Adding weights to passenger cars to stop derailments?

[RobertInOntario]

I'm slowly getting my Athearn CNR passenger cars to run on my small 5.5x3.5' layout. As mentioned on other posts, this layout normally operates in "British mode" as it's essentially set up to depict SW England in the 1950s. However, I occasionally like to run my N. American stock on it, which I've been doing recently.

I think I've solved the coupler problems on these Athearn coaches (see <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4214">viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4214</a><!-- l -->) by gradually identifying and replacing the problematic ones. Now, I'm slowly solving their derailment problems. Because the layout's curves are so tight (15"R), some of the 6-wheeled trucks derail in certain areas (mainly two areas) on the layout. I've tried swapping out wheel-sets and adjusting the track & that doesn't seem to help -- I think it's curious that most of the coaches/trucks pass through all areas of the track no problem, while others frequently detail.

Last night, I started to add some weights inside the two problematic coaches, right over the offending trucks. So far (and for most of the time!) this seems to be working. Do you think adding extra weight is the best way to solve this problem? I'm mainly asking b/c, in the past, I've had mixed results when adding weights to cars. Also, are there any other things I could do to solve this problem, such as replacing the entire trucks, assuming there is something wrong with them?

Thanks in advance,