Replacing Athearn trucks

[Alcuin]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have any experience with changing Athearn trucks to Micro-Trains? I have a bunch of Athearn bethgon coalporters which have couplers that stick out about a scale three feet. I thought I could just replace the stock trucks with Micro-Trains trucks, but they're not compatible. Athearn trucks are screw mount while the MT's have that plastic push-in thing, and it just doesn't work. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Chris

[3rdrail]

Drill out the screw hole with a 5/64" drillbit and use the MTL bolster kingpin.

[Alcuin]

Drill out the screw hole with a 5/64" drillbit and use the MTL bolster kingpin.

I was hoping not to have to remove any plastic, but that sounds easy enough. Thanks very much!

[Walkercolt]

That sorta works. Getting the MT couplers to be "snug" on one end and have a little vertical "play" as reccomended can be tricky. I'm trying to find a better solution, haven't found it yet. I'm still having a love/hate affair with Accumates...I love to hate them, no not quite, but on my Atlas tankcars, I'm still losing trip pins, and that can cause un-needed excitement when they snag the ballast and derail your train. ???

[Alcuin]

On another board someone suggested adding the washers that come with the MT 1035's and using the same screw that's used for the Athearn trucks. I think I'll try that before I do anything more "destructive".

[Chulvis]

On another board someone suggested adding the washers that come with the MT 1035's and using the same screw that's used for the Athearn trucks. I think I'll try that before I do anything more "destructive".

Please let us know how that works out. That would be interesting, but I don't see how using the washer would solve the problem. Would be great if it did.

[Ryan87]

On another board someone suggested adding the washers that come with the MT 1035's and using the same screw that's used for the Athearn trucks. I think I'll try that before I do anything more "destructive".

Please let us know how that works out. That would be interesting, but I don't see how using the washer would solve the problem. Would be great if it did.

the OD of the washer is larger than the bolster hole on the MT truck and the ID is smaller than the screw head...

[Chulvis]

On another board someone suggested adding the washers that come with the MT 1035's and using the same screw that's used for the Athearn trucks. I think I'll try that before I do anything more "destructive".

Please let us know how that works out. That would be interesting, but I don't see how using the washer would solve the problem. Would be great if it did.

the OD of the washer is larger than the bolster hole on the MT truck and the ID is smaller than the screw head...

I don't have any of the Athearn bethgon coalporters to test that out on, but I did try it on an Athearn PS2 2893 Covered Hopper and the washer would not fit over the bolster hole (pole) and the thickness of the MTL truck prevents the screw from going deep enough to secure the truck. 

[Ryan87]

I don't have any of the Athearn bethgon coalporters to test that out on, but I did try it on an Athearn PS2 2893 Covered Hopper and the washer would not fit over the bolster hole (pole) and the thickness of the MTL truck prevents the screw from going deep enough to secure the truck. 

not sure about the PS2's but on the ex MDC Boxcars & gondolas it works...

[Chulvis]

Yeah, the PS2's are newer tooling, so they could be different.

[wazzou]

What I've done on all of the Athearn cars I have is to insert a piece of Evergreen styrene tube using ACC into the hole of a Micro-trains truck, trim flush and using a round file, carefully get it super thin evenly all the way around so it slips over the Athearn post and use the same screw.  It does require some effort and patience but is the best solution I have come up with.  To make it easier, prior to cutting the piece off of the tube, I drill the hole out as large as possible to reduce the amount of filing necessary.

[Alcuin]

On another board someone suggested adding the washers that come with the MT 1035's and using the same screw that's used for the Athearn trucks. I think I'll try that before I do anything more "destructive".

Please let us know how that works out. That would be interesting, but I don't see how using the washer would solve the problem. Would be great if it did.

This is what "JDG" said over on Trainboard:

"Even simpler that all of the above. I converted all of mine to 1035 by utilizing the thin washer that came with the 10-pack of trucks. Remove the screw and Accumate trucks, install MT truck assy, slide washer on screw , and re-install screw. Mine work just fine."

It'll be a while before I get around to trying this out, but I'll be sure to update you on the results.