If you are not worried about having to lift cars up to uncouple, try Fox Valley dummy couplers FVM51000, 51010, or 51020. Also have been sold by Red Caboose. Are a replacement for the Rapidos. These will couple to Micro-Trains by lifting over the top. 4 pack can be purchased for under $3.
As John Moore mentioned some will have screws on the bottom, to hold the trucks on. I myself kept the screws in place and just added the micro trains short shank magnetic couplers. I just didn’t screw down tight. To allow movement for the trucks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Uncoupler tracks won't make them uncouple, but neither will anything else but severely uneven track. They're cheap and they stay coupled more reliably.
One way to add additional weight to a tank car is by using Tungsten putty. From the underneath drill a hole in the exact middle. Then form some tubes of tungsten putty that are tapers so the one end sticks out of the hole. Smooth the wider taped end so that it slightly overlaps the hole by a bit, keeps the tungsten in place. Does not take a lot but it does add some more weight.
You would buy the 1000, Bettendorf trucks with short extension coupler. AS others have noted, you can buy them in ten-packs. If you want to retain the B-mann trucks but change the coupler, only, 1133/1134 is almost universal for B-mann of that era. The 1134s are simply 1133s with a longer shank. If you are running these on sharp curves, you might want the longer shank. If you are going to work with 1133/1134, buy the MT coupler tweezers. You will be amazed at how easy it is to work with 1133/1134 when you use these tweezers.
For four piâstres apiece, you did acceptably. If you want to change the car numbers on them, erase the whole number and add the new one. Decal manufacturers and rolling stock manufacturers never agree on lettering/numbering size.
I have some issues with one of those (I have 4 of them): With the weights installed (3 nuts), the car doen't stand pefectly vertical, but is slightly leaning on 1 side (but stays on the track)....I may have to play with the location of the nuts to see if I can fix it !
I've finally added weight on all of the cars I purchased + the similar ones I already have, respecting the NMRA "rule" Yesterday night, I put them all together and didn't notice any decoupling or derailing, but some cars were "shaking/vibrating".....didn't look nice!!! Could the reason be: -) Not enough weight? -) Trucks too loose? -) The Rapido couplers? -) Track (Unitrack) not glued on the base? -) A little bit of everything? I've read an old post on another forum where several people recommended to tighten 1 truck to only be able to swivel without wobbling, and leave the other one more "loose" Would it be the 1st thing to try? I noticed some cars have both trucks relatively loose, and the screws are already tightened as much as possible.....The only option would be to add a thin washer on 1 truck to make it swivel only without wobbling.....do you know where I can find such thin washers? Or any tips to do them myself? Thanks
I'm a little late to this party but I also use 1/4 x 20 nuts to weight cars. That's one of the least expensive approaches. I hadn't thought of the sticky tape though... I use Walthers Goo for fastening.
I know it's been 1 year......but why the short extension, and not the medium one? Also, does it need to be Bettendorf? Could it be roller bearing or barber roller?
Just now reading this and just want to point out that when those sold for $2.50 - $3 was quite a while ago and $3 was worth more than what it is today, so I'd say yes, $4 a car is a pretty good deal.
Medium extension puts the coupler too far out to look 'right'. Roller bearing trucks came into use after WWII, but they weren't required for interchange until 1963. Since most railroads already had hundreds of friction bearing trucks, the RRs just kept using them, only applying roller bearing trucks to cars used in high speed service. If the railroads were accepting the roller bearing trucks, they wouldn't have been forced to change over to them in 1963. So if you model the '60's or later, RBs are fine. Earlier it's probably Bettendorf.
Yes, with model trains, the closer you can get the cars coupled together without interference between the cars on curves, the better. Prototype cars are about 48 - 50-some inches apart, typically, which is around 8mm or so in N scale. Doug
Keep in mind that prototypical car spacing is designed for prototypical track, including prototypical minimum curve radii that dwarf our typical scale layout radii. So somewhat longer shanks (and larger spacing between cars) might actually provide more prototypical car-car clearances on on the curves of most of our layouts. Pick your poison: looks best on straight track or looks best on curves? Or more likely, looks good with some compromise in between.
I've never had an instance where I said "I should have used medium over the shorts" with regards to interference.