Hello, I have an Athearn Genesis F7A that I’m trying to upgrade to Kadee couplers. I purchased the #36 for the front and #38 for the rear per the HO conversion list. I’m having a problem with the #38 fit on the rear. I used the original screw to secure the Kadee draft box but the screw head sits so tall it hits the gear box cover plate not permitting the front wheels of the rear truck to sit on the rails. The original draft box has a chamfered hole that allows the screw head to sit flush with the box. Thank you for any help you can provide, Ken Grigsby
On page 68 of the Walthers 2009 catalog you will see an ad for “American Limited”. They make close couplers and diaphragms for the Athearn F units. To mount on the rear of the “A"unit chassis, you need to use a razor saw and cut off the mounting pad just outboard of the screw hole. Then you assemble their draft gear box with a #5 coupler and set in position. Then you install the supplied clip from the bottom to hold it on the chassis. Watch as you slide the body back on as the body helps to hold the box in position too. I always file the hangy down parts on the body slightly so the body slips on easier. You will see what I mean if you look at the body upside down where the couplers fit. The engines look very good when coupled in a AB or ABBA set. I have been using the American Limited kits for years and very happy with them. The Diaphragms are a little fineky to build but look good installed too and work on 18” curves without any problems. For the Athearn “B” units you need to modify the coupler mount pads on both ends with the razor saw by cutting just outboard of the screw so the coupler draft gear boxes can be mounted inboard properly. I have pics somewhere of the conversion.
There are a lot of things that can be done to get Kadee’s to fit Athearn equipment. The first thing i would try is to install a 2-56 screw with a “tapered” head on it. you can purchase a box of 100 from Ace hardware thru mail order or the internet. Get some long ones like 1" to 1-1/2" because you can always cut off the threads with a dremel tool cut-off wheel enough to fit. Another thing to try is to cut the tabs and the ends of the coupler box off to fit. All that is needed for a kadee coupler to work is that the sides of the draft gear box be in place enough to hold the copper spring tention. Shortening the front of the draft gear box can also move the entire assembly forward enough so that it won’t hit the wheels. One final thing to do (and a lot of us had to do this a lot on the old BB Athearn locomotives) is to use a dremel tool and grind some metal from the frame’s coupling mount housing a bit until it fits in place. (Since yours is Genesis that probably won’t be necessary.)
One thing I do to all my locomotives is to install the #26 (plastic) or the #46 (metal) long center shank couplers on all my locomotives. They swing out wider and if you ever decide to install snow plows on the locomotive, they’ll fit without any problems with the trip pin catching the locomotive components…chuck
I just put kd #5’s in an Athearn Genesis F7A and F7B with minimal problems using the original coupler pockets and screws. I had to put the spring below the coupler to get the height right. I have put 148’s in other locos that have the mchenry couplers with good results as well.
I’ve used the American Limited diaphragms between an Athearn A and B unit, but I use a homemade drawbar between the two units so that the diaphragms meet ‘just right’. I use regular Kadee 5’s in the Athearn coupler boxes for the front of the A and the rear of the B unit.