Good afternoon...I am interested in buying a couple of pieces of Marklin rolling stock (specifically, a caboose) but want to convert it to Micro-Trains couplers. Is this hard to accomplish? I like some of the Marklin rolling stock, but the ways the trucks are mounted inward to accomodate the couplers just looks wrong to me. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
I've converted quite a few Marklin cabooses (Cabeese?) to MTL and Full Throttle trucks by discarding the Marklin trucks and drilling and tapping the floor nearer the end of the car. I use 10BA screws and use nuts and washers to get the ride height correct. There is also a conversion kit available that uses a cast centre sill to mount MTL or alternative trucks if you are not confident about drilling and tapping. I have aslo filled in some of the windows on the Marklin caboose to make a better representation of the Nickel Plate caboose. This picture should, I hope, show the better appearance of the converted models. The rear one still has the marklin trucks and couplers fitted (I keep this one as the chosen run to run on the back of the big Coal Hopper train that still has all Marklin running gear fitted) cheers KEV
I believe the Microtrains # 902 is a direct replacement for most Marklin couplers. However the trucks are still mounted too far inboard for many folks taste. It is not too hard to mount MT trucks in the correct location.
I modified some of mine by gluing a piece of brass tubing to the bottom of the chassis in the correct location. I used a MTL 902 to replace the coupler if I didn't want to move the whole truck.
Guys, do it the easy way and buy the conversion kit from Anthony....... http://www.zscalemonster.com/zelatory/ Good product and makes life easier.
See attached picture. The Märklin gon is shorted and converted to MTL trucks. Just remove some material from the bottom to create space for the coupler. glue a styrene shim in place and drill a hole for the pin to hold the truck...
