One possible solution to a problem like this is to add side bearings. Side
bearings are the devices that control the yaw of a rail vehicle. In prototype
practice side bearings consist of caged rollers or Stuki Constant Contact
units. In either case the design is such that the bearing is attached to the
truck bolster just outboard of the center plate and a mating contact surface is
attached to the car end bolster. As the car yaws, or rolls to either side, the
contact surfaces of the bearing touch thereby limiting the degree of roll.
With light (by comparison) models it is possible to use flat, semi spring brass
or phosphor bronze bar stock to achieve nearly the same result as the real
thing. Attach the "spring" material to the truck bolster and adjust them to be
quite close to the car bolster when resting on a flat surface. Test the
tracking of the car (tender) a few times and make further adjustments as might
be needed. Do this to only one truck of a model as there is one critical
element missing, MASS.
Also, lowering the center of gravity of the car will add to its rolling
qualities.
Hope this helps.
Karl
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----- Original Message -----
From: kzach61@h...
To: BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 3:03 PM
Subject: [BRHSlist] Sunset S-4
I'm getting a Sunset S-4 ready for the paint shop, and have a
question. It seems to me that the tender is rather top heavy, and
tends to wobble as it runs down the track. I had another S-4
some time back, and if I remember correctly it had the same
problem. Any suggestions on how to correct this? Would it be
feasible to remove some of the coal bunker, as it seems to be a
possible source of the weight problem, and replace it with
styrene before putting in a coal load? I've tried putting in some
weights on the tender floor, and using a stiffer spring on the truck
bolsters, but neither solution seemed to help much. I'd
appreciate any suggestions.
Jim Zach
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