# Derailing Upgrade?



## drvmusic (Nov 24, 2010)

Hi All,

I have mostly toy grade trains with a few nice ones. I have some cheaper cars that I really like and want to use but, being cheap and LIGHT they derail easily.

So, being somewhat new to the hobbyist end of things I humbly ask if it's possible to retrofit cheaper cars to work better and stay on track? For example, a boxcar that won't stay on. Can I swap out the wheels? Can I add weight to the bottom? What's the best solution for a cheap car you want to use?

Thanks for all of the answers you've all given me so far! I'm really liking it here!

-DRV


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

for box car you can add weight inside the car and not spoil the looks.
you can swap out wheels with better ones. or if you want you can swap the entire trucks and install body mounted couplers. in order to accomplish the ammount of modification to specific car will be different . i wouldn't invest in lesser rolling stock unless for sentimental reasons, but whether this makes financial sense is up to you.


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## drvmusic (Nov 24, 2010)

tankist said:


> for box car you can add weight inside the car and not spoil the looks.
> you can swap out wheels with better ones. or if you want you can swap the entire trucks and install body mounted couplers. the ammount of modification to specific car will be different . i wouldn't invest in lesser rolling stock unless for sentimental reasons, but whether this makes financial sense is up to you.



First, thank you so much, you have been so kind answering my zillion questions 

I'd probably look to upgrade the wheels, I don't want to spend a lot, just add some stability to a couple of cars. I'm now very sensitive to quality when I look so I won't be buying any more cheap cars unless they're something I REALLY want.

I can just pop off the wheels at the axles and replace them, right? What is a "body mounted coupler?"

Again, thanks so much, you have been most informative, as have many others here. 

Any suggestions on effective ways to add weight? Can I just take the top of the car off (no real doors) and put something in there? Probably in the center of the car, right?

-DRV


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## drvmusic (Nov 24, 2010)

The absolute worst is a tank car that I really like but won't stay on. It's actually pretty well made, but I think it just needs new wheels and maybe better weight distribution.


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## aionta (Apr 9, 2010)

*body mounted coupler*

Hello drvmusic

A body mounted cuopler is a coupler that is mounted to the body of the car.

Some cars (?cheaper?) have the coupler attached to the trucks. (correct me if wrong ) 

I assume that a body mounted coupler would be more stable and less prone to cmoing uncoupled by accident. 

Aaron


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## nsr_civic (Jun 21, 2010)

go to your local tire repair shop and ask for a few sticks of stick on weights. lift the body off the frame and stick one 1/4oz square above each truck. 

are the couplers mounted to the trucks (axle carrier) or are they mounted to the body of the car.? easy way to tell is when the wheels turn does the coupler move with them?

body mounts are more stable and more scale.


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## drvmusic (Nov 24, 2010)

Yeah, they're mostly attached to the trucks. The couplers do move with them as one. 

Pretty cheap, but some of them are still worth saving. The others I may just ditch.

I actually know where I can get some of those stick-on weights! GREAT idea! Thank you all! You rock


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

well, taking the car apart can be tricky, after all, you do want to put it back together in one piece. not something i can explain from here. you can use either wheel balancing weights (for actual cars) or fishing weights, just don't overload it. you could change axles, usually it is just as you decribed, but at a times i read you will need to turn the holes more. 

the bigest problem IMHO are the couplers. as it reads, "body mounted" couplers are those that attach to the car body itself as opposed to truck mounted that most of cheap cars have. so the upgrade will involve shaving the couplers boxes of the plastic trucks and attaching (probably new ones) under the body. not many cars were built with this upgrade in mind so it will involve creatively cutting the interfering plastic whatever it may be. height will also need to be properly adjusted by shimming or cutting. basically lots of work + expense for couplers.
which IMHO not worth it


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## nsr_civic (Jun 21, 2010)

i have done body mount conversions on tyco box cars. they seem to be the easiest to do. the tank cars can be a pain because most of the cheaper tank cars don't have a frame to mount the coupler to.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I use flat washers of various sizes. You can stack and glue, to adjust to your needs. Also may sure track is flat and the joiners are in place.


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## drvmusic (Nov 24, 2010)

I think that looking for couplers attached to the body of the car is in the category of "something I didn't know that I'm glad I do now!" Thanks again!


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I do some truck replacing for friends finding sets. The trucks do differ slightly so finding junk cars that have the same parts can be a challenge. I just look for the same car. When upgrading you need to know what will fit.


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## Necro (Nov 19, 2010)

Drv, I think we're basically at the same place so...I'll provide some of the insight I've gotten over the past week.

Kadee sells coupler sets that specifically replace the horn/hook couplers on Tyco/Life-Like older cars. No need to do a body mounting of the coupler, which from the directions (check Kadee's site for a pdf on how to do it) seems like a PITA and would be easier to just buy a new car based on the prices. 

Pennies work GREAT as weights (and from my checking are cheaper per oz then anything else). I just recently (i.e. 3 days ago) weighted a Life-Like tank car by adding 1 ounce of pennies above each truck (~20pennies total). To do this, I popped off the tank part of the car, made a stack of pennies, and there was a nice little round 'holder' at each end of the car I could put the pennies in on their side which was right above the trucks. So, glued them in there and it runs great now. 

Honestly, I suggest doing even 'temp' weighting (i.e., throw coins in the car, kinda balance it, and see if they run better). I'm going to be doing some metal wheels and other things to a few of mine that I like 

In my one box car, I used 'craft sticks' to make lumber stacks to hide the pennies I put in. Actually looks really cool. Considering I'm not a stickler for things being exactly in line with the scale, it basically cost me nothing and was a fun little project.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Necro said:


> Pennies work GREAT as weights (and from my checking are cheaper per oz then anything else). I just recently (i.e. 3 days ago) weighted a Life-Like tank car by adding 1 ounce of pennies above each truck (~20pennies total). To do this, I popped off the tank part of the car, made a stack of pennies, and there was a nice little round 'holder' at each end of the car I could put the pennies in on their side which was right above the trucks. So, glued them in there and it runs great now.


Necro that is also a good way to save your retirement fund and raise the value of your train cars. :laugh:


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## Necro (Nov 19, 2010)

Hehe - at first I was like 'Wait, that's money...' then I checked how much weights cost. 

On a per ounce basis, which I found was about 10-11 pennies per oz, your not going to get anything else cheaper.


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

Necro said:


> Hehe - at first I was like 'Wait, that's money...' then I checked how much weights cost.
> 
> On a per ounce basis, which I found was about 10-11 pennies per oz, your not going to get anything else cheaper.


ah but you can buy thing's with penny's you can't buy thing's with weights
(I think I might be spelling thing's wrong is it (Thing's / things)?


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Hey guys,

When it comes to weight, all pennies are NOT equal ...

US pennies 1909 to 1981 weigh 3.1 grams on the average.
US pennies 1983 to the present weigh 2.5 grams on the average.

(1982 was a transition year.)

So, if you're adding weight, use pennies 1981 or older! You'll get more bang for the buck (or penny!).

TJ


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

tjcruiser said:


> Hey guys,
> 
> When it comes to weight, all pennies are NOT equal ...
> 
> ...



Man you guys are cheap....Silver dimes are better.


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## Necro (Nov 19, 2010)

...i actually just took a handful of change and put it into my freight car when first testing weight. It was a Life-Like one so the change in the car was prob. worth more than the car itself .


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## drvmusic (Nov 24, 2010)

...and now my "noob" question of the day. On cheaper cars, do the tops just pop off or are they glued? Clipped? I don't want to wreck my boxcars opening them up. 

Gonna try the penny idea


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## nsr_civic (Jun 21, 2010)

Depends. Some are glued. Most Have small retaining tabs.


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## Necro (Nov 19, 2010)

All of mine have retaining tabs except one Oscar Meyer freight car (sealed) that is actually glued to the base. Haven't figured out how to work with that one.


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## drvmusic (Nov 24, 2010)

Thanks! I'll give it a try!


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