Guys,This NMRA weight (RP20.1) has been discuss at length at the club and the operation sig that I belong to.The following is our thoughts.You judge.Again this is our OPINION!
The conclusion we came to was that RP20.1 is as out dated as brass track and wheels.We feel by using metal wheels puts the weight where it belongs on the rail and not in the car its self.We also agreed that some of the lighter cars such as the impact and front runners should have some weight added but not to RP20.1.
The bases of the discussion and conclusion was from the well known fact that none of the 3 local HO clubs follow RP20.1 and have smooth operation and very little derailments and seeing how one club still uses plastic wheels with the same results.
We also came to the conclusion that the most import thing is good track work,scale speeds,wheels and couplers in proper gauge played the biggest part in derailment free operations not not the weight of the car.
For those that may not know RP20.1 came about in the days of wooden car kits and plastic cars that had little or no weight not to mention the terrible wheels they used back then before RP25 wheels came into play as a new NMRA RP.