Bear in mind that N scale started in Europe and the coupling system used on European 'freight wagons' was a variation on what could be described as a type of 'link and pin' system. It essentially could not be duplicated in N scale. A coupling system was needed however and so Rapido opted for a coupler that not only worked but was very simple in operation and cheap to manufacturer. That it never approximated anything used in the proto world was not a concern. Allowing other manufacturers to use the design was, I think, a stroke of marketing genius and aided the early growth of N gauge.
I deliberately look for ore cars with Rapidos when I want more.......for some reason. very few were equipped with the newer Rapidos, at least in Milwaukee Road lettering. So new acquisitions take about 5 minutes to modify. As Inkaneer says, rolling resistance varies a lot, so I've replaced almost all the wheels, which fixes that issue. I also replaced them because most of them also had pizza cutter wheels. But I like the results......the coupling distance is greatly improved, and the coupling is very secure......no unwanted uncouplings . It DOES feel weird when I buy new releases to go in and replace the trucks with Old Rapido trucks.
Thank you very much. I had recently purchased some very old MicroTrains cars with Rapido equipped bogies. I wasn't going to throw out the bogies just because they were unused but still MTL quality. Now they have a good potential use other than cutting the Rapido's off and using 1015 body mount couplers.
Yes, our SS increase will be about 3% next year so we will fall behind not quite as far as without it. Doug
Some of the retailers have MTL packs of 10 pairs for about US$65. I do try to buy from Micro trains directly though as they have specials at times. Either can be an improvement on RRP. I know it's not much help but think of us overseas and we have to add US$35 to US$50 for even the smallest item !
As a side note, this won't work on every type of car........I thought it would be great to do on passenger cars, and unfortunately it pulls the cars too close together. Same for other car types..........unless you have broad curves.
I regularly run Ntrak on the outside 'red' line. With three-foot corners that gives a radius of about 27-28 inches depending on whether an easement is used in the curve. Close coupling of passenger cars is doable as well as close coupling of E8 units. Really makes a huge difference esthetically. I have been using the Unimate dummy couplers which are a bit troublesome to couple as it is hard to see the couplers looking down from above. I may have to try the modified Rapido's to see if I can achieve the same result.
Post if it works........I tried one conversion (on a couple of ConCor cars) and because the trucks were tucked so far under the car, the cars were touching just sitting straight with no room to move for corner clearance. Other brands may vary. I agree the cars look better close coupled.......in fact I usually leave passenger trains that have Rapidos that way because the Rapidos couple closer than MTs.
........ and just for reference here is my friends string of ore cars minus Rapido's and knuckles installed. That drawbar conversion is great !
