I just want to know if there is a method I don’t know. Today I loosened the screw on my Atlas N SD-50 to match the coupler height of my DI Triple Crowns. This is the only thing I could think of. I actually unscrewed it all the way and found myself wasting a half-hour getting the coupler back on to the Loco. Is this a regular problem in N? What do you all do to prevent/fix this problem?
If you are using the N scale equivalent of the Kadee coupler from Micro-Trains, the first step is getting a coupler height gauge. This will tell you which one is too high and which is too low. Directions with the gauge should tell you what to do to correct the situation, sometimes it involves using a coupler with a shank that steps up or steps down to match the gauge. You can also use bolster washers to move the body of the car up or down relative to the trucks if the coupler is mounted on the body.
Just loosening the screw doesn’t work, at least not in HO and I imagine not in N either. Floppy couplers don’t work very well.
If you are dealing with the clunky old standard N couplers (Rapido?), I am not sure what you would do.
By the way, putting the search string “adjust coupler height + micro-trains” in google yields a number of nifty links such as
http://www.modelbaneteknik.dk/n-scale/truck/mt-trucks-e.htm
Jon
thanks