Converting N trucks/couplers

'Cuz not enough people belong to the NMRA. The NMRA has standards for both trucks (axle length and bearing spacing) and car and truck bolster heights, so that coupler height will be correct no matter what trucks you put under a car. For mounting, there is an RP (recommended practice), which says you should use a screw.

But the NMRA has no legal power to enforce standards, only "moral suasion" -- that is, the power of numbers. Used to be that a majority of serious hobbyists belonged top the NMRA, and manufacturers were happy to earn the Conformance Warrant. Not any more, I'm sad to say.

There's strength in numbers - so join the NMRA, and tell hobbyshops you won't buy equipment that doesn't conform to standards and RPs.

Trash the trucks that come with the car, and standardise on one brand of truck complete with wheels. Use small screws to fasten them to the car. This may entail plugging the existing hole and drilling a new one.

If you body-mount couplers, you may lso have to file down the car-bolster or shim the coupler mounting pad.

Microtrains make trucks with couplers attached, or you can body-mount the couplers. Changing couplers is actually easier than trying to change wheels in a variety of trucks.

HTH&GL

How do you deal with locomotives that have their couplers attached to the power trucks? Are there MT couplers that fit in the Rapido pockets, or do you always pull a car with a Rapido on one end and an MT on the other end, or do you cut off the Rapido coupler and body-mount an MT coupler? It looks like some cars will have a clearance problem on the end with MT trucks/couplers. Do you file clearance space on the cars? Do MicroTrains make a replacement truck for Model Power trucks with the built in split bolster pin?

harrym

MT makes a huge variety of couplers for different locomotives. Go to their website, or get a Walthers catalog: pages 110-11 in current (2004) N&Z catalog list several dozen conversions. MT's website will also give you loads of info you don't realise you need until you see it.:-)

As for car mounting: you need a flat area big enough for the coupler box, and you may have to add a plastic shim to bring the coupler to the correct height. MT also makes couplers with offset heads, to compensate for car floors that are too high or too low. They amke T-shank couplers, too. They make a gauge to check coupler height (and it checks a few other things as well, so it's worth getting.) Fact is, for most applications, a simple swap is all that's necessary.

MT don't make replacement trucke for split-pin trucks. I dislike those mountings, myself. They often break, even the first time you take the trucks off the car. So I trash that style of truck. I plug the hole in the car bolster with a piece of plastic sprue and suitable cement (usually solvent cement is OK, but you may need ACC instead), then drill a hole and use a small screw (#1 for N, #2 for HO) to hold the truck. Walthers lists several makes of small screws, and there are other sources, too.

HTH&GL

harrym wrote: How do you deal with locomotives that have their couplers attached to the power trucks? Are there MT couplers that fit in the Rapido pockets, or do you always pull a car with a Rapido on one end and an MT on the other end, or do you cut off the Rapido coupler and body-mount an MT coupler? ----

-------------------------------------------------- Here's Micro-Trains conversion chart:

I find a "conversion car" (M-T one end/Rapido on the other) very useful when running with two different types of couplers.

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