Does anyone know if I can modify the Walthers Budd passenger cars to go around curves of about 20 - 22"? I’ve tried them as they are and they do not.
I have a Kato Business car which does with no problem.
Thanks.
Brian
try to body mount the coupler and use the #26 Kadee with the long shank…I just ordered 2 SP budd cars for my SP Sunset and should be getting them in the mail soon
I’m in a similar situation.
An interesting version of CW Clark’s idea is what my LHS’s assistant manager did with the Walther’s Santa Fe Super Chief train that runs on the store layout. He only changed out one coupler on each car, the rear one, and installed a longer shank coupler. All the forward couplers are stil the shorter type. This way the cars don’t have that huge gap between them and can still negotiate the curves, which radius wise, are in the 20s.
Try experimenting with this method first and see if it works.
Let us know of your progress!
First, make sure your stock coupler is the right height. Mine wasn’t and I didn’t catch
the difference until I got to the locomotive.
KD just ordered a pair of Budds for re-evaluation since there were different opinions as to what # coupler works best.
I have 22" rail and in error used the long shank # 26 when I should have used a LONG
overset shank.
The Kato has a removal side frame that allows for shorter radius.
You may wi***o add some Graphite to the journals to increase rolling ability.
http://www.trainbuddy.com/Notes/Notes.htm
My STOCK Walthers Budd cars have no problem handling 22" curves right out of the box.
I haven’t changed the couplers (YET) & they haven’t derailed even at high speeds through the curves.
Just my 2 cents
Gordon
I had changed the couplers to KD’s anyway, because they seemed stronger. The train had a break-away when on the club layout (11 cars!).
However, at home it appears that the trucks are catching on something underneath the cars. Difficult to fathom out quite what it is at the moment before taking a knife to everything!
Brian
Your cars must have been blessed and for 2 cents, it’s a bargain.
What’s your club’s radius?
There’s nothing for these trucks to catch on. On smaller radius you don’t have sufficient
lateral truck swing. Take a pair of cars and pu***hem through the troubled spots and try
and spot the problem. IMO, the car diaphrams are rubbing causing the truck to lift up.
The trucks/ wheels may be hitting the skirting or more likely the centersill. You may have to carve clearance at those points.
Bob K.
[/quote]
Your cars must have been blessed and for 2 cents, it’s a bargain.
[/quote]
Maybe Chuck, but I will admit that I wasn’t that blessed with my Walthers Horizon cars.
They’d derail on 22" curves but after some modification to some of the side skirting, they have no problems now.
Gordon
Centersill
The simple answer for running 85’ passenger cars, is to widen the curves.
RUNNING OUT OF PLYWOOD?? A 6 inch board added allows 25" radii. A 12" board addition allows a 28" radii curve. CUTTING a 4X8 into 2 or 4 pieces and using 2 walls allows 46" curves - wth you standing in the middle of it. NOW your 85’ cars look real!
Too easy? Go to 30 series couplers.WHY 30 Series? (1)They have both a usable ‘high’ and ‘low’ position, plus (2) equal swing to both sides.
#38’s are drop-in replacements (and close coupling). #36"s work better on 22"r., and Depending on the R of your curves, you can mix the two. With 2 mounting position’s, you should be able to compensate for any “higher than norm” couplers. Out of 20 cars, I only found ONE that was high. I don’t speak for anyone else’s cars.
Frankly, I prefer the 30 series for having better side-to-side swing - just the thing for Passenger cars going through my #6 Crossover’s
MORE WORK? OK, Cut away part’s of the underframe, and remove the Diaphram’s, or shorten the car’s, if you like. You SURE you can’t add 6 "??
In other words the 30-series draft gear box design http://www.kadee.com/html/30serh.pdf permits
greater laterial swing regardless of the specific coupler?
Perhaps this may circumvent less than 24" radius.
Don,
Useful info as always! MRR should employ you as a part time modeler consultant!
I was considering 20 series couplers, but I’ll check out the 36 and 38 Kadees. The stock EZ Mate couplers on the Walthers Budds don’t take kindly to hard coupling or sudden jolts so they need replacing anyway. My dream is to model a 14 car version of the Seabaord Coast Line’s West Coast Champion.
Cheers!
I corrected the above URL, sorry for the typo.
I put #26 Kadees on my Budds - with no success. The central obstruction on the bottom of the cars (sorry - I don’t know the term for this) blocks truck swivel to such a degree that the longer coupler shank helps but does not cure the problem.
I don’t know if the offset couplers will work or not, but I’ve decided to follow Don’s first suggestion and run my Budd car (RI) passenger trains on wider curves.
The Walthers AMTRAK superliner cars don’t have this problem, and run just fine on my tighter curves.
Good point George Bailey. Is the term centersill appropriate?
I tried hacking into that center piece but%&$#$. Next Charlie, read the instructions.
My 26’s allowed a little more room between the rubbing diaphrames on 22" .curve
CHUCK:
The 30 SERIES centering spring allow’s EQUAL side to side motion and pressure’s, wheras the #5 spring doesn’t. I haven’t actually measured the angles.
The LENGTH of the coupler (6) I would think be more important for ‘lateral swing’'.
The #38 is a hair longer than the #5
In the case of the Walthers’ Budd Cars, since they have a pivoting coupler pocket. I think your dealing with the “Centersill” -or any restricting underbody detail- would be more productive.
Re: ‘Diaphrams’ rubbing. The more prototypical the car, the less curveture they’ll take. Longer couplers or removal of the Diaphrams are the only answer - or widening one’s curves (not the Mrs.')
AntonioFP45
Save the 20 series for Athearn GENESIS loco’s. For some unbeknown reason Athearn has it in for Kadee.The 20 coupler and spring can go right against the metal, raising it to (almost) NMRA height.
I like to ‘close couple’ so #23 followed by #28’s are my ‘Coupler’s d’Jour’. For example on my Genesis "F"s - All #23’s except for A (nose only).
Thank you Don.
I’ll be working on my Walther’s Budds in the meantime, so I’ll try the #36 and #38 combo for the them.
I really wish I could close couple them, but limited space is going to force me to use 22-24 radius track. Beckons that old saying: You have to work with what you got!
High Greens.