An N-Possible journal

[ednadolski]

@GaryHinshaw  have you converted any bi-level or tri-level autoracks (e.g. like the old Red Caboose ones)?  Which box/shank did you use and what size curves makes them happy?

Ed

[Iain]

On the scale box, what is the distance between the top of the coupler box to the centerline of the installed coupler?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It's taken me a little bit to figure out how to present this stuff, but here's my current thinking: https://www.n-possible.com/doing-the-n-possible

Thoughts?

[Ed Kapuscinski]

On the scale box, what is the distance between the top of the coupler box to the centerline of the installed coupler?

There are full drawings here: https://www.n-possible.com/resources/sbx-assembly-instructions

[GaryHinshaw]

@ednadolski alas, not yet.  The Red Caboose will require a bit of floor surgery because they use the underslung MTL 1019 couplers.   The Scale Trains cars will require a bit of surgery as well, but not as much as the RC.  I'm not too worried about lateral play with my 18" curves, but I do have issues with the ST cars string-lining in my up-grade trains, unless I add helpers/dpu's in the rear.  Given these operational complexities, I've just been punting on those cars for now.  In the meantime, here are a few more fairly simple conversions.

Atlas ACF hoppers.  The entry covers a variety of Atlas ACF hoppers: the 5700/5800 cuft ACF hoppers and the Pressureaide hopper:



All of these hoppers use the scale box with the hat:



The floor of the Pressureaide hopper is made of slippery engineering plastic, so I added a dab of canopy glue to prevent box rotation.  The other hoppers did not require this.  I swapped the trucks for Atlas/BLMA 100T trucks with FVM 36" wheels.  I had to trim the stabilizing pins slightly on the B end of the 5700/5800 hoppers.

[GaryHinshaw]

It's taken me a little bit to figure out how to present this stuff, but here's my current thinking: https://www.n-possible.com/doing-the-n-possible

Thoughts?

Very nice!  Thank you for developing Andrew's site.

[learmoia]

It's taken me a little bit to figure out how to present this stuff, but here's my current thinking: https://www.n-possible.com/doing-the-n-possible

Thoughts?

Looks good..

Just a note Ed looks like the Instillation Guide and Compatibility Chart needs some attention.. Either it's me on multiple browsers and computers, or there is alot of pages with blank space where it seems a photo should be.. and most of the links to 'detailed instillation guides' are dead.

[Jimbo]

It's taken me a little bit to figure out how to present this stuff, but here's my current thinking: https://www.n-possible.com/doing-the-n-possible

Thoughts?

This is beautiful!  Having lots of photos is extremely useful for helping guide less-experienced modelers such as myself through the process.

One suggestion might be to add a link to the YouTube videos on assembly.  This builds on that video (for example, there is no mention of spring torsion in the video, unless I just missed it.)

Thanks for this hard work.  The website keeps getting better and better!


Jim

[Jimbo]

Some transition era notes too. Anything that had a 1015 body mounted is a pretty straightforward conversion. Here’s an FVM wagon top. No hat needed on the nPossible to make the height work.

(Attachment Link) (Attachment Link)

Hmm… looks like the wagon top that I purchased must be from a different run.  The lids of the MT couplers are integral to the floor of the CAR on mine.  I tried using a universal short shank, and it was WAY too low.

Jim

[James Costello]

The BLMA (Atlas) ACF gondola is a straight swap with the 101-URS-K Short Shank into the integrated MTL body mount coupler pocket.

[James Costello]

The biggest take-away I had from a couple of installs over the weekend, was for anyone starting out with this, watch the assembly video that Andrew has done for the spring installation - it's a game changer for the assembly process and really does make it a simple, mult-step process.
https://youtu.be/uf2zLnapeQA?si=RvVFbM-Vuq8BR1SX

My first few installs last night were really just to get a hang of the process and try a couple of different retro-fit and scale-box installs to help guide future orders. Understanding the spring process with the toothpick from the video was crucial and next up will be understanding whether anyone has a "secret" with respect to centering the spring over the splitter.

I wanted to try a scale box install next and decided to try an older Walthers Greenville 100t aggregates hopper - these have a diecast underframe with a pre-drilled hole.

The SBX works fine on this install - you need to remove about 0.5mm from the outer edge of the bolster hole and also the top lip of the scale box top - to suit the existing mounting hole. After tapping and using a 00-90 screw on hand, it fits and work. This is a short shank, but I think I'll change it to a medium to better clear the end cage hardware on the car. If you don't file the edge off the bolster, the N-Possible spring sits hard against it and won't pivot.

The existing bolster pins are a bear to remove on the first run of these cars and often snap off in the process, so this car has been drilled out and I need to find the pins I had planned for them. I need to double check but I'm fairly sure a BLMA 100t truck gets these to the correct ride height.





 

[turbowhiz]

So cool to see these out in the wild now!

A comment on this install @James Costello . It looks like the scalebox is installed without a hat, but the front of box lip detail is underneath the car. It looks like it’s causing the box not to sit level, which will be a problem. A single car unlevel to that extent typically won’t cause issues, but two cars unlevel like that will not couple properly. And then you’ll potentially be really scratching your head about why some cars couple fine together but others don’t! Much more so than traditional designs, levelness is critical.

Either remove the front lip from the box lid, or use the hat, which will bring the box lid level to the same height as the lip, depending on the particular circumstance. You can trim the “ears” off the hat, which would be desirable in this scenario... If the car is on height as its presently installed, then add the hat/trimming the ears and you should be good!

(I sight the knuckles close together with the height gauge to check the levelness of the install...... Like Gary is showing here, although JUST before coupling)

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Next post posted: https://www.n-possible.com/doing-the-n-possible-posts/tools-of-the-trade

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Plate F cars up: https://www.n-possible.com/doing-the-n-possible-posts/3-plate-f-boxcars

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Plate F cars and TILX PDs up: https://www.n-possible.com/doing-the-n-possible-posts/3-plate-f-boxcars
https://www.n-possible.com/doing-the-n-possible-posts/a-tale-of-two-tilx