I have 10 HO Santa Fe passenger cars that are old blue box Athearns. They’ve been on my layout for several years. I’m thinking it would be nice to enhance them with diaphragms. Does anyone have a suggestion as to a manufacturer that I should investigate for nice diaphragms. Making them myself is not an option. I really want them to look as real as possible.
Several companies make good diaphragms (note sp.)
A good trick is to attach a wider ‘plate’ of thin transparent stock projecting past the line of the physical diaphragms so the diaphragm edges don’t pass each other or bind on sharp curves.
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Good to know. Thanks for the spelling catch. That silent “g” will get you every time.
Besides the Athearn passenger cars many brass passenger cars are notorious for ignoring the detail of diaphragms. I’ve had good results with IHC branded plastic diaphragms. They seem to follow the Budd design or at least the style often used on Budd cars but their appearance is very convincing.
IHC_diaphragm-brass by Edmund, on Flickr
They haven’t been manufactured in years so they’re hard to come by.
Budd_PRR_Inn-end by Edmund, on Flickr
IF you model the modern era where the simpler tubular diaphragms are usually applied you can make these using heat shrink tubing that has been heated over a bamboo skewer then freed, cut to length then applied to the car end:
Conrail 55 hose diaphragm by Edmund, on Flickr
180925_1_scranton by akmyers83, on Flickr
Sometimes the IHC diaphragms can be found on this auction site:
American Limited Models also makes several styles of diaphragms thet are pretty convincing. These are a bit fragile and it takes a bit of practice to build your first ones but they may be an economical solution for you.
Good Luck, Ed
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Thanks Ed.
I like the ones that have the short gate. I hope they fit my Athearn passenger cars. The ones I see on eBay are for IHC.
I missed the memo that says I couldn’t use them on other cars 
The photos I show IHC diaphragms with the mounting clips sanded off and epoxied to the brass cars usually prior to painting. I found an eBay seller a while back that had ten packages for $20, including shipping. Sometimes you have to be patient for a deal.
Good Luck, Ed
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Here is an update on the diaphragms for my HO Athearn Santa Fe passenger cars.
I purchased #9006 from American Limited Models. Great people by the way.
Using the Kadee #148 couplers that were on the passenger cars, I found there wasn’t enough clearance when going around my two 18"R curves. Derailment from pinching between cars.
I installed Kadee #146 Centerset Shank wisker couplers that solved the proble. However, there appeared to be too much gap between the cars for my liking. Finally, I installed one #148 and one #146 at each connection and it worked out to be the best soloution for me.
The cars run beautifully around my two 18" radius curves with no problem.
Caution: When installing the diaphragms be sure the thresholds line up to avoid interference with the coupler. See picture.
Thanks for the tip on American Limited Models.
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