I installed 1295 Kadee-style couplers onto an S-Scale America composite gondola and a 10000 gal tank car. I thought I'd document what I think I learned, and ask for any ideas or corrections.
First the tank car; This is the Roma Wine tank car. I don't know if they are all alike. This car has two pins molded to the frame, for a Kadee 802 to slide on. It turns out the 1295 holes are slightly smaller than the 802. I believe the 802 used 0-48 self tapping screws, the 1295 uses smaller non-self tapping. The 1295 screws measure about .057". The 802 allow a .063 drill to slide through easily, a .067 is too big. So I used the .063 to drill out the 1295. I worked it a few times until the drill slid through pretty easily. I was then able to push the 1295 onto the pins ok. The 1295 is a bit thicker than the 802 (.189" vs .147") so the pins don't come flush with the bottom of the 1295 the way they do with the 802. I don't think this is a problem. The couplers seem stable on the car, and line up with the gauge about the same as the 802 (just a whisker high). Next the Composite gondola. This came with the AF compatible couplers, so I took them off. I did not replace the spacer (there was a spacer on the wine car, which had scale wheels and no couplers). The screws that hold the trucks are still able to screw down all the way without bottoming, so that seemed fine. There's just the hint of a hole where the floor of the car needs to be drilled for the coupler. I was concerned that I might not get the holes positioned correctly, but it seemed to come out ok. The diameter of the screws supplied with the 1295s is .057", so I used a .046" #56 bit. I drilled down to the metal plate in the floor of the car. The screws supplied with the 1295 are short so they did not bottom out. They don't seem to be self tapping, but I just screwed them in and they seemed ok. If they loosen with time, I'll use a drop of CA as Dick mentioned. With the couplers mounted without shims, and the trucks back on without a spacer (there is a washer that was already installed with the AF couplers, I left it in place) the couplers lined up well with the gauge. There are pictures of both cars with their new 1295 couplers on the SHS website: http://www.showcaseline.com/indexComGon.html The Wine car is in the S-Scale America/10,000 Gal Tank Cars section. Does this seem like the correct approach? I haven't done either of these cars before, so I'm sure open to suggestions! Bill Change your membership, change your message settings, use our CALENDAR, view shared files or photos, view the list archives, GO TO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
