# NMRA standards



## ssgt (Jan 8, 2013)

What is the nmra standard for weight of freight and passenger cars?
Thanks


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## BK R (Dec 8, 2012)

Should be in here, somewhere.

http://www.nmra.org/


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

Freight.

Isnt it something like 1oz + .5oz for every inch of car?

so a 6 inch car would be
1oz + 3oz (6x.5) =4oz ? 

not sure if the formula is correct though


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

That is correct...1 oz. plus a 1/2 oz. for every inch of length.:thumbsup:


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## dannyrandomstate (Jan 1, 2012)

I need to score one of those small scales and start seeing how far off a lot of my rolling stock is. This is good info though.


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

shaygetz said:


> That is correct...1 oz. plus a 1/2 oz. for every inch of length.:thumbsup:


I assume this is just for HO 

(dilligaf about the other scales )


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## mackdonn (Sep 26, 2012)

dannyrandomstate said:


> I need to score one of those small scales and start seeing how far off a lot of my rolling stock is. This is good info though.


I just got one of the small digital scales from Bed, Bath, and Beyond this past weekend. The Biggest Loser food scale cost about $20 and it weighs in oz's.


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## RUSTY Cuda (Aug 28, 2012)

Started adding weights to some box cars (there easy) 
How exact do you have to be, I can cut up the lead weights but is it necessary, say shooting for 4, is 3.9 or 4.1 within an acceptable limit


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## Pfunmo (Feb 21, 2013)

Plenty good enough for me. 
If you have a lot of cars to load up and access to anybody who lots their own shotgun shells, lead shot is nice for use in cars like tank cars. The only trouble with the shot is that it often comes in too large quantity for the average model need.


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## RUSTY Cuda (Aug 28, 2012)

That was going to be another post, how do you do tankers? gondolas, open hoppers & flat cars I guess I can just weigh out the loads, can't run anything empty then?


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## Pfunmo (Feb 21, 2013)

That's where the shot comes in handy. Sometimes you have to search for a place to put the weight that won't show enough to bother. Decisions, decisions? 

Tank cars are a bit easier as you can drill a small hole somewhere out of sight and pour in the shot, then fix it in place with some thinned glue like Elmer's. For flats that I don't want loaded, it gets tough. I have glued shot in between the center beams but it is tough to get enough in there. Sometimes, I have settled for a layer of sheet lead between the undercarriage and the body but other cars have had a row of lead glued around the perimeter of the body along an overhanging side. Every car has to be looked at to see what might work for what you want. I was always more interested in good running than I was the perfect "look" if one picked it up. Different outlooks for each of us? I wanting it to run good, then look good if it could.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Rusty

I can see no visible means of support for that
array of tools on the back of your workbench.
I assume it's magnetic...what kind of magnets
are you using...I want some for my bench.

Don


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## ssgt (Jan 8, 2013)

I guess I should ask does the initial weight of the car count as part of the 5 oz.?What should a 40' box car weigh?


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## Pfunmo (Feb 21, 2013)

Looking back at this, I see that you asked how close is good enough. 
I don't think there is a firm answer for that but much depends on the layout and your way of doing things. In theory, you might belong to a group who has a firm standard and they would set the limits but that doesn't fit most of us. I think of the standards as a pretty good attempt to get all rolling stock to operate in a defined way so that a person can take a car that meets specs and operate on a group of layouts which also meet specs. But then that isn't something that I do so I fall back to hoping the specs for rolling stock and being close to them will result in pretty good operation on my layout which also is in the "kinda/sorta" close realm. Overall it seems to work well enough to make operations fun. 
Once I moved from running trains to operating, the whole world changed. I used a car card system to move freight in a much more realistic way.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Yes, it's 5oz to start, then measure the car and add the 1/2oz for each inch. A 6" car would be 8oz.


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## RUSTY Cuda (Aug 28, 2012)

DonR, wish I could say, I didn't make it, looks like 2 long strip magnets about 1/8" thick behind the white sheet metal enclosure.
I suppose a row of the long uncoupler magnets would work to the same effect. Rich.


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## RUSTY Cuda (Aug 28, 2012)

John, am I reading that right, even the cars they weighted are no where near that, all settle in around either 3 or 4, I've been adding about an ounce & a half(most of the unweighted start out in the low 2's) 8 ounces seems pretty hefty? Rich.


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## Pfunmo (Feb 21, 2013)

Can I jump in? I think there is a bit of mis-reading. I see initial weight as 1 oz rather than 5 in HO. Initial weight of 5 oz is rfor O-scale?/ Check that, maybe?


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## Pfunmo (Feb 21, 2013)

Link to the practice being discussed? 

RP-20.1 
http://www.nmra.org/standards/sandrp/rp-20_1.html


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## RUSTY Cuda (Aug 28, 2012)

OK, Johns an O guage guy, must have forgot where he was on the board!

pfunmo, I'm not much of a joiner, I'm just lookin for nice operation around my little layout. I strive for perfection, but rarely attain it! 

So basically a 6" box car should be about 4oz to make it simple. :thumbsup:


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## Pfunmo (Feb 21, 2013)

That looks right to me. I figure one reason they tied my head on was so I would not leave it laying on the rails somewhere.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Duh! I saw the 5oz and it sounded right, but I forgot where I was.


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