Hi All, I bought a 2023 vintage MT boxcar (this one) off of eBay. It came with body-mounted couplers, and the trucks seem less free-rolling than other MT cars I own. Did someone modify the car, or do some MT cars come with body-mounted couplers?
It may be due to the fact that they haven't been rolled at all. It may help if you put a bunch of weight in the car and pull it around for awhile... Replacing the trucks would not be that difficult either, all you have to do is get some new trucks and once they get there on the bottom of the truck there is either a pin or a screw, if it is a pin, just pull the truck off (it will be stiff, but will come off) or if it is a screw, then unscrew it and pop the old truck off. Then put on the new truck and reverse the previous steps. I hope this can help you!
Over the past few years, Micro-Trains has been modifying some but not all of their body styles to include a lowered underframe and body mounted couplers. The 020 / 20000 series to which this car belongs is one of them, so yes, these are factory mounted couplers. In addition, new body styles are coming with body mounted couplers. The 180, 181 and 182 series 50 foot boxcars, the 095 series PS-2 Covered Hoppers, 123 series 60 foot "TBOX" cars and the 107 series 65 foot mill gondolas were introduced with body mounted couplers. Shameless plug: The release tables on my UMTRR website show which cars were previously equipped with truck mounted couplers have this change; look for a {L} in the description column. A "{C} means all that and the cushion underframe detail which MTL introduced in late 2022. I finished the 2023 Release Table yesterday to account for all releases through mid-December so we should be good to go there. http://www.irwinsjournal.com/umtrr/index.htm?mt23re.htm I haven't seen any difference in rolling characteristics between the cars with and without body mounted couplers.
And this just in... a new designation in the UMTRR Annual Release Tables of {B+M} for those Micro-Trains releases that have body mounted couplers and metal wheels. So far, those are the 095 series PS-2 Covered Hoppers, 123 series 60 foot "TBOX" cars and the 107 series 65 foot mill gondolas. (Not to be confused with "B&M" which is either the Boston and Maine Railroad or a brand of Baked Beans...) I just uploaded these changes so it might take a little while for them to propagate through the Interwebs. Be sure to clear your cache!
