Hello, I’m new to the n scale world I’ve been HO for all my life and I know the subject has been brought up in the past but most of the replies are going on a decade old and I’m hoping there has been some new solutions to a very old problem… that being the gap between Kato F7 N scale locomotives. I’ve heard unimate close couplers work but hey seem to be long gone. I’m thinking about drilling microtrians coupler boxes into the metal weight portion and cutting off the Kato coupler box attached to the wheel but this seems risky. Any ideas would be appreciated.
https://www.intermountain-railway.com/n/nacc.htm https://www.some train store.com/fox-valley-models-n-51020-long-shank-couplers-8/ https://www.walthers.com/short-shank-fixed-knuckle-coupler-pkg-8 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr....l1313&_nkw=n+scale+unimate+couplers&_sacat=0 Looks like they are still out there, but out of stock.
I don't know which release of the Kato F7's you have. Mine are from the first release and have a truck mounted coupler on the rear of the A units. Do not cut off the coupler box. A short shank coupler like the ones listed on Ebay will fit the coupler box. Save the spring as you will need it to center the coupler. The B units take a short shank Unimate on both ends. The A units will take a MT 2004 underslung coupler on the front. Using the short shanks couples the units very close but will still allow the units to negotiate tight curves.
I think it’s a fairly current release ATSF 176-2121 A Unit ATSF 176-2211 B Unit The A unit has a weird front three prong pilot with a piece of brass as a coupler spring (I broke the hooks already removing it…. I deal with that later). The rear couplers are attached to the trucks and stick out way too far.
what i did for my F7's . is i got two front trucks from kato parts. and drilled two small holes in the bottom of the frames 1 on the A unit and one on the B unit then tapped. then made a drawbar.
If Intermountain doesn't have them , there are some on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...at=180250&_dcat=180250&_sop=10&_oaa=1&Gauge=N
Thanks CSX Robert I just ordered a couple. NS737 do you have any photos? That is along the lines of what I was planning and still might do if these unimates are still too far apart. Plus I screwed up removing the front pilot (coupler holder) and will prob have to get creative with a new front coupler on the A unit.
American Limited diaphragms help fill the gap visually after the couplers are replaced. Does the front coupler clip from the Kato parts website fit the generation of F-unit you have? Stay safe,
I gave a misleading suggestion in my previous comment. The Unimates did a good job of bringing the units together. Too close for the diaphragms I wanted to use. After trying several combinations, including Unimates, I settled on the Kato knuckle couplers they came with. In order to make the diaphragms meet I used spacers to extend them on the B-units. Actually, both ends of one B and one end of the other. This was my compromise. I ended up filling the gap instead of closing it. These are from the current, DCC friendly generation, so none of this may work the same for you. Stay safe,
The diaphragms fill the void but the void still remains. The Unimates draw the two units very close so no diaphragms are necessary; plus they provide a sure coupling that will not uncouple unless one physically lifts one unit's coupler over the other.
The Red Caboose / Fox Valley couplers come in different lengths. The 51000 series are the short ones. They are easily installed when replacing a Rapido coupler.
Here's a similar set to the one above with Unimates instead of diaphragms. I use them in all my Kato hood units, they work great in all of them regardless of age. Here's a pair of my Kato PAs. It works for them as well:
Very nice. Did you use John Sing's asymmetrical approach with the PAs? He explains in thoroughly in the thread I linked in my post immediately above.
While they don't fully close, another option is to use Kato passenger car diaphragms. DSCN0773 by NorsemanJack posted Jul 8, 2018 at 10:27 AM DSCN0775 by NorsemanJack posted Jul 8, 2018 at 10:29 AM
