ColinB Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 I was checking my HST today and picked up the dummy car, I noticed it has the same weight in it as the driving car. Does it need it? I took the weight out which is 54 grams, which I suspect is equivalent to several additional carriages which probably explains why I have been having a lot of issues with driver wheels traction. Even with the weight out it is still quite heavy with the weghts on the wheels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Spare Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 The only word of caution I would mention is stability. Stability when the power car is propelling and the non-powered driving car is the leading vehicle transitioning from straight to curved track on the flat and negotiating pointwork particularly on the diverging route when running at perhaps overscale speeds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stubaggieboy Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Hi Colin. Before I replaced all of my ringfield drive HST's and replaced them with the later version I removed the weights from the dummy power cars for exactly the same reason and they run perfectly fine.Regards Stu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Makes me wonder why we load weights into lightweight tanks and wagons then to make them run better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 Yes, on some carriges and wagons you need to add weight because they are so light they derail. I had to do it to my Lima DMU. I only noticed the weight in the dummy car when I tried to get my Ringfield based Sir Nigel Gresley (upgraded to 5 pole) to pull my HST without the driver unit, it was slipping like mad. Even without the weight the trailer unit is still heavy, it has weights on each bogie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham_bartram Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 I did exactly the same and now the loco can pull several more coaches than it could with the weight in the trailing HST car - went from struggling to pull 4 coaches to managing 8 with ease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atom3624 Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Must admit I'm very surprised it cannot handle a 'normal train' of 8 or 9 carriages - is the motor requiring attention / are the tyres in need of replacement? My 'Super Detail' Virgin HST has no problems with 'too many' and can easily pull them in excess of a scale 120+ mph - if there's the room / track to handle it!! Al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Doc Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 The wheels on the dummy car aren't very free-wheeling either. Rather than being on pinpoint axle bearings they just use the same chassis/bogie as the non-powered (pick-up only) bogie on the powered car. If it were possible to adapt the bogie frames to take brass cup bearings it would probably roll much more freely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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