Best Of Notes on body-mount couplers (work-in-progress)

[GaryHinshaw]

Hi Ed, sorry to be slow to respond... but here are a few more thoughts:

* Thanks for the clarification on the cut lever bracket.  That makes sense and looks good.

* I think the standard length pocket is probably ready to go unless you want to try to draw up a 1-piece version first.  I don't think it's necessary though, since I'm now inclined to solder or glue the cover on in any case.

* For the extended pocket, I think a rod might be better than a screw.  One option is to use an .040 styrene rod pressed through both the top and bottom holes, then trimmed to length.  If the holes were properly sized for a press fit, it could still be serviceable.  I think the drawing you have would work as is, except that the bottom hole should probably be a bit smaller (maybe .035).  This would give people the option to drill and/or tap the top & bottom holes as desired.  Beyond that, I think it's too hard to predict how well this may or may not work; we just need some samples. 

I'm definitely in for some and will be happy to front you some money for them.

Cheers,
Gary

* RE the ExactRail box: I was trying the same thing the other day and it did look quite feasible.  I didn't go as far as to cut off the post though, since I have banned myself from any serious work on rolling stock until I get my upper deck track work finished.    Two quick questions though: 1) how is the centering action with the FTs in that box?  It seemed like it should be ok.  2) What is the car spacing like with two FT-equipped boxes hooked up?  Is it too close?

-gfh

[SAH]

I've been checking this most insteresting topic over time but have had nothing to contribute until recently.  In the process of building the TrainCat chlorine car I ran into a challenge regarding coupler mounts.  I'd prefer not to mess with Z couplers.  The design of the car makes 1015s a bit of a problem from a coupler height standpoint.  So I pulled out the 3/32" x 3/16" brass tube Gary started with way back.    I used the Accumate pivot pin, first drilled out with a #55 bit to clear a 00-90 screw and then sliced off of the truck mounted coupler pocket.  A brass shim from the chlorine car kit replaced the washer Gary used to fill the vertical dimension gap.



I really like this set-up.  Easy to do.  The fussiest part is cutting and drilling the hole in the channel.  The proper manufacturing setup would make quick work of this task I'd think.  I've been body mounting 1015 because:

1) They're easy to assemble and are widely available
2) They couple and uncouple reliably
3) They allow better spacing between cars for aesthetic purposes while maintaining operability

I don't like the pogo effect when backing a train but dislike the big gap between cars the Accumates introduce.  Perhaps this is a good compromise.  However unless the pocket can be mass produced I'm not really interested in cutting and drilling all those pockets.

My two cents FWIW.

Steve

[ednadolski]

Awwright!   The Coupler v2 etchings have arrived!      Here they are:






I'm really impressed with the way these came out.  There was one glitch in the etching process, where the long slot in one of the extended pockets was dropped from the masks and ended up solid.  PPD is going to re-run those parts.


Here is what these look like assembled:










And here is a quick test of one of the extended pockets mounted on an FVM boxcar (cut lever is WIP):








The holes for the pivot screws did not come out overly large.   To assemble these samples, I tapped out the hole in the main body with a 00-90 tap, and I drilled the hole in the cover to enlarge it to about a 0.046" diameter.   I haven't yet tried soldering the cover to the body, but I think that doing so would make it easier to install the coupler and attach it to the car.

In the image with the boxcar, you can see that I have not yet trimmed the pivot screw.  But in this case, since it is under the coupler platform it is pretty well hidden and barely noticeable.

About the only thing so far that I would do differently in a next revision is enlarge the little 'hook' for mounting a cut lever.  It came out so small that it is pretty delicate, and takes a bit of care when forming.

As soon as I get the corrected parts from PPD, I'll send out samples.

Cheers!
Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

SWEET!  Just in time for the holidays.   

I was actually getting a hankering to try some of these again soon.  How big a fret did you end up making?

Nice job!
-gfh

[Chris333]

Excellent work!

[peteski]

Superb!

[DKS]

[James Costello]

HAWT, and maybe just what I need to get back to the work bench!

[ednadolski]

Hi guys, thanks much for the good words.   I'm hoping to make progress on some assembly and installations over the next few days or so.  Gary, this etching is an A4, let me know too if you're interested in a copy of the .dwg file.   BTW that file came out rather large, since PPD had asked me to include the front & back masks -- did they ask you for that, or did they work from the layered drawing you sent them?

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

Hi Ed,

I'd love to have the file.  How did you end up diving these vis a vis extended vs. standard?  I'm more in need of standard ones.

Cheers,
Gary

[Ian MacMillan]

Very very nice! I have been waiting to hear progress on this as I want to start doing mine. Thanks Ed.

[GaryHinshaw]

Ed sent me some samples of the v2 pockets to play with and I've put them out on a few cars.  I'll share one example and a few thoughts.  I had another example prepared, but as I was bringing it out to the layout for a test run, I dropped it on the garage stairs....   It was a new Atlas 20k tanker that worked out great.  Happily the couplers and pockets survived the fall intact, even though the end platform shattered.

The example I do have is an IM 2-bay cement hopper, which was pretty straightforward, except for one thing (see below).  First, a shot of the assembled pocket:



For this build, I tapped 00-90 threads in the top hole and reamed out an .041" hole (#59 bit) in the bottom lid.  I soldered the lid on, inserted the coupler, then threaded an .040" styrene rod in from the bottom for a coupler post.  I trimmed the bottom of the rod more or less flush and left the amount shown out the top to help prevent pocket swivel (see below).  Using a rod here is not necessarily better than a screw, but it can be, depending on circumstances.  (For example, with an extended pocket, the top could be trimmed flush and be essentially invisible after painting).  It is easily strong enough for its function and it's very secure with the threading.

To mount it to the car, I drilled two holes in the end flooring, as shown.  The only trick here is that the location of the coupler post is right at the joint between the end cage and the floor, where there is no structural integrity.  In this example, I'm only using the outer hole to accept the styrene post, to help prevent pocket swivel -- it seems to work well.  The pocket is attached with an 00-90 screw through the inner hole.  It's pretty strong just as is, but I'm thinking a nut might be wise (and hopefully not too unsightly), but I don't have any 00-90 nuts on hand to try this.  Here's the bottom:



and the end:



These pockets and couplers are really sweet - Ed did a great job on v2 and I think they're pretty much ready for the real world, save for a few cosmetic items.  Now that I actually have a layout, I took this out for a test drive by putting it at the head end of a 25 car (12' long) train and ran it through Tehachapi Loop (almost 2.4% grade, 18" radius curves) and it performed great! 

The only issue I had with this car was getting the coupler height right.  Here is a comparison to a stock MT truck-mounted coupler:



It's too high, even though the car has been lowered by using BLMA trucks (which look much more appropriate under this car).  I already have a .010" shim between the floor and the pocket, so I either need a bigger shim, or I need to lower the ride height a bit more by shaving the bolsters.  Not sure which way I'll go yet, but probably the pocket shim, since the ride height is pretty good as is.  (Still, I had no issue running it on the layout.)

Going forward, I think the air hose details could use a bit of tweaking, as well as the cut lever bracket.  One thought I had about the hose was to try and wrap it with some heat shrink tubing to give it some more relief.  The smallest size I had on hand was a little too big, and I'm not sure if smaller stock is readily available, but I'll to look into it.

Functionally, I think it's there!  Again, kudos to Ed for driving this forward!!

-gfh

P.S. Most of the tank car ideas I have in mind would require an extended pocket, but a standard style lid.  I wonder if it makes sense to add some more standard style lids to the fret?

[Philip H]

Ed, Gary,
I'm sold!  Here I was planning to blissfully spend the next few months body mounting a surfeit of couplers one of our other members kindly sent along (!)  And now I have to wait to get a dozen or so frets of these from ya!

Should we start a Company Thread name?  My initial, only one cup of coffee vote is for Gary & E'ds Reliable Coupler Service - Kepping the Rail Wire together since 201X.

 

[Scottl]

Excellent work Gary and Ed!  It looks fantastic and the deployment looks viable for a fleet.  It is enough to make me move to body mount couplers.

Now comes the real issue.  Are these couplers really available?  I'm still waiting to see what David/NZT comes up with, but this looks like my second choice.   

[Philip H]

Well if DKS produced his coupler in these pockets (royalties to Ed and Gary included of course) Then we'd have one of those rare Win-Win situations . . .

Just sayin . . . .