Is there a aftermarket truck that allows me to ditch the coupler/truck combo that comes with a tyco car ? How do I modify the large hole in the tyco bolster to mate with an accurail truck or a Kadee truck for example? Or is there a better truck?
i want to use body mounted couplers; is it a #5 with gearbox or something more correct for height?
thanks
Most usually the # 5 Kadee and gear box will work fine. I just trim the old coupler off of the truck, ream it out with a truck tuner and install Proto wheels, or your choice of wheel sets. You can also fill in the old truck mounting hole with some tubing, or solid stock and drill for new mounting screw, if you need to replace the truck assy.
OK, first thing you want to do is get a Kadee coupler height gauge. Almost any standard truck will do the job. Kadee (with replacement wheels - P2K perhaps), Accurail, Proto 2000, etc. Stay away from the “Talgo” trucks - that’s what you have already.
Next, fill in the hole in the Tyco body bolster I don’t recall the size right now, but you can use a chunk of plastic sprue, Start with a sprue larger than the hole. Heat it with a match or lighter until it starts to soften, then gently stretch it out until it’s smaller than the hole. Let it harden (like, 2-3 seconds), and clip it in two at the narrowest part. Jam the plastic tapered sprue into the hole, and secure it with styrene cement (the solvent type) or straight MEK (which is what the Testors liquid cement is.) Cut it off at the surface of the bolster, file it smooth, and then drill and tap for a 2-56 screw. You’re in business.
For the coupler, the #5 is the “Ol’ Reliable” - you can put them on almost anything, and all you’ll need is some shim styrene to build up a pad for the gearbox. That’s where the coupler height gauge comes into play. Use it to determine how much of a coupler pad you’ll need, do what carving on the underframe needs to be done to accomodate the pad and coupler draft gear. If the car sits too low, you can add Kadee washers to the truck mount to raise it. If the couplers sit more than say, .030" low, consider switching to one of the Kadees with an under-set shank, and vice-versa if it’s too high.
It’s way easier than it sounds… [:D]
Gidday, What Gary said but with photos…
(1) Talgo truck retained, but with attached coupler removed and Kadee coupler box with lugs removed and Bachmann Mkll Easimate fitted. (Had run out of Kadee #5 s).
(2) 3 before views of another conversion, a “Life-Like” I’m led to believe…
(3) Both sprues fitted, one trimmed…
(4) Hole drilled, Kadee 2-56 tap, Proto 2000 wheel set, Kadee coupler box and Kadee #5 fitted the other end. The coupler box is glued to the styrene insert I made and the top is held on by a 2-56 screw, could also be glued but my personal preference is screw because of possible future maintenance. In the bottom right hand corner is the brake gear I made up
I can’t see spending extra money getting good looking trucks for a Tyco car. I use the existing trucks. I cut the truck mounted coupler pocket off and body mount a Kadee #242 draft gear box. The couplers I use are usually #5, #148 or #119 (shelf).
Here are a couple of articles on Retrucking and adding Kadees.
I have this question 2 or 3 times a week at the store in particular from those new to the hobby who just purchased “bargains” at the nearby swap meet or garage sale for $2. All of the posts are accurate as to how to correct it, but J-W nailed it.
Why spend upwards to $12 on a $2 train set car? Take that money, add a few more, and buy a decent car. Life is way too short to invest time in making pig ears into silk purses.
As Duckdogger said, this is a common question.A couple of yers ago, I posted how-tos on replecing the trucks and mounting body mounted couplers on a Tyco car:
For the #5 coupler and box:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/194274.aspx
For the trucks:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/194011.aspx
I hope this helps
On my car I just used a pair of track cutters to nip off the coupler box that was molded on the truck. I then popped the truck out to give me room to work while I built a styrene bolster for the coupler box. Once everything was glued in place, I re-installed the original trucks and set it on the track to check coupler height. The couplers were slightly low, so I popped a couple KD insulating washers over the clips on the trucks and once again installed them on the car.
Had the couplers been too high, I would have had to pry off the glued on coupler boxes and remove one of the shims, or get some high-shank couplers. It’s better to have the couplers be slightly too low than slightly too high. Correcting too low is easy, correcting too high is somewhat challenging.
S&S
I have a small fleet of Tyco Old Dutch Hoppers that I have up grade, last count 32 of them.
Well worth the effort as far as learning how to make cars roll well and track well.
Two Tips
1 Keep the stock trucks and see if you can find wheel sets a little shorter than PK 2000 wheels. I did use PK 2000’s 33 inch wheels and it took a lot of reaming to get them to roll freely. Also ream each side a few times them ream the other side so the flanges stay alinement.
2 You can use Kadee washers to adjust the coupler height, but you will need to snip one side so they will slip over the boaster. (where the truck plugs into the car)
Oh, don’t forget to add weights.
Cuda Ken
It depends, but there can be a lot of modelling enjoyment in those $2.00 cars. The one shown below certainly fits in the $2.00 category, although the C-D-S lettering added another couple of bucks to the cost. Kadees are #4s from the parts drawer:
I’m currently re-working this car and three others like it, and will post a picture when the cars are semi-finished, perhaps later today.
Wayne
I do the exact same thing as Jeffrey-Wemberly and add details and weather, if I feel like making the car look better. I also agree with Dr. Wayne, sometimes it doesn’t take much to make a sow’s ear into a nice freight car!
As promised, a couple of photos of the re-worked Tyco reefers. I originally set out to replace the floors, as they had developed a sag which was visible from trackside. However, the moulded-on roofwalks had always bothered me, as did the steel ends - many wood-sided reefers kept their wooden ends right to the end of their service lives, as they weren’t as susceptible to shifting loads as the ends of boxcars. Since I had decided to correct those shortcomings, I end-up using only the sides of the original cars, cutting away the steel ends along with about 3’ from each end of each side. The shortened sides were then cut from the remnant of the steel roof.
The new ends are left-over scraps from a sheet of Evergreen scribed car siding. I had originally built them as peaked ends, but when another modeller remarked on the overly-steep slope of the roof (I had transferred an incorrect measurement from another car [:$] [banghead] , I decided to model the cars with radial roofs. A little work with file and sandpaper did the trick.
The roof is .020" sheet styrene, pre-curved around a form, with roof ribs of strip styrene. I added built-up pedestals for the ice hatches (left-overs from some modified Accurail reefers), and fashioned hatch rests from Detail Associates strip brass.
The new floors are .060" sheet styrene, with the centre sill consisting of two lengths of Evergreen .080" channel, with stringers and crossbearers made from more strip material. The queenposts are left-over MDC parts.
The only parts bought specifically for these cars was the Tichy brake gear, and a couple of pairs of Kadee trucks, while the other commercial details seen, such as ladders (Tichy) turnbuckles (Grandt Line), couplers, paint, and lettering were all stuff which was on hand.
Here’s that former CNR car:
This may work too: http://www.ihc-hobby.com/product/4260
Wayne,
What can I say, amazing work. [bow]
alloboard,
Not sure I understand what I am looking at. Can this pin fit through the screw hole for an accurail truck? Or what trucks are these pins intended for?
Thanks, didnt know about these before.
I don’t know about Accurail, but, they can fit through the undercarriage of an International Hobby Productions freight and passenger cars.
This may be a sideline, but if you would like the ultimate in truck mounting, I may have a soloution.
My problem has been the addition & removal of the trucks for maintenance, fitting, & painting…
Tapped plastic wears thin when tapping a truck boster, & expecting repeated results.
I found a brass tube that was nice & thin, & also accepted a 2-56 tap.
I needed a tube that would act as a shoulder for a truck, & accepted a 2-56 screw to secure the said truck.
With some research, I found that the brass tubing offered by Tomar, called a 3/32" thin wall Brass Tube, (#6006), actually gave me what I needed.
It is a common outside diameter, so pilot driling is easy.
It has an inside diameter that is almost correct for tapping in 2-56, (slightly tight, but nice!).
I follow the ‘excellent’ tips by former posters for plugging the hole, then I dril it out, on center, with a 3/32" bit.
Then I rough up the outside of the brass tube with 180 grit paper, then chuck it in a drill & tap it to the 2-56.
Then I chop a section of it, & glue it into the bolster hole…
If you are carefull, you can put a screw in it & use that as a lever, to adjust the shoulder depth & the other fitments (squareness, etc.) of the threaded shank.
These will rarely strip out, or cause any problems, & if you have electified trucks you may attach wires, up inside the car, but I would recommend a soldered bearing washer in that case.
It may be worth a look, especially if the plastic threads just lost their bite… A 3/32" drill will hunt & follow that hole & you can have a nice reliable repacement.
Just some thoughts…
