Kadee Conversion

[oldtanker]

How do I convert this engine shell to Kadee's?

Please keep in mind I've never done any of these and so of you people are light years ahead of me.

Rick

 

[Thoroughbreed]

Thats the BN GP ya got from me? Sorry I didnt check the compatability before sending.ops:

 

[LongIslandTom]

I remember the kitbashing/custom painting projects Model Railroader magazine used to run, and in a few instances they used those old Roco-made Atlas engines. One of the methods they used to convert those old Roco Atlases is to cut off the coupler mount, build up a new mounting pad using a stack of .060" styrene, then drill and tap for 2-56 screw to mount a Kadee #5.

Hope this helps!

(BTW Oldtanker, that's a high-nose GP38, right? It's a good future painting project for you to tackle, because you need to repaint it in Southern Railways' tuxedo scheme.)

 

[Thoroughbreed]

Sorry, didnt mean to hijack your threadops:

(BTW Oldtanker, that's a high-nose GP38, right? It's a good future painting project for you to tackle, because you need to repaint it in Southern Railways' tuxedo scheme.)

Thats what I did with the UP SD24.

 

[doctorwayne]

The proper Kadee coupler for the older Atlas shells is the #7. If I recall correctly, the opening in the pilot needs to be enlarged slightly.

Wayne

 

[oldtanker]

OK thanks guys, I'll check that out next time I'm near a hobby shop on the #7s.

I was looking at building something up and the drill and tap thing, gotta wait for the hobby shop though.....thats OK it's and adventure going 90 mile in Mn in the winter...sign1 ....you get to see things like this one the interstate

Eric, if I had a problem with it I would have contacted you via PM to give us a chance to to work it out. I'm very happy with our deal and think that you are one of the better people I've dealt with on the net.:thumb: All I was doing was asking how to put KD's on it.

Here you go Eric, anyone dealing with Throughbreed (Eric) can do so with confidence that he will be fair and fast.:thumb: Thats the warm fuzzy feeling I got from our transaction!

Rick

 

[oldtanker]

(BTW Oldtanker, that's a high-nose GP38, right? It's a good future painting project for you to tackle, because you need to repaint it in Southern Railways' tuxedo scheme.) [/quote]

I should what????????:curse: sign1

Now why would I want to cover up that fantastic BN paint?????:thumb:


Teasingsign1

Rick

 

[LongIslandTom]

LOL I suggest the SR tux because BN never had any high-nose GP38s. (they did have some booster cabless units though)

Basically, high-nose modern Geeps = Southern or NW (or Southern + NW = NS).

 

[oldtanker]

Tom I posted some pics from a small local independent railroad, Rail America, Otter Tail Valley Rail Road. They are using older stuff that they can get cheap. Their route is between Breckenridge MN, Fergus Falls and Moorhead MN. Grand total of about 150 miles of track serving the grain region of the Red River Valley.

I have a GP7 and I'm going to try to get the paint scheme right...I may do that to the 40 too. I would work with their system of operations.

Rick

 

[60103]

Rail America is our "small" local railway, too, operating as Goderich and Exeter. I usually see a train with 5 different paint schemes; RA being one.

 

[oldtanker]

David, Otter Tail Valley has all of their's painted the same.

Rick

 

[doctorwayne]

gotta wait for the hobby shop though.....thats OK it's and adventure going 90 mile in Mn in the winter...sign1 ....you get to see things like this one the interstate

Rick

Alright! A wedding planner service for cows!!:thumb:

Wayne

 

[Russ Bellinis]

Rick, how tight is the pin in that shell that holds in the horn hook coupler? If it is still a tight fit, you might be able to just reuse it with the #7 Kaddee.

 

[oldtanker]

Russ, very tight, had a heck of a time getting them out. I found a hobby shop in the town that my sons mother in law lives in. He has the #7 couplers in stock and is setting a set aside for me, my son is going up this weekend!

Rick

 

[doctorwayne]

Instructions for installing Kadee #7 couplers were offered in the March, 1978 issue of RMC. For those of you who may have mislaid your copy, here's the gist of the short article: Remove part of the "ears" on the coupler itself, using a file. Don't remove the entire "ear"; just the tip of the smaller one, and just enough on the larger one to make it the same size as the modified smaller one. The article suggests that the sides of the Kadee box be thinned, using a file (which will remove the large "nub" on the exterior face of one side) and that the rear of the box be trimmed so that it doesn't protrude past the rear of the installed coupler. Also, the opening in the pilot needa to be enlarged, using a file.

or

I don't recall doing all of these modifications (although I sometimes can't even recall my own name ) since I assembled the couplers on the locomotive. First, enlarge the opening in the pilot, using a file, so that the front end (the end where the coupler is supposed to stick out from) of the temporarily assembled coupler box will fit snugly in the opening. Next, place the coupler over the pin in the Kadee box, then trim off any part of the rear of the box that extends past the rear of the coupler shank. Trim the lid to match. The Kadee draft gear box is inserted through the opening from the rear, then the coupler from the front, then the centering spring is installed, and the lid is also installed from the rear of the pilot. You can use either the Atlas pin to hold the coupler in place, or tap the hole and use a screw. The latter is the better choice.
I hope this hasn't made the whole procedure seem more complicated than it actually is.

Wayne

 

[oldtanker]

Thanks Wayne.

Rick

 

[Thoroughbreed]

Heres another option I came upon when replacing some on an F7, I used a pair of mchenry couplers, a washer and the original coupler. I first removed the pin, by prying upwards ever so slightly, slid out the original coupler. I trimmed off all the outer edges of the original coupler to use it as a sleeve inside the mchenry (you could probably use some small diameter tubing for this instead), as the mchenry inside diameter is larger for current draft boxes. Then placed the washer onto the pin, slid my improved mchenry into the opening, and pushed pin back into place. A cheaper, faster remedy for the old Atlas problem.:thumb:

 

[doctorwayne]

Good idea. :thumb: You can use the post out of a Kadee #5 draught gear box as a bushing for the mounting hole in the McHenry. Just slice it out of the Kadee box with an X-Acto chisel blade.

Wayne