Bodymounting couplers on Atlas Coalveyors?

[Ken Ford]

Has anyone had success bodymounting couplers on their Atlas Coalveyors? How did you do it, and are you happy with the results?

A bunch of 100T BLMA trucks arrived today, the first of these I've ever seen.  Wow!  Very nice trucks, and great looking wheelsets!  They do a nice job of lowering the Coalveyor with no underbody interference:


Now, what couplers?  I haven't worked in N for many years, and the slinky effect of my old Kadee cars always drove me nuts.  I seem to faintly recall bodymounting on a few cars using what I think were their 1021 couplers, they fit right on the cast Kadee underframes (it's still hard for me to think of them as Micro-Trains!).  IIRC the 1021s didn't slinky due to the different shank and spring design; I think that the 1015 is the same due to the spring not being under compression when pulling.

My mounting height is pretty close but will require some work:


Per my MT-1055 gauge, the new UF height is about 0.235" too low for the standard 1015 mounting height of 0.279".  (I'm pretty sure the MT-1055 shelf is set at 0.275" for the 1023.)  I figure I can approach this one of two ways: either shim the truck bolsters back up (which I'd prefer not to do) or find a different coupler to use.  I was thinking the 2001, but I don't think there would be enough clearance between the axle and the bottom of the draft gear.

Any suggestions on a non-slinky MT coupler that would work here?  I'd actually prefer to use Accumates, but the lack of draft gear is making that a difficult project.

[stuntman]

 Ken,

  If you check this thread   http://therailwire.net/forum/index.php/topic,21980.0.html    Maybe you can apply some of Gary's techniques to those.    Craig from BLMA really needs to produce a new closer to scale body mount coupler with box........

[Ken Ford]

Good reading - thanks!  I may give the brass section idea a try...

[Rivet Miscounter]

Digging this one out of the archives, but subject line and topic is 100% relevant to my question still.

I have a large pile of Atlas UFIX ACF Coalveyors.  Some are missing trucks/couplers. (on purpose)  I think I at one point had the same idea about replacing with BMLA back in the day, but never got around to it.  I had so much trouble with the Accumates on these cars that they slowly just destroyed themselves over time.

The UFIX cars are a signature element of my era/locale (Late '80s) and I want to upgrade them to body-mounts, nice trucks, metal wheels, etc.   So, I'm curious what would be the consensus as the best solution for these now, given what is available.

Thoughts...
1. Goals:
(a) Doesn't need compatibility with anything else...pure unit trains, won't be switched
(b) Close(r) coupling is a priority
(c) Small(er) size is preferred
(d) No slinky is desirable, almost a given.
(e) Ideally somewhat available solutions...I don't need them today--or even this month.  But at very least availability planned at some point during 2024.
2. I was sort of "off planet N-scale" when the True Scale Coupler came out.  So I'm pretty ignorant of how it is setup to work, but I'm very interested in the possibility from what little I have learned about it.
3. When transitioning to Z, I kept my large pile of LEZ coupler donors, but I believe I sold off all of my pocket parts.   I'm not sure status of that but if the parts are still available that could be an option.

Also...

Will probably eventually have the same question about the Athearn UFIX Berwick bathtub cars just announced.   Maybe they won't need as much done to them, although with the likely ginormous McHenry couplers they would look really bad in the same train...and of course would need conversion cars if the TSC was used.   I daresay that would be a requirement that both UFIX cars would have to be the same because they were all mixed together.   It would be an ugly mess if they weren't matched.

Also...

I have the same question about the old school Athearn (fmr MDC) Thrall Coal Gon tooling.   I expect body mounting the TSC would be a much easier proposition there, and then I would just need to know what's the best truck/wheel combo.