I have some Atlas 90 ton hoppers, with the trip pins a little low. What is the best way to to bend them up a bit? Looks like it is molded right into the coupler. Thanks Don
Don, The trip pin is a separate part. Many on this forum complain about the trip pins and remove them. I have done this also, since it does not affect the coupler's operation, unlike Micro Trains couplers which need the trip pin. MT trip pins can be clipped off just below the bottom of the coupler (I've done this with may of mine). I would suggest grasping the part of the trip pin directly under the coupler with one pair of small needlenose pliers and use another to gently bend the pin up. That way you will not stress the coupler itself and risk breaking it. You can check the trip pin's height above the rails by placing a thin strip of metal or styrene across the rail heads and roll the care over the strip. If the pin hits the strip, you know it needs to be bent up.
Some older Atlas pins had a tendency to come loose and fall out. I was trying to quickly find a Micro-Trains package with an illustration of how theirs are suggested to be bent. Maybe someone else has one handy this morning. The same method works. There is even a bending pliers you can get.
MT's dont need the trip pins to operate correctly. I have removed...not cut...the trips pins on all my couplers...regardless of brand. JMO...YMMV
I don't remove mine, I have a tool to adjust them and then angle the end with a dremel and cut off wheel, using the side. (--/).
You can use a regular needle nose pliers to bend them (MTs). Get the lower end of the pin on one jaw and the upper end on the other jaw and squeeze a bit. Doug
I have a number of surgical hemostats which are basically mini needle point pliers. I also have a small metal strip supplied in a number of MT coupler kits to adjust height. The thin strip is simply lain across the rails and if the trip pin rubs or strikes the strip the pin is too low. I can then use the hemostats to carefully bend up the pin providing clearance. And as Boxcab E50 pointed out there is a relatively inexpensive tool to do the same thing.
Yes, the metal strip obtains a .010" clearance between the pin bottom and the top of the rail. I like to allow a bit more to allow for slight coupler sag when cars are coupled. I have had, in the past, situations where the pin still caught on switch closure rails and the like setting the pins right at .010" Doug
I have used another approach to solve the problem of trip pins being too low. I use small pliers to push the pin further up in the coupler. Then I use rail cutters to clip off the excess above the coupler. While I am working with the pin, I apply some paint to make them less shiny. Any flat black improves the appearance, DO NOT paint the coupler because that can render them fixed.
I have done this too and, if the pin doesn't really interfere (it usually does) with anything, I just leave it. I also bend the very bottom tip of the pin up a bit, if it is one of those that's "straighter", so it has less tendency to catch on anything Doug
Please allow me to clarify, most of my rolling stock is MTL or rolling stock or locomotives on which I am using MTL trucks or couplers. I am not certain if the trip pin in other coupler can be moved. I do know that Kato and BLI provide trip pins with their items for the purchasers to install in locomotives and cars.
