So I have 16 freight cars pulled by a GG1 (some Bachmann, life like, etc) but all of them have the same coupler height irrespective of the wheel size (36, 33).
Every time I add a freight car it goes on the coupler height test track and if it dont fit it gets changed until it does.
I bought a Center Beam Flat Car with 33" wheels but the couplers were low - I am assuming that a freight car with smaller wheels would have had the couplers higher to match the “standard” height HO scale standard height.
So I popped on a set of intermountain 36" semi-scale wheels and everything worked out fine. So my question is - do locomotives lower their couplers to match cars with smaller wheels ? I don’t think so. So why do manufacturers make cars that may have prototypical wheel sizes that do not match the coupler height?
The NMRA has a coupler height for the center of the knuckle, but there are going to be differences. 33" vs 36" is only a scale 1.5" of height(.016"). You mention Bachmann/Life-Like cars - are these the low-end trainset cars or the Silver or Proto series cars? Your Center Beam car - Who makes it? Most are 100 ton capacity, so they should have 36" wheels.
Once I have the correct trucks/wheels on a car, I usually use the offset shank Kadee coupler that gives me the correct coupler height. Kadee has short/medium/long shank couplers and high/normal/low offsets that should cover just about any application.
I got a Walthers centre beam flat car once. One of the decals on the car said 36" wheels yet the wheels on it were 33". The couplers were low on it as well. Like you found, changing to 36" wheels fixed the problem. Do Walthers even make 36" plastic wheel sets? Could just be a cost cutting measure.
Athearn certainly never got the coupler height right with their BB offerings. Unlike Jim, I haven’t been willing to invest a bunch of money in underset couplers, but I have spent my fair share on the red and gray fibre washers.
doesn’t the fact that Kadee makes overset and underset couplers imply that manufacturers are inconsistent?
As Jim mentions, the difference in height between a 33 and 36" wheel is 0.016". But this appears to meet the NMRA standard which has a tolerance of 0.017" (1/58").
So guys, I have to ask a question related to the thread.
What are the advantages of using the underset couplers vs the Kadee washers? I know that there is a limit as to how many washers can be used, and I have probably exceeded that limit a few times, but is it worth it to spend the money to get rid of the washers and install the offset couplers?
I can definitely see a use for overset shanks where the couplers are too high, but I honestly don’t recall ever having come across that situation.
I stopped using those fiber washers because the result of using them was “floppy” couplers. The overset and underset couplers, without the use of washers, provides a much more stable setting.
I don’t think my couplers or my trucks are ‘floppy’. I adjust the screws so that one truck has the play taken out of it but still rotates freely. The other truck is a bit looser. Without a layout it is hard to test for tilting cars, but when I put a string of freight cars on my test track they all seem to sit up straight.
If the coupler is droopy I either put a shim on the front of the box or replace the box. I have only had that situation a couple of times.
I guess I’ll have to wait until I have some ‘real’ track in place to test them properly.
One situation I could see the washers being an issue is if you have a string of cars, say box cars, that should be the same height. Using fibre washers would change the height of the whole car but changing to an underset coupler means only the coupler head changes height. It probably isn’t critical but using fibre washers could even push the car height outside the allowable envelope causing it to hit objects above the track.
I have been reading this thread and I have to say it nade me think of the differnt styles of couplers I have - the old rolling stock I dusted off resently has the “old” style that came with Bachman then I have purchased Mantua rolling stock/loco’s before I moth balled evrything when I relocated to Michigan - I resently resurrected my collection and added to it with “high end” models through all this I have noticed all the differnt types of couplers, I’ve yet to learn their names and styles and some screw in some have one clip some have two. I see a long road ahead of me trying to make them all conform…[:'(]
On cars that have a snap in truck attachment, like Mantua, the off set couplers work for me. recently fixed 12 cars with low couplers by using the undersets. Additional cost was about 35 cents per coupler vs a #5 in a bulk pack
Brakie, I challenge you, or anybody, to level the front coupler of an 0-8-0T with Kadee washers.
A modeler from Washington (State) persuaded the Edwards brothers to make offset couplers specifically to address the problem of steam loco front coupler height.
As for every coupler lining up perfectly, just take a good, close look at a prototype train. One car may be weight maxed, with its truck springs fully compressed. The next car may be empty, or loaded with ping-pong balls. If my hand was a coupler, that would be a one-finger mismatch.
So, how would I use washers to line up coupler heights on my four-wheel goods wagons? Next question, please. (Actually, MKD#6 couplers work perfectly - good vertical alignment and line up with the original hole meant for Baker couplers.)