i have 18 pairs of these strange couplers. mounting them in ac4400 as suggested does not work because of the design of the coupler lid. are these couplers useful at all ?? garbage bin ? ebay ?
I had a recent conversion issue, using the recommended MT couplers for the Atlas Mogul; I got assembled couplers and it ended up only needing the guts of said coupler. Perhaps you could do the same thing? Maybe not, I have no idea!?! My most modern loco is a GP18 I think so I don't know squat about those big six axle locos haha... If they're body-mountable coupler kits I am sure someone could put them to use on a fleet of hoppers or etc..... but trash bin? No way!
I second that emotion. No trash bin. There is no telling when they will be needed. Of course, judging from the appearance of my workbench, I do follow my own advice too often!
I used these couplers on my Kato SD70ACe and new run Dash 9. I had to file the top of the coupler box lid smooth and drill a screw hole in it. Kinda pain in the but, MT should make these with the standard 2004 lid.
We had a discussion about the coupler here: mt 2003 couplers ? - TrainBoard.com Since them I have not heard anything new about the subject, also not from MTL or Joe. Keeping the couplers seems the best thing, some cars with body-mounted couplers come with their own coupler box (ESM cars, Intermountain 60' Flat Car, so far they seem to use 1015 parts), maybe this will become a trend Happy New Year to all, and einen guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr für Sandro.
The 2003 guts will fit in other MT boxes, so I'd hang on to them. If you run into a situation where a coupler sits a lttle too low, swapping in the 2003 guts will gain you a little height. You might not use a lot of them , but they're useful to have in your parts box.
I'm not positive, but I don't think these couplers (2003) are available anymore and I'd hang on to them. I don't know what all models they fit but I wish I had them for my SD70ACe's. Instead I had to use 1015 couplers in 2004 boxes, 1015 boxes are too big (can file and cut to fit) and 2004 couplers are too high. I'm sure there'll be more Kato models and more ACe's that recomend the 2004 but the 2003 works best.
Hi, The 2003 was the best fit for the KATO late production engines as the pilot heights seem to be changing from the others that took the 1015. It was in response to a large volume of customers trying to get 1015's into the pilots and them not fitting. The Draft Gear Box on the 2003 is a bit smaller and fit easier. The lid does not have a hole in it but the fit is tight enough, and when the center pin on the clip trimmed back a bit and installed...keeps everything snug. I have a number of the AC 4400's with these and they hold fast. The default is still the 1015 with a bit of filing on the pilot opening and is the suggestion I am giving more often when the customer is willing to do a bit of work. You can also drill a hole in the draft gear box lid if you need to get the center pin through. Wish we had a more eligant solution...but I am looking at options. Cheers Joe MTL
At the risk of sounding like a hoarder, I never NEVER throw away any MT couplers or parts. I have some MT packs and spare parts bagged and tagged that go back to 1987, and because they are so small and light saving them is not a big deal. That is except when I purchased some of the older "brand new" Atlas/Kato units in mint condition from an estate in which the trains were stored for over 20 years. Many of the locos I got were jewels only they had rapido couplers. After going through many of the local LHS's I still had a few left that were not converted to MT couplers, and that is where my old stock came in. MT1128's and 1129's, along with the 2003's and such, rescued me, although some of the locos regrettably have those unreal sized openings at the pilots, but could not be avoided. What I do is use the couplers from an opened MT package, then put the rest of the contents in a small sandwich baggie, and use the old package label inserted to indicate what MT parts these are. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
OK, well I could be dead wrong here...not sure. When I did my Atlas/Microace 2-6-0 I had parts for a short, underslung MT coupler and I stuffed it in the stock box, worked quite well. I can't remember what one it was. If this is what a 2003 is, this is what it works quite well on! I think this is like the 1015 style with the underslung shank....anyway....
strange. i used 2004 on all my ac4400, sd40-2, c44-9w and none seems to bee to high/low or hanging. but using a 2003 in an ac4400 makes the coupler way too high.
Joe, Could MTL possibly offer the 2003 as a built up coupler like you did with the 2004? Allen Evans Federal Way, WA
I never had a problem with the 2004 untill the Kato ACe came along, then it was too high. The 2004 is okay if you press down on the unit but the suspension lifts the coupler height too high. Kinda makes you wonder if someone forgot to compensate for the suspension on those units in the manufacturing process.
ok.. i don't have any ace's since cp rail didn't have any. having just the heritage units. but i will not run them.
