MT 1133 or 1134?

[conradin]

I am planning to convert all my cars from rapido to MT..either 1133 or 1134.
I neither have a physical sample of 1133 nor 1134.  All my rolling stocks are from the current catalog: I have every single BNSF (Great Northern or Santa Fe) rolling stocks..which comes to about 20.  All of them except one use truck mounted couplers.  I want to do coupler conversion as opposed to truck conversion since I do not like plastic wheels.  I understand that 1133 is mid shank, while 1134 is long shank. 

Can anyone give me a report on which one is more suitable...1133 or 1134?
A closer coupling (1133) makes it more realistic, but a longer coupling (1134) makes it less likley to have problems..

All my curves are 11.25" radius curved.  The current couplers are ok, but they uncoupled on occasions, usually between the spectrum loco (body mount couplers) and the first car. 

If some cars are more suitable for 1134 than 1133, or vice versa, can someone give some suggestions, such as "cabooses use 1134, boxcars use 1133..)?

[ddellacca]

conradin,

In my experience, which to use depends on the type of car.

Tank cars you can generally use short shank, sometimes you need medium shank.
Gondolas, you can generally use short shank.
Hoppers normally medium shank.
Box cars will normally require medium or long shank.

What determines which you need to use will be, I've found, whether the
brake wheel on one car interferes with the other car.
Those n-scale brake wheels are WAY too thick.

Hope this helps,

Dick

[GlennW]

MTL makes a "sample pack" of Bettendorf with all  3 lengths.

Dick is correct, for most models the short shank will be fine.
On some gondolas, the brakewheel may interfere with the coupler.
Modern boxcars may need medium or longer shanks.
For shorter 40'boxcars, a med shank makes them look like something with a rebuilt shock cushion center sill.

A lot depends on how far the bolster hole is from the end of the car.
Where the 11" curves come in is to be sure the coupler stays near the rail. Derailments begin if the coupler gets stuck on the side of the car or pulls the wheels to one side too far. 11" curve s/b fine till you get to 85' passenger cars or some of the modern large freight cars (autoracks, Pig Palace, HyCubes).

[brokemoto]

If you are going with truck mounts, 1133s should be fine on eleven inch curves.  If you have some B-mann locomotives that have body mounts that take 1133/1134, you might want to use 1134s.  If they are truck mounts, 1133s should be allright. 

If I recall correctly, the SPECTRUM F-units take something else, but I forget what it is.  The SPECTRUM steam takes 2004 on the tender.  The SPECTRUM steam are body mounts; there is no allowance for truck mounts.