I've been buying a few cars to get started and I have been thinking about my coupler situation. I have bought just Atlas and MT cars so far. I plan to only manual uncouple. I don't plan to run trains over 10-15 cars long at the most. I don't think I'm going to bother with body mount couplers because I really don't mind the way truck mounted couplers look, and also because it looks like my layout is going to consist of 12-3/8 and 13-3/4 curves and I was thinking that was a little sharp for going the strictly body mount route, or am I mistaken? FWIW, I also want to switch my cars to metal wheel sets. I like the look and the sound and if that's dumb so be it. Now, my question is should I put MT trucks and couplers on all of my rolling stock, or for my situation I listed above would sticking with a mixture of Atlas trucks with accu-mates and MT trucks and couplers on the MT cars be just fine and then just buy the appropriate FVM wheels for each? Thanks, Matt
In your situation (preference)...and many other peoples preference....just go with the new all metal wheelsets. There is absolutely NO reason to go to body mounts if you dont want to. It's YOUR railroad....you are the one who has to be happy no one else...JMO P*S* I run my railroad exactly like what you posted and couldnt be happier:tb-biggrin: .
Whether your curves are too tight for body mounts depends on what you'll be running. 40'-50' cars won't be any problem at all, but 80' autoracks or passenger equipment would create issues. Given the length of train you are contemplating, you probably won't get much operational improvement from body-mounts (the biggest help with body-mounts is backing a fairly long cut of cars across a switch; a body-mounted coupler allows the truck to swivel independently of the force on the car body and hence tends to avoid having wheels pick the frog or points of a turnout; but with relatively short cuts of cars, you probably wouldn't notice a difference). I believe that in the long run you will have more reliable operation if you "standardize" on one kind of truck, coupler mounting and wheelset. If you like metal wheels, go for it, but try to get to the point where all your rolling stock has the same wheels, same brand of truck, and same brand of coupler and coupler mounting method. Doing this makes troubleshooting derailment problems much easier down the road; you'll quickly become familiar with any "quirks" of your particular setup, and will find it much easier to isolate and fix any problems. John C.
If you will put up with the sharp curves then you will probably put up with the extended coupling distance with the Atlas cars. BUT... better make your mind up on this point BEFORE you order those metal wheelsets because MT trucks take a shorter axle length wheelset than Atlas and you can't mix the two. To avoid confusion I personally would go with all MT trucks. But Rule #1 applies here.
I mix it up, running MTs, Accumates, and "AccuTrains" cross-breds. I for one cannot stand the MT slink, and the Accu's help contain all that bouncing around. To each his own, others will disagree. I'm going to try some metal wheels, never have really.
I'll have to give it some more thought and your opinions are a big help. I may do something, I may not but I'd like to be able to make an educated decision so it's good to know my options. I've heard nothing but good about the MT couplers but strangely I thought I had read somewhere that the atlas trucks were better, something about MT's truck molds being worn out or something of that sort? If you say the MT trucks are just as good I guess I'm leaning towards changing everything to MT trucks and couplers with FVM wheel sets. I want to make that decision now while I only have a few cars versus changing over a few hundered cars later. Is it very hard to pick out which MT trucks (with couplers on the trucks) that I need for various cars? For example if I look at an Atlas car and I can identify the style of truck, do I just buy the MT truck in that style that has the coupler attached, or are there other complications like length of coupler? I know there is in body mounts, wasn't sure about Talgo? Also will the wheels that come on the new MT trucks have any resale value, or no? Thanks, Matt
Umm, I'm afraid to ask but what is the "slink" you speak of? Sounds like something I need to know. :tb-confused:
Since you asked, yes it does exist. Warning, this subject is one of the most endlessly debate topics there is, much like C80 vs. C55 track. Please no flames! Because of the MT design with the spring, strings of cars with MTs will bounce in a "slinky" like fashion, usually at slower speeds (such as switching). This morning I was pulling two MT cars behind a loco, and they bounced like all get out. By running couplers without that spring (Accumates), or cars with some kind of retardant (axle spring), or just lots and lots of cars (weight), the effect will diminish. I hope I explained it well. If you search, there must be tons of threads discussing this ad naseum. I don't think anything rolls better than an MT truck, but the bounce kills it for me when it happens. It doesn't always happen, either. Grades will also affect this phenomenon.
Matt... In short..."Slinky" is the back and forth motion at the couplers while the trains are running. Multplied by the number of cars in your consist it can be pretty noticeable. There are numerous threads on Trainboard about slinky and just as many thoughts on trying to fix it. You can use the 'search' feature and type in slinky and read everyones thoughts on it....thnxs .
Rule #2 in model railroading: Never throw anything away :tb-biggrin:. Sooner or later you will find a use for everything. Often folks want only lo-pros and will trade away big flange wheels in exchange, or vice-versa as I've seen happen.
Ahh... I see. Am I reading that right? It looks like one of you are saying it's not that noticable unless you are pulling a lot of cars, and one of you are saying it helps if you pull more cars? "By running couplers without that spring (Accumates), or cars with some kind of retardant (axle spring), or just lots and lots of cars (weight), the effect will diminish." "In short..."Slinky" is the back and forth motion at the couplers while the trains are running. Multplied by the number of cars in your consist it can be pretty noticeable." Either way, why would I want to spend money changing to MT trucks w/ couplers if they slinky and accu-mates don't? I'm lost.. Anyone know the answer to my other part of my question on post #7? The picking them out part.
Accumates are known to break, or, uncouple I should say on longer trains. They also allow an unrealistic amount of space between cars. I think that's the problems...could be wrong.
Thanks Dave. Well assuming most people are right and MT trucks w/ couplers are better than atlas trucks w/ accu-mate couplers I don't have any experience to have an opinion so I'll just go with it. Now, check this out. Since I'm bored to tears I thought I'd go to the MT website and look at the trucks with truck mounted couplers and see if I could figure out for myself how to pick a pair out. turned out to be educational but has spawned yet another question. Using my Atlas 90Ton Hopper as an example.. I went to their page that shows close ups of the different truck styles. It was easy to see that mine were "Barber Roller Bearing" because it looked like them and was the only truck like that with 3 springs per side. Then I figured stick with black color since that's what was on it. So, there were 11 ways to buy those babies. Frightened at first, I just ruled out the "without couplers" types, the "lo-pro wheels types" and the "bulk packs". that left me with only 4 to go: 003 02 041 - w/ short extension couplers 003 02 042 - w/ medium extension couplers 003 02 043 - w/ medium+ extension couplers 003 02 044 - w/ long extension couplers Now I beg you, please tell me there is an easy way for a newbie railroader such as myself to tell which I need?? Is there a simple formula? I bet not... Can't wait to hear what voodoo I will have to conjure up to figure that out I'm shocked I got as far as I did... I'm proud.
Using this still can be confusing but it will help a lot. Micro-Trains | The Ultimate in N and Z scale model trains
Maybe this will help, since I just completed a 60 Atlas car conversion to MT trucks/couplers and FVM metal wheels. Converted all engines to MT couplers as well. Equally as important! I used short coupler Barber Roller Bearing trucks on everything except my cabooses and flat cars due to the recessed bolsters on these cars. Medium coupler BRB trucks were used in order to have a like spacing compared to all the other cars. I used 33" and 36" FVM metal wheels based on the load limits of the respective car. Everything was checked / rechecked and adjusted for height, fit, etc. I'm running short and medium length consists (5 to 30 cars) on a 0 degree grade CLEAN layout at very slow to normal scale speeds with no smaller radius curve than 19 inches with none of the slink effect mentioned. However I experimented with this issue prior to and during the conversion. Running Accumates up front and MTs behind produced the slink effect. Running MTs up front and Accumates behind or all MTs eliminated the issue. These are just the facts given my layout specs. Consistency paid off for my situation. I luv the quality of the MT trucks/couplers and awesome looks and sound of the FVM metal wheels.:mbiggrin: Jerry
Thanks Jerry, what is the load limit that calls for the move up to 36"? Also, where can FVM sets normally be found in stock? Everytime I check M.B. woo woo woo they are out.
For what it's worth, I've been running a mix of MT truck-mounts and Accumates for about three years now. Now that my layout is nearly complete and I'm doing more operating/switching, I'm planning to slowly convert my fleet to all MT truck-mounts. Why? I manually uncouple with a sharpened wood skewer. Uncoupling 2 MT couplers is smooth. Uncoupling 2 Accumates is sometimes OK depending on the coupler condition. But, uncoupling a MT coupler from an Accumate is generally a pain. Yes, the Accumates are less durable than the MTs. Yes, slinky can be an issue, but I find Iron Horse's observation about slinkyless all-MT trains intriguing. Kinda makes sense, given his operating conditions. At this point, I want to make operating more enjoyable. Total conversion to MT couplers is one the next steps I plan to take. For you, if hobby expense control requires it, run whatever you have for now, then convert couplers and trucks later as opportunities arise. That approach is working for me.
Take a closer look. Your Atlas rolling stock already has 40/50, 70 and 100 ton trucks / wheels on them. The 40/50 ton trucks have the Bettendorf style trucks w/33" wheels. The 70 ton BRB trucks have 33" wheels and the 100 ton BRB trucks have 36" wheels on them. Next look at the load ratings printed on the side of the car itself. Sorry I don't have the chart in hand on weight specs to wheel size, however there is one available to help being proto-typically accurate. I bought all mine from Brooklyn Locomotive Works (blwnscale.com). Jerry
