Body-Mounting Couplers on Trainworx Quad Hoppers?

[Kisatchie]

I have lots of Trainworx quad hoppers that I'd like to body-mount couplers on. Has anyone done it? What Micro-Trains coupler did you use? - probably 1025's? Are shims needed?

I checked the Micro-Trains Coupler Conversion chart, but Trainworx cars weren't listed.


Hmm... Kiz COULD go the
trial-and-error route, but
he's lazy...

[Denver Road Doug]

I don't have experience with this conversion, but I would e-mail Pat at Trainworx and ask...they're body mounting them as a standard now.   Or Google...consensus is 1015 but your mileage may vary.

[James Costello]

From a couple of years ago now....

Ok, I've got a bunch of Trainworx 100T 4 bay open hoppers to body mount, thankfully these cars come with a body mount tab built into the underframe with a pre-drilled hole. I'm still deciding on on a "standard" for the fleet, but he's Sunday's experiment with a MTL 1015, MTL Barber Rolling Bearing truck, FVM 36" wheels:





I'm pretty happy with the end result and ride height looks good too. There wasn't enough clearance for the BLMA truck to swing - the offset bolster on the MTL truck helps here. The pad and hole seems perfect for the MTL Z scale coupler if you wanted to take that route....

[sundowner]

The new ones come with 1015, and that what I used to do my older ones. I use Atlas coupler screw to bolt them down to the pad.

[nkalanaga]

I would recommend the 1015s.  Mine have 1025s, and they work fine, but the rear of the box has to be shortened to fit.  Not hard, but it would be a lot easier to use the 1015, and less likely to damage the coupler or your fingers.

MT says the mounting height is slightly different, but I've found that the natural variation in mounting heights from one car to the next make it a wash.  My 1025s didn't need any shim.  On the other hand, MDC roller bearing trucks with 33 inch wheels required a little grinding on the underside of the slope sheets, so like James said, the MT truck is probably a better bet.  If you use a truck that comes with 33 inch wheels, and replace them with 36 inch, you may have to file the bolster a little to get the coupler back down where it should be.

Does MT make a proper 100 ton truck with 36 inch wheels?  I looked on their website a while back and didn't see one.

[Kisatchie]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I'll go with the MTL 1015 couplers. They're cheap in the bulk pack. 


Hmm... what do you
wanna bet Kiz will make
me assemble them...?