Heavy freight car - or can it carry a heavy book?

[morse]

Just built my first HO scale train (right now a circle due to not enough space), it's part of a set...the Santa Fe Flyer. I also got a couple of flat cars and a gradient.

Is there a real heavy freight car? (perhaps a steel one) I want to load it with a real heavy freight car or even an heavy item and see it climb that gradient. Everytime I put a book or other heavy item, when it tries to go around the curve at medium speed..it derails.

[jward]

model power used to market a line of die cast freight cars called metal train. they weighed probably twice a normal freight car. although model power is no longer in business, you may be able to find these cars on ebay.

[jbrock27]

Morse Code, keep in mind, the heavier the car, the harder it will be for the loco to haul it up said gradient.

[electrical whiz kid]

Morse;
There are standards available.  For instance, you could go to 'Model Railroader.com', and locate them.  These would probably suit your needs adequately.  The notion of 'overweighting' rolling stock can, as Jim pointed out, quickly become a detriment to your effort.  I had once SERIOUSLY over-weighted an Athearn streamline dining car. The sound of this car "clunking" it's way across my turnouts, rail joints etc. warmed the cockles of my heart-but the locomotive pulling it would stall predictably at EVERY hillock it would come across.  I almost could sense it screaming 'enough is enough'...  A free roll down-grade proved interesting as well...

Rich C.

[gbradley]

Model Power although they ceased their operations are being handled/marketed by MRC

[jbrock27]

...and can be found on Model Train Stuff's site.