Hi!
I bought a Spectrum Doodlebug from eBay. Today the railcar has arrived at home. The item is all ok but the coupler pocket that isn’t correctly linked to the bogie. See the photo: the bogie is in straight position while the coupler pocket turns left. How can I fix this problem? I tried to open the railcar but I wasn’t able to pull off the shell from the chassis.
Ciao, Ivan
David
There are no screws holding the body to the frame, at least, mine didn’t have any. What I found was that the body sides had to be gently pulled apart to unclip it from the frame, the window mouldings have the notches that the clips on the frame fit into so you may need a fine screwdriver or knife blade to disengage them. Once this is done the bodywork should slide off. Regarding the coupler box, I find it works reasonably well as it is, so there’s no need to body mount it unless you want to. Mine hauls a boxcar or two with no problems.
Thank you very much. I pulled apart the body sides with a help from a number of toothpicks but the body remained attached to the underframe. Can you show me the correct operation with some photo, if it is possible. I’m a newbie to model railroading…
Thank you again.
Ivan
You’ve got the proceedure right, I would guess that you’re not managing to disengage all the clips. What can happen on these units is that the glazing material doesn’t move out with the body side when you flex it - if you look in the tiny gap between the side and the floor when you flex the sides out can you see the base of the glazing? One side of mine does while the other doesn’t. The other problem can be with disengaging the clips at the ends. Take your time and don’t pull too hard, it will work eventually!
One trick I have seen for this sort of construction is to use some thin card to prevent the clips re-engaging. You just pass it between the glazing and the frame and it will then hold the parts unclipped so you can pull the shell off.