Knuckle couplers to suit older Bachmann rolling stock..

[Grumpy Mark]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen..

I have quite a bit of N scale Backmann rolling stock that has served me well, but does not get used that much these days due to being fitted with rapido couplers..

I would like to convert them over to Knuckle couplers, and came accross these couplers "Bachmann N #42533 Dummy Knuckle Coupler and Truck Assembly without wheels", and wondered if they would be a suitable replacement..

Much of the rolling stock I want to convert is #73372 40' Quad Hoppers, #73490 40' Single Dome tank car and #73659 40' Gondolas...

A recent purchase, #73493 40' Single Dome Tank Car Tagolene came with Knuckle Couplers already fitted.. ARE THE #42533 Dummy Knuckle Trucks THE SAME AS THE ONES THAT WOULD BE FACTORY FITTED TO THE #73493 TANK CAR..??

Mark..

PS.. Sorry, didnt mean to "SHOUT" by typing in capitals, I just wanted my question(s) to stand out.. By getting an accurate answer to my second question means that I can answer my first question myself by trial fitting my Bachmann Knuckle coupling trucks to my other rolling stock..

PPS..Ringing customer service is not an option for me, I'm in Australia.. LOL.

[mhampton]

Unless you don't plan to do much switching, the dummy knuckle probably isn't a good idea.  The rigid knuckle on the dummy doesn't lend itself to easy coupling/uncoupling operations.  You might want to look at the #42534 friction bearing or #42535 roller bearing trucks.  I think these may come with the E-Z Mate couplers.

[Albert in N]

Your post is interesting, since I also have some older Rapido coupler cars to convert.  The newer (2000 and later) Bachmann cars have a small phillips screw securing the trucks to the car body.  The truck assembly has a plastic coupler plate that pops off the bottom of the truck wheel retaining body.  It is necessary to pop off the wheel and axle directly under the coupler before gently prying the coupler retainer loose.  The dummy knuckle coupler (from #42531 variety pack or individual part) readily replaces the Rapido coupler.  Then pop the retainer back into place as well as the wheels and axle.  I do not have any #42533 dummy knuckle coupler trucks without wheels, but would assume that you would loosen the phillips screw and install the new truck, then pop in the wheels from the old Rapido truck.  On really old Bachmann (1970s), the cars have plastic pins holding the trucks to the body.  The truck body and coupler retainer are one piece.  You would pry the Rapido out and replace with the dummy knuckle coupler.  Of course, I plan on ordering the #78503 short magnetic E-Z Mate Mark II couplers and trying those.  These look very promising since the dummy couplers are great for running trains, but you cannot switch cars.   If you switch to E-Z Mates, let me know your results.

[skipgear]

On older cars with bolster pins, just by MicroTrains or Atlas trucks as replacements.

For the newer cars with a screw to retain the trucks, you can use MT or Atlas trucks but you have to drill / ream out the mounting hole in the truck to fit the bolster on the car. Then you can re-use the mounting screw.

If you want to use the dummy Bachmann coupler on the newer cars, you will need to disassemble the coupler box as mentioned above or replace the truck as mentioned above.

I don't think the new EZ mates can be retrofit from looking at the equipment that is coming with them. They use a different mounting, more like a McHenry or Accumate (Atlas) coupler. Microtrains has a coupler that fits the clip together coupler box on the trucks if you want to install them. Look for the 1130-1134 series of coupler. They come in a few different lengths depending on the applications you need.

[Grumpy Mark]

Thanks for the replies..

Most rolling stock sold these days (and for the last few years) are fitted with knuckle couplers rather than Rapido couplers, thus my suggestion that rolling stock that is fitted with Rapido's is old...

Basically my goal was to convert these cars to knuckle couplers as cheap as possible so I can get them back on the layout and in use, instead of sitting in their cases in a drawer doing nothing...

Much of my Bachmann rolling stock is not that old, having been purchased in about 2004, and the trucks are fastened on via a screw rather than a pin, as are the trucks on my #73493 Bachmann Tank car that has dummy knuckle couplers fitted..

On my remaining rolling stock, the trucks are held on with "bolster" pins, so I have no other option than to use MT or Atlas trucks on those..

Cheers

Mark.

Switching via magnetic de-couplers under the track is not something that I am considering at this time.. That is not to say that may not go down that path in the future though, so the point about dummy couplers is valid..

[skipgear]

Bachmann cars came with Rapidos as recently as 2 years back so there are lot of them out there and they are not necesarily old. The dummy knuckles just showed up last year on rolling stock.

[Ken G Price]

Mark, 
I highly recommend that you do what I did for all of my non-knuckle coupler Bachmann rolling stock (19 of these cars) as well as some other older brands with rapido couplers and pizza cutter wheels. That is to buy a bulk pack or two of  MTL trucks with short shank knuckle couplers. These will also have better wheels then the older cars.

I got back into building a layout in 2007. A lot of older cars with rapido couplers as well as most had really big pizza cutter wheels that derailed on switches, crossovers bumps, etc.  I bought many Bachmann freight cars since then because they were what I needed and at a nice cost.
Many of the newer Bachmann I have bought since 2007 have had knuckle couplers that seem to work fine so these I have had no need to change. IMHO, This way was a lot less hassle and frustration then changing just the coupler and buying new wheel sets to add to the trucks. Less cost in the long run.