I plan to body mount couplers to some Con-cor heavyweights. I checked the Micro-trains conversion chart, but it only lists truck mount conversions of 1128, 1129 and 1130s not body mounts. Did a search on Trainboard and didn't find a specific post on my question. Has anyone body mount MTL couplers to Con-Cor heavyweights? If yes, what did you use and do you have pictures?
I believe I recall seeing the MTL body mount coupler as used on their heavy weight passenger cars in their online website.
I have been using 1015s on mine. I have to add a shim made of about .05" styrene to get the coupler height correct using the original trucks. I cut of the coupler pockets from the trucks and replace the wheel sets with Microtrain wheels. The axles are not quite long enough on the MT wheelsets so I put a tiny drop of ACC (super glue) in the bottom of each bearing cup in the side frames to center the axles better. They then don't drop out when you pick the car up.
r_i_straw Thanks for the info on the .05" styrene. What is the minium radius the heavyweights with the 1015s couplers will run on without derailing?.
That depends on where you mount the coupler pockets. You can drill and tap a hole for the mounting screw farther out to negotiate tighter curves or closer in to the bolster for close coupling and broad curves. The mounting position I use works real well on my Unitrak test loop that uses about a 12 inch curve. No problems at all for NTRAK running. There is a limit to how far in you can mount them because the coupler pocket will interfere with the end of the truck frame. I carve away much of the end of the truck where the coupler pocket was removed, even shaving a little off on the inside of the brake shoes. Some material can also be removed from the back corners of the 1015 coupler pocket to provide more clearance when the truck pivots back and forth. As for the styrene thickness, I was going from memory. I went back and measured it with a vernier caliper and found it to be .07 inches thick.
Rissell, What did you use for your steps? They look good and I'd like to do the same to mine. Thanks, Don
I had been using the fold up etched brass steps from Gold Metal but have had difficulty locating them lately. So, I have built up a master out of thin sheet styrene that has two steps and a mounting shim platform for the 1015 couplers. I then made some RTV molds so that I can cast them in resin. I cut away all the detail on the floor at each end and glue the step assembly on, drill and tap a hole for the coupler mounting screw and paint.
Well everyone seems to be going GAGA over body mount couplers. To tell the truth I do not prefer them especially on passenger cars. I got a set of the MT heavyweights with the body mounts. The coupling distance is ridiculous. I have the older Atlas/Model Power, etc. heavyweights with the truck mounted couplers. Since these cars are rarely, if ever, uncoupled I used the "T" shank Unimate couplers. These cars couple very close together and make the MT cars look toy like in comparison. One of my items on the "To DO" list is to convert the MT cars to truck mounted couplers so they can look as good as my other heavyweights.
The reason I went with body mount on my heavyweight cars is because the steps I add keep the truck mounted couplers for swinging properly. You may have to carve away some of the steps on the new MT cars if you plan on truck mounted couplers.
If that is what is necessary to eliminate that atrocious coupling distance then so be it. Quite frankly the coupling distance is more noticeable than the steps, especially the back of them.
The stock MT heavyweight coupler spacing is unacceptable to me. That and the offset bolster give me fits. I move the couplers back and remount the trucks before I run them.
Russel Thanks for the update and pictures. I'm going to go with the 1015s set up for tight curves (and made note of the .07" styrene shim). Inkaneer From what I read, truck couplers are notorious for derailing cars when backing up long trains. My priority is clean operations. Would love to have close coupling and will entertain solutions to have both. Thom
Sorry, I am not really set up for anything akin to mass production. Right now I have not even accumulated enough of those for the projects I have set aside for them.
I have seen long trains being backed on Ntrak layouts with no problems. But why is anyone backing long trains? How many cars can you shove into a siding? Most industries I have seen on layouts have very short sidings. And a more fundamental question is what constitutes a long train? Passenger trains are not long. Surely you won't see any 100+ car passenger train as you would a unit train. This was especially true in the era of the heavyweight cars. Passenger train engines were built for speed not lugging ability so their trains were kept short to maintain the timetables.
Inkaneer 20 car Troop Trains of Pullman heavyweight. Camp Kilmer, located near Edison NJ, had a capacity of fifteen 20-car troop trains. On some of our Ntrak layouts we have a stub end yard that is 20'-24' long. One show was a 90' by 30' layout, so the we had the room. Also a few of us run long coal drags. I've double headed N&W Y3bs with 50-75 three bay hoppers and double headed B&O EM-1s with up to 75 two bay hoppers. Yes, we have to double over in the yard, but the audience, especially the kids, love the long trains. Many try to count the cars as they go by. I'm trying to build the Powhatan Arrow which consisted of 20 passenger cars and also building the Capitol Limited that had 15-16 cars. So, I need to be able to backup without causing problems (as much as possible) at shows. Thom
