I have purchased a significant number of Athearn blue box cars, already built but with horn-hook couplers installed. The problem I have is that in removing the coupler box covers so that I may install Kadee’s, I am breaking off the little nubs that hold these covers in place. Many were damaged to the point where I just cut the Athearn boxes out and replaced them with Kadee boxes. I would rather save the original Athearn box and simply replace the horn-hook with the Kadee coupler. The “replacement” fix, I feel is not a good one, as these Kadee boxes have to not only be glued to the underframe of the car but they also need to be glued together - - way too permanent of an installation in the event something goes wrong with the coupler in the future. Any ideas on how this may be remedied, such as instruction on how to properly remove the cover without damaging the box? Any information on this would be helpful.
The perils of buying used equipment you have to hope the person who put them together does things the way you like them done. I have run across this problem and without having to give it much thought or effort simply glue the lids in place and next time your at your LHS pick yourself up a bottle of debonder. Not sure who makes it but a few drops on anything glued with C/A and after a few minutes you will be able to pry the two pieces apart with very little effort. On the other side of the coin the “correct” fix is just what you described glue new draft gear boxes to the bottom of the car .
I am taking a stab that they are the metal snap on covers with the ears on the sides. I have done several of these and have had decent luck by removint the frame from the car and using a pair of pliers to put a little pressure on the cover before using a small flathead screwdriver to pop the ears. I then use the pliers to snap the covers back on. Of course the “easiest” method would be to put the car at the front of a 40 car consist and then run it up a 5-turn helix. Just before reaching the crest, the cover will just pop right off and the horn-hook will be laying on the track. A guy I know showed me that one. His name is Murphy. [;)]
Tom, if you really want to do it correct buy new frames for the damage rolling stock. But at $3.50 to $4.00 a frame i would not do it.
How I would do it and I will add have done it is to squeeze the metal cover together for as snug as fit as I can. Then in the slots on either side of the cover I add a drop of Testors Model Glue, check coupler height and if I am good to go let it sit for 10 minutes. If I need a different coupler I do it quickly and may add another drop of glue.
While many will turn up there nose the way I do it, it works. I pull long trains, sometimes up to 60 cars and I have never a repaired coupler box come apart.
Or you could cut out the center post in the center of the pocket and drill a hole through it and the metal weight inside the car and use a self tapping screw. I think they are 9/26 screws.
I’ve used an X-acto #11 blade (the “regular” sharp pointy one) and the appropriate handle to get the Athearn stamped-metal coupler box covers off. From the end of the car, I slide the point into the gap between the pocket and the “sides” of the cover. The sharp side of the blade is pointed “down”. Twist (in the hopefully obvious direction) and off it comes–works well for me. Of course, you’ll probably not want to use that particular blade for cutting anything afterwards. I don’t recall ever breaking the tip off, either.
These sheet metal fellas have a reputation for falling off whenever you DON’T want them to. I solved that by bending the “sides” inwards a bit with a needlenose. Since learning this particular trick, I have NEVER had one of these fall off.
I’ve never had to remove the frame, but you do need to remove the trucks. If the frame has been glued to the body by the previous owner, it will stay attached to the car. Of course, if the frame has not been glued, then removing the trucks will allow the frame to come off as the truck screws are what generally hold the car underside in place.
You do need a small flat screwdriver, but small means “small”, like a jeweler’s screwdriver, not just the smallest screwdriver that comes in the Craftsman homeowner’s set. Insert the screwdriver axially between the metal clip and the side of the box. Twist the screwdriver slightly. This will result in the metal cover being sprung outward away from the plastic nub. Once you do this, the cover should pop off.
The metal cover will probably be slightly deformed by this operation. By this I mean that the metal sides may no longer be perpendicular to the large flat bottom. You will need a small pair of flat pliers to bend the sides back prior to re-installation.
If the damage is restricted to the hold-down tabs for the snap-top, just drill the center post in the Athearn box for a self-tapping screw and use the Kadee box top. Be gentle when installing the screw.
However if you are the one breaking them off, take more care. Put a slim screw driver into the side and pry sideways instead of putting it into the box and prying up.
It’s all been pretty much covered. Key is to be a little gentle with them and they won’t break. The nubs on the sides to hold the metal clip aren’t that fragile - as long as there is some sticking out it will still hold the lid on, if you follow some of the above advice and bend the sides in slightly. On cars where there is access, like hoppers, or when assembling one fresh so I have the underframe with the couple box off the car, after I slip the cover on I gently squeeze the very edges of the metal above the nubs so it definitely is over them. None fo the ones I’ve done this to has fallen out yet, but I don;t slam cars together to couple them, either. I’m sure if I dropped one or somethign it would pop off, but I’m not about to test that (intentionally, anyway).
But y’know, Kadee couplers don’t break. If you install them properly, the chances are very good that you’ll never need to open that box again. With all the economic and political turmoil in the world, it’s good to know that you can depend on Kadee couplers, and sleep peacefully at night.
I agree with the drill and tap but some cars you can’t do that on, and you have to glue. I have a Athearn caboose that I was doing that on, but where the screw was going to go…It was coming out on the back of the caboose right in front of the caboose door. So that won’t work. I glued the Kadee box, and of course it fell off.
The problem with gluing it is getting it straight. With some of the cars having detail work on the bottom, you only have a little space to work with.
That’s why Kadee makes lots of different couplers. Also, the #5 box can be sanded down quite a bit and still cover the spring - I had to do just that to fit #5’s on a Proto 2000 caboose. The rear of the box interfered with the center sill before the hole lined up with the existing mounting hole on the underframe. I sanded the box back until it removed the rear wall, the spring still does not overhang the plastic, but now the holes lined up and I was able to drill and tap the underframe for a 2-56 screw.
On cars where I don’t want a screw coming up through the “floor”, and if I want to use a typical Kadee coupler and box, I tap the hollow center pin 3-48. Then I can screw on the lower part of the box and not have the screw come through the floor. The most recent time I did this was when I put Kadee boxes on some of My Walthers trailer flats.
Thanks, guys. Many good suggestions which I haven’t thought of. I’ll print this thread off for all the useful information in it.
By the way, those cars are new; the guy I buy these from ( a retired PRR, N&W, UP engineer) sells exclusively at train shows. Most of these cars he assembles for display at the show. The price on these cars is quite good at $8 a copy for not just Athearn but Accurail too. He lives here in town so he can pick things up that I can’t get at the 2 or 3 LHS’ that are here in town and for a much better price.