Upgrading Old Rolling Stock

[jonathan]

This is an attempt at an answer to the countless threads on this forum, concerning what to do with old rolling stock that won't run with new rolling stock.

I believe I share a mutual sentimental attachment to my old equipment.  It's next to worthless to the MR world, but means something to me.  So... how do we get these dinosaurs running again?  As an example of what can be done, I will use an old box car.  This is an AHM model that was part of a set I received for Christmas some 41 years ago (jeepers, I'm old).




Three things need to be fixed to get it "rail worthy":  weight, trucks and couplers.

Weight
I opened up the car and used a little epoxy to fasten an extra metal plate to the existing plate.  It's still a little underweight, but my track work is so great, that underweight is no problem.



Trucks
This old car had trucks attached with plastic plugs.  I'm sure we've all seen this before. I removed the truck, pushed the plug back into the bolster as far as I could, cut off the remaining plug sticking out, and applied some plastic cement (let it soak in and dry for a couple of days).

Drill a 1/16" hole in the bolster.  Use a 2-56 tap to make some threads for a 2-56 screw (.25").  Voila!  Use whatever free rolling set of trucks you desire.  You can tinker with other types of leftover small screws (I have), but the 2-56 seems to work best.



Couplers
This car had truck mounted couplers (talgo trucks).  I sanded down the ends of the car and attached Kadee coupler boxes.  In this case, I used some EZMate Mark II couplers that were lying around.  They work pretty well.  If they fail, metal couplers will soon follow.  That's it folks.  There may be some height adjustment required using fiber washers on the truck bolsters.  In this case, the height was correct.



Because I have been modeling a while, I had all these parts available at my work bench.  For a first-timer, there will be some cost for gathering the necessary parts.

This car is still essentially worthless.  However, it can now run with my 21st Century equipment.  The sentimental value is what matters here--watching my childhood memories running with the new equipment is priceless.  Somehow, I think I'm not alone.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

I believe I share a mutual sentimental attachment to my old equipment.  It's next to worthless to the MR world, but means something to me.  So... how do we get these dinosaurs running again?  As an example of what can be done, I will use an old box car.  This is an AHM model that was part of a set I received for Christmas some 41 years ago (jeepers, I'm old).

Heh. Got you beat. I still run stuff I got for Christmas at least 45 years ago. 

[jonathan]

JBJ,

Jeepers, YOU'RE old!

jv

[jward]

thanks for posting this. we can tell all the newbies what is involved in upgrading those old train set cars, but your photos give some idea of the work involved. anybody who is just starting out should bookmark this post, and decide for themselves if they feel up to the task of converting their old cars

it should be noted that the cost of new trucks can be $5 or 6, a pair of couplers with draft gear boxes another $2 or so. added to the $3 to5 i've seen older cars on sale for at train shows, and you are in the range of new cars at the same train show.......

i'd be interested to know if you plug the bolster holes in tyco cars with the snap in trucks, or try to re-use the trucks with new wheelsets.

[jonathan]

Jward,

I have tried both methods on the Tyco cars.  I find filling in the hole gives better results.  The snap in trucks are a little too loose to be reliable. It's been a while, but I think I used a wood dowel to fill in the holes on those cars.  If memory serves the Mantua, green, Western Maryland flatcars were made the same way. 

I have never been able to upgrade a tank car.  Just isn't enough material to work with in the coupler area.  Ruined a couple trying, though.

Old open hopper cars can be tricky in the coupler area, too, but can be done.

Regards,

Jonathan

[BillD53A]

I take an old AHM wheel set and pull the metal axle out.   Glue the half axle into the kingpin hole with the wheel flat on the floor and the shaft out the kingpinn hole.  Then I saw the shaft off flush with the bolster bottom, tap the hole 2-56 and mount the truck.

[Woody Elmore]

There is probably Plastistruct tubing that could be used to plug the holes in those old Tycos and Life Like cars. I've sen these cars go for a buck apiece at train shows. Trucks and couplers add about what Jonathan mentioned. It is a lot of work for cheapo cars.

Years ago I did take the time to redo some AHM watermelon cars somewhat in the way Jon mentioned. I always used Kadee trucks when I could so these watermelon cars had deluxe trucks. I had a whole train of ACL cars (I think I had 17 cars) - I resprayed them and decalled them. I never got around to getting an ACL loco and caboose for my unit Watermelon train!

[Len]

I use "JB Weld" 4-minute epoxy to fill the truck mounting holes on old Life-Like and Tyco cars. Even though it says '4-minute' on the package, I let it set over night. File the bolster smooth, drill it out with a #50 bit, and tap for a 2-56 screw. A 1/16" bit may work, but the threads are going to be tight and require more force to turn the screw in. If the body is still too high after changing the trucks Kadee #211 shims can be used to lower body mounted coupler boxes.

Len

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

JBJ,

Jeepers, YOU'RE old!

jv

Older than dirt, Jonathan. 

Of course, the stuff that I run that's that old is Revell and Mantua/Tyco. What does it say about the equipment that it's still operational 45 years later? 

[jbrock27]

What you do depends on the kind of set up the car has.  Some bolsters have bigger holes than others and different ways the trucks are fit to the cars, which dictates what to do.  Tyco, Bachmann, Life-Like and AHM for example have larger size bolster holes.  Others like Athearn and Gilbert (I am sure I am leaving many out) have a small hole bc a screw is used to secure the truck.
For AHM, I use the "pin" that holds the truck to the car.  I glue just the pin in the bolster, cut off the head of the pin, then sand or file to make the surface smooth with the bolster.  Then just drill a small hole and use a self taping screw to hold the truck.
For the other types of cars I mentioned, I like to use a 2-56 nut and 2-56 machine screw.  I use a 15W soldering pencil to melt the nut into the plastic hole in the bolster (there are a lot of resouces on line that I found were heplful for instruction on this method).  Doing the same of making sure it is level with the bolster.  Then use as long a 2-56 screw as possible (both the nuts and screws can be found at Radio Shack) to secure the truck.  Sometimes however, I have found that even using a longer screw, the screw will work its way loose.  In those cases, I replace the machine screw with the self tapping sheet metal screw and screw right into the nut.  So far that has worked as a solution.

[CNE Runner]

I'm glad to see there are others out there saving those old AHM, Tyco, Pocher, etc. cars. I have found the wooden dowel-in-the-kingpin-hole method to work quite well (you can put the dowel in an electric drill to sand it down a little if too tight).

A suggestion on adding weight to any car: I found some automobile wheel weights for sale at a local Harbor Freight. These weights come in 0.5 and 1 ounce sizes so you can mix and match to come very close to NMRA standards (you will also need a small digital scale...also available at Harbor Freight). The best thing about these wheel weights (in addition to their inexpensive price) is that they have double-sided tape on one side...makes installation easy.

Ray

[GRZ]

  I think ive got you all beat,ive been in and out of this hobby at least six times first set was A-F, blue comet,1946 maby 47,any how this time ive been bit real bad wow this new stuff is something else,ive some 79 foot madison arch top window cars,they are beautys,from the old days 60s, and trying to find a atlantic loco close to the 3200s B&M used,in ho, any one know of a maker out there? the wheel weights do work very nice,Ihave a S-F-2-8-0 with  smoke,pulling 11 nmra standard cars and my train room is 81/2x10'and after a few times around the track you would think[except its white] I had live steam going on.I love it..back to the atlantic-I would like a good heavy one.thank you for your help.GRZ

[electrical whiz kid]

Jonathan;
Here's another old goat (67) tossing in his two centavos;
I have a menage that ranges over thirty years old.  Last winter, I established a set of standardsto go by as I started to remodel the cars: 
All cars will have Kadee 58 or 150 couplers. 
Draft gear will meet guage standards (Kadee coupler gauge).
Trucks will be sprung or high-grade equalized, and wheels whall all meet the rail simultaneously.
wheel sets whall be metal, meet or exceed NMRA flange, fillet, etc standards.
truck bearing surfaces shall be reamed out, and graphite/Labelle oil mix installed.
I figure that being really fussy now will save me getting ulcers later on.
Weathering cars is a lot of fun; a little research as to where the car came from, climate, environment, etc.
proper numbering shall be applied (there is a stupid feeling when you have a string of "Rutland" cars IE, with the same numbering and someone (s) sees it..)
To me, all of this is not only a lot of fun, but time well spent doing it right.
I am glad that smaller decoders are available; it does make things easier in that department, too.  I am also at a point where I am going to start weeding out cars I no longer want.   I will make sure they work reasonably well, and give them away to someone or a club, preferably kids, who could use them.
Rich C.

[jbrock27]

I like the idea of tire wheel weights.  Price?

Last year here, they outlawed the use of lead weights for fishing.  That has resulted in my finding a use for the lead to add weight to freight.  They stay put with the help of a little 2 part epoxy.

[railtwister]

I like the idea of tire wheel weights.  Price?

Last year here, they outlawed the use of lead weights for fishing.  That has resulted in my finding a use for the lead to add weight to freight.  They stay put with the help of a little 2 part epoxy.

Today, even the stick-on tire weights commonly used for mag wheels, are made of zinc rather than lead, because of the fear of lead poisoning. The real lead tire weights can be found in some places, but are getting harder & harder to find (and more expensive). In many cases, as long as space permits, I have been using pennies to bring car weight up to NMRA recommendations. It's usually the cheapest way to add weight!

Bill in FtL