An N-Possible journal

[Maletrain]

Waiting for these for some locos I want to convert.

Also thinking about using the LBX box upside down, with the box glued to the underside of the loco or caboose or open passenger platform, and the top attached with a screw into the LBX box column that has been filled, drilled and tapped for a M1.2.

I am hoping that Andrew will someday make that easier by providing an LBX with a center hole that is close to the M1.2 tap drill diameter instead of the clearance drill diameter for an M1.2.  That way, I would only have to tap the hole, rather than fill it and center a drill hole through it before tapping it.

I seem to have a lot of steam loco pilots, caboose platforms and open passenger car platforms where that would make it unnecessary to drill through the visible upper surface to make the conversion.  (Yes, I did see that Andrew glued an original scale box to the bottom of the pilot of a Bachmann 2-8-0 but that doesn't allow for future fixing of coupler function issues by simply unscrewing the box cover.)

[sizemore]

Loco boxes

I was fortunate enough to get some production versions of the loco boxes from Andrew, and he is confident that they will hit the shops in a matter of weeks, so here we go.  There are two variants: the TBX, which is intended to be used without a lid, and the LBX which will come with two different lid thicknesses:



The most obvious difference between the two boxes is in the top of the centre post: the LBX is indented to accommodate the lid, the TBX post is flush with the side walls of the box.  These two products will cover a wide range of loco installations.

One note of caution: if your coupler shank has the retainer extension on it, trim that off before installing in a loco box; otherwise the splitter vein in the box could snap off.  (Ask me how I know.)

The first examples I will cover are all Kato 6-axle units.  First up is an SD70M which used an LBX with a thin lid and a short shank.  The box inserts snugly into the Kato pocket without modification:
...

Thank you Andrew!!

Could you share a picture showing the front of the pilot?

The S.

[GaryHinshaw]

These aren't great photos, but hopefully they give you and idea.  In all shots, we have LBX/thin lid on the left and TBX on the right.  The box fills the pilot hole except for the little opening below the box.  When painted the pilot colour (and the models are detailed and weathered), they will look better.  For now I'm focussed on performance.

[ednadolski]

@GaryHinshaw  I guess those are larger (exterior dimensions) than the LEZ brass pocket?

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

Here are a few more shots of an installed loco box (LBX with a thin lid) under harsher lighting with the contrast turned down:





A few notes:
* the front of the wide portion of the box is slightly inset from the pilot plate, and it fills the pilot hole nicely, except for the small slit below it,
* the narrower portion extends out to the front of the bevel above the opening,
* I believe the hole to the right of the coupler should accommodate an air hose, but I'm not sure if it's an N-P style or a BLMA style hose.

@GaryHinshaw  I guess those are larger (exterior dimensions) than the LEZ brass pocket?

I measure the LEZ etched boxes to be 5.0 mm wide (at their base) and 1.7 mm tall.  For comparison, the loco box dimensions are: 5.2 mm wide overall and 2.55 mm tall (TBX) or 2.7 mm tall (LBX/thin lid).  The narrow portion of the box is 3.6 mm wide and extends out 1.4 mm.  @turbowhiz could add/correct the second decimal place here.

[GaryHinshaw]

Atlas Evans double plug door box car, with the new SBL box

The new SBL box provides a path to modelling extended draft gear.  Here is an example with the Atlas Evans box car.  (These cars are mostly retired now, but I'm hanging on to them for nostalgia's sake.  They were some of the first cars I ever weathered decently, now almost 20 years ago.)



The SBL box is the long version of the scale box, intended to house a long shank coupler.  Installation on the Atlas car is very straightforward: screw it into the outer of the two pre-indented holes in the floor:







These may not be exactly to scale, but the effect is nice, and it's way better than the MTL truck-mount versions I've been living with for decades now:

[James Costello]

The new SBL box provides a path to modelling extended draft gear. 

Nice! A welcome additional benefit.

[cjm413]

Atlas Evans double plug door box car, with the new SBL box

The new SBL box provides a path to modelling extended draft gear.  Here is an example with the Atlas Evans box car.  (These cars are mostly retired now, but I'm hanging on to them for nostalgia's sake.  They were some of the first cars I ever weathered decently, now almost 20 years ago.)



The SBL box is the long version of the scale box, intended to house a long shank coupler.  Installation on the Atlas car is very straightforward: screw it into the outer of the two pre-indented holes in the floor:







These may not be exactly to scale, but the effect is nice, and it's way better than the MTL truck-mount versions I've been living with for decades now:

I used MTL 1016's as half-assed extended draft gear on the Blue Island reefers, the new boxes and couplers look much better.

A longer coupler box with an underslung mounting surface would also be useful for cars such as the Atlas 60' Precision Design since it has a much lower mounting surface (after lowering the ride height), but they also needs extended draft gear that looks better than my temporary solution of putting MTL 2001 coupler shanks in 1016 boxes

[TravelingCarpenter]

Has anyone tried converting the Bluford/Trainworx auto parts cars?
I need to start building up a parts stash. Could be a project I could do in a hotel room ( always out of town)

[Sokramiketes]

Has anyone tried converting the Bluford/Trainworx auto parts cars?
I need to start building up a parts stash. Could be a project I could do in a hotel room ( always out of town)

If you're going for looks and have big curves, the new Medium or even Long Box is probably going to look sweet on those. 

But, down to 18" radius you'll want to use the Locoboxes, as they have more side to side swing.  Just like a passenger car. 

[Sokramiketes]

Speaking of LBX Locoboxes on Passenger cars, here's the Rapido VIA Canadian Budd cars.

Short is just inside the diaphram edge, and mediums just past.  So mediums for consistency, or you can get really clever and do a medium to the front and short to the back of each car.

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[sizemore]

Here are a few more shots of an installed loco box (LBX with a thin lid) under harsher lighting with the contrast turned down:

Thanks @GaryHinshaw looks good! Only concern I have is the box being flush with the pilot face. I know this all depends on different loco manufacture specs, but leads me to rolling my own on my printer. If I understand it correctly the new pockets are "general" applicable to both Kato and Atlas right?

The S.

[GaryHinshaw]

Atlas 62' Greenbrier plate F box car

I just received these cars yesterday and I'm going to post a mini-review in the Product Discussion forum, but I'll post the N-Possible conversion here.  I only purchased the single-door version but I assume the double-door version has the same pocket design.



This is a straightforward URS conversion, and I used a medium shank coupler.  The only minor issues I encountered were 1) the box lid is integral to the full under-frame detail piece, so I propped the lid open with a toothpick while doing the conversion rather than removing the entire piece:



and 2) there was some flash on the inside of the lid that had to be removed, otherwise the coupler would bind a bit:



Once done, the coupler operates freely and the height is perfect.  The scale coupler honestly looks a bit lost in the stock box, but it isn't really objectionable in person:



[The car on the right is an Aurora model.]

[turbowhiz]

Once done, the coupler operates freely and the height is perfect.  The scale coupler honestly looks a bit lost in the stock box, but it isn't really objectionable in person:

The Aurora cars have got the win for better looking NP conversions for sure! A potentially even more prototypical looking box setup for those is a SBM box with a 301 long coupler installed.

The ScaleTrains box setup is considerably less chunky then the Atlas on their cars too.

As I've been experimenting with the soon to be shipping SBM/SBL parts my conclusion is that they are super helpful if you want to do factory integrated box replacements. The URS definitely has its utility, but I'm also finding that replacing the whole factory molded in box is sometimes a better approach.

Case in point these NARC 4000 Gondolas. You can convert the factory box with a URS shim.... But its considerably better just to chop it off, and mount up a NP box instead. And in terms of work effort, its probably easier then the URS install.

[GaryHinshaw]

The Aurora cars have got the win for better looking NP conversions for sure! A potentially even more prototypical looking box setup for those is a SBM box with a 301 long coupler installed.

I was thinking the same thing.  Maybe when I start round 2 through the fleet (weathering - eventually...) I will swap in the SBM box.

Whoa, that is chunky!  Which box did you replace it with?  Is the stock box cast on, or a separate part?  Definite improvement!