Upgrading a small fleet of MT Bethlehem 3 bays?

[Ken Ford]

I'm considering doing some N scale modeling for the first time in quite a few years.  I would need quite a few 100T rotary and fixed three bay hoppers for the BN and CNW to do what I'm planning.

I'm looking at the MT Bethlehem 3 bay as the core for this fleet for a few reasons, mostly because of the finer stirrups and the ability to easily body mount couplers.  The car would be a fair stand-in for the BN white end rotary cars in particular, and could be made even better by lowering the brake wheel housing if I decide to go that far.  I considered the Atlas 3 bay but they look pretty bad without a load and the cars would be running empty half the time.

So, I could use some handholding.  I have two of the MT cars on my bench and would like to try upgrading them to see if my aging Optivisor-assisted eyes can handle it and also to see if my desired upgrades are practical.

What I'm thinking I want to do to these cars:

* Body mount couplers - but which ones?  MT's truck mount slinky action bothers me, but I'm told at least some of the body mount couplers don't exhibit this.  The last time I dabbled in N I was experimenting with Z scale MTs, and I would consider them for this if the consensus is that they can handle 40-50 car trains.  I'd actually prefer a dummy coupler for these cars to be honest - is there a draft gear I can use with the old Unimate body mounts that Red Caboose still makes?  If I could use Unimates I'd put MTs at each end of the cuts.

* New BLMA 100T trucks and coupler platforms, maybe even cut bars and trainline hoses if I decide it’s worth the visual impact.

* New loads that better represent flood loaded coal.

* Possibly lower the brake wheel, it shouldn't be too difficult to pull off on a black car.

I could really use some advice on the coupler issue.  Again, the slinky effect drives me crazy and I'd actually prefer a dummy knuckle through the unit train consists - what are my options?

[ai5629]

I have been renumbering a bunch of CR, PC and PRR MTL three bays for a Conrail coal train for the last few months.  I chose the MTL cars over the Atlas and Life Like cars for the same reason you have.  I have not gotten around to trucks and couplers yet, but I did experiment one day with one car to get an idea on how big a task it would be.  First, Atlas 100 ton trucks and 36" FVM wheels made the car look very nice by lowering the ride height some.  The problem was, the wheels hit the slope sheet.  I tried BLMA 100 ton trucks, and I had to use an MTL spacer washer to prevent the wheels from hitting the slope sheet.  This gave the best compromise between ride height and operation.  As far as body mounts go, if you use MTL's, it's not going to be cheap.  I used a 2003 assembled lid side down (slinky only when pushing).  You have to enlarge the hole in the lid so that the screw is recessed.  Otherwise, the wheels axil will hit the screw.  An atlernative I have yet to try is the Atlas body mounts, number 23015 (no slinky).  The screw comes recessed already.  These will also accept McHenry couplers.  This may be a good option since you are going to run them in unit trains, and if the coupler height is a little below the MTL standard, it won't matter except for the two end cars.  Years ago, Unimates were available in a body mount form that simple screwed (the shank had a hole in it) to the car.  As far as coal loads go, I beleive Hay Brothers makes flood loads.  I don't need to lower the brake wheels, so I cannot help you there.  I personally wouldn't bother, but that's just me.  Good luck.

Jeff

[Ken Ford]

Thanks, Jeff - knowing specifics of what has and has not worked for you is a big help!  Those body mount Unimates are still available (a particular large dealer out east has a zillion of them right now), but it's just the couplers - no draft gear.  I found a reference to making your own draft gear for these out of brass box section but am still trying to puzzle out some form of centering arrangement - or if it's even needed.

I saw the Atlas Accumates were available, and that might just work - I'd even consider heat welding them into dummies if that would help.

What I'd love to see is a Unimate-type dummy with a draft gear and a head the size of the MT Z couplers, but I'd like to win the lottery, too...