BLI freight car coupler replacement?

[Cajonpassfan]

While clipping the "dong" on one of my BLI NYC steel boxcars, I managed to break the coupler. I know, not smart
I love the cars but now I am scratching my head about which replacement coupler to use. The couplers are body mounted, with three sides of the box molded into the underframe, see pic. A separate retaining plate secured by a short screw holds the coupler halves in place. The coupler "halves" each have a centering whisker, but seem smaller than McHenrys; the interior width of the box mics at .339.
Is there a drop-in replacement available I could order somewhere or is there another, hopefully simple, solution?
Help appreciated,
Otto K.

[peteski]

Ah, non-MTL knuckle coupler woes.   

Wouldn't BLI themselves be able to supply you with a replacement coupler?

http://bliservice.com/

[SAH]

Accumates will drop right in.  I had to raise the body with one MT washer per bolster.

Steve

[Cajonpassfan]

Ah, non-MTL knuckle coupler woes.   

Wouldn't BLI themselves be able to supply you with a replacement coupler?

http://bliservice.com/

Yea, well, you have to "register" your model, give them your personal info, provide  the part number from the exploded diagram that doesn't seem to match the model, see below, all for one broken knuckle...
I may just email them to see what happens...
Otto

[Cajonpassfan]

Accumates will drop right in.  I had to raise the body with one MT washer per bolster.

Steve

Thanks Steve, appreciated, even if I don't care for Accumates.
So that means I have to raise the body and replace BOTH couplers, right?
Otto

[nkalanaga]

Or cut the rest of the box off and install your choice of MT couplers.  Looking at the picture (I don't have one of these) I'm sure a 1015 would fit, and it looks like I could make a 1025 fit.  Most modelers today seem to prefer the 1015s.

Worst case, if the floor is separate from the body, cut the entire end of the floor off, make a new piece from styrene sheet, and you can mount anything you like.

[peteski]

Yea, well, you have to "register" your model, give them your personal info, provide  the part number from the exploded diagram that doesn't seem to match the model, see below, all for one broken knuckle...
I may just email them to see what happens...
Otto

I agree - just email them and see what happens. BTW, the diagram you posted looks to me to be H0 scale car.  The coupler pocket and the coupler look nothing like yours. 

[Cajonpassfan]

I agree - just email them and see what happens. BTW, the diagram you posted looks to me to be H0 scale car.  The coupler pocket and the coupler look nothing like yours.

I did email them. The diagram is what pops up when you enter the product number on the box the car came in...

[sumfred]

have you tried a McHenry?  I replaced all of my BLI engine couplers with McHenry's, they slipped right in without modifications.
Fred

[delamaize]

Cut off the entire molded on box. Install 1015 and be done with it.

Not to be a smart a$$, but this seemed like a no brainer here...

[thomasjmdavis]

I agree - just email them and see what happens. BTW, the diagram you posted looks to me to be H0 scale car.  The coupler pocket and the coupler look nothing like yours.

Looking at my own BLI boxcar, the whole assembly reminds me of assembling Intermountain kits of 20 years ago. In those older models, there were coupler boxes on the trucks, but they included separate boxes for body mounting. 

According to the BLI boxcar box in front of me, the couplers are "MicroTrains couplers" (no hyphen), but isn't specific about which one.

[thomasjmdavis]

Looking at Otto's pic, that is obviously not a MTL coupler, regardless of what it says on my box.  Did BLI change couplers between different production runs? I am tempted to take mine apart to see what's inside the box and whether the list of features on the box is fictional.

EDIT: I opened up the couplers on my car, and they look just like the ones on Otto's. I suppose they might have been produced at the MTL factory, but printed list of features on the BLI box notwithstanding, with those whiskers, they don't look like any MicroTrains standard coupler I've ever seen.  These are work like an MTL True Scale coupler, but with the size and appearance of a 1015 or 1025.

[peteski]

Looking at Otto's pic, that is obviously not a MTL coupler, regardless of what it says on my box.  Did BLI change couplers between different production runs? I am tempted to take mine apart to see what's inside the box and whether the list of features on the box is fictional.

EDIT: I opened up the couplers on my car, and they look just like the ones on Otto's. I suppose they might have been produced at the MTL factory, but printed list of features on the BLI box notwithstanding, with those whiskers, they don't look like any MicroTrains standard coupler I've ever seen.  These are work like an MTL True Scale coupler, but with the size and appearance of a 1015 or 1025.

I'll bet the entire collection of my N scale trains that those couplers were never even close to MTL factory.  Except for the True Scale couplers, MTL never produced any couplers with plastic whisker springs.

Intermountain used to tout (in the literature enclosed in the model's box) using genuine MTL couplers on their Cab Forward locos, but those locos came with knockoff couplers installed (as I described in https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=30278.0 ), back in 2013.
With the MTL patents expiration, more manufacturers opt for making lookalike couplers instead of buying the genuine article from MTL. Probably because it is cheaper and logistically easier (since the MTL couplers would have to be shipped to China to be installed on the models).

[Wardie]

Slightly off topic, anyone have a recommendation for a truck replacement for the BLI cryogenic tank cars?

[mark.hinds]

(text removed)
Intermountain used to tout (in the literature enclosed in the model's box) using genuine MTL couplers on their Cab Forward locos, but those locos came with knockoff couplers installed (as I described in https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=30278.0 ), back in 2013.
(text removed)

FWIW, my original Intermountain F-units (all 20 or so of them) have Micro-Trains 1016s (the short shank ones).  Not "knock-offs". 

EDIT:  The last purchase of Intermountain F's however did have POS knockoffs, which don't work over under-track magnets, and which when I get around to it will be replaced with 1016s.  At least the mount points are the same, so the replacement should be simple (unlike the Atlas S2s...).