Box car at a train show for a few dollars a while back. I'm guessing it was Tyco, from the thick casting, and the truck mounted horn hook couplers.
I little time with a razor saw, some new intermountain wheels, and new sergent couplers, and she seems to run fine.
Getting it on the rails was good, but for a road test, I plugged it onto the test loop with 15 others.
and here's the results!
>> Posts index
User login
Navigation
Recent blog posts
- ROCK RIDGE SCENERY UPDATE
- Bill Scobie's Rio Grande Southern
- Rooting Droid X , DCC enginedriver throttle and other MR applications
- First Formal Session on the 8th Sub
- Layout Tour
- From Bowser - Lew English Sr. passes away
- JL&T Railroad - Video Update #8
- Jerry's Hoboken RR
- Finally ... some more progress
- Custom HO Diesel Model Painting - Anyone Out There Do It?
Does it have enough weight?
In the first pass, it looked a little wobbly like it was underweight. Have you made sure it is weighted correctly, or am I dreaming that it was wobbly?
Dave
Working on the chainsaw
Weight is spot on
The weight is spot on, per the NMRA standards. I saw that as well, and I wonder if it's the snap in trucks (I used the same frames after cutting off the coupler pockets). Is it a bad idea to go over weight, if that will fix the rock?
You may notice a couple of the Walthers Newsprint cars did the same....
www.garbo.org/MRR
Wobbler
Might be a LifeLIke car. Several of those shipped with truck mounted couplers and the two holes for mounting tabs along the side are found on some other LL cars. I would bet a different set of trucks would cure the wobble. The LL has a very small bearing surface and likes to move around.
Truck suggestions
Do you have any suggestions on what truck to use, and how to fit it? Fill the holes and tap new ones? replace the bolster? This kind of work is new for me, so I'd appreciate any ideas.
For now, I'm just pleased it's no longer on the RIP track.
www.garbo.org/MRR
Truck conversions
I've been upgrading some of my ancient equipment over the last year. For the old Mantua/Tyco cars with truck-mounted couplers: I removed the trucks, filed the base of the bolster flat, (in one case inserted some plastic sprue material to plug the hole-then re-drilled), installed new trucks with a kadee washer or two, and then they ran like a champ.
(I used kadee trucks with metal wheels.)
Don
Rincon Pacific Rwy, 1960. HO scale std. gauge - interchange with SP.
DCC-NCE, CMRI, JMRI
The wobble occured when your
The wobble occured when your White Tyco car (central vermont) went through the turnouts and only on the leading truck seemed to cause the wobble. The same car did it on the first 2 turnouts check the flanges on that car also If I remember correctly Joe posted something about a small washer to eliminate wobble from trucks or was that about leaning cars.
Dan
Rio Grande Dan
Yes, it's Proto87 Stores Easy Riders
See: http://www.proto87.com/model-railroad-suspension-tutorial.html
You can also use the "old modeler's trick" of tightening one bolster screw so it only allows the truck to swivel but not wobble. Loosen the other bolster screw so it won't fall out but allows the truck to wobble noticeably.
This gives the car a kind of three-point suspension so that it will navigate any rough track well but doesn't wobble. Most of the time it does the trick. When it isn't sufficient, the next step up is the Proto87 Stores Easy Riders.
Joe Fugate
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine
When I did a batch of swap
When I did a batch of swap meet Thrall-Door LifeLikes, I plugged the holes with scrap sprue or styrene rod and drilled new holes for 2/56 screws. The trucks were either Athearn or Intermountain, I think, with probably P2K wheelsets in the Athearns. The snap-in LL trucks are just kind of sloppy and imprecise all the way around.
The fancy washers work pretty well and don't cost much.