05-03-2010, 09:33 AM
Welcome kb9vgr !
The thing that originally got me thinking was that the Athearn "mike" and the Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 were about the same weight, but the consolidation pulled far more. With the "mike"s balance point back at the third driver set, every time it tried to pull, it rocked back and removed almost all tractive effort from the front two driver sets.It effectively became a large 0-4-0 ! :o In the end, it is tractive effort, more than weight.
Oh, I checked, and the "post-it"s are still on the two Athearn 2-8-2's that will become C&O k2's, reminding me to re-read this thread before proceeding. My thought is to first balance the loco by removing as much of the frame around the motor as is possible, and then adding weight while maintaining that balance point.
kb9vgr, I started using Apoxiesculpt, for filling holes joints etc. in plastic models. It is a two part putty, that sets hard enough to machine, and can still be sanded. I'm thinking that mixing lead shot with the putty, would make a mold-able weight, that would also be "self adhesive" ( providing the surfaces are first cleaned well )
doctorwayne Wrote:Balancing the loco while maintaining the stock weight would have been preferable to simply adding weight, but still leaving the loco unbalanced.
The loco , belonging to my good friend Mister Nutbar, was severely back-heavy when we first got it, mostly due to the extremely large can motor used to re-power it. While I didn't think to weigh it before doing the conversion work on it, I knew that it would need to be balanced in order to improve both its pulling ability and its tracking qualities, as the lead drivers actually lifted off the rails on some curves.
The thing that originally got me thinking was that the Athearn "mike" and the Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 were about the same weight, but the consolidation pulled far more. With the "mike"s balance point back at the third driver set, every time it tried to pull, it rocked back and removed almost all tractive effort from the front two driver sets.It effectively became a large 0-4-0 ! :o In the end, it is tractive effort, more than weight.
Oh, I checked, and the "post-it"s are still on the two Athearn 2-8-2's that will become C&O k2's, reminding me to re-read this thread before proceeding. My thought is to first balance the loco by removing as much of the frame around the motor as is possible, and then adding weight while maintaining that balance point.
kb9vgr, I started using Apoxiesculpt, for filling holes joints etc. in plastic models. It is a two part putty, that sets hard enough to machine, and can still be sanded. I'm thinking that mixing lead shot with the putty, would make a mold-able weight, that would also be "self adhesive" ( providing the surfaces are first cleaned well )
We always learn far more from our own mistakes, than we will ever learn from another's advice.
The greatest place to live life, is on the sharp leading edge of a learning curve.
Lead me not into temptation.....I can find it myself!
The greatest place to live life, is on the sharp leading edge of a learning curve.
Lead me not into temptation.....I can find it myself!