Watch this before spending a bunch of money on replacement couplers for your N Scale rolling stock.

[@nscalefun]

AWESOME!!! I have several this way to help my layout. Thank you for sharing and keep up the good work.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thank you!

[@allanthackwray6749]

Great if running train same way but not practical on layouts running stock in alternative directions with a lot of switching I have found it unrealistic but then again good for some and not so good for others.

[@21_Country_Patriot]

I, myself, am an N scale model railroader, & this is a great tip! 👍 But, I, already, figured this out, years ago.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Figure there are some people that haven't heard of it yet, or are new the hobby. 🙂

[@JohnHoranzy]

@@Trains-With-ShaneThis concept is so obvious that it done totally eluded me. Thanks for posting this tip. Am full noob with N scale but ran O and Ho back in the 60s when I was a little kid.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

@@JohnHoranzy Thanks John. That's why I put most of these videos together. Everybody starts somewhere.

[@howlinwolfe1805]

It’s good to know that something I did more than 25 years ago is still being used today. We used to call these cars “adapter cars”. It’s all about having fun.

[@anthonydzimira2887]

Just did this myself to double my cars I can pull , and buy rapidly freight boxes for literally $5 each at my local hobby shop! Saved me tons of money! 😊❤

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Excellent!

[@grahambo-42]

I picked up a NRMA collectors edition train on E-Bay a while back. The first car in the consist was arranged this way with one knuckle and one rapido. With the loco having a knuckle it allows for easy coupling/decoupling while keeping the rest of the train together. It also permits some realistic/prototypical operations where the steam loco will drop off the train at a station or yard and then go to the roundhouse/service shed while a switcher comes and moves the train where it needs to go.

[@squalli1297]

I've been practicing this method for some time & it works. I have recently purchased 4 Bachmann 85' silver illuminated passenger cars & noticed they've included a pair of Rapido couplers (with whiskers) for transition cars. The problem I now have is they didn't include a diagram of the body mounted coupler box nor instructions on how to make the transition. I'm not good at handling tiny screws & get frustrated easily, so I will stick with the E-Z Mate couplers. After researching, it's not a viable option to swap out all couplers on 100+ cars that are over 30 years old. Rapido couplers are looking really good now after years of worrying about aesthetics. I'll keep my sanity. Thanks!

[@davidpasciak1823]

I would have never thought of doing this but it will save me alot of money for my budget build…..thanks

[@Trains-With-Shane]

You're welcome, David. That's exactly why I posted this. Not everybody knows all the tricks. I learn a lot of stuff by watching KZbin.

[@Joeyshobbygarage]

It's funny, but I figured this out on my own after buying a Bachmann "Spirit of Christmas" set this year ($100 Amazon special) and wanted to add a caboose. I had an older Bachmann AT&SF red caboose and a green BN that could mix/match Christmas colors, but they were both Rapido style. Fortunately, the Bachmann set came with swappable couplers that allowed me to change one of the passenger cars' rear coupler to the rapido option. After creating that 'adaptor' car I was able to attach my entire set of older rolling stock. It was a huge unlock, so I did the same to one of my Atlas ARR box cars so that my newer ARR train with MTL rolling stock can now pull my older foreign stock. It is a great way to save a bunch of time and money, and puts my childhood train back in service after 30 years in storage. Thanks for the great vid and content!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

While not as common anymore there was a time when some manufacturers were putting both types of couplers in with their locomotives and rolling stock. I seem to remember some of my older Kato stuff came with the Rapido couplers in the spare parts bag.

[@mohammedali672]

Been doing this since 1985 ! A ton of money saved . I do like the mtc coupler , and make some conversions when I find sets used or unused at a good price at train shows , etc . With over 150 cars in my yard , I have a third converted and am in no rush !

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I might actually start picking up some conversion trucks and making a few more of these cars.

[@cascadesouthernmodeltrains7547]

The "rivets" are usually just push pins that use a friction fit to hold the truck in place. Think Lego. All you have to to is pull up on the pin and it will come free. Just make sure if it has a hex on it to line the flats up or it will mess up the hole and eventually fall out and your truck will not stay on.

[@davidztog9011]

I already commented before, but wanted to add that if you buy a piece of older Bachmann N scale rolling stock with knuckle couplers, there are usually rapido couplers included so all you need to do is change one coupler. You will then have a conversion car without having to change trucks. Very easy to do as it just pops in, but be careful so you don't lose the spring. Usually provided in the larger Bachmann jewel boxes.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

100% of the used rolling stock i've bought either on eBay or at train shows didn't come with a single spare replacement coupler. Now by rolling stock I mean just cars. I have bought plenty of locomotives with replacement couplers. Mostly with knuckle couplers already fitted. And rather than fit any of them with the included Rapidos I just decided to make a quick conversion car. Then it doesn't matter which cars I want to pull behind a given locomotive.

[@stephenater9687]

Did this about 66 years ago with Marx and Lionel O trains. Worked great!

[@VinceCraine]

Shane, talk about thinking outside the box. I just bought several rolling stock but they have the repedo couplings. I was looking for a solution because at $8 a wack for each one to change over micro trains. Just to much money. No one would never even know this was done. Thanks buddy ( simple but a genius move) that just save me decent amount money for more rolling stock.😊

[@Trains-With-Shane]

thanks Vince! I didn't invent the idea. Just boosting the signal to all my N scale modeling brothers.

[@georgeandcarolfischer291]

I call this a conversion car. I have done this with my Fleischmann cars that had the hook coupler. I also took a ROCO car and replaced one side with my coupler, now I can connect other ROCO cars to this one. Great job.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks George!

[@michaelmorgan7893]

I had a couple of cars that had one of each type of coupler on either end. It was fine and it worked well but after a while I started converting everything to Microtrains couplers. I rebuilt a dozen or so Bachmann 50' reefers that when I bought them were painted for Santa Fe, but the orange was too pinkish red to look correct. And there was no white in the corners of the Santa Fe logo, and the MTC logo and door data is black on a dark blue door, so I repainted them all so they had different road numbers and correct colors etc. At that time, I put Microtrains wheelsets with roller bearing trucks and so I cut off that knub that sticks up, and drilled the holes to 3/32 to accept the Microtrains bolster pin provided. It made for a much better running and looking reefer. I have a couple of those yellow Southern Pacific reefers like yours too, and I did the same thing. My first test of Microtrains couplers was on 4 Model Power Santa Fe RSD 15 "Alligators" to combat the "pull apart" issues. So this necessitated a conversion car. But I was so well pleased with the microtrains couplers, I started converting everything to them.

[@KENNETHTRAINS]

You can do this with all N scale rolling stock most have a plastic pin (No rivets) you just pull the pin out and change the truck over you can also change the pin to a 2.56 screw $5.00 USD for 100 screws and you can get 10 pairs of trucks from micro-trains under $50

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks Kenneth. I didn't know the pins were removable. I may attempt this with one or two additonal cars as a test. Is there a default MT truck that you pick up or do you buy based on prototype accuracy?

[@AverageCitizen333]

This solves a new problem for me. Just bought some new n scale this last weekend, and i got my old stuff back only to find they changed them. Now im just gonna make a few conversion cars. Thanks a ton!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@jmurrell9881]

Atlas, Life-Like and Model Power trucks are not riveted on. They are attached with a plastic pin pressed into the bolster. Gently pry the pin out to swap out the trucks. Very easy.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I'll have to give it a try! They looked like rivets so I didn't want to risk busting up a car. But if they're just little friction fit pins then that opens up a bunch of opportunities to do this on virtually everything.

[@jmurrell9881]

@@Trains-With-Shane Yes. That's exactly what they are. Friction fit pins. Micro trains trucks come with 2 sets of extra pins. One for Atlas, Life like and Model power. And one for older Con Cor cars.

[@scotttucker8127]

I do the same thing with my HO scale rolling stock it really does save you a lot of money doing this conversion car

[@pogojoe7967]

Very very smart! I have had rapido stock and loco in storage waiting for a coupler project, but not now. Thanks

[@ewanmcgregor146]

I’m an N-scaler, but I model modern Japanese railways, so the majority of my fleet are modern electric multiple units with Scharfenberg style couplers from the factory. Luckily, for the EMUs that don’t come with them fitted, the Japanese manufacturers sell Scharfenberg couplers in packs of up to 20, so you can replace them quite cheaply. For freight cars, Kato makes a knuckle style hook that drops into the Rapido pocket and mates with knuckle couplers, so I’ve standardised freight cars with that. Japanese makers use a standard coupler pocket and many of them also have a standard layout for body mounting coupler units too.

[@davidztog9011]

Good informative video. Did this years ago. Saves the hobby budget for other things like more locomotives, rather than changing all the old Rapido couplers. That could get very expensive quickly. Thanks for sharing. 👍👍👍

[@Trains-With-Shane]

That's really why I decided to put the video together. Replacing everything with Micro trains, or other type of coupler, can get pretty pricy if you have a bunch of older rolling stock. In my case a bunch of my old stock is cheap and ancient Bachmann, Life-Like, etc. where the coupler kit would cost more than I likely spent on the piece itself. lol

[@stevehughes5403]

I started making these transition cars by swapping trucks back on my first S Scale American Flyer Trains from the 1950's. They had a transition to knuckle couplers in around the mid 50's from what was called a link coupler. I still got my American Flyers running. On my HO trains, when they went to Knuckle couplers I did the same. So today I got a lot of N scale stuff too. On these I have made 4 transition cars. About half my rolling stock is the Rapido couplers the rest Knuckle. One of my longer freight trains I have about 50 cars, a total mix of couplers by using the 4 transition cars. The N scale couplers are so small I don't care about how they look. When Ebay matured I started finding re-manufactured after market Knuckle couplers for the old American Flyer Trains. The old link couplers really look bad. So about 10 years ago I got all my American Flyer Trains converted to Knuckle couplers. Since the trains are much larger scale this was pretty easy and required a hammer. Try using a hammer on a n scale train (LOL), I only had maybe 20 cars to deal with, so was doable.

[@williamlee1429]

Unlike Joey below who figured it out on his own, I have a caboose on my layout on a siding that never moves. I bought a car on eBay and even though it was a Bachman like my set it had the strange Rapido couplers on it. I switched the truck on the center flow car with the caboose. Now I've got another car added to my train, thanks,

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks William! Glad the info was helpful. 👍

[@4everdc302]

I use my converter cars as a buffer car behind my locomotives for tank unit trains.🚂🇨🇦🇺🇸

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I may have to put together a few more. I just picked up a mix of Amtrak Phase III cars with Rapido and Knuckle couplers (2 different lots). So will need to put together at least one converter car to be able to haul all of them at once.

[@KING-LEO]

I. Think its a fantastic idea.i was just looking on you tube on how to upgrade my locos and found this.i have several locos with both styles of cupplers so this will save a huge amount of money.thank you!!!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks for watching, Leo! Glad it helped you out.

[@budwhite9591]

Yea definitely a great tip. Sort of a dedicated mating car to match up mismatched couplers. I’m not about to disassemble a loco just to swap couplers. I had one loco from eBay that had rapidos but they bent probably due to being stored wrong. So I used toothpicks to stretch them back open. After about a week of leaving the toothpicks in place they were finally opened back up so they would work correctly. And it’s my fastest locomotive so far.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I've got such a mismatch of old and new rolling stock that the coupler mating cars are mandatory if i'm to run large trains.

[@shemp308]

I did this but replaced couplers not the truck on a few cars for my first Kato engine. has worked out great for years.

[@Mark-f7o]

Yep I did this on my HO scale many years ago. Now thinking of doing this with N. Thanks for post mate from Australia 👍

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Cheers!

[@CodysTrainz]

I put 2-56 screws in place of Atlas 1st and 2nd run holding pins, believe it or not 2-56 screws are the same used in HO, N scale cars (for the most part) are just smaller versions mechanically as HO scale cars.

[@tommurphy4307]

good idea for making hot trucks for FRED's and cabooses

[@randycaulkins3644]

Yup, did that many years ago by simply cuttung off the Rapido truck mounted coupler and installing a Kadee coupler box, with appropriate shims, to the boxcar frame more like the protypes. Presto, a car to join the two types of couplers!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Body mounted couplers definitely lend themselves better to switching ops. I keep most of mine truck mounted to better deal with tight radius curves.

[@watchtrainsnow1099]

Super good video I do that all the time, I have 5 or 6 transition cars like that. Some times I run a knuckle engine, then a transition car, then a full train of old Bachmann cars with Rapidos, then a transition car, the a Micro-Trains caboose.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

That is how I use mine as well. Often I run the transition cars back to back if I don't need an actual transition. This way I keep them on the track for easy access. If I want to switch engines I just remove the frontmost car if I need a transition.

[@elleryparsons5766]

I love what I have And proud of it won’t change Anything People don’t Like it ah well.

[@SteamSuperHEater]

I've heard of this idea before, the guys at my local hobby shop called it a "converter car" or something like that. It does work pretty well if you're just running trains continuously with the same consist each time, but since my layout is more focused on switching it might not be my best option. Great video nonetheless

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Switching operations are DEFINITLY better with knuckle couplers. Especially if your layout has permanent or electro magnetic de-coupler points. I've got a few sections of that Kato track that have de-coupler magnets built in. Need to play around and see if I'm going to use them or not. Just haven't had time yet.

[@normanrowe2831]

Simple, obvious, and brilliant.

[@bkdexter79]

I recently inherited about 100 pcs of Bachman rolling stock to add to my existing consists. I can't swap that many, so I will have to "swap" over as many as I can for the time being. Then I will just put the unusable rolling stock on an unused spur for storage. Great video!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Just need to swap out one side of a few of them and you can run any combination you want. Run them all 🙃

[@rogermillington1195]

Great idea. I have fleischmann and they offer optional coupler conversion. I have a couple of locos each with alernate couplers.

[@jim874]

Done that for about 8 or 9 years. I also bought KATO trucks to match up to my KATO engines. Have a very nice SP Daylight set but with Rapido couplers. I took a dummy B unit and did the conversion on it. Now run an F7A with two B units... works great.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I should probably make some Amtrak conversion cars as i've got a mix of knuckle and rapido cars from various manufacturers. I've got a SP Daylight set as well but it's all rapido equipped because it's old Con-Cor

[@jim874]

@@Trains-With-Shane The biggest issue I ran into was the coupler height not matching. The B unit has an ever so slight rake to it but the couplers stay connected so I can live with the rake.

[@1Klooch]

Have a bunch of old N scale heavyweight passenger cars from ConCor, Rivarossi, Bachmann all with Rapido couplers. Motive power all has MTL couplers. Love MTL, but they're real proud of their product$. The price to replace the trucks on 30+ cars was stupid high in any universe. Took most of my head-end cars and did like you. Easy, cheap and , while not the best looking, the Rapidos work OK for railfaning passenger trains.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

The Rapidos work really well for me. I've also got a few old con-cor, atlas, and rivarossi lassenger cars and it'd cost quite a bit to convert them. I may do some of them in small batches. but until then it's adapter cars.

[@tommurphy4307]

you have to practically stick your nose to it to tell the difference- especially on large layouts. not spending money on MT couplers for your cars will allow you to buy other goodies- like fox valley models' terrific brass wheelsets. they look good and sound great on the rails and do more for your freight cars than installing knuckle couplers can.

[@christopherorourke6543]

Great informative video. In the future I will be getting a Tomix vacuums track cleaner car which only has the rapido couplers, my N scale Bachmann Alaska railroad FT diesel locomotive will be used for track cleaning as that is the very best working Bachmann N scale diesel that my oldest son sent me from Italy where he works for the U.S.Air Force.

[@littlekingcobrasden4217]

In my HO, I changed 1 coupler on two cars so I can use both couplers on same train. I was just slightly limited to the order of the cars.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Yep the order is the only downside. But for me it's worth it for the cost savings. At least with most of the rolling stock that I have being older.

[@Jigoku_Samurai]

it's a great idea and good way to run more cars. i have 3 custom made cars that are setup the same way (bought them that way).

[@Trains-With-Shane]

There are probably more optimal ways to do it. Like to use a car with body mounted couplers and only convert one to a knuckle. I'll need to look up and see who's offering those custom conversion cars. I may put one on my layout.

[@Jigoku_Samurai]

@@Trains-With-Shane I just looked at the 3 that i have, 2 say atlas on the bottom and the other has no markings. but i'm not sure if it was something that was done by atlas or if it's something that the person i bought them from might have done. either way, they've been useful as they have military vehicles on them so i can run them behind my UP 'The Spirit' locomotive and mix them through the consist if need be.

[@duffey3]

I bought a bunch of micro trains trucks and swapped out one side of some cars and both sides of others. It seems to work fine.

[@fredgaines6669]

Man that is a great idea thanks iam going to do that

[@Trains-With-Shane]

You're welcome, Fred. I use mine all the time.

[@markrichmond8289]

Great idea. I have done this and it works great. Thanks for sharing . Mark from Australia

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Cheers, Mark!

[@jackwatts8089]

Brilliant cost savings 👏 I'll be doing this

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks, Jack! I use mine often.

[@Greatdome99]

Adapter cars--whatta concept. I did the same thing in HO with NMRA and Kadee couplers 60 years ago.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Wow that's a long time ago! I don't think knuckle couplers were a thing in N scale till at least the late 80's. But if I recall O scale has had them forever. I wasn't sure how far Kadee went back in H.O. scale. Good old #5's. I've got a bunch of those as well in my old H.O. scale supplies that I just broke open today for the first time in years to help my brother get started who wanted to move from O to H.O. scale. I gave him a few old but trusty Atlas yellow box locomotives, some EZ track, and an old Bachmann power pack.

[@jimkray5159]

A hybrid car with different couplers...putting this right after a loco making the rest of the cars be knuckle or Rapido style. Works for me. I'm making 3 of these hybrid cars myself.

[@js-oy3td]

I did that initially to save money years ago using the micro-trains bulk pack. The only issue is that you can't easily move the cars around unless you physically pick them up to uncouple the rapido side.. Also, the bachmann wheels are metal and don't run as smoothly as the micro-trains trucks do. I actually modified the bachmann rolling stock by filing the outside joint for the screw since the micro-trains trucks were a bit tight. It was a bit of work but now they work like a dream.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

My metal bachmann wheels roll pretty well. Although i'm not to the point of replacing them yet. I've got quite a few better pieces now. Mostly Microtrains, that I use for switching ops and the like.

[@ronaldarmijo7342]

I did that a about a year ago, because I ran into the same problem.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I still use mine often.

[@Riogrande6400]

This applies to HO scale as well old train models. Have hook horn couplers new stuff has knuckle couplers nice video.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks! I've got a bunch of older HO scale stuff and I think almost all of it is hook horn.

[@Riogrande6400]

@@Trains-With-Shane the good news is that it's pretty simple to convert old rolling stock that has hook horn to knuckle couplers. When I first got into ho scale trains I bought dozens of old rolling stock and converted them to kaydee couplers and metal wheels with very little work.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

@@Riogrande6400 I think I have a box of Kadee #5's somewhere.

[@Riogrande6400]

@@Trains-With-Shane you will also need some kedee coupler boxes and glue. I would also recommend a coupler hight gage and a piece of flex track.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

@@Riogrande6400 the height gauge I will need. I've got one for N scale but not H.O.

[@Eric5ohhh]

Conversion cars are a good idea and work really well when connecting locomotives to rolling stock. But I’m looking for a way to connect my older Atlas RS-2s with rapido couplers to my newer Kato RS-3 with knuckle couplers. Not sure how to achieve this though and I don’t want to break anything trying to mcguiver something

[@farmcat3198]

Those crazy Rapido couplers seem to work better, and they don't bust as easily as the knuckle couplers.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

You're not wrong! They tend to handle tight radius curves better as well. Although that can also just vary depending on whether you're using shell or truck mounted couplers, etc. I have to say that as long as the coupler heights are anywhere near similar the rapidos tend to stay coupled.

[@JasonMerritt-k3e]

I’ve done it before and one thing to consider is the wheel size and truck design also works with ho.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

True. don't want to have 33's vs 36's or something. Would make the car slant.

[@davidbaiker9732]

I thought about this before. Even had a name for the boxcar...transition lines railway.

[@tommurphy4307]

how about AC/DC rails? ADRX

[@mattydred72]

I highly recommend this strategy.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thank you Matty

[@miltonmoore3327]

Been there done that. However there are many model brands out there that pose a host of problems with trying to mount a set of trucks from another make. It works fine in some instances, but there is a fairly high ratio of rolling stock where it is not worth the effort. Fine idea where it works.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

That's one reason why I went with similar make cars here.

[@greeneyedggirl]

Totally a valid way to do it. Nicely done Shane!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks Samantha! Glad you enjoyed the video! -Shane

[@LarryRivest]

Great idea.. I have some rolling stock from e-bay with those couplers Inow have to buy track and a starter set. In this video you seem to run on kato track. The question is, do you have any de-rails? I am a beginner and would like an answer.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Derails are a fact of model railroading regardless of the track and the rolling stock that you use. Now that being said in my opinion Kato Unitrack is the best track overall. Especially for a beginner-intermediate modeler. It just clicks together and works.

[@Mojoman57]

Coupler companies HATE this one simple trick!!! 🤣🤣

[@Trains-With-Shane]

LOL I think that actually sounds more clickbait-ish than my title! I love it! lol.

[@KCR_westrail]

i like the official coupler because it is more detailed🤑

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Me too. It's also easier to use during switching ops.

[@MrGWoodle]

Newer Bachmann rolling stock uses modern ez mate knuckle couplers. Swap with Bachmann new to old. Uses the same screw mount & bolster nub.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I like Bachmann's newer couplers. They seem to work well. At least on the locomotives that I have purchased that have them.

[@mrrecreatedlopez33]

I also have about 3 cars with different couplers to mix and match in my set

[@Trains-With-Shane]

They're handy!

[@LedgemereHeritageFarm]

Until I can acquire enough couplers, I’m using a gondola with a rapido on one end an ez mate on the other end so I can run both for now. I have the same scenario with Ho except I have a gp38-2 with one horn hook and one ez mate

[@bluetopguitar1104]

I've been doing this for a while. I think it's a good idea as you can save a few bucks and make things a little more functional. I have about 10 cars like this. I call them the "composite squadron". I started my first n scale railroad in 2007. Stopped in 2017 as I had to move. Started again last year and it helped. Especially because I bought too much rolling stock. Pretty cool idea in my opinion.

[@danshobbies13]

I made an adapter car for my HO. Never dawned on me to switch trucks for my N scale.

[@mikereich6341]

Never thot of it…..great idea!

[@АндрейГеннадьевич-м6б]

I have the same problems with different cars! The single solution,I see, is unification of couplers from rapido to knokles.

[@billdeitemeyer8325]

Thanks for the tip!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

You're welcome, Bill!

[@elleryparsons5766]

It is Different But I Like it. If you are Smart it can Be done not a Prob.

[@edmijares1011]

nice hack….. I would use this as a temp fix till I picked up some MTL trucks

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I use them on my test track all the time. That way I never need to change out all of my rolling stock when I test a new (to me) locomotive.

[@UpcomingJedi]

Is there one video showing how rapido couplers go on these things?

[@Trains-With-Shane]

It usually varies greatly depending on manufacturer, train model, and when it was made.

[@bjorn1583]

l have 4 of these "converter cars" dependent on the rollingstock l am running

[@anthonyshepard9606]

: OUTSTANDING info commentary. All Aboard. 🐢 🚂 🐢 🚂 🐢 🚂

[@johnschutt9187]

Great idea! Tha nks.

[@silverfreddy7705]

Can this be done with the n scale bachmann Thomas line of engines and rolling stock as well?

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Hey Freddy. I'm not 100% sure. I don't know if it'd be as easy as swapping a truck off of a newer model not knowing much about the Thomas The Tank Engine stuff that Bachmann made. But you could just as easily upgrade from the Rapido coupler to a knuckle style on one end of one of the Thomas themed cars. Although it may take a little bit of fiddling.

[@UpcomingJedi]

But how are rapido couplers replaced or added? I bot a loco on ebay but it doesnt have couplers and I would like to add one just to run it under the xmas tree. How are Rapido couplers put in there?

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I believe Microtrains has a way to find out which coupler kit you can order on their website. Just feed in the make and model. It may or may not come with all the components needed depending on if you're missing the entire coupler boxes on the one you just got.

[@jimhoagland629]

Thanks muchly!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

You're welcome!

[@vahidhosoda6614]

Can you still do it with ho locomotives the lifelike don’t seem to have screws to replace

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Well the purpose of this video was to show you a way you don't have to. But if you have a locomotive that has a broken or missing coupler Most of them have some kind of conversion available but not all. It depends on the specific model. And most of them have some kind of plastic clip holding them together if there isn't a screw. But some you have to take the truck apart as it's held together by the individual pieces of the truck.

[@pgadeb]

The tricky part is to find a Backmann truck mounted knuckle coupler on ebay ....photos on ebay don't always help and you could end up with a car with a detached coupler

[@Trains-With-Shane]

It's not too bad. Although I did search through a lot of auction listings because I was trying to get out as inexpensively as possible. I lucked out with that weathered Pacific Fruit Express car being just about the cheapest one overall.

[@tommurphy4307]

i throw them in my parts box as I use rapidos on all my plastic equipment. I am too busy working on locos, motors, and wheelsets- just don't want to play with couplers. i'm retired and do motor man work for a couple of local N scale groups and let those guys handle knuckle-coupler issues and those couplers have more issues than rapidos do- and guys pay extra for them? love fox valley model's brass wheelsets- i try to put the standard-tread wheels on everything. they sound nicer on the rails, too. not buying knuckle couplers enables me to pay for the wheelsets. i'm still seeing dummy knuckles on some new rolling stock- really hate those! they force you to touch your decorated and weathered cars. at least give us some couplers we can switch with! N scale's finally getting to be fun!

[@SFCRambo60]

It's an okay idea but when performing yard staging it will become difficult plus the old couplers uncouple while rolling.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I’ve actually had more issues with knuckle couplers uncoupling than rapidos. But if I were doing a lot of yard switching operations I would be using exclusively knuckles for that.

[@tommurphy4307]

make them body or floor-mount rapidos and they will outperform (and won't 'uncouple while rolling') any knuckle coupler including MTs. you can use the pockets, springs, and couplers you cut from the trucks. if parts are an issue, you can get used trucks cheap online from guys who converted to MT trucks. humping, staging, or backing long strings or trains- hands-down better reliability. you can release them easily with a rix-pix or bamboo food skewer. how much can a bag of those cost at safeway? the train guys i work for say to use a good two-part clear epoxy for the construction of the floors/bodies to the shim(s) and coupler boxes and rough up the plastic to help the epoxy hold. don't get glue inside the box or you'll regret it. makes sense.....

[@Death_From_Below]

I have several conversion cars.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Wasn't sure if you did or not when you mentioned Rapidos on the other video 😛

[@larryholloway5222]

I just started rebuilding n scale from a few years ago. I like your idea but the rapido couplers are constantly coming apart. Any suggestions?

[@Trains-With-Shane]

When you say coming apart do you mean that they're unhooking from each other or the couplers are coming off of the rolling stock?

[@larryholloway5222]

@@Trains-With-Shane They are unhooking from each other.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

@@larryholloway5222 That is strange. The only time I have issues with that happening is when there are transitions to steep grades or if the couplers are vastly different height or the springs are missing.

[@raymondleggs5508]

european and japanse seem to stick with Arnold rapido, even to the point that kato sells packets of them.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Hi Raymond! If I remember correctly I think even some of my brand new Katos, while they come with knuckle couplers pre installed, come with Rapidos as well as optional replacements. I'll have to check though.

[@johnredford6136]

Can a person use Kato couplers on rolling stock?

[@Trains-With-Shane]

It's possible. NEver know till you try!

[@danielrisland2726]

Makes sense to me

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Sometimes the simple solutions are the best ones.

[@mgamga9476]

Clever idea.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Thanks. It's not something that I came up with. It's been around in the model railroad scene for a while but I hadn't seen any videos about it with a quick search. So I decided to put one together.

[@tonykane8866]

I just want to swap in trucks on a Box car I've been I can run both micro trains or the standard old Couplers on the same train problem solved

[@Trains-With-Shane]

That's basically what I did here :)

[@slorailfan]

They are called transition cars when you swap out just one coupler.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Yes they are. Not a new concept. I just hadn't seen a video solely about it in regards to N scale.

[@slorailfan]

@@Trains-With-Shane Yep. I was just giving it a name and that's great that you created this niche video. I do the same on my business channel--try to create niche/one-of-a-kind videos. I just created a few transition cars an hour ago. I am a bit of a purist when it comes to old or antique things so it bugs me to remove the Rapido couplers but I keep it to a minimum. I like keeping them as they are since they are so old. It preserves their original condition. I'll just make enough transition cars to pull entire trains of Rapido coupler'd cars. I have 3 consists that way. I don't mind that they don't look like real knuckle couplers. The other issue is more important to me. Take care.

[@MollydogRadar]

Been doing this for years. I have even done this on my G scale. I like to cheat to keep it cheap.

[@elleryparsons5766]

I Did that And that dose Rock and make Sense.it’s Not Hard to do.

[@TommeeHawk]

Genius

[@Trains-With-Shane]

LOL I appreciate it. Not my idea but just making sure I spread the word about it.

[@jeromekoenig6605]

I have 4 cars just for that. For that reasion

[@phillipg1588]

I never ever liked the look of the N gauge rapido couplers. They are big bulky unrealistic couplers. For me it's knuckle couplers ONLY.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

Knuckles definitely work better for switching ops!

[@lt1caprice57l]

I get why people wanted the knuckle/kadee couplers, but they all agreed to a standard once, they could have done that again. Most of the hobby has agreed on MTL as the 'de facto' standard, but FFS, now you have Kato, Bachmann, Atlas, MTL, and Athearn, all with their own couplers, and none of them play nice with each other - so you're either stuck with one brand, stuck with doing a bunch of fiddly conversions, or stuck using convertor cars. No, Rapidos didn't look prototypical. You know what else doesn't look prototypical? 1:160, that's what. When there was a standard, you could run any brand with any other brands OOTB, and it was a lot more fun. Was it worth giving up the interbrand standard? Personally, I think not. Oh and I'm just ranting in general, the rant part isn't directed at any specific individuals. It *is* directed at the manufacturers, though.

[@vahidhosoda6614]

So the loco it’s not possible to do so

[@Trains-With-Shane]

It is. but can be costly and difficult.

[@vahidhosoda6614]

@@Trains-With-Shane so rolling stock is cheaper

[@Trains-With-Shane]

@@vahidhosoda6614 Usually yes because the mounting is simpler. For ones with truck mounted couplers you can get trucks from micro-trains and other places that have total replacement truck and wheel sets. Just unscrew, swap, and you're done.

[@АндрейГеннадьевич-м6б]

!

[@johnramirez5996]

Yeah rapido is used a lot. Even on the fake n scale people try selling as n scale cars and dummy engines. They were decoration by readers digest. Came in little white boxes with a stripe on it with a label of pictures on box. Don't be fooled paying so much for something that isn't actually n scale.

[@Trains-With-Shane]

If I remember right those were made by High Speed Metals and offered by Readers Digest or something like that. I had one of their locomotives that I picked up in a lot of other stuff. It was neat but I tossed it. Buyers of Southern Pacific units beware.

[@johnramirez5996]

Yeah I got few of them. Got lucky though. They came in a cpl different lots I purchased. They weren't what I based my purchase off of.

[@neil442]

Just use a transition car !!! Microtrains one end -standard n gauge coupling other -then it doesn't cost a fortune !!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

This video is about building transition cars.

[@richharris9489]

Old style is terrible

[@Trains-With-Shane]

I have found that they work pretty well. They aren't as suitable for prototypical switching operations, etc. But for hauling a bunch of cars around I've honestly never had a problem with rapido style couplers.

[@sams2960]

@@Trains-With-Shane If one is manually uncoupling for yard ops on a small layout, a simple "L" tool made out of 14 ga solid core wire (strip the insulation off the bottom L part) allows for easy uncoupling of rapido style couplers. Personally I found it far easier to use than trying to get a little screwdriver tool down in the knuckle couplers. Now on large yards with magnetic remote uncoupling, the magnetic style knuckle couplers are mandatory. I am over large layouts that I became a slave to in order to just keep them running. My little "legacy" switching layout is all rapido and in fact I just found a nice "new in box" 1992 Arnold RS-1 with rapido couplers that should work well too. The added joy of using older style rolling stock is of course they cost less and very few engines with rapido couplers are DCC and thus far cheaper than new engines with magnetic knuckle couplers and DCC chip installed. I run my simple shelf layout for fun switching puzzles using a card system and I really don't care how "real" it looks. It's a whole lot less stressful on both my brain and my wallet to just have fun and KIS (Keep It Simple). But having gone off topic, your idea is a good one I have used personally decades ago in HO allowing use of both horn hook style and Kadee magnetic couplers. (Yup I am that old to still call them Kadee) 🤣