Adding weight to locos

M

mikesilky

Registered
Country flag
My newly digitised Bachmann Thomas is a little on the lightweight side. It has a tendency to wheelslip on even the slightest gradient.

I would like to add some weight to it. I assume the weight should be evenly distributed across the width of the loco, but are there any rules of thumb about where the extra weight is put front-to-back?

The obvious place for putting extra weight into Thomas is at the back. Will it matter if a loco is back-heavy (or front-heavy for that matter)?

I have a James loco too, and that's even worse for wheelslip than Thomas, so that'll be getting the same treatment at some point.
 
Yes, your'e right to assume that it should be evenly placed from side to side, however, as long as the weight is inside the wheelbase (coupled wheels, that is), it isn't going to matter a lot in terms of front to back.

As to how much, I've found that it's difficult to add too much, but a loco weighing in at 3 - 4 lbs (in good old British avoirdupois) is going to do most things you need, unless you have steep gradients.

:thumbup::thumbup:
 
I've just weighed Thomas - he is just under 1.2kg, or 2lbs 9oz in old money.

Definitely a bit on the lightweight side!
 
How tough is the gear train in Thomas?
I would go a bit steady in adding too much weight. Make sure it will still slip rather than stall the motor.
 
I started an interesting thread on another forum about this.
Due to my heavy inclines I wanted to get as much grip and power from my Bachmann Annies as possible. It seemed that I opened a can of worms as one esteemed contributor to that forum, said that I would be stripping gears right left and centre running ANY make of loco on my layout let alone adding more weight to them.
Now, whilst I agree, Bachmann gearboxes, have not been the strongest in the past, they can take an extra pound or so of extra weight. It is making sure where the best place is to stash it..(this was why I had started the thread on the other forum) to make it most effective.
Extra weight can really improve the performance of a Bachmann Thomas loco as long as it not being asked to drag huge strings of rolling stock or pull a heavy string up the hill. TOOT TOOT!
 
As already said a bit of weight wont hurt but it must be between the drivers OR weighted equally at both ends, if you weight just one end you will unbalance the load and cause slip at the lighter end (think of it like a see saw)
 
A few years ago, I had a long conversation with the owner of GRS, in which he stressed the importance of balance.
He insisted it's essential to balance the weight so that the loco is in equilibrium about its mid-point.
 
There are lots of interesting facets to this topic, such as the comment from GRS.

While our locos are bigger than many models, I don't think they are likely to suffer the same balance issues (fore and aft) as 1:1 locos. Provided the weight is inside the driven wheelbase, I struggle to see how a 1:20 loco, with an unsprung chassis, could suffer imbalance - but I'll bet there's an example somewhere :nerd:

As regards gear stripping, you can probably do more damage by emergency stops and starts, and stuttering over dodgy connections than you can by pulling large loads.

That said, there have been plenty of examples of gears being stripped, or, more commonly, splitting on the axle splines, and these issues have not been confined to Bachmann.

The classic welterweight was the Bachmann Mining Mogul, which has nylon gears, can take a shed load of weight, and still doesn't appear to suffer in the gearbox department.

So, if you're going to add weight, and run slightly more realistic long trains, you may need to consider running at more realistic speeds as well, all that sort of thing can be kind to a gearbox :thumbup::thumbup:
 
Well put. I added weight to my Thomas loco making the gross weight come to 4 pounds 12 ounces. I only pull the two troublesom trucks and a battery car, so I'm not terribly worried about stripping gears. I posted the details in this thread some time ago; http://www.gscalecentral.net/tm?high=&m=240866&mpage=1#241382
 
Stainzmeister said:
This topic comes up on a regular basis.
Perhaps one of our Mods can gather together a collection of threads on it.
Click to expand...
Yes a good idea as it is a 'weighty' issue.......hat, coat....door
 
a98087 said:
A money bag filled with coins is a cheap and easy to expirement with additional weights:bigsmile:
Click to expand...

That's a great idea. I've got a bag of old pre-Euro European copper coins that's been lying around for years. At last, a use for them!
 
Regarding weight front and aft, I'd suggest keeping it in balance as much as you can. When I weighted the first of my GRS kitbuilt locos on a ToyTrain 0-4-0 chassis there was considerably more weight on the front axle than the rear as there was more space up front than in the cab at the rear. The loco had an interesting habit of taking a bow every time it stopped until I evened out the weighting. I did this by resting one pair of wheels on a pile of books and the other pair on the scales while I added strips of lead flashing. I then turned it round and repeated the process to ensure that the weight over both axles was more or less the same.

Rik
 
I tend to agree wtith Rick - Lead flashing is great for adding weight. I have three LGB Steeple cabs, which have now all got extra weight - All are now between 1.9 and 2kilos. The weight was added as bundles of strips under the hoods - front and rear. The other improvement that really helped two of these with gradients was modifying a wheel to take a traction tyre. My earliest one, dating from around 1975 came with one as standard, but the others are more recent and didn't.

I must add some lead to Thomas, James and Percy next....These are good runners, but a little weight will probably help make them even better.

Best wishes,
James
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top