I’ve got one for the forums: Has anyone ever tried to body mount couplers on a Rivarossi car frame? I have a car that I have kitbashed to fit an overlay for a NCL “Club” Car. What I have ended up with is a car made from mostly a Rivarossi Flat end Observation car. The bulkead end has been shortened by about 3 scale feet. The other end is the fish tail end from a Con-Cor CS SL observation with a new floor section from a Rivarossi RPO car in order to get the steps that exist on the prototype and to match the rest of the detail on the car.
For clearance purposes, I will use the Rivarossi trucks. (The Con-Cor trucks do not clear on the fishtail end due to car detail.) Because the bulkhead end has been shortened, I don’t think the coversion that Kadee has for Rivarossi cars (Kadee 508s) will not work. Additionally, I don’t think truck mounting the coupler for the fishtail end would work very well either. The only idea that I have would be to use the Con-Cor body mount instructions which call for using a Kadee #5. The only question I have is would that mate up properly to the 508s that will be on the sleeper right before the tail car?
As usual, any assistance the forums can provide will be very welcomed.
Pretty-well all of mine have body-mounted couplers. Use some styrene strip and/or sheet to create a flat mounting spot on the bottom of the floor, then, with the trucks on the car, use the Kadee gauge to check the height of the mounting pad. Add more thickness as needed, then drill and tap the pad to accept a 2-56 screw (if you’re using a Kadee #5) and attach the coupler.
The Kadee conversion kits for Rivarossi cars have a fair amount of leeway in the amount the coupler protrudes, so they may also be useable if you want to keep truck-mounted couplers.
It’s also not that difficult to move the mounting position of the Rivarossi trucks. Again, create a flat spot in an appropriate position on the floor, then use styrene to create the new mounting boss, using the original one as a pattern. You’ll probably need to remove the original one before installing the trucks, as it may limit the swing of the truck.
Depending on the length of your cars and the minimum radius curves they will be used on, you might consider either the Kadee #451 or #454 swing-mount coupler boxes. These will give you extended range of motion.
I have a set of Rivarossi cars that came with their own swing-mount coupler boxes. They negotiate 18 inch curves.
I might have to check the car on an actual track for minimum radius. With the shortened bulkhead end, the truck doesn’t have much swing. Unfortunately, where the car is being built is not very close to where I have track to test the minimum radius. (I have a 15" R ramp for a [hopeful] later expansion but I am fairly sure that the car will not work on it.)
Additionally, is the 454 limited to a 30-series coupler because of the spring or can any coupler be used in it?
Depends upon your minimum radius of curve. Truck mounted couplers will get your car around a sharper curve than body mount. Body mount will work on 30 inch curves (with perhaps some tuning) and by the time you get down to 22 inch curves, they will derail.
If you have the broad curves, it isn’t hard to body mount a #5 Kadee onto the carbody. Use some styrene scrap to build up a mounting platform for the coupler box. Drill for a 2-56 screw. According to MR’s Passenger Equipment & Operation book by Andy Sperandeo. the screw hole should be 3/8" back from the diaphrapm mounting surface for heavyweight cars. For streamline light weight cars, make that 5/16". Andy shows a photo of a simple gauge, a piece of brass strip, bent at 90 degrees, with a hole drilled in it to guide a scribe to make a hole starting dimple. Andy has made two such gauges, one for 3/8" and one for 5/16".
What I think I am going to do for track is to get some Bachmann EZ Track with a 33.25" Radius. I figure that with it being that broad, I shouldn’t have a issue with the trucks not tracking (especially with how tight the trucks are on the frame). THe reason with the EX Track is that it won’t be hard for anyone to set the train up. (The train will end up being donated so I figure that I should keep the setup as simple as possible for anyone to run the train.)