I have recently gotten into N scale. I have purchased quite a few pieces of used rolling stock. How can I tell the different manufacturers' products apart? Most of these cars are older with Rapido couplers. Any "words of wisdom" for changing trucks / couplers?
This board has provided excellent help in the past. Thank you in advance.
Microtrains offers trucks with couplers in several styles of truck. They offer, also, the trucks without the couplers and various types of couplers for body mounting, if you like that better.
Visit Spookshow's website for information on the various types of rolling stock. Some manufacturers do stamp their name on the piece, somewhere, but not all. Some manufacturers will pick up a product discontinued by another. Sometimes the new manufacturer will stamp his name over it, sometimes not and sometimes there will be no name.
I've been in the same boat as you recently. For the Bachmann rolling stock, I've used the replacement trucks with Dummy Knuckle Couplers for consists that I don't plan on changing up. For some of the Atlas rolling stock, I've bought their Accumate-equipped trucks and those are working well with some EZ-mates and Microtrains couplers that I have. I think I've spent as much in coupler conversion as I have on the rolling stock itself.