Upgrading Walthers Mainline Passenger Cars

[@w.rustylane5650]

Truck mounted couplers are called talgo trucks & I hate 'em too. I always cut them off and body mount Kadee couplers. I always change out the plastic wheelsets for Walthers Proto metal wheelsets with metal axles. I'm presently working on 6 Central of Georgia passenger cars (unknown manufacturer) changing the talgo truck couplers to body mounted Kadee's. The couplers were put on the metal piece that stuck out from the trucks and I had to use a Dremel with a cut-off wheel to make a slice in the metal, then I just wiggled them back 'n forth until they broke. Then I filed them down. I ended up breaking a set of trucks and had to order some Walthers passenger car trucks. I also weigh everything and add appropriate Harbor Freight wheel weights to bring the weights to NMRA standards. A Kadee tap & drill set for 2-56 screws is a must and have several sizes of 2-56 screws on hand. Happy railroading. Cheers from eastern TN

[@jagc1969]

I'm upgrading some Walthers Mainline passenger cars right now. I've noticed that after replacing the trucks and installing the 910-200 Car Exterior Detail kit the couplers do clash with the lower part of the diaphragms, and also the head of the coupler is a bit lower than it should be. I'm thinking on using longer shank #156 Kadee couplers. And I'm thinking on adding weigth to the cars too. I still didn't have time to test the cars after the modifications (due to couplers issue, mainly) but prior to the modifications they tended to derail due to the cars being too light.

[@miquelbotello4608]

Are the upgraded truck frames metal or plastic? Keep up the amazing work and videos!

[@fafnir242]

Thank you so much! They're metal frames, so they're fairly hefty.

[@miquelbotello4608]

@@fafnir242 thank you for the reply, I truly appreciate it. I forgot to ask one more important question jaja.. do you happened to know if the walthers proto passenger trucks that come eith them are completely metal as well, I was curious since I will be ordering some passenger cars in the walthers proto series. I couldn't find any information whether or not if the walthers proto passenger cars come with the metal frames since proto is their top of the line series.

[@fafnir242]

@@miquelbotello4608 I think Proto products do have metal trucks, yes. I've got a Proto RPO I'll check when I get a second and I'll let you know.