How to make Horn Hook Couplers compatible with Knuckle Couplers

[Paul M.]

After reading several posts on the board about converting horn hook couplers to knuckle couplers, I decided to try it myself using an X-Acto knife. It's actually easier than you might think.

First start out with a regular horn hook (X2F) coupler.






The converted couplers are like IHC's Magic Mate Couplers. They can couple with both knuckle and horn hook couplers. These don't have sprung knuckles, so they're not as good as real knuckle couplers, but they're cheap (free is you have a big pile of X2F's lying around)

Try some experimentation. Your first one might not be great, but keep experimenting until you get it.

If you CAN easily add knuckle couplers (like on those Athearn Coupler-boxes, DO IT. They'll be much better than my converted horn-hook's. But if you can't (ie, old Tyco cars), doing this isn't a bad idea....

[rogertra]

Well done Paul.  Nicely explained.

I do have one request.

Could you P L E A S E reduce the size of your sig.?

Many times it takes up more space than your post.

[Jim Banner]

Paul, the old Tyco cars are relatively easy to convert to Kadees.  I body mount #5's in the coupler pockets provided and screw them in place with #2-56 machine screws.  Usually they have to be spaced down from the the body but with a supply of .010, .030 and .060 sheet styrene at hand, making up the proper thickness is a snap.

I like your idea of modifying X2f couplers and will try some out on a string of hoppers that will be handled as a unit train.

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

Paul, the old Tyco cars are relatively easy to convert to Kadees.  I body mount #5's in the coupler pockets provided and screw them in place with #2-56 machine screws.  Usually they have to be spaced down from the the body but with a supply of .010, .030 and .060 sheet styrene at hand, making up the proper thickness is a snap.

Jim, how "old" are we talking here? I'm a little confused by your statement, "I body mount #5's in the coupler pockets provided." I recently bought a number of cars from roughly 1960 on eBay. They were in very good cosmetic appearance and had been assembled from "Tyco kits" (they were in their original kit boxes). These cars all have truck-mounted couplers, so it's the "body mount" in the "coupler pockets provided" that's confusing me. Thanks!

Jeff

[THB-DAVE]

Hi Jeff: coupler pockets come with every package of Kadee's. Haven't you every bought a pack? It's a simple matter to cut off the pocket attached to the truck and glue or screw Kadee's to the body. Its more prototypical and the car will preform better.

Dave

[Woody Elmore]

Hmmmm.....modify X2f couplers. Some people have a lot of spare time.

[Kaos]

That is awesome.  Well done!

[Guilford Guy]

It works okay for unit trains, or passenger trains. Buy kadees for your freight fleet, since its impossible to set out cares without lifting one off the rails... I've modified X-2f's on some IHC cars(no spare kadees), and it worked pretty well until I bought #5's for it.

[Paul M.]

I do have one request.

Could you P L E A S E reduce the size of your sig.?

Many times it takes up more space than your post.

This better?

[rogertra]

Thanks Paul.

[Jim Banner]

Jeff, here is an old Mantua flat car, probably late 50's before Mantua became Tyco.  It has a plastic body over a diecast frame.  The original diecast trucks with sprung axles could barely roll down an 8% grade.  They were replaced with Athearn trucks.  The couplers were replaced with Kadee 5 & 10 couplers with the ears cut off the boxes.  (Kadee 5 & 10's were replaced by #5's which have shorter boxes.)



Somehow I never got around to painting the top of the #2-56 machine screw but a dab of filler and paint would fix that right up.



I have a lot of cars upgraded in this way and they are all good runners. 

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

Thanks, Jim.

So what you're saying is you body mount the coupler in the pocket provided with the Kadee.

Sorry, I can be the kind of lunkhead who needs a map drawn to get from A to B.    From the pictures in your subsequent post, you not only replaced the couplers, you also replaced the trucks. I didn't realize you meant you discarded the old trucks with their truck-mounted couplers altogether, then body mounted the new coupler.

Thanks for the clarification. 

[Jim Banner]

Jeff, if the trucks are free rolling, I usually just snip off the old coupler pocket and reuse them.  Often reaming out the side frames and installing new wheel sets will restore plastic trucks that are not free rolling enough.  But the old die cast metal trucks never did roll freely so I just replace them.  This old car fell into the latter category.  I have lots of cars running on modified trucks but none of them are old Mantua/Tyco cars.

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

Jeff, if the trucks are free rolling, I usually just snip off the old coupler pocket and reuse them.  Often reaming out the side frames and installing new wheel sets will restore plastic trucks that are not free rolling enough.  But the old die cast metal trucks never did roll freely so I just replace them.  This old car fell into the latter category.  I have lots of cars running on modified trucks but none of them are old Mantua/Tyco cars.

I imagine you must get a lot of satisfaction out of making these upgrades yourself. 

I have acquired a few late-model Mantua cars that actually have body-mounted couplers. I'm guessing with these cars, it might be a simple direct swap with a Kadee, but I haven't attempted that yet.

[jschmid]

i used to do that when i was a kid, about 5 years old with a finger nail clipper, then i discovered kadee's! im 25 now, yes its very easy to see a knuckle if you wanna stare at an ancient horn hook.  but it does work, works well, but not as far as uncoupling goes.... another question, why does the protomax coupler have reversed trip pins on some of those ?