I have Emd UP loco and i want to put new horn hook cuuplers which the old couplers are missing . Do i have to remove the shell to mount the couplers.
Exactly what brand and model of locomotive do you have? Most have a coupler box cover that you can either unscrew or snap off without having to remove the locomotive body but some don’t so we need to know what you’ve got.
Its a Bachmann China Union Pacific #1206 ( EMD F- 9 )
If it’s like the Bachmann F9’s I have, then yes, you have to remove the shell.
Sounds like this loco might be a candidate for getting Kadees.
Now, I’m not trying to say that horn-hooks (I believe their proper name is X2F) are terrible couplers (the rapido style N-scale couplers are IMO much worse to deal with), but that you might consider buying a pack or two of Kadee #5’s. They’re about $3 a pack at my LHS if I remember correctly, and each pack has 2 pairs, so you’ll have enough to convert the loco and then make another loco or car into a “conversion car” (put an X2F on one end and the Kadee on the other). I started out with hornhook myself about a year ago and thought they were “good enough”, but when I had to make a stop at the LHS for some paint to touchup a trainshow aquisitio, I figured that trying out a pack or two of Kadees wouldn’t hurt. If I didn’t like them, I didn’t have to use any more of them… I bought another 4 packs within a month. Now every new kit I build automatically gets the Kadees installed (metal wheels are a whole different can of worms).
But, as most everyone will tell you - it’s your railroad, do what suits you.
If it’s the old Bachmann F-9 that I have, you need to take of the body to get to the front coupler. Just pry the body away from the frame by the fuel tank and it should come right off. You’ll have to tip it up a bit and move it forward to get past the front coupler. The back coupler can be replaced by just snapping of the coupler box cover. The front coupler pocket has the same type of cover but you need the body off to get a new coupler in there.
The advice about mounting Kadee couplers is good. Even if you don’t have Kadee’s on you other rolling stock, you can make a conversion car with a Kadee coupler on one end and an X2F coupler on the other. I think you’ll find the Kadee’s operate smoother and you’ll find less derailments on curves as the tractive effort of the engine will have less sideways push on the following car.
While the X2F will work when properly body mounted I must agree with the suggestion of converting to KD couplers.When body mounted and adjusted to the correct coupler and trip pin height they will operate flawlessly including shoving long cuts of freight cars.
Correction its a F7 instead of F9
You still have to remove the shell. I have two types of Bachmann F7’s. On one of them the body shell is held on by clips on the sides. Simply spread the sides of the body and it will come right off the chassis.
The other type has the body held on by screws which are located to the front and rear of the fuel tank.