I am wondering, what kind of wheels and couplers do athearn rolling stock kits come with?
Athearn Blue Box kits come with horn-hook couplers, plastic wheels and metal axles.
Sorry the BB kits hasn’t came with horn hooks for several years…They come with McHenry couplers.
Thank you for replying and for the information I will now tell my dad. (he wanted to know ans did/do I)
edit: good now we won’t have to buy so many couplers. And are mchenry couplers good?
I don’t particularly like them (personal opinion) , I always prefer Kadees. Love the new Kadee 148’s. whisker couplers.
My thoughts on the McHenry’s is use them until they break then replace them with Kadee’s when needed. If I happen to have a stack of #5’s available, which I usually do, then I will likely replace the McHenry’s before they need it. The Kadee’s are much more reliable.
yeah I heard that they not the best beause they’re clones…but since when were clones as good as the original? Anyways as long as they work with kadees #58’s we’ll like them but we’ll like 'em more if they have magnetic uncoupling. Do they?
Don’t completely write off the McHenry coupler…The scale coupler has a knuckle spring like the KD…They are usable but,I prefer KDs.
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Stores/Default.aspx?StoreBrandID=MCH
The Mchenry’s do have magnetic uncoupling. The ones with the metal knuckle spring aren’t bad. The ones with the plastic knuckle spring might last 1 hour if your lucky. Replace with KD’s when broken.
McHenry and KD work OK together.
I like the couplers on the BB’s and they work with my #5 KD’s just fine. If they break or cause problems, they get replaced. Hook horns haven’t been with the BB’s for some time, the oldest BB I have, a Chessie GP35, still had the hook horn couplers (circa 1977). It’s one of my favorite engines, too.
-beegle55
I just picked up several mint in box assembled Athearn 40’ & 50’ boxcars all with #5 kadees. When I checked them with the kadee height guage the couplers and pins are too low. It it looks like I’ll have to replace all the couplers with #28 kadees!
This sounds strange to me. Is this normal with bb kits? I wonder if the wheelsets have been changed to a smaller diameter!
Derek
I used to have this problem with most BB’s and others after I put on the #5’s. I found that replacing the wheels with 36" metal wheels for the 50’ box cars and hoppers brought the coupler to the correct height. I don’t have any 40’ box cars, but I’ll assume that if you put some spacing washers between the truck and bolster will bring the coupler to the correct height.
When i replaced mine with #58 kd’s they all matched the height guage perfect, even the few i stuck #5’s in when i began. Sometimes i found that while putting the kits together the metal weight was bent causing the couples to be to low or high, but if you say it’s every car then you have some other issue.
Thank you for all the information about the kits and the couplers. For us it won’t matter if they are to low because we have shims and are currently replacing our horn hook couplers with kadee #58’s and the plastic wheels with metal ones. Just out of curiosity why do they have metal axles with plastic wheels when it would only cost a few more cents to have all metal wheel and axles or the same amount for metal wheels and plastic axles.
You’ve had a plastic whisker McHenry last for ONE hour!? Somebody call “That’s Incredible”!! We might have a story here![(-D]
Do you check the weight and frame to insure neither was warp? Then did you check KD’s coupler’s trip pin height? I have used the stock wheels and had couplers are the correct height.
You just can’t slap these kits together and expect flawless operation…The frame and weight must be checked to insure they are not warp.
It would be more economical to get a package of fiber washers and put them between the car and the trucks. This will shim the car up and the couplers will match. It’s a lot cheaper than replacing the wheels.
The trip pin is adjustable. You should have a Kadee height gauge and trip pin pliers in your toolbox.
Most of the Athearn BBs were the correct height for # 5s, but the trip pin usually needs to be bent up slightly.
Most of the Athearn blue box cars need a washer under the trucks to bring the coupler height up to standard. I keep a box of #6 flat washers from the hardware store and routinely install them when building the kit. The low flying Athearn coupler “issue” has been with us for a long time. Since fixing it would require reworking or remaking the dies that mold the cars, which is expensive, I don’t expect coupler height to change any time soon.
David Starr
David,Heres some good news…All of my Athearn RTR cars has been at the correct hight including the former BB kits that are RTR…Go figure…
As far as the washer issue I find that varies from car to car.Some needs a washer while others do not-my best guess is 70/30.70% does 30% doesn’t.I also find that the bent weight and warp frame plays a major roll in the coupler issue.