Hi all,
I’d like to put a drop coupler, preferably working, on my BLI Q2 and at the moment, I’m kind of baffled about how to do so. My first thought is to take a Cal-Scale PRR drop coupler and use parts from that. Thoughts? Ideas? All much appreciated.
Thank you in advance
Alvie
I think you need to consider if you want to use it first. It will take some out of the box thinking to develop a way to hold a Kadee level for use. It should be fairly simple to drill through the shaft for a wire to be thepivot.
Are you thinking of using Kadee (or clone)? Front mounted couplers on steam are difficult because the trip pin of the car ahead will hit the pilot before the coupler will mate. Long shank couplers are required and look out of place.
Since no one would mistake a Kadee swing arm for a brake hose I turn them 180 degrees. That will clear any pilot on any locomotive that ever had a front knuckle coupler. It also makes them easier to deal with when trying to make a not-so-precise drop.
The drop coupler would have to be a Kadee-compatable dummy, since the swing arm won’t cooperate with any drop scheme I can imagine (or imagineer.) Or clip the pin and use a skewer to uncouple…
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964.
Gentleman,
Thank you for the responses. Actually, the coupler I’d like to use is a Sergent coupler, so trip pin clearance will not be an issue. For this I think I’ll investigate using a Cal-Scale or PSC PRR drop pilot and adapting the pieces to fit. The coupler doesn’t truly have to work, it’d be nice but in most photos I’ve seen of Q2s in action, the couplers remained in the drop position.
Alvie
Alvie.
One of my uncles was a roundhouse worker(laborer) at Crestline the home of the Q2. The real reason for the drop coupler believe it or not was to be able to close the roundhouse doors. The tracks inside were extended as far back as they could and there was still just a foot or two of space to get around the front and the rear. Look for a picture of a Q2 on the turntable. You will notice that the pilot sticks out over the end of the TT tracks. If there were any type of service work that needed to be done that required the smokebox to be opened then they would either use the stall that was extended for the S1 or the garden track out doors. The drop couplers were spring loaded and was harder to fold down then they were to raise up. Drop couplers on freight locomotives are very rare indeed. The bad part about the drop coupler is the absence of a draft gear to cushion the buff and drag forces. This would always eliminate the use as a pusher. One of the reasons why the end of steam saw 40 and 50 year old 2 cylinder locomotives and the modern power was being cut up for scrap.
Pete