.

[michaeljoe]

.

 

[J.Albert]

What kind of track do you use?

 

[bnsf971]

These are the types I consider to be "minimum standard":
Athearn and Roundhouse "shake the box" kits.
Atlas Snap Track, and Atlas Custom-line switches.
Diesel engines should be all-wheel drive, preferably with flywheels.
Transistor-type power pack. Not, the old Taper-wound rheostat type like you'd find in 1970s department store sets.
Knuckle-type couplers, and not the old X2F couplers, body mounted, not truck-mounted. Truck mounted works well going forward, but when you try to back up, everything wants to derail.

 

[Iron Horseman]

The locomotives I have seem to work well so far. But the rolling stock I have are from....my ready to run .....HO, Bachmann train sets.

The rolling stock doesn't work so good.
They derail on the turnout tracks and such easily at times ...... Should I upgrade the, couplers...wheels.... trucks......add more weight?

If there are suggestions for getting...new and better rolling stock, that sounds ok.

I would need suggestions on what brands,
and what are the better upgrades.....I know that Walther's Mainline is better than the Walther's Train line..... but how much better?

Also I'm not a rich man, I'm 65 on a fixed income. But I am willing to spend money on decent good working...... ready to run..... rolling stock.

Any suggestions on brand names and types would be great.

I was hoping of a price range of.... not more than around.....$50 to $75.... And that's a little much for me. I don't know maybe that's not possible.

But I need to get something without me doing any upgrades myself,

Well, lots to unpack here.

First I would recommend getting a wheel gauge and make certain all the wheels are the correct distance apart. That one thing can prevent more derailments than any thing.
Are you also using Bachmann EZ-track turnouts, it is good to get a track gauge and see that they are all the proper distance between the rails too.

Second, is the trucks themselves. Check to make certain they both pivot easily without snagging on something under the car, and make certain they are not on so tight that they don't have a little "rock" to them. That is for both front to back and side to side. Emphasis on "little", one doesn't want them sloppy. Finally on this point make certain the axles easily and freely spin in the trucks.

Third is, as you mentioned, add weight. NMRA standard for weight is a base of 1 ounce, plus 1/2 ounce for each 1" of length. So a 6" box car should be 4 ounces.

Couplers are a more complicated issue. Bachmann cars used to be all truck mounted couplers. Newer ones in their Spectrum line are body mouted. Coupling the two types together can cause lateral stress in curves, especially s-curves. So that depends on what you have. Stricktly truck mounted couplers should not cause derailing unless they are really stiff (rare), or unless the coupler is drooping so low that the "pin" on the bottom is hitting the top of the rail going through the turnout. That deserves a look. For body mounted couplers on tight curves longer cars will have a longer swing to them, and can derail if coupled to shorter cars. I mean, don't couple a 21 foot cement hopper to a 70 foot high cube box.

From there, yes swiching to metal wheels will help the car roll better, and add weight, but not necessarily help with derailments.

I know very little about Bachmann trucks so cannot comment there. I can't imagine other than the pivoting mentioned above why swiching them out would help.

As for just buying different equipment, wow, the options are abundant. Walthers trainline are fine. The difference between them and the mainline is in the detail. I don't believe they have any better running qualities. Athearn RTR are good. I like Accurail, other than their couplers. Same for Atlas the difference in the Trainman line and the Master line is detail, not really running quality, but they do have those wonky split shaft couplers.

In the used market one cannot go wrong with the Athearn Blue box cars. They were the staple of HO model railroading for 50 years. Just as good now as they were then. However having said that I am certain everyone would agree they still need to have the wheels checked for gauge, trucks properly pivoting, couplers checked for drooping, and weight added.

 

[CambriaArea51]

Most of my rolling stock is Athearn ready to run, Walthers mainline, Atlas, Intermountain, and some Scaletrains. The more you spend on a car the less you have to do to it. Cars that have plastic wheels and couplers run better with metal. Some trucks even if they are reamed don't fit certain metal wheels. Can you take a lesser expensive car and fix it up to make it like a $35-40 car yes, but some of the parts to do so are much more today than what they were pre covid. Kay Dee metal couplers have doubled to triple in price for example. Look at what the car has for what the price is. Metal wheels and couplers go a long way.

 

[Bigboy57]

Many of my rolling stock cars were from the late ‘60’s and early 70’s. Almost all of them had couplers attached to the trucks(talgo) and plastic wheelsets. I replaced them with metal wheelsets and Kadee couplers. You will need to use a gage to help with coupler height, a bunch of 2-56 machine screws, some shim washers, gearboxes, Kadee couplers, and a pin vise. All of this will cost close to $200 for about 50 cars and of course, a lot of time. But when you finish, the results will be rewarding.

 

[Bigboy57]

I use one similar but picked it up at Hobby Lobby. I think their all about the same.