Full Version: There are no easy projects....sigh
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I was doing some switching this afternoon and having a problem with getting two cars coupled. One car was equipped with Kadee 158 and the other with a McHenry. I've been converting all my cars to the Kadee so I though "This won't take long."

Take the truck off, get out the needle nose and start prying the coupler cover off. Boy, this thing is -SNAP- stubborn. Well, it was. Honest.

OK, let's drill and tap the box and be on our way. Find the 2-56 tap and drill bit (that I bought to replace the ones I bought a few years earlier and never could find again). Get the car in the drill press vice, carefully protected by cloth. It won't sit square. Ah, a couple of loose screws (on the vice!). Tighten those up and drilling and tapping proceed according to the manual.

Now it's time (finally) to install the new coupler. Oh, and be careful of the nice delicate stirrup. Place the coupler in the coupler box and hold the cover or the box. Coupler won't move. OK. The cover plate needs to be filed down. It's too thin to hold against the sander so I have to press it against the face of the file to get it to the proper thickness (after multiple test fittings).

Finally ready to attach the coupler -SNAP- there goes the stirrup. Get the coupler installed. Reglue the stirrup. Reglue the other parts that fell of because Front Range kits "don't need to be glued."

45 minutes later the car is equipped with Kadees and I'm ready to shut the lights off for today.

Tom
Is this the time to recall the old Model Railroader magazine slogan, "Model Railroading is Fun!" Misngth
Ralph
That's the exact reason why I don't dabble in superdetailing Misngth
I feel your pain. My model railroading time is brief and it seems I can only do one task in one session since everything takes longer than expected.
I'm so glad that when I started converting to Kadees, they were replacing "dummy" knuckle couplers and the old NMRA X2F (commonly called the Horn-Hook Coupler.) As I built more rolling stock, I just dropped the X2F's in a small jar and built the car with Kadees from the very beginning.

I had to keep finding a bigger jar.

Anyone want a mayonnaise jar of X2F's?
P5se Camelback Wrote:
Anyone want a mayonnaise jar of X2F's?
BiL: on the old Gauge, we used to give away packets and jars of X2fs as contest prizes. 2285_
Been there, done that! 219
BR60103 Wrote: BiL: on the old Gauge, we used to give away packets and jars of X2Fs as contest prizes. 2285_

Icon_lol Icon_lol Icon_lol Icon_lol Icon_lol

Hmmmmmmmm! Icon_idea Maybe I should dig the Hellman's Mayo jar out, divide it up between a bunch of bayfood jars (my grandson is still eating that nasty stuff,) paint the lids a nice shade of blue, put Big Blue stickers on them and donate them as "Special Awards!" 357
FiatFan Wrote:I was doing some switching this afternoon and having a problem with getting two cars coupled. One car was equipped with Kadee 158 and the other with a McHenry. I've been converting all my cars to the Kadee so I though "This won't take long."
Although I'm still using Kadee No. 5's, I won't put a new car into service until it has Kadee's on it. More often than not when I've purchased new cars the past couple of years or so, they all seem to come with plastic McHenry (with and without metal springs) or Accumate type split shank plastic couplers.

For the most part, replacing them has been a snap, EXCEPT, I've picked up 3 or 4 Athearn cars lately that are some of their older models that have been updated with the addition of separate grab irons, etc., but to my horror still used the old style stamped metal snap on coupler box cover! Those things are a pain to get off and you risk damaging the two little plastic lips that hold them in place. I managed to get them changed out okay without damaging anything, but shame on you Athearn! If you're going to upgrade the car with better details, then PLEASE fix the coupler pockets too!

If I decide to start changing to the scale size couplers one of these days, those cars will no doubt have their factory coupler pockets removed completely and replaced with Kadee pockets. Somehow, I don't think they'll hold up to having that stamped metal cover pried off too many times.
OK, let's drill and tap the box and be on our way. Find the 2-56 tap and drill bit (that I bought to replace the ones I bought a few years earlier and never could find again). Get the car in the drill press vice, carefully protected by cloth.
-----------------------------------------
Let's see then...

Break out Dremel tool,place #50 drill bit in chuck,place car in foam holder,remove truck,place new coupler box cover in place for guide.Drill hole for 2-56,remove coupler box cover,mount 148 coupler,snap coupler cover in place,add 2-56 screw,replace truck.Finny.
FCIN Wrote:Although I'm still using Kadee No. 5's, I won't put a new car into service until it has Kadee's on it. More often than not when I've purchased new cars the past couple of years or so, they all seem to come with plastic McHenry (with and without metal springs) or Accumate type split shank plastic couplers.

For the most part, replacing them has been a snap, EXCEPT, I've picked up 3 or 4 Athearn cars lately that are some of their older models that have been updated with the addition of separate grab irons, etc., but to my horror still used the old style stamped metal snap on coupler box cover! Those things are a pain to get off and you risk damaging the two little plastic lips that hold them in place. I managed to get them changed out okay without damaging anything, but shame on you Athearn! If you're going to upgrade the car with better details, then PLEASE fix the coupler pockets too!

If I decide to start changing to the scale size couplers one of these days, those cars will no doubt have their factory coupler pockets removed completely and replaced with Kadee pockets. Somehow, I don't think they'll hold up to having that stamped metal cover pried off too many times.

At one of our recent club meetings, a member showed off a new tool that A-line has come out with. It is a centering piece made of steel that just fits over the pin on the Athearn coupler with a hole to just fit and guide the correct drill (included with the kit) for doing a 2-56 screw centered on that pin to mount your Kadee coupler. Once done, you don't need to worry about the tabs no longer holding the metal clip in place or the metal clip losing it's tension.
Russ Bellinis Wrote:At one of our recent club meetings, a member showed off a new tool that A-line has come out with. It is a centering piece made of steel that just fits over the pin on the Athearn coupler with a hole to just fit and guide the correct drill (included with the kit) for doing a 2-56 screw centered on that pin to mount your Kadee coupler. Once done, you don't need to worry about the tabs no longer holding the metal clip in place or the metal clip losing it's tension.
Thanks Russ! I'll have to see if I can find one of those. Couldn't find it on their web site, but perhaps they just haven't added it yet.
That a-line product sounds neat. I'm in the process of tuning kadees right now so they open properly over the magnet. I never used the magnets before my current layout, and now I'm wodering if the clips are too tight or if I can get away with some graphite lube or maybe filing the shanks, or both. The only problem I had with the athearn clips in the past was that some of the car frame areas impeded the clip from seating all the way. I just filed the clip's corners till they snapped securely. I guess for long consists you'd want to screw them down though. So I'm going to clean some loco wheels and track now. Hopefully that'll go easily!
The easy projects are the ones you never start.