An N-Possible journal

[Nick Lorusso]

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:



The box can be secured with the stock Kato clip (as I did) but an M1.2 or 00-90 screw would work as well:



The process could hardly be easier, and the height is bang on:



I used a TBX for the SD70ACe and the SD9043MAC, but the installation steps are the same as above:





The loco spacing with the short shanks is awesome, and they work fine on 18" curves:





Thank you Andrew!!

Couple of questions. Looking to do some Kato Amtrak equipment.
What would be a good replacement for MTL 2004s?

Has anyone converted Katp Passenger cars?

[Sokramiketes]

For Kato passenger cars, I've been doing a strip of 0.010" styrene across the end for a coupler pad.  This fixes the problem where one end of the Kato underframes are missing a chunk at the end.  Then a LBX with 101 coupler installed, as it provides more side to side swing for long cars. 

[Sokramiketes]

Atlas/BLMA Trinity 30,000 tank cars.

The upcoming SBM with 201 coupler (Scale Box Medium and Medium Coupler) is a drop in.  Remove the factory box, making sure to remove the lid from the end sill when you do.  Then trim the lip at the end platform and screw in the factory hole. 

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Gary would probably put a half mm truck spacer in to raise the car to perfect height.  But it's runnable!

[Sokramiketes]

Grant and I have been sharing notes on Kato SD40-2's.  They are a bit of a nightmare since the Kato couplers are underslung, but also still lower than they should be from the factory.  This makes it so that the topless TBX isn't enough to compensate. 

Here's where we're at with the Kato Early Production units.  You need to carve and file off the entire coupler pad on the molded sill.  It's all air behind there, so it needs to be filled with styrene to create a new pad.

1) Dissassemble
2) Cut 0.10 square styrene to fit between the front stantion slots in the pilot. 
3) Touch them up on two sides with a sanding stick, so they slide in.  You're taking off maybe .003" total so as to not warp the pilot.
4) Glue in place on the sill.  Line it up flush with the top of the deck, don't push it all the way down to the stock pad.
5) Wait several hours!
6) Drill through the existing hole to locate it in the new styrene block
7) Carve out the old pad, making sure to clearance the pilot up to the styrene block. 
Fit a LBX with a thin lid and 101 coupler. 
9) Screw in with a 4mm M1.2 scerw
10) Fill the bottom of the pilot opening if you so choose
11) Reassemble and test height.  If you got a little happy with the filing, you can swap to a thick lid and recover.

That will get you started.  Grant published a video with way better instructions if you're a member over at his channel: 

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Hoping to get these units converted for the WISX coal train in time for Silvis next weekend.  Will also have around 75 cars of merchandise traffic, so if anyone wants to see long trains of nPossible in person get out to the Iowa/Illinois border!

https://rrhma.com/silvis-train-day/

And get those clown nose couplers off your SD40-2s!
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[Sokramiketes]

Atlas/BLMA Trinity 30,000 tank cars.

The upcoming SBM with 201 coupler (Scale Box Medium and Medium Coupler) is a drop in.  Remove the factory box, making sure to remove the lid from the end sill when you do.  Then trim the lip at the end platform and screw in the factory hole. 

(Attachment Link)

Gary would probably put a half mm truck spacer in to raise the car to perfect height.  But it's runnable!

We're having a debate on these cars, as they are pretty close coupled in real life and don't seem to have much draft gear showing past the end platform.  Does anyone have a good end shot of a Trinity tank to compare?

[GaryHinshaw]

It looks to me like they are pretty much flush with the end of the platform:

https://www.railcarphotos.com/pix/125/DPRX_259330_125271_Little_Rock_AR_Robin_Thomas_2021_12_22.jpg

Gary would probably put a half mm truck spacer in to raise the car to perfect height.  But it's runnable!

LOL, you're right.    On the other hand, I have come to more or less loathe these cars.  Too many of mine have disqualifying (to me) defects, mostly due to poor assembly: wonky guardrails and such.  But the worst of them is the bolster that the truck mounts to often cants inward causing the inner wheels to barely touch the rails (or not at all in some cases).  That is a recipe for disaster on my S curves and grades, so I've ended up retiring ~75% of my fleet...  If I ever end up printing new end-frames for these, I might resurrect some of them.

-gfh

P.S. I'll catch up on indexing the new posts shortly...

[Sokramiketes]

It looks to me like they are pretty much flush with the end of the platform:

https://www.railcarphotos.com/pix/125/DPRX_259330_125271_Little_Rock_AR_Robin_Thomas_2021_12_22.jpg

LOL, you're right.    On the other hand, I have come to more or less loathe these cars.  Too many of mine have disqualifying (to me) defects, mostly due to poor assembly: wonky guardrails and such.  But the worst of them is the bolster that the truck mounts to often cants inward causing the inner wheels to barely touch the rails (or not at all in some cases).  That is a recipe for disaster on my S curves and grades, so I've ended up retiring ~75% of my fleet...  If I ever end up printing new end-frames for these, I might resurrect some of them.

-gfh

P.S. I'll catch up on indexing the new posts shortly...

This seems to be the bane of tank car designs.  They're all unstable and wonky.   But that's not great on the BLMA/Atlas ones as I was hoping they'd be consistent enough to do a unit train. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I made a discovery this weekend when I accidentally left my Hulk Hands on the workbench before a show.

Looks like an N-Possible couples up with a stock Athearn knuckle.

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Would I recommend this as a "production" solution for anyone? Absolutely not.

But did it mean 89 could drag a couple coaches around the FreemoN layout? Definitely.

[basementcalling]

Nice to see tools being used.

[cgw]

quick questions. ...Where does one get the thick/thin lids and coupler bodies for engine mounting?   is it available as a stl for printing?
With the mtl height gauge  do you just drop in the new coupler?

[garethashenden]

quick questions. ...Where does one get the thick/thin lids and coupler bodies for engine mounting?   is it available as a stl for printing?
With the mtl height gauge  do you just drop in the new coupler?

I don't think they've been released yet. Soon hopefully!

[philippe.whyte]

quick questions. ...Where does one get the thick/thin lids and coupler bodies for engine mounting?   is it available as a stl for printing?
With the mtl height gauge  do you just drop in the new coupler?

Hey @cgw , the NP coupler will indeed drop directly into the MTL height gauge. No modification necessary.

[dkerber123]

First of all, thanks for sharing and documenting all of this, it really helped me get started with these couplers and I’m VERY impressed! I’m also a member on Grant’s YouTube channel and see all the great tutorials he’s done over there.

I spent the weekend converting tank cars to NPs and learned a few things. I assembled the SBX shorts and put a dab of CA on the tabs that hold the box lid on. This step really eased some frustration I was having with them coming apart when I was attempting to mount them. I saw it somewhere, but I’m also using a tooth pick as an assembly jig for all the parts, it really speeds things up for me. For both of the applications below, I cut the lip off the top of the SBX for clearance.

I’ll start with the BLMA/ATLAS 31K crude oil tank cars. I removed the factory boxes and spacer, cleaned up the mounting pad if needed, used an oversized drill bit to slightly countersink the screw holes on the SBX, then mounted them in the factory hole with the factory screw. The height is great and the coupling distance looks about as perfect as my eye can detect. Side note on these cars; I have seen what Gary is talking about with the trucks being canted upward over the rear axles on some. I back the truck screws out just enough to give a little more movement and test them on a diorama I made back in 2017 or so. It was my first venture into N scale from HO and it has a spot with a decent sized dip in one of the rails. I use this dip to get the screw tension just right by backing them out until that wheel maintains contact with the rail. I don’t have a running layout at the moment (under construction!), so I can’t comment yet on the running reliability.

I also tackled 14 of the MT general service tank cars that came in a CTCX 16 car runner pack (14 tanks and 2 buffer cars). On these I simply tapped the factory holes on the end sills and screwed in the preassembled NPs. I swapped the trucks for 100 ton BLMAs, drilled out the end grab iron holes, and reinstalled and painted the grab iron. The ride height looks much better and they look good in a string with the BLMA/Atlas tanks.

It looks like I’m not allowed to post pics. If I figure out how, I’ll either edit this post or reply with the pictures.

[garethashenden]

Welcome to the forum! You need 25 posts before you can post pictures. You'll get there soon.

[dkerber123]

Thanks! I’ve been a member for a little over 6 years, just been lurking in the shadows I guess 

I’m eagerly awaiting the new boxes to be released so i can go all in with these NPs! I’m guessing I have a few hundred pieces of rolling stock and around 40 locomotives to convert, all modern era stuff.

Has anyone converted the FVM ES44s, SD70Ace, or GP60M yet?