Hi all from an infrequent poster... I have a few old... 1960's lima gondolas that I want to change to micro-trains as part of a sustem wide swap. They are truck mount couplers and have a split pin that fits into the car body and nothing included in the microtrains bulk pac of Bettendorf trucks seems to be the right thing. I searched the Microtrains web site and just came up with lists that I am not sure if they apply. These are the rolling stock from my first N layout... box cars and a caboose etc. There is major nostalgia at work here. I have though about filling with epoxy and drilling but I want to see if there is a better way. I have about 20 cars already converted that just use pins and it is almost trouble free compared to the rapido type and well as closing up the gap between cars... Thanks already for the help I know is on the way. rlc-jim
This is tricky. I've tried two different ways and means to accomplish this. One, I cut off the forks or split pins and drilled a hole to slide the MT bolster pin in place. This takes some filing to smooth off the body. I use a gap filling cyanoacrylate, just a drop of it off a sewing pin, placed sparingly around the edges. Drop the bolster pin into the hole in the truck and nudge the whole thing gently into the hole. Two, I drilled out the hole for the bolster pin in the trucks to accomodate the split pin. Both worked fairly well. I tend to favor number one. I hope this helps.
I'd suggest using BLMA trucks instead of MTLs as they make those old cars really sit lower and therefore Look better. Just a thought. Have Fun Michael --- I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=48.206515,16.302396
Great Ideas... But I was literaly gifted with yet another way.... While looking at the car body then looking at the trucks and then at the car body I did what I usually do and dropped the trucks. on my hands an knees looking for it I saw it had landed next to a quarter inch long machine screw....:lamp: and eureka! so I tried the machine screw to see how it fit in the car... and it cut a real nice thread in the plastic of the car and also fit well on the truck! I won't show you a pic of dmy floor I am too ashamed, but it seems as if I had dropped a tray of these screws down there, enough to do all four cars! I wish they had been pan head instead of round head but I was too excited to keep searching and see if I had dropped some of those as well. I included a picture that shows the original truck as well as how it worked out. So far the cars seem to run well. Thanks to all! now I only have a few couples I need to rebuild the in the coupler box and a Japanese make budwieser car with a split pin which is a different size. Merry Xmas to all and hope you get new trains from Santa! rlc-jim .
PS For all of you with sharp eyes I know the Barber roller bearing trucks are wrong for a car of this era but I had them and made a stern tomise to myself not to look too closely as they went rolling by. I took a look at your blog Michael... great work. I have a small collection of European steam and am trying to build my layout so they don't look too out of place when I run them. I grew up in france and Germany and it is from the old Flieshman HO layout my dad built for me when I was 6 that my love of model RR came from. Froeliche Weinacht.... (lousy spelling I know.) RLC-Jim
