I'm brand new to N scale, after having been in HO scale for many years (a recent move forced me to switch). Do truck-mounted, or body-mounted couplers work best? Or is there no difference, because locomotives have body-mounted couplers, while cars have truck-mounted ones. And, what method works better for holding the trucks in place? Screws, or friction pins?
Firstly welcome to N scale I'm glad you saw sense and picked the scale that will keep this hobby growingin the future . Ok guys i'm kidding ok no need to flame the fire. I have used both truck mounted and body mounted couplers and found both to be as good as each other. I do find truck mounted easier for installation. I mainly use microtrains couplers and I have found them to be the more reliable. The trucks are mounted using pins which come supplied with the trucks. Good luck in your new scale
Welcome to N scale. It depends how serious you want to get. I am an advocate for Body Mounting, but agree that for most applications truck mounted couplers work just fine. You may have problems backing a long train that has truck mounted couplers. In both applications correct weight always helps for smoother running. You won't have problems with body mounted couplers as long as you don't plan on having 9 3/4" radiuses. Good luck, Brian
Truck mounted couplers are ok, but they have their limits. With truck mounted types it can be hard to push a string of cars backwards for any distance, or through several switches. This is because you are pushing on the trucks themselves. With body mounted couplers you would be pushing on the car frames, not on the trucks. You can mix cars with body mounted couplers with cars with truck mounted couplers if you need to. Just don't run them trough a real small radius curve, the body mounted couplers will pull the truck mounted couplers off the rail. It can be a real pain in the a** to mount all your couplers on the car frames, but I now do it in batches of 4-5 cars at a time. I find it is worth it in the long run, because it increases operation results on my railroad. I can push a 40 car train backwards all over the layout now, and don't have to worry about derailments.
Original post et said he was previously in HO scale. He probably had experience with the dreaded "horn hook " coupler that was the Mainstay of HO until Kaydee developed their coupler. The Horn hook coupler was notorious for exerting a side wards force to the truch when backing. The problem came frome the fact that the coupling action was a sideways movement of the coupler. To couple and uncouple the couplers would move side ways. In N scale the Rapido couplers did not move sideways but rather up and down and so the sidewards forces were not as great. However, the light weight of N scale cars together with smaller tolerences because of the scale and tight radius track added to the problem. So while the problem is not eliminated in N scale it is greatly reduced as compared to HO.
yes, I did have experience with the AWFUL horn-hook coupler. I was just starting to convert all my cars and locomotives to knuckle couplers when I had to switch to N scale.
Most of my cars have truck mounted Microtrains couplers, but I do have a number of body mounted ones, especially those that had long extension couplers, as they gave the most problems. I have had very few problems backing long cuts of cars through several turnouts in my yards, mainly due, I think, to the fact that I weight all cars at least to NMRA recommended levels, but usually a bit higher.
Truck mounted MT's work fine. But I'm also trying to get a slightly more prototypical appearance. So all my stuff gets body mounts. BoxcabE50
All my cars have truck-mounted couplers (both Rapido and M-T), while the locomotives all have body-mounted couplers. I've been converting to M-T trucks and couplers as I go. Since my layout has a 11" radius curve at one point (it's 12" radius on the main), I've got no problems running my trains, but I do find that I have to nudge the coupler on the locomotive over to mate with the coupler on the car when I'm "making a joint" on the curves. It's a minor hassle, at best. As soon as you can, try to convert all your rolling stock over to M-T couplers. For appearence and performance, you won't go wrong. And oh yes, as a onetime hardcore HO scaler myself, welcome to N!!
Thanx! So far, I like N as much as HO! And, all my cars already have either MT or ACCU-MAATE couplers, cause I only by ATLAS and M-T equipment. No, I was wrong, I just remembered, I have a reefer by E-R that I bought on E-BAY that I have to convert.
I do have a couple of "converter cars"- that is, cars equipped with an MT coupler on one end and a Rapido coupler on the other. As I eventually get all my rolling stock converted, the converter cars will be last to go. Oh yes, don't overlook the N rolling stock by Model Die Casting- I have several of the tank cars and boxcars, and they run fine. I did have an issue with rolling quality with one boxcar, but a wheel conversion set things right. The tank cars are heavy enough that I have no tracking problem whatsoever. I haven't bought any yet, but I've heard that Red Caboose and Intermountain cars are really something else! I've seen 'em at my local train pusher the last time I was home, and I'm gonna budget out to get some IM covered hoppers. And of course, when you get further down the line, I'd recommend Alan Curtis' products- they're metal, a bit pricey (but like the old Curtis Mathes TV ad says, darn well worth it), and look really nice.
hey alan, does using the M-T 1019 coupler with a separate 1036 truck help with backing as compared to say a 1038 truck and coupler?? M-T 89' flats have what appears to be a 1038, and NOBODY i've talked to says they are worth a darn backing into yards....
Oh yes, FWIW, I suffer from Biscalar Syndrome (BS). I still do some modeling in HO, but my layout and most of my energies are in N. And I gotta say N has been fun!
Hey Keyrail, I just started in N scale too! It seems we are entering this hobby at the end of a transition period between "toys" and "fine scale models". Most N scale manufactures have retooled and are producing some really good quality stuff. If you haven't noticed from some of my recent posts, I've been trying to convert some of my Atlas cars to Micro Train wheel sets and trucks. For what it's worth, I think frame mounted couplers look better than truck mounted, but I have yet to frame mount any. However, with truck mounted couplers, I don't have to worry that the couplers are not at the correct or the same height. Frame mounting would require shimming the frame up or cutting it down to get the height right on every different car type. Also, I don't have to figure out how to mount the coupler box to the frame on my ACF, covered hopper or tank cars. The way things are going, I'm sure most new cars will come with frame mounted MT or equivalent couplers already on them.
