HO scale How to - Changing Body Mounted Couplers on Athearn Gondola

How I change the couplers on 2 of my vintage athearn 50' gondolas. They both were body mounted couplers. If you're interested in a tutorial on truck mounted couplers please check out my How-to video on it here: • HO scale How to - Chan...
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[@GoViaorgohome]

I like the new rolling stock ya have there. Keep that up and you will need a bigger yard. Thanks for the update -K

[@DaveCoTrains]

haha thanks man, sometimes I wish I could have a bigger one. and by sometimes I mean everyday. lol

[@GooseinTheCabooseProductions]

Try the #148 whisker couplers. They have metal springs molded into the coupler itself so you don't need the brass centering plate. Found the same thing on a couple of vintage athren cars I picked up in a Georgia hobby shop. I don't know the exact details, but they seem to have appeared briefly in the 70's. You sure don't see them anymore. But yes, they're very cool.

[@Kevin-ev7hw]

Dave. You could of used the original Coupler Box that was on the Athearn frame with those metal clips with the #5 or even the 148s. They would of worked fine that's what I have been using for the past 40 plus years of my Model Railroading. Good Tut thou. that Michigan Central Gon is from the 60s time period. Was an original Lionel Piece when Athearn made pieces for Lionel.

[@luke_atthat]

Nice work. Have you tried to use the existing coupler box and fit in the Kadee? Kadee no 5 might not work but the Kadee with whiskers, the no 148, should fit. It fit almost any coupler box! Sometimes I put it in the box and close it with a scrap piece of plastic the size of the box. It is nice to recycle all those old cars. Some are very nice, like the one you showed. Some are quite cheap, but it makes a presence on the layout.

[@catcomet7475]

if you put a small amount of glue on the ends of the frame where it contacts the coupler box you would have more strength to hold the coupler box

[@luckyguy4694]

hey dav, i have 6 cars with that style of trucks. i was told that mine came from the 50's or 60's. i was able to change out the couplers without changing the boxes. i use a harley davidson oil on the spings and trucks to keep them rolling, the hd oil doesnt allow dirt to attack to it and after almost a year on my rolling stock i have had no problems with them. jeff

[@DaveCoTrains]

good to know Jeff, these coupler boxes were just a hair too thin and were too far back for the #5s to stick out enough. but ill have to look into the oil.

[@aceelectriccompany1181]

Thanks for the interesting and useful video. How did you determine the correct coupler height before installation? And then after gluing, how can the height be adjusted?

[@DaveCoTrains]

In my case, I didn't really have a standard. I would recommend either making or buying a standard coupler height guide. I used other rolling stock as a guide. The downfall after gluing is you can not adjust. I was say put some shims or something in between the coupler box and chassis before gluing to get the correct height. If needed, it is only glue and can be pulled off if needed to adjust later.

[@aceelectriccompany1181]

Thanks.

[@sparky107107]

well this is almost the HOW TO video I was looking for , I have about 30 cars I got from the train show in kitchner that have the couplers mounted right on the trucks , you wouldn't happen to be doing a video of how to change then around ,,,,not sure if I need new trucks and do what you just did here by mounting a new coupler box on the end , or just keep the couplers on the trucks ,, you have any ideas for that style ? , thanks for the video dave , and your cp cars look very nice , chris still has a bit of work to do on the diorama ? or that's the finished scene ?

[@DaveCoTrains]

still a bit of work but mostly done. I can see about doing a video once I get more couplers. basically I cut the coupler boxes of the trucks but keep them, and then mount the new coupler boxes onto the car itself. I'll try to get some more couplers and do a video showing it soon.

[@sparky107107]

thanks , like I said have about 30 of them I have to do ,, and am not looking forward to the challenge ,, so your video might make it easier to actually get to the project .. lol

[@GooseinTheCabooseProductions]

+I've got one coming on that subject. don't know exactly when, but it is coming

[@DaveCoTrains]

+sparky107107 I'll have one out tomorrow for you Sparky!

[@DaveCoTrains]

+sparky107107 kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqvOm6uIpK-Iq5Y