Adding weight to "Annie"

[Model Tug]

I have been given 17 pounds of bird shot and would like to add about 3 to 4 pounds to my "Annie"
At the moment I have filled a couple of pill bottles with the shot and added them to my engine cavities.
I am worried that over time the plastic pill bottles might leak and get into the driving gearing.
What I would like to use is a low temperature resin ( or other product) that I can mix into the bird shot and
pour into the engine cavities. ( At least the cavities that will not leak out the mix!)
Any thoughts?

Rod

[Kevin Strong]

I've had good luck mixing bird shot with Bondo (auto putty). It makes a nice paste that you can spoon into various places, and once dry, can be drilled and tapped to hold screws, etc. if necessary rather easily.



When I kitbashed my B'mann 0-4-0, I yanked the weight so I could have room for the electronics. Doing that meant the loco couldn't pull its own shadow, so I filled the smokebox and domes with some extra weight. Runs like a champ, and pulls 5 or 6 cars without issue.

Later,

K

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Kevin's method is a great solution, another method is to use the two part epoxy putty.  Adding a little weight is OK, buy extra weight will put more strain on the gear train.  My Son uses pennies in some situations epoxying them in place.   I guess his engines are more valuable that way !

[Red26]

Most of my track is on 4% grade & so not much can be pulled behind my 4-6-0's; I made a wooden template to fit my Annie and then used it to make a mold; the lead weight I cast weighs five & a half pounds - can I confidently say the gears will strip quite soon? any ideas how strong the gears are on the (type 5) annie?

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Hard to say what will happen.  A lot depends on how much weight you will be pulling behind the Annie and for how long, and the distance of the 4% part of the layout

Try hanging 10 cars on it and run the heck out of it on the 4%.  Then report the results here. 

The version 5 chassis is hands down the best ever produced for the 4-6-0, but even it has limits when tweaked beyond the design.   

My club supports a flat and level layout at a children's hospital,  The trains run for 10 hours a day. 7 days a week.  We have used every brand of loco steam or diesel except for Bachmann.  At most the loco's are good for about three months (a month to six weeks seems to be more average) then break for various reasons, usually motor blocks followed by burned out PC boards, and worn pickup shoes where so equipped.   Some have broken down in as little as two weeks (new out of the box) all these without added weight and short consists.   We had to stop using metal wheels (except on loco's) as we literally wore out the track.  It is much easier for us to replace plastic wheels than track.   

Please let us know how you make out.

[Model Tug]

I left out an important bit of information!!
I belong to a Garden RR group and we have several Bachmann 4-6-0 engines. I have found that
the engines will pull 3 to 4 unweighted cars with ease and not damage the gears.
The problem is when a grandchild is running at top speed and reverses the engine.  Split Gears!!
My personal "Annie" has the "Barry's Big Trains" upgrade. This is an excellent product, well engineered and built with Quality!!

What I need to do is add additional weight to the converted "Annie".
I Like Kevins idea about using Bondo and mixing it with the bird shot.
Does the mix get hot enough during curing to distort the plastic in the Bachmann engine?

Rod

[Barry BBT]

Bill,

I have several units, 4-6-0s and 2-8-0s running in commercial installations, museums, children's hospitals, etc.  Some going back 12 to 15 years.  Short term runs are 4 to 5 years without any needed help except for regular lubrication.  Also haven't lost a gear in about 12 years, by anything I have built.  It can be done.

Barry - BBT

[NarrowMinded]

For easy to use extra weight I use the flat self stick weights for balancing tires you can bend them to fit inside the smoke box, just make sure you bend them and get a good fit first then stick them, they are hard to remove to reposition them.

NM