An N-Possible journal

[GaryHinshaw]

Oh how I can relate!

[GaryHinshaw]

Two new 2025 releases

This [long] post features two new state of the art cars that came out this year: the long-awaited Athearn acid tank car and the Otter Valley Railway NSC scrap gondola.  The Athearn car requires a bit of modification and the OVR car features a new product that Andrew has in the pipeline.



The Athearn car is almost a drop-in-place URS/short shank conversion, save for the fact that the back wall of the pocket is right up against the centring spring, which restricts the coupler motion:



I removed the back wall with side cutters and a bit of grinding with a Dremel bit.  The rest of the conversion is a standard retro-fit:







Notes:
* In some cases I added a ~0.2 mm washer to fine tune the coupler height.  It's probably not necessary, but it satisfies my OCD.
* I nipped the centre nub off the coupler box lid in case it interfered with the spring.  I don't know if it's necessary, but the coupler works beautifully without it:




Next up is the OVR gondola.   The stock coupler pocket is screwed in to the floor, much like the Aurora Plate F boxcar:



The challenge here is that the steel weight/floor is glued to the shell and the factory screw just clears the weight with little room to spare in the plastic.   Andrew used a scale box in his conversion, but the scale box is thinner than the stock box, so the stock screw will bottom out on the weight and start stripping the threads in the floor.  I did not have any shorter screws in my stock, but I had some new boxes that Andrew is developing for Kato loco retro-fits (the "Kato box") which are taller than the scale box.  It turns out to be a perfect part for converting these gons because the stock screw can be re-used without fear of bottoming out.  Here is the conversion in pictures.

The Kato box parts with a medium shank coupler:







The coupler height is bang-on perfect.  I did have to shave a tiny bit of material off the end of the centre sill to ensure the spring did not touch the end of the sill.  I also had to sacrifice the air hose.  But I had a few samples where the hose was low enough to catch on turnouts, so I'll work out some alternative (eventually).

Thanks for watching.

[Sokramiketes]

Good show, Gary.

As a final follow up to the WISX unit train conversion, we ran it all weekend at RPM Chicagoland.  At one point Harz and Grant did an impromptu (read:mistake) test, pushing on both ends of the 45 cars with 8 locomotives total (5+3).  With these couplers staying in alignment under buff and imparting little to no side forces on the cars, they surprisingly didn't accordian the whole train.  It all stayed on the track. 

Couplers were acquired by other Modutrakers, so we'll see who does what by Trainfest in a couple weeks!

[GaryHinshaw]

At one point Harz and Grant did an impromptu (read:mistake) test, pushing on both ends of the 45 cars with 8 locomotives total (5+3).  With these couplers staying in alignment under buff and imparting little to no side forces on the cars, they surprisingly didn't accordian the whole train.  It all stayed on the track. 

LOL. That's a really good test.

[basementcalling]

Gary, you said a Kato box is under development? I was wondering if you were going to post any locomotive conversions. Has anyone done one already? seems a shame to leave boxing gloves on locos, especially that Scale Trains monstrosity.

[Sokramiketes]

LOL. That's a really good test.

Harz was quite proud of himself for coming up with that one "intentionally".

[GaryHinshaw]

Gary, you said a Kato box is under development? I was wondering if you were going to post any locomotive conversions. Has anyone done one already? seems a shame to leave boxing gloves on locos, especially that Scale Trains monstrosity.

I have done a few 6-axle Kato conversions, but no Scale Trains yet.  I'll post some photos when I get a chance.  They work great and the conversion is very simple.  The only issue I have with my samples is that I've had to file down the outside of the box a smidge to make them fit comfortably.  That may change in the production version.

[Sokramiketes]

Here’s some examples of the Kato 1015 style box. The most recent style has a box that fills the pilot and a couple lid options. Thin lid, thick lid, and no lid. Kato locomotives are all over the map in terms of mounting heights.

The C30-7’s are the new box and a stack of three thin lids. Andrew has a thick lid now that makes this straightforward. Same works on the SD40/45’s.
 
SD40-2’s, early, as well as Dash 9’s, need some filing as the stock couplers were waaaaay low.

SD70’s and AC4400’s seem to work great with no lid.

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That last one shows a thin lid on an SD70mac, but it’s bang on with no lid. I applaud Andrew for trying to find a solution with the least amount of special parts, so he’s working on the development of this box style.

[James Costello]

I've tackled URS conversions for the following cars recently - hopefully photos and a write up this weekend:

• Atlas 89' ACF TOFC/COFC flat
• BLMA (Atlas) F89J 89' flat
• BLMA (Atlas) BX-166 / BX-177 ATSF Beer Car
• Athearn GATC 2600cuft airslide covered hopper
• Athearn 57' FGE Mechanical Reefer

These all required some form of work to clear the back of the existing coupler pocket. I had the dremel out for the Atlas metal underframes so I took it to all of them to speed up the process, but it's relatively straight forward. Photos as soon as I can.

[Sokramiketes]

Go James Go!

[GaryHinshaw]

Looking forward to your write-up James, as I have a string of beer cars and FGEs waiting for the treatment.  I'm especially curious how you're dealing with the coupler height / ride height trade-off with these cars.  I have been contemplating printing all-new pockets for them.

[OrangeAnon]

Atlas Greenville 100 ton hopper:
Short shank scalebox, no hat. Drill hole immediately in front of original, for spring clearance and coupling distance.






Micro-Trains 61' bulkhead flat:
Short shank scalebox, with hat. Uses provided hole location.

[garethashenden]

Here's something I've been working on, for an older era. I have a few boxcars that are supposed to have Duryea Cushion Underframes. This early example of cushioned draft gear dates from the late '20s. Its most notably visually by extending the draft gear 11" on each end of the car. With the introduction of these wonderful couplers I thought it might be possible to model this.

I started with a long shank scalebox coupler. Combining the prototype dimensions in Railway Prototype Cyclopedia 18 and the dimensions of the scalebox as measured with my calipers I was able to arrive at something convincing. It needs some tweaks, but as a proof of concept I am please. Although it looks a little wide. I may try to narrow it, but I don't want to impede coupler swing too much.





And the prototype:

[Sokramiketes]

Oh, way cool!

[GaryHinshaw]

Great updates gents; keep 'em coming!  I'll add these to the index.  @garethashenden, what boxcar model is that with the cushioned draft gear?

Atlas Greenville 100 ton hopper:
Short shank scalebox, no hat. Drill hole immediately in front of original, for spring clearance and coupling distance.

This is exactly what I was planning, but it's made a bit difficult with the metal frame.  Did you use a drill press to make the new hole?