Trip pin pliers question

BNSF FAN Sep 23, 2020

  1. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    Good idea about using 0.01 plastic so as to not short the rails. Or use the metal one on a spare/scrap piece of track off the layout.
     
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  2. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

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    In my defense....How many of us are running 75-125 car trains on our home layouts ? I do manual uncoupling with a 'pick'. I have never had any unwanted uncouplings with pulling the trip pins. That and IMHO...the couplers look better without that 'thing' hanging down under the coupler...LOL. :p:LOL::LOL:
     
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  3. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    I run 74 cars so I'm good under the limit. :ROFLMAO::D:):LOL:

    I too use a "pick" to uncouple.....a (clean!) bamboo BBQ skewer.
     
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  4. logging loco

    logging loco TrainBoard Supporter

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    Maletrain you are absolutely correct. A typo on my part.
     
  5. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    George- I cut all of mine off and use a Rix Pick. Have done it that way for quite some time. I also model in HOn30 using M-T N couplers, and cut those off as well. It has been very reliable and I am happy. :)
     
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  6. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

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    Can someone 'mic' a trip pin and tell me how many scale inches in diameter it is...TIA
     
  7. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    They actually are not round.
     
  8. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

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    Well true dat...lol. Maybe the thickness in scale inches from the flat side and the wide side ?
     
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  9. Doug Gosha

    Doug Gosha TrainBoard Member

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    When using the trip pin height gauge, hold the coupler down while checking to account for possible coupler droop.

    Doug
     
  10. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    With my trusty super accurate Harbor Freight digital caliper (sarcasm), I got the following dimensions:

    0.82 mm wide
    0.58 mm high
     
  11. Maletrain

    Maletrain TrainBoard Member

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    On the horizontal part of the pin, parallel to the rails:
    0.025" to 0.028" vertical
    0.031" to 0.033" horizontal (parallel to ties)

    I measured 3 pins, in several places per pin. The variability occurs along the length of individual pins, as well as from pin to pin.
     
  12. Doug Gosha

    Doug Gosha TrainBoard Member

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    C'mon, you guys, what's it gonna be, millimeters or inches? Geez!

    :D

    Doug
     
  13. Maletrain

    Maletrain TrainBoard Member

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    If you bother to do the conversions, you will see that the metric "high" dimension is outside of the range (smaller than) the inch "Vertical" range that I found.

    But, for folks who don't "do" conversions, there is now one measurement set for each system.

    (What model railroader doesn't need to do conversions, such as full scale to N scale?)
     
  14. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

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    Thank you sir (y)

    If the train scale conversion webpage I use it correct...

    using .026 as a a vertical measurement...that is 4.15 inch on the 1:1
    using .032 as a a horizontal measurement...that is 5.12 inch on the 1:1

    Averaging it all out to a ROUND air hose...that would make a 1:1 air hose between cars a whopping 5" diameter !!

    From another website...

    " Standard freight car hoses are 1-3/8" x 22"; passenger hoses are often 1-3/8" x 27", or even 29" "

    So in conclusion a 5" diameter 'trip pin' looks NOTHING like a 1-3/8" diameter 1:1 airhose !!!

    Maybe now people will quit saying " But the trip pins look like the air hoses between cars !!:mad::mad:

    Rant over....thank you all for reading !(y):D

    .
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2020
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  15. SteamDonkey74

    SteamDonkey74 TrainBoard Supporter

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    Shoving them back up isn't always an option. Sometimes, they're as inserted as they will get, but they're misshapen a bit or bent down. If you haven't had the problem count yourself lucky.

    I've had a few with bad clearance from various manufacturers. Usually, where I have run into this issue is in a club setting where someone is having difficulty with a piece of rolling stock, and so I go through various checks which include coupler height.
     
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  16. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    This all may be true. But if they were to be made scale it may affect the operation of magnetic uncoupling because then they won't have enough "metal heft" for the magnet to work on.

    Or they become too thin and delicate that they bend too easily. Then people will really complain about them getting hung up everywhere.
     
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  17. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    The trip pins are no doubt out of scale for air hoses but I'm afraid I have to doubt that "1-3/8 inch diameter" for a 1:1 scale freight car air hose. That might be the interior opening but not the exterior. I wish I still had one around that I could measure but 3 inches in exterior diameter is more like it.
     
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  18. Maletrain

    Maletrain TrainBoard Member

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    You could always cut off the trip pins and stick some 0.008" diameter wire on the bottom of the sills.

    With TruScale couplers that would start to look "scale".

    But, those little plastic models of air hoses that come with the MTL TruScale couplers measured 0.015"- 0.016", which is like 2-1/2 inches, full scale. But, I think they still look better than 0.008" wire. "Fine scale" is a real challenge for N scale, especially if you want to actually run the trains, rather than just admire them on a shelf. Fine scale is fragile.
     
  19. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    That dimension might be good for the MU connections, but you are correct it is too small for the train air line.
     
  20. Maletrain

    Maletrain TrainBoard Member

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