Folks, Sorry I am an HO'er :) BUT my younger adopted brother (8 years old) got some N scale trains with some missing couplers. I volunteered to fix then figuring a drive to the local hobby shop and I would be all set. Well, then I learned they dont carry these older couplers, and I havent had much luck finding them online. We are not interested in changing these over to the newer couplers since all his other equipment still has the older couplers.
Everything he's got is Bachmann. I have a crane and tender set with the coupler missing from the crane, a GP40, and a 4-8-4 which is missing the coupler from the tender. Everything is missing the clip, spring, and coupler. I found this in the parts section:
http://store.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=9
Are these the parts I need, and I assume this is a complete pair??? ANy help would be great! He's just gotten into trains, and seems to really love them with a little layout in his room and everything!
Thanks in advance,
Mike
The spring, coupler & box combo will be what you need.
Also, you can get the Bachmann trucks with the new knuckle coupler.
All you have to do is remove the truck screw & swap it out with a good one.
You may want to do this later when it's time to swap couplers.
You may find newer Bachmann product with the new couplers, then swap as needed.
I'd rate the Bachmann knuckle coupler as a good step in between the old Rapidos & the MTL/Kadee style ones.
Your hobby shop may also have Red Caboose Unimates. They have a similar Tshank to twist out & in, but you would need the spring & coupler box.
I assume you mean replacing the trucks on the car, not the engines right??
Exactly. Many of the new Bachmann freight cars come with them & have Rapidos packed in the box. It's easy to swap trucks. You can run cars with one type at one end & the other on the other.
Bachmann like MicroTrains sell trucks with the couplers installed. (With the MTL truck, you would need to enlarge the bolster hole to get it to fit over the Bachmann bolster. It may be easiest just to use Bachmann trucks on Bachmann freight cars)
You could decide to keep the Rapido's till your 8yr old turns 10 or older. This offers an upgrade path in the future. It may be more important now to have a decent layout and have fun running trains.