Atlas iron ore car improvements questions

[sd45elect2000]

I don't post very often, I have a demanding job and don't have lots of time. I have amassed a number of the Atlas , Trix and whatnot iron ore cars and I am wondering what the current trend is to get a close coupling on the cars. I thought about using MT trucks with truck mounted couplers.

 I do not know if the new scale MT couplers will fit the boxes on the trucks, I would like this option but I haven't any MT scale couplers to try out. 

I have about 125 to paint, build and weather, I do not want to get involved with a complete rebuild but I want a fast easy way to get the train together and looking good. I am using K4 decals and they are resistant to all of the decal setting solutions I have. With a lot of patience however I can get them looking good.

Randy

[C855B]

More info about this than you can shake a stick at in this thread: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=40370.0

Lots of specific discussion about the ore cars.

[wcfn100]

I just got a message asking about these on Shapeways.  Let me take a couple pictures to show what they look like.

Mike, do you know how much you paid when you got yours?  I know they've changed the price structure a couple times.  $12 for 4 cars seems high.

How are they working?


Jason

[C855B]

$6.75 per 8-up sprue a little over two years ago; that may have been with a promotional discount.

They work fine, the 40 cars I've converted so far are on the layout, bearing in mind the 24" minimum radius. Lack of coupler swing - the usual TSC issue - is the only bug, so I can't run them coupled directly to six-axle power, they get a Geep as the trailing unit, or a 40'-something as a buffer car. Other minor issue is the box for the long-shank seems to add to the pressure needed to couple. I haven't quantified it, but it's noticeable. Probably added friction due to the surface porosity of FXD. Not an issue for a unit train.

The one project we played with that didn't quite work (for me) was the fixed drawbars. I have 2- and 4-car coupled sets. They run fine, absolutely no issue there, but if anything leaves the rails for other reasons it is a project to get 16 axles' worth back on the track. Sometimes the bottom of the box will pop off if I accidentally twist the drawbar during re-railing.

[nkalanaga]

I close-coupled mine years ago by installing MT 905 couplers, the Z/Nn3 body mounts.  They need a shim anyway, so install a plastic strip "center sill", drill and tap for the screw, and put them on.  BY setting the coupler back a little further, you can get the cars as close together as your curves will allow, as long as you make sure the trip pins don't stick up, otherwise they rub on the shim.  Since they're too short for N scale uncoupling anyway, you could just cut them off.

The advantage of this method is that the 905s will couple to N scale MT couplers just fine, so you don't have to change the loco couplers.

[sd45elect2000]

I am going to try the Shapeways draft gear. Like I said I decided to do an entire Milwaukee train. I went from zero ore cars to 125 in a few days. All of them need to be repainted, lettered, weathered. My god , I get myself into some big projects, I hope at least I finish 50-60 of them before I get distracted by another project....

Randy

[Frank Amato]

125 cars to paint/decal/weather, holy cow!   Time to enlist some summer help and get an assembly line going LOL !

  Frank

[wcfn100]

So here's the basics on the TSC adaptor.

With the short length of the cars, there isn't much need for side to side swing so I designed the box to accept an unmodified coupler as well as the welded option.



The adaptor has a lip on the back to account for pulling forces since the it's just glued in.  The two .020" holes are just if someone wants to secure it further.



The adapter fills the void created by the factory truck mounted couplers.







I also have a draw bar that couple the cars at the same distance as the couplers.




Jason

[wcfn100]

Lack of coupler swing - the usual TSC issue - is the only bug, so I can't run them coupled directly to six-axle power, they get a Geep as the trailing unit, or a 40'-something as a buffer car.

Have you tried a welded coupler on the first car?  That should give enough swing.

Jason

[nkalanaga]

Here's what mine look like with 905s:

[wcfn100]

Here's what mine look like with 905s:

Did you flatten the end platforms on those cars?

Jason

[altohorn25]

So here's the basics on the TSC adaptor.

With the short length of the cars, there isn't much need for side to side swing so I designed the box to accept an unmodified coupler as well as the welded option.



The adaptor has a lip on the back to account for pulling forces since the it's just glued in.  The two .020" holes are just if someone wants to secure it further.



The adapter fills the void created by the factory truck mounted couplers.







I also have a draw bar that couple the cars at the same distance as the couplers.




Jason

Brilliant

[C855B]

Have you tried a welded coupler on the first car?  That should give enough swing.

I might try that (again). First two or three I did that way the spring action fatigued and wouldn't close enough to latch. But not a bad idea for the lead car.

[wcfn100]

I might try that (again). First two or three I did that way the spring action fatigued and wouldn't close enough to latch. But not a bad idea for the lead car.

That's good to know.  Since I don't run much, I haven't experienced that yet. Did you cut and weld the coupler exactly the way I had shown (same spots)?  Not that my way is special, but it'd be nice to keep track of what works and what doesn't.

Jason

[delamaize]

Wasn't someone going to 3D print a bunch of drawbars for these? I have mine in 5 car strings, with 1015's on each end. Up to this point I had been making drawbars out of brass sheet. The problem is they are all slightly different. It would be awesome to have about 100 draw bars that were all exactly the same....