Body Mount Couplers

[bigzmn]

I normally build HO scale models but now I'm dabbling a little bit in N scale because both of my sons decided to switch scales.

I noticed almost all freight cars, except for the newest items, have truck mounted couplers.

My older son is modeling the transition era and has lots of Intermountain 40' cars. On those he body mounts MT 1025 couplers and installs Fox Valley wheelsets. They seem to work fine. Some Atlas cars do not have a place to body mount a coupler though.

My younger son and I are modeling the early 80's. On some of the cars I see how 1025, 1027 or 1015/1015 can be mounted. But on most tank cars and open hoppers there is no mounting pad. How do these get handled?

Also, many cars should have extended coupler pockets. I've found nothing in N scale for this like there is in HO scale. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Chris Z.

[cf7]

A friend of mine recently gave me 30 Intermountain car kits. He had them up on consignment at the LHS and couldn't sell them and, fortunately, I walked in at the right time.

Anyway, the first one that I built, I added MT 1023 couplers and Fox Valley wheelsets. I filed off the tall truck mounting boss on the frame to lower the car, and it looks much better. But, the wheelsets don't fit the trucks the way I like. I measured the original wheelsets and they are .540. I installed the Fox Valley wheelsets, the .540 ones, and they seem a bit loose. Must be the truck itself. I'm not real happy with that.

On the second car, I just filed the truck mounting bosses down and installed MT trucks with the truck mounted couplers. This works well but I can't decide if I want body mounts or not. To me, this is a big decision because I want to do this once. I am strongly considering building another N scale layout ( I originally started in N back in '74).

Last time I did a few body mounts, JnJ Trains made a soft metal kit that filled in the space at the ends of a hopper to provide not on a better looking frame, but a place to mount the couplers. Not sure they are still available, but something like that would be easy to build with a little styrene.

I have also built a few extended coupler pockets from styrene. There is a thread on the Railire forum about this very thing. One guy had a bunch of extended pockets etched out of brass and they look fantastic.

I hope this helps some. I wish I had pictures of some of the things that I mentioned, but most of that was done years ago. I really enjoy building the IM kits, but, like you, want to get this figured out.

[bigzmn]

OK thanks. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking something, I guess N scale still has a ways to go.

It seems that JnJ is out of business. I did find some coupler mounting pads at at local hobby shop made by Red Caboose. They appear to be for open hoppers. Part # RNP-51604 and the description is 'Unimate Body Mount Coupler Brackets'. They had three packages and since the price was only $1.50 each I bought all three.

I'll join that Railwire forum and see what I can find there.

The last time I really messed with N scale was the late 70's and things were a lot different then.

Chris Z.

[umtrrauthor]

I 'cheat' on extended draft gear by mounting Micro-Trains couplers slightly outboard of the underside of the car. I don't need many of these since I model 1963.

I use Micro-Trains low profile wheels on Intermountain cars with no worries.

[bigzmn]

Mar 27, 2014 12:08:56 GMT -8 umtrrauthor said:

I 'cheat' on extended draft gear by mounting Micro-Trains couplers slightly outboard of the underside of the car. I don't need many of these since I model 1963.

I use Micro-Trains low profile wheels on Intermountain cars with no worries.

I tried MT 1016 couplers on a couple of Atlas 50' FGE style cars. It looks OK, like cushioned pockets, but the couplers are a little low.

One of our local shops has decided to clear out some N scale inventory, MT couplers and rolling stock and some assorted other brands of rolling stock. All at 50% off...not 50% off the current MSRP but 50% off the original MSRP. I cleared out the MT 1015/1016, 1025, 1026 and 1027. I also picked out a few pieces of rolling stock for myself and my sons.

Chris Z.

[Donnell Wells]

Hi Chris,

Therailwire.net is exactly the place you want to go. I frequent there a lot, mostly for the the N-scale content. However, check out this thread. I think it is just what you're looking for:
www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=21980.0

Be prepared though. It's 27 pages of good reading!

Donnell

[bnsf971]

Mar 27, 2014 22:30:17 GMT -8 bigzmn said:

Mar 27, 2014 12:08:56 GMT -8 umtrrauthor said:

I 'cheat' on extended draft gear by mounting Micro-Trains couplers slightly outboard of the underside of the car. I don't need many of these since I model 1963.

I use Micro-Trains low profile wheels on Intermountain cars with no worries.

I tried MT 1016 couplers on a couple of Atlas 50' FGE style cars. It looks OK, like cushioned pockets, but the couplers are a little low.

One of our local shops has decided to clear out some N scale inventory, MT couplers and rolling stock and some assorted other brands of rolling stock. All at 50% off...not 50% off the current MSRP but 50% off the original MSRP. I cleared out the MT 1015/1016, 1025, 1026 and 1027. I also picked out a few pieces of rolling stock for myself and my sons.

Chris Z.

Chris, I remember using 2004 couplers in a 1015 box. The 2004 is an underslung coupler, so it sits higher than a 1015.

[coaltrain]

Mar 26, 2014 0:39:29 GMT -8 bigzmn said:

I normally build HO scale models but now I'm dabbling a little bit in N scale because both of my sons decided to switch scales.

I noticed almost all freight cars, except for the newest items, have truck mounted couplers.

My older son is modeling the transition era and has lots of Intermountain 40' cars. On those he body mounts MT 1025 couplers and installs Fox Valley wheelsets. They seem to work fine. Some Atlas cars do not have a place to body mount a coupler though.

My younger son and I are modeling the early 80's. On some of the cars I see how 1025, 1027 or 1015/1015 can be mounted. But on most tank cars and open hoppers there is no mounting pad. How do these get handled?

Also, many cars should have extended coupler pockets. I've found nothing in N scale for this like there is in HO scale. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Chris Z.

[coaltrain]

Hi, I'm a new member but an old n-scaler. I have been converting many (30 so far) Red Caboose Ortner Rapid Discharge 5-Bay Hopper and Atlas 90 Hoppers from the standard MT/Atlas talgo type trucks to MT trucks w/o couplers and using the Unimate II n scale couplers (pn RNP-51060) and most importantly the old Unimate Body Mount Coupler Bracket (old pn #1064, new pn RNP-51604). Unfortunately, my old stock of Unimate Body Mount Coupler Brackets will soon be depleted and no source exists for replacements. I called Intermountain and was told that the "tool" that produces the brackets was broken and there were no plans in the immediate future to resurrect the tool. I explained that many of the Atlas + Red Caboose hopper body mount faithful exist and if IM would consider retooling, their efforts would pay off. I was told to check back at a later time - hoping for the best :-p

[Spikre]

while Your at it,throw out the Truck Push Pins and use 2-56 Flat Head
screws for truck mounting.
its easier than one would think,just get the screws in Bulk as they go
fast,and are cheaper to purchase in bulk.
use a 3/8 drill to camfer the bolster so the screw sits flush.
if 3/8" is too large,use a 1/4",and spin the bit by hand.
Spikre

[coaltrain]

Thanks Spikre, like that idea; that will contribute to overall stability by adding some weight where it does the most good by lowering the center of gravity. :-)

[riogrande]

I have toyed with the idea of getting some N-scale stuff - I was an N scaler back in the late 70's and early 80's. The idea of having to convert many pieces of rolling stock over to body mount was one thing that gave me pause. I have no idea what percentage of N scale stuff is made with body mount vs. talgo truck mount.

[Spikre]

James,
would guess about 25% to 33% has body mounts today.
but that's just an unimformed guess.
Spikre

[catt]

A lot of the new N scale rolling stock now come with body mount couplers and it seems that the number is increasing rapidly.Some of the N scale cars require major surgery like the coal hoppers and PS-2 covered hoppers because there is nothing to mount the coupler to.Some of the Micro Trains cars have the frames already for body mounts once the screw hole is drilled all the way through and the hole tapped.