Adding Weight To BLMA Tankers

[jereising]

Has anyone done it? 

How? 

Very reluctant to "play" with these if someone knows how...

And TIA!

[jereising]

Apparently I have stumped the Railwire Collective...130 views and nobody says nuttin'....

[rochsub]

Hi Jim!

Are you having issues on curves?  I noticed on mine that the undercarriage piping interferes with wheels on sharper curves. I would not think extra weight would help the issue.  Other than the curve issue, they seem to track great.

Daryl

[Lemosteam]

 Nuttin'  You asked for it!   

Unfortunately I don't have any of these cars, are there any openings underneath whe a hole could be drilled for those tiny lead balls that wer discussed not too long ago?

[GaryHinshaw]

What issue are you having Jim?  I have a bunch of these and most of them run fine with the factory weight.  However, when I was putting them in service, I did notice that about 10% of them had an issue with the truck bolster: the tube that accepts the trucks and truck screw was assembled with a slight inward cant, causing the inner wheels of the truck to ride high of the rail.  These cars were basically unable to track at all (and adding weight to them won't help).  I think most of my problem cases (3 or 4 cars) can be dealt with by reaming the truck hole a bit, to give them more play.  Maybe you have a similar issue?

[jereising]

I have a tank car train - 25 of the BLMA up from (following a buffer car) and around 20 ethanol tankers following that, with another buffer car.  Yeah, I know it's not proto, but the typical viewer won't notice that.  At the top of the 2% out of staging, every now and again the first five or six cars will stringline on the reverse curve.  In other, similar cases adding weight has taken car of the issue.

All wheels are free rolling, Gary - although the lower room temp this time of year can't help.

And it doesn't appear there's any way to access the interior - at least not easily, Lemosteam.  And Daryl - it's a 24" radius curve...