Thanks guys for all the help, over the weekend, I went to the train show in Wheaton IL and found a new Roundhouse version of this car. It doesn't have the screws but the MT like plugs that we all know and love. I'll fool with this tonight, as I don't remember having much of an issue with the old Roundhouse cars.......
As fate would have it I was going through my stash of rolling stock last night in preparation for the upcoming Altoona N Scale Weekend. Just trying to decide on what to take and making sure all the trucks and wheelsets were attached and couplers were not damaged. Transporting these always adds a new dimension to the hobby. In any event I came across some of the Athearn 3 bay hoppers. Although they look like the older MDC Roundhouse models they have been changed and it is debatable if for the better. First of all these had Accumate trucks and couplers. I would think that Athearn would have used their McHenry coupler but maybe the prior owner changed them for Accumates. The trucks appear to be Atlas so that is a good possibility. Second the older MDC underframe was altered to allow use of a smaller screw to affix the trucks. Now I like the idea of using screws to affix trucks rather than the plastic kingpin but the screws Athearn uses are smaller and the worst part is they are not steel so they are non-magnetic. Long story short, the two screws are now MIA having launched themselves somewhere in the great abyss, AKA, my basement. So now what? My inclination is to drill out the underframe to accept a larger screw such as a 2-56. That would be in keeping with my other rolling stock including the older MDC cars. Meanwhile the search continues for the MIA screws. And all of this would be unnecessary if they were magnetic.
Okay, I believe that taking the frame off of the car and removing about half of the cast coupler pockets on both ends is the first thing that should be done, on either version of the car. (But this isn't a fix all) I leave it there on the end with the brake wheel as I add the MT brake detail part (just a nice touch)...... If the cars come with the plugs I make sure that the frame is smooth and there is no binding with the truck. You can add the MT washer if you want more space between the truck and frame. Now with the screws, I took one frame, cut off the threaded "tits" that Athearn added and drilled out the frame to accept the MT plugs...Kind of reversed engineered it back to Roundhouse...Again, I made sure the frame was very smooth to not bind, and it runs just fine... I already had glued some of the Athearn frames to the cars, with these I just made sure again the coupler pockets did not rub and I added Fox Valley Wheelsets to the supplied (Atlas) trucks...I do not like the spacing but I'll live with it....I do believe that you do not have to reverse engineer the Athearn cars (with MT trucks) if you just make sure that they do not bind on the frame and you add FVW 36" wheelsets. Oh I also used the MT washer on the bottom of the truck under the head of the Athearn screw, it seemed to stabilize the truck assembly....I did add some sleeves on the screws and it does appear to help....Also I always add Fox Valley Wheels to all my cars and make sure that the car with any additions..... like a coal load...... is correctly weighted to NMRA specs . So I don't know if this helped, seemed like a lot of hassle, but I do like these hoppers as they fit in my era (1970's) as kind of a transition to the larger more modern hoppers.....I'll certainly still be tweaking them, and if anything changes, I'll certainly shout out......Again THANKS for all the responses....
Okay........And boy do I hate to admit this....but STILL having one HELL of a time with these Athearn/Roundhouse hoppers......I literally have tried all my tricks, and they just refuse to stay on the track......Giving up, I only have fifteen, looks like they will become siding queens......I really don't know what I'm doing wrong.....
I feel your pain, a member of the club I am in has a train of about 24 or so marked for the B&O, he never has any problems with his. Mine marked for the C&O as stated above in an earlier post may or may not run on any given day. I too hate giving up on these cars, but, I also do not know what else to do. later, Craig
Okay......Being as stubborn as I am.....I've got one more trick, the only thing I haven't tried is body mounting the couplers. With everything else I know to do this should not be necessary, but at this point and time what have I got to lose....
Well I found two more of these cars in my collection. I was running a train and having derailment troubles with two of the cars. Upon examination I found them to be the Athearn rendition of the MDC 3 bay hopper car. These cars were immediately in front of the caboose with little resistance forces acting on them. So I now got at least four of these cars and I hope it is limited to just four. I'll experiment with mine to see what I can come up with.
Okay, problem solved, at least mine, possibly yours. I examined these cars with some of my older MDC cars that run flawlessly. Both weigh the same, .4 ounces which is light according to the NMRA recommendations. These cars should weigh about .8 ounces according to the NMRA. But since both weighed the same I needed to find some other cause for the problems. And I think I found it. It is the metal 'frame' which doubles as a weight. The frame goes in correctly only one way. You cannot flip the frame around. Well you can but it won't be correct. The way to tell is the frame extension for body mounting the coupler. It should end just shy of the bottom lateral of the car body. If it protrudes so that the bottom lateral is above it then it is incorrect. Flip it end for end. Solved my problem.
Yes I noticed this frame issue too....And I've made sure the frame is in correct. So tonight I did take three hoppers and body mounted the couplers...I used MT 1016-1 these are the Universal Body mount Medium Shank Couplers...I just mounted them on the frame as it is the correct height...I used Goo then I will use the supplied screws to permanently attach them. I did have to trim the truck ring and the back of the 1016. I used three of my hoppers, one with the Athearn screws, one with the screws removed and MT plugs installed and an original MDC car....Each required a little specific tweaking but so far they run with the rest of the fleet.....However, I've been positive before so I'm going to do much more testing before I claim victory....Stay tuned....Or speak up if you have a idea I can use....
The thread that JUST WON'T GO AWAY!!!!! Anyway an update, now that I have body mounted the couplers...(see above thread).....the cars are staying on and I should be able to use them in operating sessions.....HOWEVER.....I will watch and keep you all posted as I get the other twelve completed......Thanks for being patient with my own personnel hell........
I have noticed with some of my my cars need to have the washer (the one that comes with the MLT truck) between the truck and the car body in order to allow enough movement of the truck. I have noticed that some of my Atlas tank cars can sway and not stay upright, but with the use of the washers they cars stay upright. I also started to remove the plastic king pins and put in 2-56 screws as outlined in one of the latest N scale magazines. No more king pins falling out when the car is underneath my layout in hidden staging and then derails the rest of the cars behind the kingpin.
Okay, last time I promise, I got the cars to run fine by Body Mounting MT 1016-1 couplers. I also added FV wheel sets, and correct weight by NMRA standards, but make sure you put the weight as low in the car as possible....With the Athearn version, and MT trucks, I used the washer on the top of the screw and a small dab of Goo to the screw threads to make sure it stays in place....To get good looking spacing between cars, you will have to shave a small portion on the 1016 box off the top back, and remove a bit of the trucks plastic ring facing the coupler (be careful) Oh I also removed some of the metal off of the frame post so the back of the coupler does not hit the post.... ....Soooooo now they can be included in my 70"s coal drags over Sandpatch......Hope this helps....
Interesting thread, I know I am a bit late but missed it until now. Thanks for the insight provided here. I have the same problem with my 10 or so hoppers, all original Roundhouse built from kits and later bought RTR. Since I have a big stash of Atlas trucks with Accumetes I used these here. No problem with derailments, the coupler box of these trucks is lower than the MTL one. But this gives huge spaces between the cars, so MTL could be a solution. My problem is that the cars will ride so high with washers for the trucks, and I am trying to lower my cars where possible. Body mounting couplers might be worth a try. Another thing is that these cars are rather simple models, compared to recend Bluford models. So I am not sure how much time i should invest here...
If you are running them as a set, Unimates would be another option to consider: http://www.foxvalleymodels.com/images/FVM51060.JPG
Glad you got maybe a little help from this......My final best "fix" was to body mount the couplers......A member Wuttermelon, makes the coupler boxes on the Shapeways site that should do the trick. In fact, it is a thread now on this site....look them up, should be the answer to your problems.....
Most of the problems I've seen in this thread could be summed up with three words: 1) truck 2) mounted 3) couplers Athearn's non-standard truck screws are annoying, but if you take the use of truck-mounted couplers out of the equation, the need to make any modifications for a different type of truck is arguably negated. Re: coupler spacing between cars, keep in mind that MTL trucks have offset kingpins while MDC, Athearn, and Atlas trucks have centweed kingpins. By using MTL trucks to reduce the coupled distance between two cars, this also has the often unintended consequence of changing the distance between the truck centers....d'oh! There's also the issue of ride height. Some cars have jacked up bolsters to provide extra clearance for truck mounted couplers, others may need to be jacked up with a few washers to provide enough clearance for them, or alternatively, require a decent amount of surgery that could otherwise be avoided by using a fixed coupler box.
Good suggestion. I had to do this to some of these cars. A slice of a coffee stirrer did the trick on mine.
