Is there a way to get rid of the excessive gap between athern heavyweight passenger cars? The minimum radius of 24"
24" is pushing it, but remove the coupler arm from the truck. Glue a mounting pad of styrene to the floor at the end (you will have to experiment a little to get the right thickness, start with
.040") and mount a Kadee No. 5 in it's own pocket.
To really do it right, drill and tap for a 1:72 or 2:56 screw, the "quick and dirty" way is to drill the mounting hole 1/16" and use a No.2 wood screw.
Don Dellmann
Yes, there most certainly is. Here's how you do it:
Get a bag of MDC passenger car draft gear.
Cut off the mounting holes off the back end.
Cut the draft gear off the Athearn truck flush with the body bolster.
Glue a piece of .020 styrene sheet on the bottom of the Athearn car between the bolster pin and the end of the car floor.
Drill a clearance hole for a 1-72 screw through the shank of the MDC draft gear.
Install the coupler of your choice in the coupler box on the MDC gear.
Position it on the bottom of the Athearn car at a distance that you deem appropriate for closer coupling.
Mark the position of the hole you drilled in the shank on the floor of the car with a pin or something.
Drill and tap the floor of the car 1-72. In plastic you can let the screw cut its own threads, just go slowly and back off every few turns to clear the chips. Vegetable oil makes a good lubricant for
this job and won't degrade the plastic like petroleum based oils will.
Screw the draft gear to the bottom of the car using a long enough screw to allow you to run a nut down from the top. Leave the screw a little short of tight on the draft gear and snug the nut down
from the top. Use a washer under the head of the screw to help distribute the support on the draft gear.
Congratulations! You have just installed a radial coupler that will operate on any radius curve that the car will negotiate. You have also eliminated that pesky truck-mounted coupler that causes so
much trouble with derailments.
Demetre Argiro