# A Heavyweight Teaser - intro to 85 ft passenger cars



## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Just to let cat out to play a little bit..stretch legs and all....

What is a "Heavyweight" ?

 

A passenger car for those of us interested in trains.....!



These cars became known as heavyweights as they were constructed from steel to make them fire proof... 

Therefore they are something that is Heavy....

This really is an introductory viewing to my growing interests in trains, this time surrounding passenger trains. I have been working on ideas, some effort and plastic sawdust to date, trial cutting and re-imagineering using the standard Aristo set of 1/29th scale cars, usually considered to be about 72 feet long. My goals and plans are to bash, rebuild, or custom build a set of cars, most in the 85 ft. length, to create a nice looking Heritage Passenger train to run on My AZ layout. Car lengths will run from 60 ft to 85 ft long.

I'm building a set of 5 cars as the "Steam Crew" cars. 
85 ft Tool car - baggage
85 ft Power car
85 ft Storage - baggage
85 ft Crew Command car/Lounge
85 ft Crew - Dorm car

Following these will be a full passenger train...made up of 60 ft to 85 ft cars.

Here are some starter representations of my work thus far....

This is a 72 ft Baggage car, fully original for comparison...


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Dirk

Looking forward to seeing your works in progress. Inquiring minds are hungry for your idears and efforts, PLEASE share....

Merry Christmas
Michael


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

> These cars became known as heavyweights as they were constructed from steel to make them fire proof...


They also had a concrete floor to make them heavier. There's a photo around somewhere of the floor being poured.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice! I will be watching this thread with much interest..
im planning to do something very similar for my LV "Black Diamond Express"..Im going to slice and dice several Aristocraft heavyweights..some shorter, some longer, some staying the same length..
a webpage has been started, with little info so far:

https://sites.google.com/site/scotlawrence/BDE129

I plan to start with the baggage car in the Spring.

Scot


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I was also pretty sure they were called heavyweights from the concrete floors. To make them ride better, they added the concrete weight.

But a short delve into google did not give definitive results, so it might well be that they were perceived as heavy being steel as opposed to wood.

Greg


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

I had always thought that the term 'heavyweight' only came into being when the lightweight cars started appearing in the 1930's.
The term heavyweight being used to differentiate between the new lighter cars, and the old heavier ones.
Merry Christmas,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Michael, Pete, Scot, Greg & David....we can all try to define and refine the meaning and purpose of Heavyweights...

Hope your interest is further piqued by my jumping off a cliff Scot!

To expand my interest and beginnings....I started with a single car many years ago. I bought a ebay observation, intending to build a match to UP 140 "Stanford", a former SP car. I cut it up..stripped the paint. It needs to be longer. It has many Windows that are no where close to the coach base car body unit used for an observation model. The roof has full length air conditioning ducts added on both sides. There is a great deal to create a nice passable model of this still operating car, still based in Roseville I think. I often see the Sunset and Stanford running thru my area....

The second car I started was a diner. It was stripped of paint, cut up.. and sat also... Wanting a 85 ft. car, I had some mental traveling first to get started.

I started buying more h.w. cars.

Then I found 2 RPO cars...used. They were cut up also. The paint never removed. This 3rd car was the first car set, spliced & glued back together... It took that long and spread over many years to sort out the process..in between building other projects plus the layout.

Now, being a machinist helped keep my mind focused on the ins and outs of rebuilding these car bodies...a lifetime of fabrication skills have been used and tested over to get car bodies back together again. Being a former painter implies I'm not into visible seams on these cars. They won't go away with more paint if the alignment isn't great to start with. As I've learned from cutting on so many previous cars... No 2 molds are the same..plastic wall and floor thicknesses varry...over all widths are not constant. Scot...this really brings to mind the epitome of slice n dice...using all my patience and skills to get car bodies sectioned back together. I also enjoy the challenge...thats the second "Y" I do this..the 1st is..I want a different train.!!

When car bodies are not a match, prevalent when mixing car body types, widths can be all over the place. Then a center slice thru the floor lengthwise is the answer..but one must choose which body sections to cut. Do you go narrow? Do you go wider? Which gets cut..not every body chunk needs to be cut.

So...this RPO set is building a 85 ft. baggage car. The first time I was able to see and get back together a full length car. I used the large door ends to create the baggage car.

Part of my rework is including lowering cars over the trucks. Also...I have relocated the stock truck pivot point to the spare pin on the removable bolster plate... cutting off the pivot molded to the car bottom. This effort places a car better centered on a curve now.. More inboard.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

And yes Scot, what I'm doing is perfectly suited to your passenger car fleet you are planning.
Nice mix btw.!!


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

I have always like HW cars... More than streamliners even. Since my childhood no less. I find them having more character in their style and details...

I will be lowering the cars. 
Changing and detailing the draft gear and coupler installs..
Adding the many extra details under car frames or floors.
Spiffing up the main frame details to appear closer to real cars I've visited.
Changing thin glass sheets for those goofey Windows...which break upon removal..
Adding air conditioning ducts on roofs to suit.

Lots of advancement is needed in my modeling skills department even...new areas and techniques to learn or get help with...

This is a long haul project here... 

SD


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## dpotp (May 25, 2011)

Greg you are correct in that concrete was used in the floors. In rebuilding a heavy weight car in Savannah we had to rebuild a bit of the floor that had failed. Welded up new structure, installed new pans and mixed and poured 62 80lb bags of concrete. Normally they used horse hair as insulation between the steel pan and the concrete.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

........ Further searching results added this info...
Heavyweights had a nicer ride from the combinations of materials used in their construction. Plate steel, concrete, plus the addition of 6 wheel trucks on most cars...all increasing the overall weight of each car.

SD


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

What I remember reading is that the original wooden cars bounced a lot. No one used shock absorbers.

The concrete made them a lot heavier and helped get some of the bounciness out of the cars. Not sure the steel construction was to make them ride better, but more solid and could not catch on fire from embers from smokestack.

Greg


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## Homo Habilis (Jul 29, 2011)

Here's the Wikipedia unsourced view of Heavyweight vs. lightweight.


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Steel was utilized to make the cars safer and was a modern method of construction. Concrete was used as weight to lower the center of gravity and of course loaded the suspension for a more amiable ride and or experience too. David's comment is spot on from what I have discerned from reading about same, the acronym(s) came to be to distinguish the difference between the two types of cars.

Michael


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Here is the first 85 ft. Baggage car in one piece.



again, built from 2 RPO car baggage ends.


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

I read it was the heavyweight's braking requirements that were the end of Pullman using paper wheels. They were considered unsafe. 

Andrew


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

2 - 85 ft. Baggage cars.










A 85 ft. Baggage, plus 60 ft. Baggage car.










Trial custom sidewall for a 60 ft. Baggage.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Here's the 85 ft. Diner. It is based on drawings and info I found. A true 7 row, 42 seat section... Built from portions of 2 cars... Hence 7 rows now. Yet this created an over length car body. I thus shortened the kitchen dept to return the car to my desired 85 ft. length.

For your viewing pleasure here, a long side over view.










Kitchen end view of Diner.










....More to come...!


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

This is a initial grouping for a 85 ft. RPO/Bag-Combine car, over view of car body sections.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Here is one of the Steam Crew cars, the "Crew Command" car. This is a Lounge/dorm floor plan. The Lounge has a meeting table for seating capacity of 10.










Next up..we'll move into some of the car details

Thanks, Dirk
...DMSRy.


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## Nick Jr (Jan 2, 2008)

Michael: In the early 80's as a tech I was sent to a scrap yard in Jersey. First time I saw a person with a jack hammer pounding on the frame of a locomotive that was being scrapped. I was amazed to learn he was removing the concrete from the frame, never thought it would need more weight than the steel. Supervisor allowed me to graze over other loco's being scrapped and take what ever I wanted that was still there. I also had a similar experience in a ship yard on the Hackensack River that was scrapping ships. I have a magnetic compass that was made by Lionel Corp. in 1944, pic's attached. Great experiencez and wonderful souvenirs. I doubt that would be allowed to happen today. LG BTW, the fluid in the compass is alcohol.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Adding more to the show on the RPO/Bagg.-Combine here...

Showing the sections used stripped of paint, laid together loose for a trial view of the fit,










Using a tube to align each car body they get glued together with overlapping floor coverings on the lower side. of .020 in sheet plastic.










here, placed out on the layout with blue sky to present it further along. Up on wheels!










Slowly adding to the project list....


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

So, what is important to be noticed from this work so far is the ability to re-purpose these cars in any desirable fashion needed by anyone wishing to enhance their passenger train roster. Lots of thought, creativity, and elbow grease can build these base cars into a group of other cars not otherwise produced as we know them.

Used cars are even better for this purpose, giving them new life.

Which brings me to an important point. I have been collecting H.W. cars for years. As such I have many new cars, and many used to very used cars. some in not so great shape. I actually am using the poorest cars to work with first, working up the food chain towards better cars as these develop. This allows me to use all cars I have, and saves the best for last, rather than using the best cars to start with...

Dirk
DMSRy


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Here are some close up pics of work on the underside of the floors.

lower sheeting, 1/4 round details to position the screwed in place bolster plate for the truck pivots.










These .020" floor splices overlap the car body seams... from the lower side. They also enhance the lower floor surfaces after the removal of the molded on brakes and tanks are ground off.



















Again, the tube is used for alignment of each section. Here lots of clamps are used to control and stabilize the parts.


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## DennisB (Jan 2, 2008)

Greg is correct about the concrete floors in the heavyweights. The cars did not bounce a "little", they bounced a lot. As steam engines became bigger and faster, it didn't take much to throw cars right off the track after hitting even a minor bump in the rail. Regards, Dennis.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

There is a notch created in these floor plates to add an extension support plate for the draft gear to attach too. The plus is car coupler loads are transferred back onto the frames, not thru the screws these plates are held in place with. Later in the process the small tabs are removed for the screws...the entire floor extension becoming glued fully in place.










The draft gear base plate in place, with a shim on top.










KD gear draft plate added,...










added frame supports...



















coupler in place










Nice new frame outline, matching real cars, rivets to be added later, details to match, lower angle plate stiffeners on lower edges.










Thanks for following along on My journey.

Merry Christmas...


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

A pic of close coupling on real cars;
Here,... a coach on the left. &
..a 85 ft horse car - baggage - on the right.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

I forgot what great work you do Dirk. Why don't you just make 2 of everything and send the spares to me. (and send the bill!).

You have ruined me, I am no longer content with my stock Aristo cars!

Greg


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Hungry?

I smell food cooking...! yea...

Must be coming from the Diner...Lets stroll back to the kitchen...

To get work going here, create a decent kitchen, make it easy to load food stocks on board from a dock, a service door needs be added on the car body side. not the typical stepped entrances found on car ends.

A door outline is laid out. Windows likewise need to be adjusted...










One more view of the side planning laid out here.























































great place to gather and grab some food.... pick out your favorite dish, sit back and watch the scenery flow by!


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Hey! How did you get my favorite dish on your train? She said she had choir practice!
Those cars look as long as my main line!

Yesterday the weather guesser said you might get some back side snow.... better hitch 'em up! -or- after the rain passes thru, you can expect flurries from the east.
John


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Your "Dish" was singing on the train.....
..you missed it buddy.... sang like a nite.N.gail....the entire trip!!

Yea..what Fun.... LOL...

After you raise the layout..better make it longer!!

The nasty cold winds are the teeth chatter-er here...

D


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

check this out, Over hang anyone!

A full scale 85 ft car on a model 90 ft circle curve, little overhang at all..


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow, those are looking great Dirk!  nicely done..

For my LV train, three cars will be shortened, three will stay the same length,
and only one will be lengthened..

I'll start a new thread for that project soon..I have been planning it for years!  
collecting the cars one at a time..just now getting around to starting it..

Scot


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Not discussed yet...but I lagged behind as mentioned on the first two cut car bodies...the most important part..setting was languished over for months..even years..to decide how and where the couplers would sit..they..alone...set the car length..over pulling faces..

The result was I cut cars apart...then couldn't decide. Cut more cars apart before eventually reaching my decisions for this part.. a few more of these using the square tube for alignment...developed into a set length for this square tube..as there are small ribs near the door inner walls edges..inside. .it was eventually determined I could use these..as the stops to set car lengths on each car body built...no more constant use of a tape measure..just a couple verification checks in order now..as more get done..it gets easier to make these.

I just moved the couplers around for a long time to get them where I wanted them to work and look proper..

Dirk


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Scot.

Planning and pondering is where it's at with these one off creations..
Sometimes a good drawing is helpfull..but most of the lessor work of windows I just wing it as needed..
Doing the Stanford will have a drawing made first for window placement..no options here...
Sometimes a masking tape line on a car side is enuff..

Continue planning..have fun!


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Great thread Dirk. Keep us uptodate, love learning from you. Excellent work!


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Additional reading of John Whites, American Railroad Passenger Car part 1 revealed the cement of heavyweight cars was purposed as an insulation and sound dampening method. The steel cars side panels were known to produce a drumming sound together with track and under carriage noises that were transmitted through the floor, the noise was described as 'racket' mitigating same was deemed necessary. The cement or mortar composition of sorts (cement/magnesium and or asbestos) was a mere 3/4" thick! 

FWIW: Lightweight cars used a layer of cork in lieu of cement mortar.

Michael


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Dirk,

Great thread!

I think you mentioned and want to clarify same... That different car bodies i.e., RPO-Combine-Coach and such don't necessarily line-up and or match exactly when sliced and diced to one another. I suspect this is do to tooling/injection mold being created for each offering with slight variables incorporated into each tool.

Michael


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Yea. Molds are not the same in our hobby.. which is amazing considering the state of the machine world we live in..
Plus. don't ask why,?.. Aristo had minor detail tweaks between car sides, varying across car styles. 
Nuff to make a grown man pull hair at times!! Ha...

Dirk


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

A very interesting project of car bashing, looking good.
For those of you who are perhaps not that familiar with passenger cars, and heavyweights in particular, I would like to clarify Dirk's reference to 85 feet.
Now, I do not have information on all the different railroads and the cars that they built or owned, but here is what I do know.
The length of a car is normally listed as the 'coupled' length, that is the length to the inside of the coupler knuckle.
For example, the Pullman heavyweights were typically 83' 5 ¾" or 82' 5 ¾".
Interestingly, Pullman would list the length of their cars excluding vestibules, so the cars would be listed as 74' 6", and 73' 6", and then of course cars with only one vestibule, or no vestibule at all, would give you an increased length, so it's important to know what the diagram is that the length references, if that makes sense!
Canadian Pacific's longest sleeper heavyweights were 83' 10 ½", and their longest full baggage was 82' 2 ½".
Now, when it came to the 'lightweight' streamline cars of Pullman Standard they did indeed go up to the full 85' on some cars.
Just some more information that may or may not be interesting to you.
All the best,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

You point out a tough piece of info to grasp and chase down. There have been a variety of means used to determine car lengths..not an easy task to clear up at times...

Some of my Pullmans will be a bit shorter..based on info for a specific car used to model.

Also...as hard as I try .. I try to use over pulling faces lengths to talk about any car or locos length..yet locos go by length over end plates also...

All Fun.... Sometimes again..hair pulling fun..

Thanks David


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Use of pulling face length, makes depot design a lot easier to set up for servicing.
I'm enjoying your posts.
John


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

We've broken ground on the "slice n dice" concepts...

I've started discussing mold result issues in our hobby..

How I compensate to build a car that looks like it never went thru torture getting there!!

Or the builder...

I use the square tubing on the inside corner to match car body pieces during the rejoining and alignment steps... Using one in the corner does two things. 
The lower floor lines up...
The sidewalls line up...

But..hold on here....

Remember I said no 2 car bodies are the same....the thickness varies...

Which wall do we clamp to? Thick.. Or .. Thin....it does matter...

Clue here...use the heavy wall first to clamp the tube to! Measure and note the difference in the walls in play. Figure the difference the thinner wall is "missing". Then find shims this amount, placing them inside the thin wall, between the tube & inner wall surface. 

This results in pushing the nice outer surface and those rivets always in my way..into a smooth flush surface, where it shows after the paint work is complete..

But there is one more key issue in play at the same time....bored yet?!!

Remember I discussed car bodies running different widths....here's where this aspect hits home... Measure both car body sections that share a common joint..if they are not the same, I usually slice down the middle of the wider car body..creating the saw kurf..that closes up some during this alignment process...better than a growing gap on narrow bodies.

I do all this effort for the pleasure of having cars that don't jump out of boxes!!! 

Most of my choices in cars to build will come from former SPrr stock, many transfered over to UP later in their lifetime...this is a natural progression to follow...I am also tempted to bring in a few cars from other roads that will add a bit of spice from their character to my fleet of passenger cars...

Popcorn n movie time... Go play!
Later...
SD


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Thanks fer dropping by TW... Its been fun for me also....too long I've been getting prodded about not sharing my projects and ideas.... You never do that..!

Its timely that its far too cold to be outside....or that I have the 13 year old XP standing on its legs again..put up in the cabin for now so I can do this kind of stuff. Its all good....nice to see it all in order trying to make sense for us all.

Drop by ... On a warm day... Lest I offer you Hot coco...

SD


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Me prod? I thought you were hibernating by now. It's dang chilly down here!
John


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## harvey (Dec 30, 2008)

Hi Dirk, Hi TW, I have lots of sweaters up here should I bring a few down with me?? We're at minus 14C today, a heat wave. Haven't seen any track around here since November, but I know it's down there somewhere.
Great thread and nice to see someone jumping out of the box and building some beautiful cars. Now I see why you're building these tunnel engines, you'll need some horse power to haul them.
Look forward to seeing the progress and I just pray I don't get the urge to do some for my road!
Cheers.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

I match your need for power Harvey...

I think one Steam engine should do.... The Mighty Big Boy....!!!

Hibernating is my favorite thing to do this time of year...almost.... Dream-in of warmer days is even better...


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Dirk;

I really like your cars. I know that you have a sense of humor. I was just musing over the title of this thread, *A Heavyweight Teaser*, and realized it could also describe a flirtatious hippo!

Have fun,
David Meashey


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

David...Thanks...what a wonderful laugh first thing on a cold morning... LOL....


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Here is the bottom of a 3-axle truck for the H.W. cars. 

This shows the pivot point in the stock location that everyone runs on their cars currently. in RED...

I have shown the slotted pivot I am running my cars on. It starts with the slotted point, has a larger diameter plastic stub and screw, hence its stronger by nature, I have designed a 3D part to fill the slot and create a bolster tube to set over the frame on the cars. Yellow...










Moving the pivot allows the trucks to swing under the car staying a bit more centered, without cocking way off out from under the car body. This has the effect of pushing the car inboard on curves somewhat, with less over hang on the outside of curves. I also benefit from this making it easier to build the nice looking frame work that passes below the trucks like you've seen previously.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

There's another advantage, the pivot in the center of the truck helps the truck track better, and if you retain the truck mounted couplers (I know you are body mount Dirk), it will lessen the uneven forces on the coupler tang that the stock setup has.

Greg


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## derPeter (Dec 26, 2010)

Hallo again,

yes the truck-pivot should be situated under the middle axe this is Center of car-weight..

greetings and Happy New Year 2016 !!
from derPeter


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## mjltuk (Jan 3, 2008)

Yes I agree with derPeter that that is the underlying problem especially with the 3-axle trucks. How are the new ones coming on derPeter?

I think I have read most everything about Aristo Heavyweights that is available online and tried most fixes. Yet I'm still pulling my hair out trying to make 3-axle Heavyweight trucks track reliably! 

On page 2 of this thread SD posted a helpful pic of his 60 ft. Baggage and two 3-axle trucks on Christmas Day. 

Can't quite see if the RH truck is the new stock Aristo version, could you confirm please SD?

Even more interesting is the LH truck with a white styrene spacer. This is what I am currently experimenting with, so a couple of questions please:

Has your spacer solved the tracking issue for you? in this position? how thick is it? is it flat and are the ends/sides tapered?

Very many thanks in advance for any info - or even better more pix please

mike


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Mike..mornin mate'!!

As life progress..my shopping around for supplies and cars has put me in a place on occasion to "find" new packaged Aristo 3-axle trucks... Just found another small cache of them last week...means I have enough new trucks for at least half my intended train length into the future.. Now I have bought a number of new cars .. Also with new trucks... So.I'm not in bad spot for heading towards all new trucks for the entire train here.

Now.. I'm heavily modifing all my trucks to sit below my cars...
Yes.. I placed a temp spacer on the truck mentioned.. Look closer still... There is a small washer glued in place .. Acting as the pivot center. Also..please note I rework trucks to lower the car bodies some.

You and I live in different layout worlds... I'm lowering cars.. You can do the same.
I'm re-locating the pivot point to the original slotted position... You may do this also.

I have designed a drop in part in the slot..a 3D part... Should work for others also..yet I've not had any produced yet...

Now.. The big issue.. Tracking... We run on completely different curves here buddy!
I'd would ask you.. What curves you play on?
My experiences may not be helpful in reality.. My cars are good for maybe 8ft radius. Definitely 10 ft radius or larger. I've not had a car on my test track for many months..lots in my head these days..full of info..
I'll place a car on track on a warm day soon....

Hope you find this encouraging and helpful for your use!

Dirk


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## du-bousquetaire (Feb 14, 2011)

It is good to see that some of the fellow modelers who are comitted to 1/29th scale wake up to these realities and try to improve the available rolling stock. I personnally do this with 1/32 scale but have rarely found 1/29th scale modelers eager to improve their stuf. Its a very good base you have with the Aristocrafts. If we had these components available to us in 1/32 we would be a happy bunch. You should turn out some really nice cars, keep at it. I once lengthened a Maerklin continental flat car with 12 cuts and slices, they have been running since about ten years now. I was able to make Two out of three cars and the third chassis became a baggage car...


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## derPeter (Dec 26, 2010)

Hallo again,

i read all with interest, becaus ialso was fiddling with this cars,
here some pics i made of my changes:

- made new Pivot from dia 5mm brassrod, with M3 outside Thread, M2 inside thread..
- changed Position of this wire-holder to right pos.
- see the angle of fruck rotating 3-axle truck + 2-axle truck..
- made new Slot for wiring..
- together with MTH-car, now the horizontal lines (Roof + door) is approx. same height..

But still hope, some professional made heavys in 1:32 will come onedays..

greetings from
derPeter


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Gentlemen.. Thank you for your interest & building out side the typical modelers box....encouragement!!

It has been a long process to work thru..years of pondering..yet mostly in the recent past year or so...I have been able to start tackling each idea and or question one step at a time...resulting in my ideas becoming closer to reality, allowing me to move forward with this aspect of interest in my hobby!
SD


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## mjltuk (Jan 3, 2008)

Big Thank you to both Dirk and Peter. Both helpful and encouraging, this is all good stuff.

Yes OK Dirk I can't match your radius. I built with Min Diameter of 10ft (though mainly 14/15ft) and made the mistake of believing Aristo's 8ft Min Diameter. Should I understand that all your 3-axle trucks are the newer ones? 

Ingenious Pivot Peter, can I have a close-up please? Where did you find 5mm brassrod, with M3 outside Thread, M2 inside thread? Have you tried them yet? Can we have an updated video behind your MTH GS2?

mike


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## ewarhol (Mar 3, 2014)

Great thread guys!

I'm still working on getting my engines and rolling stock up and running with Kadee couplers. I have one Aristo HW that I want to repaint one day. I will remember this thread for when I go to work on it.


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## derPeter (Dec 26, 2010)

Hallo Mike,

i dont want disturb the original thread of SD, here is a sketch of truckmounting..
Pivot is selfmade on a small lathe, on Picture you see:
-carbody
-washer
-brass-Pivot M3
-truck
-Fixing screw M2

hope this helps, no outside run actual, too cold + wet..

greetings derPeter


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## mjltuk (Jan 3, 2008)

Thank you Peter. Your sketch is very helpful,

Look forward to see how this works out when you can get outside.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

While I'm way out on a limb with my cars. And trying to inspire others... help in the practical realm is appreciated for those living on normal sized layouts!
Thanks der Peter..

SD


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