I have a couple of Walthers / Life-Like E8's and want to convert them to Micro Trains couplers. They will be run in A-B-B configuration so only the rear coupler is a concern because the front looks OK and will couple to the train even if its a tiny bit high. I am not sure what Micro Trains couplers to get for the rear of these units. I did e-mail Micro Trains a couple of weeks ago but no reply. That rear coupler has me stumped as for what could even fit. Radius's on our track are quite generous so no tight curves to worry about.
I found this on the micro-trains website for Life-Like: https://micro-trains.com/publicfiles/conversions/sheet008.pdf I can't find any Walthers E8s Since life-like is now owned by Atlas, here is the Atlas conversion: https://www.micro-trains.com/publicfiles/conversions/sheet001.pdf Hope this solves your problem.
I had seen this but I'm lost as to how the 1128's attach. I do have sets of 1128's and have a small metal cast pocket the two halves of coupler go into can't mount as best I understand it.
Some "other" Life-Like E8's have truck mounted couplers that look like a Fox Valley coupler might be an easier option.
All I found on this was a notice that all LL E units should be boxed up and sent to me !!! Since you didn't fall for that, I have a DL109 in front of me, should call for same rear coupler. This looks to be a #1015. I do have some E units in a box behind a few other boxes. They have been M/T'ed, if I get up early enough tonight I will take a look. I do have a couple B units and they look like they may want #1128s. Probably why they haven't been done yet !!!
I have a LifeLike E7 ABA consist. I mated the shells of the A units with Kato E8 chassis. The B unit is an unpowered LifeLike unit. The A units have a MT 1015 coupler mounted on the front of the LifeLike shell (not the Kato chassis). The rear coupler is truck mounted on both the Kato and the LifeLike chassis as is both ends of the B unit. For the rear coupler I used a Unimate/Red Caboose/ Precision Masters/Fox Valley or whoever is the current owner of that item. The item No. on the jewel case for my A units is 7040. Hopes this helps.
If you have the truck mounted couplers, your best bet is the Red Caboose couplers.......not ideal, but I don't think a 1128 will fit in the "twist in" pocket. If you have the type where the coupler is held in by the E-clip, a MT1015 will fir right in.......just pull the clip, remove the rapido, place the 1015 in place and put the clip back in. My DL109s have the truck mount, my E6s have the truck mount, my E7s have the truck mount, My E8/9s are split.....some are truck mount, some are clip. I think LLs have truck.......the clip mounts came in during the Walthers phase......I'm not aware of any Atlas releases of locos being discussed here.
LOL , oh sorry I didn't see your address on the notice so I couldn't post the locos. It's annoying cause I have so many of them , they get into everything , constantly moving them ,,,, uuuuurgh Some photos would be great please .................... pleeeeeeeeeeease ! The Walthers branded locos are different to the others due to the body mounted rear coupler.
This information gives a broader insight ......... so I'm going to assemble some 1015's and see if they fit. I can help with the Atlas E7 information. The old E7's from the 70's and 80's used MT 1049 couplers. I know cause I just removed 2 from an old dead E7 and put them on a U50. They are held in with an aluminium U shaped clip that has to be bent over to secure it in place. I don't think its a good idea to keep changing couplers as bending thin aluminium over and over causes it to break.
Those plastic "E" clips are sort of easy to break. I dropped a LifeLike Erie Built a short distance while looking at the coupler... the clip broke off as well as one of the cast on stirrups. Unfortunately, LifeLike did not have replacement parts at the time, which was surprising since I had been able to get replacements for other releases before then.
Curious what the receiver looks like with the coupler removed. I'd think the 1015 might extend to far in and interfere with the rear truck. What holds the coupler from coming out of the draft box? Is it flanged base on the coupler or a pin that goes through it?
Oh yeah........forgot about the really old Atlas stuff that came from Rivarossi or one of those no longer there european manufacturers. On the clipped in couplers, there's plenty of room for the MT coupler.......when they went to the body mount coupler, they didn't alter the shell at all, they simply added a glued in a mount to the back wall of the loco, and changed the rear truck........probably saved them some money since they just used the front truck in both locations. I HAVE had the glued in mount come loose on several locos.....mostly my C-liners. The truck DOES hit the coupler, but at least on my E8, the front truck hits the ladders before the rear hits the coupler, so it isn't a limiting factor. The clip is E shaped....the 2 outer legs snap into the base and the middle extends thru the hole in the coupler. And if you ever break a clip, almost everyone must buy their clips from the same source because I have a bag of Atlas clips and I've used them on Lifelike/walthers,Kato, and Intermountain with no issues.......and you can always use the screws that come with the MT couplers.
The earliest Atlas E unit was the Rivarossi E8 and the MT conversion was easy to install. The later E7 was made by RoCo and the conversion wasn't too bad for that, either. The clips that held the coupler adapter and coupler in weren't aluminum. They probably wouldn't have withstood even one bending. The clips were/are steel but can still break if bent too many times. I was able to use MT-1128's on my Life-Like, plastic frame E8's and E7's on the rear. They don't really fit ideally in the Life-Like pocket bcause it's too low and shallow but I angled them up a bit and secured with Goo and they work fine. Doug
Ummmmmmm , we're both right. I looked at the front clip and it's definitely aluminium , I scraped it with a file and it is aluminium. I assumed the front was also aluminium and just had black paint on it. Got a magnet and sure enough the rear clip is steel ! Why on earth would they make clips from 2 different materials ? (The shell is just for testing paint colours)
