Apart from the very first Accumates they work here in 20-car trains. Cannot run longer ones due to restricting length of station tracks. I asked Atlas about missing trip pins and got a couple of coupler parts (the one with the trip pin) for free. They all work now. I even converted some Deluxe flat cars from MTL to Atlas, because they worked better there. And I use Atlas 100-ton trucks because their prototypical 36' wheels. (Now, please, don't beat me...., but I have still invested enough in MTL couplers and trucks to remain a valued customer).
I have installed MT trucks & Couplers on many of my freight cars. Of course these were older cars that had unkown trucks and rapido couplers. My stock Athearn and Atlas cars still have Accumate couplers and I have ran them without too much problems. That being said, I still dont think they stayed coupled as well as MT couplers. I still plan on changing my Accumates to MT in the future....just not a priority project right now.
Forgot to comment on when to convert. I would have to agree with others that the best advice would be to try them first. If they work great. If they dont work, replace them.
Yah try them first....It's really neat to watch part of a 30 car train uncouple about 10 feet into and up a 2 % grade!!! It's like having 2 trains; one traveling uphill at a scale 25 mph being pulled by 3 locos and one traveling downhill at a scale speed of about 90-100 mph with no locos attached and no way to stop it (the tracks are to the rear and in the hidden area of the layout) except for that freight train that was following at a safe scale 1 mile behind - not a good thing!!! I can't tell a "good" accumate from a bad until the above happens and I can't take that weird feeling that consumes me when I start to hear those low profile metal wheels making that rapidly accellerating ROAR when the accumate feels the urge to let go! It's a damn shame and expensive to keep changing to MT but........ Brian
I'd also try them out, like I did. But make a decision early. I must have acquired a hundred cars before I tried a long train. I converted them en masse--tedious and costly.
The cost would be the same whether you decide early or late, the total depends on the number of cars you purchase with non-M-T couplers that you want to convert. In fact, converting en masse, like you did, could wind up cheaper because you can buy the bulk packs. Now doing them late (and at one shot) is more of a lump sum shock to the wallet. And I agree that changing out a ton of couplers at one long stretch would be rather tedious. Regards Ed
I guess I am strange.....but I like doing assembly line style conversions. When I upgraded my Deluxe coalporters....I did them in masse.
We have gooten rid of the yo yo effect buy chalking all the wheel point. It reduces slack by roughly 75 percent. Not my idea but a guy in the club did his that way and it worked so we all do it now. Also DPU's have really reduced it in the longer coal trains.
I also convert all my trucks to MT's and replace all the wheels with low profile metal ones. The pain of the expense is minimized when you buy trucks and wheel sets in bulk and then just do cars as they're acquired. I don't run a lot of long trains (over 20 cars), but I prefer the ease of coupling with the MT's and the rolling ease of the metal low profile wheels.
I just got a couple of new Atlas cars. One had a trip pin already fallen out. Look for the trucks on ebay...
Add a little bit of weathering chalk to the axle point. It actually makes the truck pull harder and is not as free wheeling. It creates enough drag so a slight down grade does not cause the slack to run out.
Hmmm, tedium: flip the car over, grab a truck, wiggle and flip the truck to the trash. Balance the pin on your finger tip, drop the MT truck on the pin , flip the assembly and press into place. Elapsed time= 15 sec. Repeat on other end. Just jokeing. My idea of a relaxing evening is cliping off those silly talgo couplers and body mounting instead. If the truth were known, I have a more fundamental problem: I have 90 engines, 800+ cars, and I really don't like any of the couplers available. They are big and clunky, don't really look like a Janney. I know I'm not alone. (Have you seen Seargents HO coupler? sweet) I don't want magnetics, MDC had their semiautomatics that were badly executed, IM's which were better but were dropped. I haven't seen Bman's yet, but I expect it to be oversized also. Right now, the best option looks (to me) like the MT Z Maerklin 901 conversion (without those thingies), compact draft end and reasonable reach, just need a custom draft gear box... Bob in IDaho, who might sucumb to the dark side and use MTs and Accumates as body mounts, just don't take any photos. PS: Donations of Accumates/trucks will be accepted. Plastic wheelsets of all flange persuasions, also. (I have a lathe.)
Nothing But Trouble About 90% of my bad order cars are for Accumate couplers falling apart. I wish Atlas would not spend the money on this junk. I would be willing to pay a little extra for MT couplers and trucks if they came on the Atlas cars. This is quite frustrating.
Had a brand new string of AutoMax cars running at the Museum on Saturday, and they kept breaking apart and derailing. After removing the trip pins from every single coupler, the cars run perfectly. Accumate strikes again! :angry:
