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[Ghost1941]

First off a little history...since I was younger I had a love for model trains, but coming from a family who didn't have the extra money for me to be privied to owning them I never had the opportunity to fulfill my ambitions.  Now that I am out and on my own and living a rather successful life I have decided to pick up the hobby.  I did a good amount of research(apparently not enough) and ordered myself the Empire Builder from Bachmann as well as 8 extra railcars and about 20 feet or track.  Before I get into my plans... I'm having problems, the connectors on the Bachmann cars are different then the 8 I bought.  Which is more standard, and how do you go about replacing them.  Does anybody have pictures, etc that could help a guy out.  Thank you in advance.

[Ghost1941]

Nothing on how to replace/ fix the problem with linking the trains together?

[Cascade Northern]

If you include photos or a discription of the couplers, we might be able to help you.  Each company makes their own different style of coupler, so a photo would be helpful.

[Ghost1941]

I take it you're in Washington? 

Anyways on to the pictures.  I appologize for crappy pics, Just got outta work and got this message. 

This is the one on the Empire builder set.



This is the one on all the Car's I bought... But they won't work with the train.

[Conrail Quality]

In the first picture, you show what is called the "Rapido" type. This was the standard coupler for many years, and is still found on older equipment. It is cheap to produce and holds very securely. However, it looks quite unrealistic and is very difficult to remotely uncouple. The second picture shows "knuckle" type coupler. This type first appeared some years ago, but has only become common in recent years as some patents on the design expired. It looks remarkably like the prototype coupler, and can allow for remote (magnetically-operated) uncoupling. However, they are more expensive to make, since they are not a one-peice design like the Rapidos.

N-scale is gradually moving towards ther knuckle type as the standard. Bachmann, as you have seen, makes their new equipment with knuckle couplers (although the Bachmann ones do not allow for remote uncoupling) instead of Rapidos. As such, it would make much more sense to convert your Rapido-equipped equipment to knuckle couplers than vice-versa. Two of the main brands of knuckle coupler are Accumate and Micro-Trains (some manufacturers, such as Kato produce their own knuckle couplers, but I am not aware that if are sold as a stand-alone product). They both have their pros and cons, which I'm sure someone else will elaborate. If you plan to use remote uncoupling, you will have to replace the Bachmann couplers as well (which should be much easier than replacing Rapido couplers).

[Ghost1941]

How do you replace these?  Is it like a drop in part?  Can you send me a link to one that will replace these?  Thanks in advance and thanks for the reply man.

[Conrail Quality]

For your locomotive, which I am assuming is the 4-8-4 that Bachmann lists as coming with the Empire Builder trainset, Micro-Trains recomends a #1128 coupler for the tender and a #1021 on the pilot. For the cars, it might just be easier to use one of Micro-Trains' replacement truck/coupler combos. What type of truck depends on what type of rolling stock you have. Judging from the locomotive, Bettendorf-style trucks would proably be protypical for your time period (4-8-4's were used from the mid-1930's to the mid-1950's).

[GlennW]

For the Bachmann cars, the easiest route would be to get the Bachmann replacement trucks with knuckle couplers Swap out the wheelsets, then swap the trucks. You will need a small Philips screwdriver to do this.

If you use MTL or Atlas/Accumate trucks/couplers, you will need to enlarge the bolster hole to fit onto Bachmann's cars. If you take off the Bachmann trucks, you will easily see this.

BTW you may find some Bachmann cars that come equipped with the new knucke couplers. Online retailers should clearly mark which couplers come on the newer cars. I've found a few at Hobby Lobby.

[thirdrail]

The best way to replace the trucks on Bachmann cars, IMHO, is to remove the boss the screw goes into, drill out the bolster with a 5/64" drill, and use the kingpin that comes with the Micro-Trains or Atlas trucks. I prefer MTL, and there are far more varieties.