I am looking at purchasing some older Model Power HO rolling stock, but I don’t have an idea of the style of their old coupler boxes which have horn-hook couplers.
Anybody have an idea what these older coupler boxes were like for converting to knuckle style? Some styles are easier than others and some should just be cut off.
I’d like to know before I buy several of them and just get a headache of a poor style for conversion.
Thanks.
I converted a number of these a few years back for a friend. As I recall they all had coupler boxs attached to the trucks not body mounted. He was doing this on the cheap, so I cut the boxes off at the trucks and used #5 KD and their boxes to mount them on the body. I had to do some filling with styrene to make a pad to mount the couplers. Not a big job but fiddly. It is best to use screws to mount them so you can remove them for service and repair.
Dave
Yep, the Model Power freight cars have Talgo truck mounted couplers. Kadee suggests #28 couplers for Talgo mounting, ( I used #5’s and a #212 Talgo adaprter) or you can body mount #5’s in a Kadee box.
In case you don’t know, you can find a coupler conversion guide here: http://kadee.com/conv/holist.pdf
It shows recommended conversions for most locos and rolling stock.
Rotor
If these are in fact truck-mounted couplers, the right thing to do is cut off the coupler assembly that’s on the trucks, or maybe just throw the trucks away and replace them. (The trouble is, you may end up paying more for new trucks than you did for the car.)
Get a package of “Draft Gear Boxes” from your Kadee dealer. These are small plastic boxes designed for Kadee couplers. They can be glued to the body of the car, or you can drill-and-tap for a 2-56 screw and attach it like that. The package gives you a whole bunch of boxes for a few dollars, so it’s not going to break the bank.