An N-Possible journal

[ednadolski]

@Jimbo that sounds great, glad you found it useful

For me there still are two things, first, my layout is higher than most, so I have to get used to seeing it from a high, side angle; and second, I find that I need really good lighting esp. to see in between those high cubes (and without the shadow of my hand to get in the way, lol)

Ed

[garethashenden]

Have you tried attaching the uncoupler tool to a small flashlight?

[ednadolski]

Have you tried attaching the uncoupler tool to a small flashlight?

Just a little cheapie one... I need to find something with a little more even light.

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

It's been a while, but the N-Possible push continues unabated.  This time, two new Scale Trains releases: the Gunderson 3250 covered hopper and the Trinity 60' Plate F box car:



Both cars are superbly done and both are straightforward URS short shank conversions.  The only modification I made was to raise the height of the box car by 0.25 mm to bring the coupler height in line.  (The hopper required no mods.)

[ednadolski]

I've fallen a little behind the curve on this lately.  Are the boxes now available for Kato and/or ScaleTrains diesels, and where could I get my hands on some?

Thanks,
Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

Alas, no.  It is possible that Andrew would sell them in bulk now, but I'm not sure what his current minimums are.

[wmcbride]

I've fallen a little behind the curve on this lately.  Are the boxes now available for Kato and/or ScaleTrains diesels, and where could I get my hands on some?

Thanks,
Ed

I, too, have a need to improve some diesels...

[garethashenden]

F units have been on my mind recently, so I dug out the two Intermountain FT sets I have. They were fairly simple conversions, although I'm not certain of the height. I used short shank scaleboxes on all four units. On one I used the hat and on the other I didn't. According to the gauge, one is low and one is high. But looking at the two B units coupled together it looks pretty good.

[Jimbo]

I, too, have a need to improve some diesels...

Any idea how useful these new boxes will be to upgrade Kato E8 locos?  (Has anyone done these yet with the current offerings?)

Jim

[Nick Lorusso]

Per someone elses request, I took a look at the Kato GS-4.  Kato includes a wider pilot opening if you want to convert to an MTL 1015.  While the upcoming nP Kato/1015 box could work... it looks much cooler with a scale box in place. 

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There's a nice flat pad on the back of the tender if you want to drop another scale box back there.

Mike,
What about the tender? My GS4 will not be pulling the Daylight but commuter cars.

[robert3985]

Any idea how useful these new boxes will be to upgrade Kato E8 locos?  (Has anyone done these yet with the current offerings?)

Jim

I just completed a front conversion on a customer's E-9A, retaining the Kato couplers everywhere else on the A-B-A setup, except using a MTL 903 Z-scale coupler on the front of the trailing unit for N-scale knuckle coupler compatibility (not my layout).

The conversion for the front was very easy, using a short-shank 101-SBX-K without the supplied "hat". 

The only modification I made to the coupler was to snip off and sand flat the upper "lip" on the top-front of the coupler box. Man, that resin is tough!  Wish I knew what brand and kind it was (?)

The only modification I made to the Kato E9A was to remove the front coupler and tap the factory hole with a 00-90 tap (although I'm pretty sure that a stainless 00-90 screw would tap itself), then I screwed in the assembled and painted coupler with one of my flat-head phillips stainless screws.

Coupler height was perfect with no shims.

Had this been mine for use on my layout, and my prototype ran an A-B-A lashup, two 101-SBX-K's on the noses of both A's would pull whatever passenger train I'd be putting together.

However, mounting the N-Possible Coupler on the Kato E8/E9's trucks will be problematic at best.  Fashioning a spacer, then drilling & tapping a hole in the bottom of the frame will be the way I'll put N-Possibles on the rear of my Kato E8/E9A's and on either end of the B's.

Photo (1) - N-Possible 101-SBX-K short shank Coupler mounted on the nose of a Kato E9A:


Photo (2) - N-Possible 101-SBX-K short shank Coupler painted & mounted on the nose of a customer's Kato E9A (not my paint):


Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Nick Lorusso]

Ok how do I modify the MTL height gauge? I’m sold on these couplers and getting ready to order some to test.

[GaryHinshaw]

^ Super simple (as long as you have a gauge).  Just swap in an SBX box for the existing MTL box, e.g.:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=59868.msg825089#msg825089

[Sokramiketes]

Mike,
What about the tender? My GS4 will not be pulling the Daylight but commuter cars.

There's a nice flat pad back there to mount a scale box.  May need to be shimmed to the right height, but otherwise simple. 

[Jimbo]

However, mounting the N-Possible Coupler on the Kato E8/E9's trucks will be problematic at best.  Fashioning a spacer, then drilling & tapping a hole in the bottom of the frame will be the way I'll put N-Possibles on the rear of my Kato E8/E9A's and on either end of the B's.

Hmmm…. I took another look at my E8s and am wondering if I should just glue the rear coupler on?

For me, drilling and tapping would require a fixture to ensure that I get straight holes.  (And complete disassembly of the mechanism to ensure I don’t end up with metal dust in unwanted places…)

Jim