#1165 List Price $12.30 So, I was a good boy. I studied the conversion chart. I have 3 sets of AB units of the LL FA. I detest Rapido couplers. The LL couplers are apparently useless. I ordered three pairs from Wig-Wag. They were delivered with, I assume, the appropriate discount. Here I am, reading the instructions on the back of the 1165 card. It says cut, it says shim, it says use a jeweler's file. It says a whole lot of stuff. Included in the conversion "kit" are two couplers and some other piece apparently to be used as a receptacle for the coupler after a whole bunch of doing things for the conversion. There was a piece of paper inside that stated, and I quote "We have replaced the original 1015 couplers (assembled with the lid up) for this conversion kit with our new Reverse Draft Angle (RDA) couplers for greater pulling capacity. The new coupler requires the use of the universal shim as shown ...." I would have followed the instructions, but the coupler opened up on me and there is a very small spring now circling my work room every 29 minutes. I looked at its brother, then I looked at an unimproved, less pulling power 1015. I looked at the untouched shell. I put the 1015 into the pocket. It fit. I tapped the already present hole to .090. I screwed in the 1015. It pulls just fine for the LLL. Price of two $1015's? Price of a pair of new and improved couplers for the "conversion kit"? By the way- No shim needed for the unimproved 1015- I am passing this on in hope that all who are thinking of purchasing the conversion kit will purchase a gondola, instead. IT IS ANOTHER LESSON LEARNED BY
I made drawbars for in between my units. The drawbars couple together. The pin snaps into the hole I cut at each end of the drawbar. On the ends I just used a 1015 and set it back into the pilot as far as I could. a ABBA set can still go around 9.75 curves with no gaps in-between.
Is it possible that the conversion kit you purchased was for the older version of the LL FA2 with truck-mounted couplers? These have a huge hole in the pilot on the front of the locomotive. MT used to make a conversion kit that included a piece to glue into that cavity from behind the pilot, converting the front of the loco from truck-mounted couplers to body-mount. (if so, contact me off line, and I will buy the "filler" pieces from you.) The correct front coupler for the LL FA1 and FA2 that have the split metal frame is the 1015. 1015's also are a drop-in fit on the back of the newer FA1/FA2 and both ends of the B units. I think they couple the units too far apart, but I have been using them until I can make drawbars for them that still allow me to transport and store the locomotives in their original boxes. I made drawbars for my LL PA1s that meet those criteria. I haven't gotten around to doing it for the FA/FB sets. I had a bunch of the "front" knuckle couplers from later issue FA/PA/E7/E8 locos, and those work fine between units. They still couple the units too far apart, just no quite as bad. I use a MT coupler screw to attach them, making sure they are tight, then back the screw off just enough for the coupler to swivel and self-center. I've pulled 80 cars with an FA/FB1 pair without a disconnect, and our current NTrak layout has some humps and dips at module joints. (if anyone has any of the dummy knuckles off these LL units and has no use for them, I'll take them.)
LongTrain- The units are split frame, so you are probably most correct. The thing that puzzles me, though, about the kit is that all others I have seen from MT say that they are made in the USA. The kit says Made in China. I would assume this to be a newer product. On the filler piece, if that is what it is, you are welcome to it, at no charge at all, if it does not fit onto one of my three existing very old C liners or F units, whichever they may be. I will take a look, tonight. The only thing that I tried was a 1016, but it stuck out too much and the 1015's take the turns quite well.
Mark, I think it could have happened to me, too. It is not easy to find the right information in advance. Sometimes you just end up with items which do not fit. As said above, the old FA's with the big hole have a special conversion kit from MTL. I used one on a PRR and on a NYC engine. Later I got two sets of the split frame FA1 and FA2. The new drive beats the old ones by far, so the old ones are not running often. Christoph [ February 22, 2005, 01:41 PM: Message edited by: christoph ]
The nose insert and the special front coupler are why the original #1165 kit cost so much. I wouldn't expect you give those inserts away. I'll give you fair value for them. email me off the board if interested.
There are still numerous plastic frame LL FAs out there, hence the availability of the kit. The plastic frame FAs were considered so good for their time that MT actually thought that it was worth the bother to make a special kit for them. The B-mann SPECTRUM 2-8-0 was a much better locomotive, but MT did not consider it worth it to make a pilot conversion. The pilot piece on the B-personn will unscrew in a fashion much simpler than would the RR. I still fail to understand why the MT will not make a pilot conversion.
