Fixing Sagging Couplers on Athearn Genesis Freight Car

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I recently purchased an Athearn Genesis 60 ft box car and one of the couplers is drooping really bad. It’s almost too low to couple. Upon closer inspection, it almost looks like the underframe is bowed as it seems to bend downward away from the car body. Any suggestions for fixing? I was thinking of just a drop of CA to hold the frame to the underbody. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Hate to admit but I’m a bit disappointed. This is supposed to be a premium car and this should be a pretty basic quality check.

2

I would remove the body, any flat weights, trucks, couplers (the pins will get in the way, maybe boxes as well), and then heat the frame up some…not sure to what, maybe 50 deg C, and place a flat weight on it. Come to think of it, this will be a pain due to the accessories under the frame, but maybe a jig of some kind can be crafted out of scrapwood that will obviate having to remove any details, but it would still be able to apply pressure evenly along the frame itself. When it cools, the idea/hope would be that the frame remains pretty close to flat.

I’ll watch for other suggestions from more savvy people here.

3

Is there any difference you can see between the two ends? Are the coupler boxes both seated correctly? Have you tried unscrewing the trucks to see if things will go together properly when you reassemble the car?

If I have coupler problems with new equipment, I pull out the old ones and replace them with Kadees. By the time the Kadees are installed, the problem is fixed.

4

Is there a reason you can’t take the car back and exchange it for another that doesn’t exhibit the sag? Barring that, couldn’t you contact Athearn and see if they can provide you a replacement frame casting without warp?

It’s possible that progressively cementing the ‘chassis’ into the body would take the warp out, and that would likely be the least-cost option to try. The question for me becomes how you clamp or pin or otherwise locate the chassis to hold it straight as you work. Others here will have actually done something like this.

I’d be tempted to gin up an arrangement like a set of truss rods in reverse that would pull the ends up to remove any camber (or twist) in the base casting. The way I first envisage this is to glue a couple of slotted blocks roughly over the truck attach points, anchor some sort of tension lines near the ends of the car, and bring them back to some form of tensioning, like a small turnbuckle on each side, that could be differentially turned until any twist or warp was out, and the couplers at both ends were at correct gauge height. If this then started changing you’d have a built-in adjustment. Then set the car on that chassis … and cement or bracket the carbody if desired.

If heat and applied weight succeed in straightening the piece – and this is one of the ‘canonical’ methods, immersion in hot water being another – you can avoid this. But it may be tedious to keep reassembling and checking heights after sessions on the ‘jig’…

5

A fairly easy method to straighten a warped floor is to first calculate where the top face of the car’s floor should be when it’s inserted into the body shell. This can be done using calipers to measure the floor’s thickness, then set a pair of dividers to that dimension and use them to scribe a line on the inside faces of the car’s sides.

Next, cut two pieces of Evergreen .125"x.125" strip styrene to a length equal to that of the inside of the car.

Use solvent-type cement (I use MEK) to affix the strips to the inside of the car, paying special attention to the scribed lines, as the proper depth is important. Do not use ca for this procedure, as it’s liable to de-bond when the floor is added.

When the glued joints have fully hardened…15 minutes should be sufficient…place the floor into the carbody, and while holding it tight against the end of one styrene strip, use a pin vise with #53 drill bit to drill, near the end of the car, a hole through the floor and completely through the styrene strip, too. Repeat this operation near the other three corners of the car, and, if necessary, similar holes at the mid-point of the strips, then remove the floor.

Next, use the pin vise and a 1-72 tap to create threads in all of the holes in the two strips.

The next step is to use a #47 drill bit to enlarge the holes in the not-yet-installed floor, so that the screws will pass through easily, followed by a few twists of a #36 bit and then with a #27 bit - this will create a relief so that the flat screw-heads will be countersunk.

Next, put the floor in place, then install 3/16" or 1/4" flat-head 1-72 screws into all of the drilled holes, tightening them until the screwheads are flush with the underside of the floor.

Here’s a somewhat similar set-up to install a floor in a tender for a rotary plow…

6

It is disappointing. I just recently opened a Genesis autorack that I had bought several years ago new and it looks like it was in a train wreck, all bent to the side and skewed. Yeah, talk about disapointing. Athearn won’t help me because I waited to long to look at it.

But Athearn has always had QAQC issues with their RTR rolling stock so it’s one of the hazards of being a customer. In your case you can either try to repair or exchange. It may be a bent weight or warped bottom contributing to the coupler issue.

7

A lot of hard ways to fix the problem. If Athearn still uses the flat metal weights they are cause #1. They are soft steel sheared to size and the process bends and twists them. No need to heat them. Just place it on a flat surface and press on the high spots with your thumbs until flat. Second problem is the box the coupler is in. If it is still the same as the old cars it sometimes doesn’t engage fully allowing coupler droop. Gently squeeze it top and bottom with pliers and you will hear it snap when engaged. Both major problems in coupler height.

8

Overmod, thanks for the reply. I had pre-ordered this car several months in advance. Had to do mail order, since my LHS no longer stocks Athearn. The dealer would take it back, but I would not be able to get a replacement (all sold out). So, it’s either repair or get my money back.

In response to some of the other posts, the floor of the car seems to be flat. It’s the separately applied underframe that is bowed. I will try to get a picture later today.

Thanks. --MARK

9

Athearn RTR and Roundhouse freight cars are just not good.

The coupler mount is dumb. You can mess around rebending the dumb metal clip but the only real solution is to buy a pack of new ones. Any time you pry a clip off just bin it and fit a new one. IMHO these clips are one time use only nowadays. If it really is proper spring steel it should not need reforming and indeed if it were properly tempered (as I suspect they were many moons ago) you really can’t rebend it once “sprung” past yield point. The main problem is with the plastic retaining wedges the metal is supposed to clip onto. The whole design is just unbearably stupid.

The separate moulded plastic underframe on many models is flimsy and not flat. It comes off easily enough but just isn’t strong enough. I suspect the original version eons ago was probably die cast metal and the current plastic version from the same moulding is now just decorative.

The trucks are not brilliant.

Same price as better competitors products.

Not buying another Roundhouse or RTR from Athearn ever again. Ever. I mean it this time.

Walthers Mainline is vastly superior. Even Atlas Train line is better!

10

If that’s all it is, some solvent-type cement and a suitable clamp or weight should fix it pretty easily.

Wayne

11

Isn’t Genesis the top line for Athearn?

I haven’t bought any Genesis line freight cars (not seen any for that matter).

Surely they don’t use the same terrible coupler lids for their Genesis line. They don’t for their locomotives.

12

For those visual learners (such as myself), can we pls get the OP to post pics?

I’ve not had issues with Athearn cars and swear by their locos. Any car can have issues. Who hasn’t had something wrong with a car?

13

Yes I agree I just got a RTR 60 ft boxcar and the truck was broken and Athearn will NOT replace it.

14

Wayne, thanks for your tips and the photos. You gave me an idea!

Here’s a photo of what I’m seeing. You can see that the coupler is angled downward and very low next to the Kadee gauge.

One way to possibly fix is to use the Kadee coupler with an underset shank. This should get it at about the right height, but I’m afraid it would still be angled downward. Second idea (thanks Wayne) is to put a small screw up through the coupler box and into the floor…just gotta check the location of the weight.

For those not familiar with the Genesis line, this car has a top mounted coupler cover. To get to the cover, it is necessary to remove the trucks and the underframe.

Time to disassemble.

15

Walthers sells an A-Line product called “Bulls Eye Drill and Tap Jigs” that will help you to use a screw to hold that pesky steel cover in place. A good investment if you’re going to run several BB cars.

Jim

16

Using an offset coupler wont help much until your coupler box is level or you’ll still have problems. You need to find out what is actually bent, the frame with the coupler box on the end, the floor the frame fits against, or the weight if it’s separate. Have you taken the car apart to see what’s bent or even to see if it’s assembled correctly?

If it’s all bent and you can not fix it then I’d suggest cutting the original box off and mounting a standard separate coupler box and put a narrow shim at the back of the box to tilt it to a level position then secure it how ever the model’s construction will let you, hopefully with a screw rather than glue.

Sam Clarke R&D Kadee Quality Products

17

I’ve got the car apart. It comes apart easily, but you have to be very careful of the many details… they are quite fragile. The floor of the car and the weight are both flat. The warp happens to be in the underframe which includes the coupler pockets.

My thought for now is to drill a hole through the coupler pocket and into the floor. A small screw should allow me to tighten the underframe up against the floor (and eliminate the warp). I agree with you on avoiding the use of glue… I will only use glue as a last resort if there is no other suitable way to secure the draft gear box. Over the years, I’ve only had to do it a couple of times: once on a covered hopper and another on a tank car where there was just not sufficient material to hold a screw.

Thanks. --MARK

18

…

Yeah, if the draught gear box is not part of the underframe, a screw is a better choice. I had assumed that it was part of the car’s underframe, similar to Athearn’s Blue Box cars

Wayne