Bachmann couplers on Tyco rolling stock.

[rbryce1]

I obtained a large amount of brand new, Tyco rolling stock practically for free.  They all come with hook horn style couplers and I wish to replace them with knuckle style couplers.  Has anyone installed the Bachmann Whisker couplers on these.  They are plastic truck mounted couplers, and the center hold in the coupler is about 1/4 the diameter of the standard knuckle coupler.

I have looked into the Kadee #28 (plastic) and #148 (metal whisker) couplers using the #20 kit, but I just don't follow how this is done from their instructions.

[Jerrys HO]

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,18567.0.html

There are many more topics on this.

Herry

[jward]

jerry's link is a good example of how to do this.

don;t even bother with the truck adapters. you can reuse the old tyco trucks if you wish, but i'd replace the wheelsets with rp25 profile wheels. just cutoff the coupler mount and mount a new kadee coupler box to the floor of the car.

i got my start in the hobby in the early 1970s whencars like tyco and ahm could be bought in any departments store's toy section. as such, i modified many over the years. when i was in n scale i did even more cars.

we used to have a couple of "conversion" cars on the layout, where we'd swapped out the truck mounted horn hook couplers for a kadee on one end ONLY. these cars allow you to run the older, unmodified cars with the rest of your trains. and they make good practice cars while you try to figure out how to body mount your couplers.

one final note: you will always want to screw mount the coupler boxes where possible. gluing the coupler boxes to the car floor is a very weak substitute for a screw mount. sometimes when drilling the holes for the screw you have to drill through the metal weight in the car. if you have a small drill press this helps greatly, but it can also be done with a drill bit in a dremel if you are VERY careful.

[jward]

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,4917.0.html

here's more on the topic of converting older truck mounted couplers to body mount knuckle types.

[Doneldon]

rb-

I strongly urge you to use Kadee couplers rather than another brand of knuckle couplers. Kadees are the top of the
line. Yes, they cost a little more but their performance and durability are second to none. And Kadee has by far the
largest selection of special configurations for those cars which can't be readily adapted to whiskers of the nearly
ubiquitous #5 and #10. Be sure to mount your couplers in exactly the correct location, using a coupler gauge to
ensure this. Also, file any casting flash from the knuckles of your couplers and squirt a little graphite into the draft
gear (coupler box).

Transition cars, as described by Jeff Ward are an excellent idea, at least for a while. They can keep you running trains
while you space out the expense or work of conversions. They aren't a good long-term solution, however, because
they can make switching frustrating. They would be fine if you prefer to mainly run trains rather than do switching or
other operations.

Whatever you choose, use only one brand of knuckle coupler. Model Railroader found that, while all of the knuckle
couplers will work together, they all work best with others from the same manufacturer. I guess that's not surprising.

                                                                                                                -- D

[Len]

Short term, Life-Like makes a plastic knuckle coupler with a small mounting hole that's a direct replacement for the original Tyco horn-hook couplers. No adapters needed, but I find they work better in Tyco trucks if you clip about 1/8" off the end of the centering "whiskers".

If your LHS doesn't have them, you can get them directly from Walthers. Item #433-1427 is a pack of 10/pr for $8.49 and 433-1436 is 2/pr for $4.99. The 10/pr pack is a better deal.

Long term, as others have already mentioned, go with the body mounted Kadee couplers. Personally, I don't like having to juggle the bronze centering springs so prefer the #148 'whisker' couplers. Or you could get some Kadee boxes and use EZ-Mate couplers if your trains aren't too long.

Eventually I also remove the 'snap-on' Tyco trucks, fill the hole with "5 Minute" epoxy, then drill and tap for a 2-56 screw and mount appropriate Kadee trucks with Intermountain wheels. The Intermountain wheels are a good idea even if you keep the original trucks.

Len