Proto 2000 couplers

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’m fairly new to the hobby of HO model railroading but in the past few months have done a lot of research on the subject. Doing well with dcc so far, tracks working well, having a great time, but I purshased some proto 2000 couplers to install on some of my AHM stock and they came with no instructions at all. Can any one tell me how to put these things on my cars. The pin holes are bigger and the little copper spring plate peace I have no idea how it installs. thanks in advance Ron R

2

The AHM’s currently have horn-hook couplers, correct? If so, I would guess those pieces have a different coupler mounting than what is found on many cars today, which almost a standard coupler pocket for P2K or Kadee #5 couplers. In past years I can remember buying many different styles of Kadee couplers to fit the many different coupler mountings. I finally gave up on that!

What may be easier is to fit a standard Kadee #5 pocket to the AHM stock. That will take the Kadee or P2K couplers. Of course, that says you need to buy Kadee couplers to get the pockets! But, the P2Ks might be usable in the future if you buy other brands of cars which have the standard coupler pocket, like older Athearns. I have picked up a number of those at train shows which had horn hook couplers. I bought the bulk package of 20 pairs of Kadees to use for converting those cars. That package didn’t have the coupler pockets.

My two cents… Hmm… pretty long answer… make that a dime!

George V.

3

I need to amend my previous post. You can buy just Kadee draft gear boxes without the couplers. It’s item #32 on their web site: http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page33.htm

Hope this helps,
George V

4

Thanks George, I’ll take your advice and check it out.

5

Am I correct in assuming the draft gear box means mounting to the car body rather than the truck.

6

Mounting couplers to the body is the preferred method. When pushing a string of cars thru curves and switches, cars with truck mounted couplers have a much higher tendency to derail than body mounted couplers.

Kadee offers all kinds of adapters and couplers for just about any situation. Two must-have tools from Kadee are the Height Guage and the Spring Pik (for replacing knuckle springs).

If you do get the pack of draft gear boxes, don’t forget to also get a pack of the coupler centering springs.

7

McHenry makes knuckle couplers that snap right into many, but maybe not all, AHM truck-mounted coupler boxes - no modifications needed.