Hello-- I am looking for suggestions on couplers or trucks/coupler sets for Walthers new Milwaukee Hiawatha passenger cars so they will negotiate 19-1/4 to 22" radii. It's that or cutom paint Con-Cor 72' "shorties", which may cost a mint. Or does any one out there have for sale any "shorties" already painted in the Hiawatha scheme? Any help is appreciated. Thanks, Steve Williams
its more than just the trucks/coupler. For the coupler you should try the longerst coupler you can. Your biggest problem is car hang over. The car will hang over so much that the car might become unstable and tip over depending on where the weight is in the car.
The Walthers passenger cars are full scale length. They don't run very well if at all on curves sharper than 24 inch (HO) radius. I have the Empire Builder by Walthers and the California Zephyr from Precision Craft/BLI and have 26 inch radius curves. Neither train likes my railroad so I run them on the LK&R Ry. Club which has 40 inch radius curves.
I doubt that the trucks will even turn far enough to go around enything under 22" without underframe modification. even the concor short cars won't care much for turns under 22", they will usally work, but they won't be happy.
