Hello,
So…my wife bought me an N scale train (bachmann) for my b-day. Its pretty cool, but it came with these totally unrealistic looking hook couplers of some sort. Now, I order a bachmann engine on ebay and it has these little knuckle couplers on it that do not seem to be compatable with the less realistic ones. So…what do I do? I’m having trouble even finding couplers on line for N scale trains. Do you guys have a solution? Where is a good place to aquire replacement couplers.
Kevin
Here is a link to Micr- trains you will have to decide which ones you need. You did not mention which Bachmann loco you have but their conversion chart should help you, Just click on the PDF next to Bachmann for the chart. Good luck, Truck.
The best solution is to keep the train set stuff together (for the sake of the marriage[;)]), and get better rolling stock at the hobby store that comes equipped with knuckle couplers.
Atlas, Athearn, ESM, Micro Trains, Bluford Shops, Intermountain, Exactrail, Fox Valley, and a variety of others all offer their freight cars with knuckle couplers already on them. You’ll also notice immediately that most of these cars are more nicely detailed, available in a wider variety of road names, and yes… a tad more expensive.
You can purchase Micro Trains trucks and couplers, but Bachmann’s train set cars are not an easy conversion.
Your best bet is to find a dealer that carries the Atlas Trainman series, which is a better value for the beginner, with offerings that feature the latest standards for operating.
Lee
I would avoid Bachmann freight cars. The trucks (wheel assemblies including the couplers) are screwed to the cars, and are not easily converted to Micro-Trains (MT) couplers. To use the Bachmann trucks with M-T couplers, you would have install M-T 1128 or similar couplers, and this is very fine and touchy work.
While installing M-T 1128s to Bachmann trucks might be a valuable learning experience, it is a difficult conversion. Most of the freight cars made by Bachmann are made by other manufacturers, and can generally be converted by simply removing the manufacturer’s trucks and replacing them with M-Ts.
You know what I decided the easiest thing to do would be? I made a go-between car. One of the couplers is the generic hook style coupler and the other is a knuckle coupler. I can use this car to link everything togeather without replacing all my trucks or couplers. Thanks for your help, everyone.
THAT was going to be my suggestion.
Kindly point out to the wifey the difference between the two, and I woudl now stick with buying ONLY what comes with the knuckle couplers.
HO has transitioned faster and quicker than the N scale stuff to knuckles…but I would not do not buy anything without knuckles anymore for My Other Half, who is into N scale…I only run my {older} at christmas when the layout under the table top tree has hte N scale stuff set up.
This works up to a point. Sooner or later you’re going to add a switch or two, then you might start having thoughts of dropping off a car in a siding once in awhile. About 5 minutes after that thought crosses your mind, you’ll realize that can’t switch cars and sort them in a yard if the couplers aren’t 100% compatible.
You might as well bite the bullet now and make the decision to standardize with the better looking/better operating knuckle couplers.
And FYI, Bachmann does offer their trucks with dummy knuckle couplers installed. These can be easily swapped for the old screw mounted rapido trucks. While the knuckles are one piece, they are what they call “semi automatic” and they do couple with Micro Trains and other popular brands.
Lee