Converting to Micro Trains Trucks and/or Couplers

[Sundance69]

I have some very old freight and oldtime passenger cars with what i believe are Rapido couplers.  I'd like to convert them to Micro trains couplers.  Most are labeled as "Bachmann Hong Kong" with others labeled "Atlas USA."  I've gone to the Micro Trains website and pulled up their conversion charts, BUT I'm have a difficult time understanding the charts and what to do next.

[brokemoto]

MT 1133 is almost universal for old B-mann.  If you are using sharp curves, you can use 1134, which is nothing but an 1133 with a longer shank.  These will work on the freight or passenger cars for B-mann.  If you are going to work with 1133/1134, buy the MT coupler tweezers.  They are indispensible to working with these particular couplers.

You can swap out the trucks on the Atlas freight cars.  MT sells trucks with couplers mounted for these cars.  They even come in ten packs.  There are Bettendorf, roller bearing, Andrews and arch bar, as well as others.  Most of the older Atlas freight cars will have Bettendorfs although some will have roller bearing.  One or two of the wood cars might look allright with Andrews.  Arch bar trucks are mostly nineteenth century, although it took until the 1920s or 1930s before AAR banned them in interchange service.  That ban was breached during World War II, as well, as the railroads were using almost anything that rolled then.

If you have some older Atlas passenger cars, MT sells six wheel trucks for the heavyweights and four wheel trucks for the smooth side or corrugateds.  If you flip over the car, you should see a screw that holds in the truck.  You will have to pop off the roof and hold the weight while you unscrew the truck.   If, however, you have a really old Atlas/Rivarossi heavyweight passenger car, you may notice no screw but the flat head of a pin that holds the trucks onto the car.  The pin is an extremely tight friction fit into the car weight and is almostimpossible to remove without causing serious damage to the car.  All is not lost, however.  There is a coupler that you can fit to the existing Rivarossi truck. The conversions for this are any of the following:  1049/1128/1129. It is not hard to do it.  You undo the metal clip on the truck, pull out the Rapido and the spring, then follow the MT directions to convert the coupler.

[James in FL]

I've gone to the Micro Trains website and pulled up their conversion charts, BUT I'm have a difficult time understanding the charts and what to do next.

Go back to their website and look for the "Contact Us".
Call them.
Tell them what you have, they will recommend the best option.

[Sundance69]

Thanks so much for the responses.  I also have two Bachmann diesel engines with knuckle couplers.  Are they compatible with the MT couplers?

[brokemoto]

I also have two Bachmann diesel engines with knuckle couplers.

Which ones are they and do you know approximately when B-mann issued them?

The B-mann dummy knuckle couplers and McHenry couplers are compatible with MTs.

Some of the earliest issues of B-mann with dummy knuckle couplers have the couplers at an incorrect height.  They will couple to the MTs, but might not stay coupled.  There are several possibilities to correct this.  You can substitute UniMates, or use the MT suggested conversion.  Most of these are 2004, but check with MT to be certain.

If you have locomotives with McHenry couplers note the external spring.  UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you remove this spring.  It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to get it to go back (this assumes that you actually find the spring after it launches).  If you take out that spring, you will have to replace the coupler with something, as removal of the spring renders the couplers useless.

[Sundance69]

Both engines were purchased last December ... a Bachmann N61651 EMD NW2 UP #9155 and a Bachmann N62452 EMD GP-7 UP #116. 

[brokemoto]

Those are newer issues and I have both of them (not Uncle Pete, but I have the models).  The couplers are compatible with MTs, Unimates, Accu-Mates and other knuckle couplers.  It might take some doing to get them to couple, but they are compatible.

[Sundance69]

I have converted all of my cars except three cabooses which have body-mounted Rapido couplers.  Has anyone been able to convert similars to knuckle couplers?