historians- wierd couplers

[rschaffter]

They are not the same shape as Kup-Eze nor Bakers, and in no way resemble Mantua couplers.  I suspect they may be a European hook and loop; perhaps Fleishmann?

[strummer]

eBay had 2 packages of the HP TT scale couplers end on the 13th. Type in "HP Products TT Gauge couplers" in your search bar; this item will be one of the first to appear...

Mark in Oregon

[Snark45]

It's the TT gadgets, alright  --  I never knew such existed.

Spookshow Mark  --  Couplers aside, I love the photo of the "guts" of that Lone Star loco you posted. Are those rubber bands??  We really have come a looong way...

Best Regards, Harry

[spookshow]

eBay had 2 packages of the HP TT scale couplers end on the 13th. Type in "HP Products TT Gauge couplers" in your search bar; this item will be one of the first to appear...

Mark in Oregon

Yep, definitely -



Cheers,
-Mark

[spookshow]

Spookshow Mark  --  Couplers aside, I love the photo of the "guts" of that Lone Star loco you posted. Are those rubber bands??

LOL, yup 

Cheers,
-Mark

[strummer]

That Lone Star UP passenger set was the first N scale I owned; bought it from America's Hobby Center in 1970(?) for $7.98, I think...

As far as the coupler discussion goes,I think this is the first time I actually got something right!


Mark in Oregon

[u18b]

Well, I know I learned something.

Thanks guys.

[Spikre]

 
  in the 50s Model Railroader expended lots of Ink promoting Mantua Couplers.
  in the 60s Model Railroader expended lots of Ink promoting Rapido couplers.
  isn't this some sort of conflict with Ultra realistic modeling they also promoted ?
  so in the 60s they did slowly go over to Kadee couplers for HO,but they weren't
  leading,they were following what modelers were actually buying to replace the
  horrid X2F couplers that they had a hand in promoting after 1957.
   be glad that the Rokal TT couplers never caught on shrunk down to N by a few Euro
  companies.
   interesting pics.
     Spikre
     

[cnw mike]

Meh, these weren't much more than kid's toys back in the early 60's. Applying Railwire "standards" to them at this point in history seems a bit silly to me 

Cheers,
-Mark

Listen. If current manufacturers see us let this kind of tooling slide, they may begin to think they can get away with with cheapening their standards. What, you think this is a game?




 

[nkalanaga]

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this was an attempt to couple to the 000 stuff.  In my case, I found that bending the hook on the Lone Star coupler out allowed it to couple to Rapidos, and since "automatic" coupling was as unreliable as the rest of my 000, it worked fine.

Once I found an N scale engine, the Arnold FA-whatever, most of the Lone Star became flatcar loads - or scrap.  Amazingly, the tank car is still in service, after several rebuildings, and a time as a fueling facility.  It's now working on my narrow gauge.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

You know, that's an interesting (and completely off topic) point. I wonder other modelers most rebuilt projects are. When I was 11 or 12, I attempted to rebuild the just released LL GP18 into a Conrail GP10. Crooked GMM etched chicken wire grilles, lopsided fans, and a brush painted blue dip job with skewed decals. It was revolting, but it was my first kit bash.

When I got back into the hobby in my 20's, I pulled the engine out of storage took one look at it and tossed it into the parts and junk box. Years later it supplied half a battery box for my new GP10 project that ended up much more successful. One of the chicken white grills was salvaged to replace a broken part on my phase III GP9 project.

Little things live on.

[nkalanaga]

Daniel:  My tanker went through at least these phases, and possibly others I've forgotten:

Atlas trucks added in the late 60s.  This required body bolsters, as the Lone Star trucks had a raised bolster to work with a flat floor, and was riveted on.  A pair of needle-nose pliers squashed the rivet head enough to fit the new trucks.

Turned into a ground-level storage tank in the early 70s, after I got an Atlas tankcar.  Basically took the trucks off (and reused them), put the tank on a few ties, and added a bunch of hoses and pipes.

Moved onto a timber frame for an elevated tank.

Put on a narrow gauge flatcar as a MOW car.

Turned back into a ground-level storage tank, with different details.

Finally rebuilt into a narrow gauge general service tank with new bolsters, end frames and walkways, larger dome (tubing fit around the original), and handrails.  It will probably stay that way, as it turned out quite well.

A tip:  If you have one of these, DON'T try to drill holes for handrail posts.  The metal is extremely hard, and inconsistent.  It seems to have soft spots or voids, and small drill bits bind and snap very easily.  I ended up making handrail posts from styrene strips, with a groove for the rail to fit in, and glued them to the tank.

I've had the car for 46 years, so it's as old as many prototypes!

As for your GP18, have you considered using the rest of the body as industrial details?  Those grills, vents, and fans make good AC and cooling tower parts.