I heard a rumor that Bachman was going to start putting knuckle style couplers on the Amfleet cars. Is there an truth to this? PLEASE SAY YES! And if so, will you sell conversion kits for those of us who already have units with the rapido couplers? Thanks!
Chris
Dear Chris,
We've been putting the dummy knuckles on for quite a while now.
Have fun!
the Bach-man
I'm confused... ???
You mean there's Amfleet cars out there right now with dummy knuckle couplers on them? That's good news. But I travel the entire country and haven't seen them yet anywhere, and everytime my local hobby store orders me a car (I now have seven), they come with the rapido coupler. When and where were these released? Will there be a conversion coupler released or available to remove the rapido-style coupler of the older cars? What about a dummy knuckle coupler for the matching HHP8?
But maybe more importantly, have the trucks been improved to allow the cars to move easier? (As reflected in other past threads), these are great looking cars, but the friction of the metal lighting kit pickups do not allow more than two cars to be pulled by an HHP8 on a level - zero grade layout. Three cars will make the engine wheels slip, and four cars is impossible to move. I hate to remove the metal lighting pickups since the lighting is a really great feature.
Dear Herc,
yes, they've been available for some time now. Check with a dealer with newer stock.
Have fun!
the Bach-man
WOW! Thanks for the info. And this is for Nscale Amfleet cars - because every website I've visited except one indicates the Nscale Amfleet cars have rapido couplers and not a knuckle coupler. And the Bachmann website shows knuckle couplers on the cars but rapido couplers on the engine. So I'm confused. ??? (Only one retailer's website listed the HHP8 and Amfleet cars as having knuckle couplers - but the listing looked like a "cut-and-paste" from their HO ad for the same items.) If the Nscale cars have the knuckle couplers, is it possible to switch out the rapido style couplers for the new knuckles? And even on the HHP8? Or am I stuck with the rapido's forever? And have the trucks of the Amfleet cars been improved to roll easier? Or is there a fix to improve them?
Bachman,
Do you sell the couplers seperatly so we can convert our older cars? I have about 12, so I'd rather not have to rebuy the whole car again just to get the couplers. Thanks!
Chris
Some of these might help, but no photo, maybe the Bach Man can add some info:
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=1674
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=1675
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=1676
Have fun,
Charles
Quote from: taz-of-boyds on February 21, 2009, 06:40:57 PM
Some of these might help, but no photo, maybe the Bach Man can add some info:
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=1674
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=1675
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=1676
Bach Man,
Can you help us out? Thanks!
Chris
Bachman,
Sorry to ask again, but is there a way to order the knuckle couplers for units we bought with rapido couplers? Thanks,
Chris
go to microtrains website, they make couplers and wheelsets for alot of brand name trains
Micro-trains has no conversion for the Amfleets.
Timothy
Quote from: Conrail Quality on March 06, 2009, 11:33:37 PM
Micro-trains has no conversion for the Amfleets.
Timothy
Although they dont say that they have a conversion, the chance are that there will be one that they make which will work.
They dont have a conversion for the H16-44, but a pair of #2004's work like a charm (you have to tap a hole of course, but you can get drill&tap set from them), and i have a feeling that the pilots from the #1046 will work without adaption, though i havent tried it.
You need to look here: http://www.micro-trains.com/Coupler%20diagrams.pdf and see if any of them would fit the amtrack cars. I havent seen how teh amtrack coupler pockets are shaped so i couldnt tell you which.
cf, I have bachmann amfleets and con cor amfleets the bachmanns are a little nicer car. I use a material handling car with my amfleets. the concors have microtrains couplers. tc is right microtrains is probably working on making couplers for the amfleets , they should because they are a popular and good passenger car
Quote from: TCWORLD on March 07, 2009, 10:23:07 AM
Quote from: Conrail Quality on March 06, 2009, 11:33:37 PM
Micro-trains has no conversion for the Amfleets.
Timothy
Although they dont say that they have a conversion, the chance are that there will be one that they make which will work.
They dont have a conversion for the H16-44, but a pair of #2004's work like a charm (you have to tap a hole of course, but you can get drill&tap set from them), and i have a feeling that the pilots from the #1046 will work without adaption, though i havent tried it.
You need to look here: http://www.micro-trains.com/Coupler%20diagrams.pdf and see if any of them would fit the amtrack cars. I havent seen how teh amtrack coupler pockets are shaped so i couldnt tell you which.
TCWorld,
There are no pockets, it is an arm the goes around the boogie and follows contours along the bottom of the frame to the end of the car. It is extremely unique to the Bachman Amfleet cars. I don't think I would have much luck body mounting couplers for every single car and be able to run all 12 of my cars at the same time without decoupling and maybe even derailing. Plus, that is a very costly conversion for a car (x12) that already is pretty expensive. I'm really hoping that Bachman will get back to us on this with how to get a hold of the factory built knuckle couplers (-:
v/r
Chris
Quote from: hobo1 on March 08, 2009, 11:58:46 AM
cf, I have bachmann amfleets and con cor amfleets the bachmanns are a little nicer car. I use a material handling car with my amfleets. the concors have microtrains couplers. tc is right microtrains is probably working on making couplers for the amfleets , they should because they are a popular and good passenger car
That would be great if they made a specific conversion! I would be more willing to take that route and not worry so much about the cost if they were specific designed for the Amfleet cars. What I would hate (as I said above) is to buy a body mount solution and for it to not work great... thats a lot of money for something that doesn't work well!
Chris
Since they run as a set, I only changed the couplers on the ends of the set , the rapidos actually couple the cars closer than you can get with the MTs and stay together well so all the "inside" couplers were not changed.
Here's a how-to with two different options
the first is to body mount the coupler onto the diaphragm retainer box, the lower retainer clip will have to be trimmed to clear screw, and drill hole for screw as far back as you are comfortable with.
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1001.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1008.jpg)
you may have to add a shim plate above the coupler box depending on ride height.
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1002.jpg)
The second method is to attach the MT box to the factory coupler arm.
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1003.jpg)
the coupler end is cut off leaving the vertical section of the arm.
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1004.jpg)
drill hole for coupler scrw up thru vertical section of arm arm can be filed down to correct coupler height after hole is in.
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1005.jpg)
Screw coupler box to arm and reinstall arm into car
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1006.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1007.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1009.jpg)
now for the pickups;
the pickups are in the center of the truck
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1010.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1011.jpg)
pull the pickups out of the truck and bend into a slight "V" shape to relieve binding on axles
arrow points to bind point, not where to bend, the V is over the entire length of the pickup
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1012.jpg)
pickup out of truck
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1013.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1014.jpg)
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1015.jpg)
Finished product all reassembled
(http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f123/river_eagle/N-Scale/install/amtube/amtube1016.jpg)
I think the second mod - of the coupler arm- is probably the better one, as it will allow for better movement around corners.
Those are two GREAT tutorials! Thank you for taking the time to post them. I will try both as soon as I can. I agree with you about changing out only the one end of the AmFleet coupler. With the rapido couplers, I never have a derailment on my 11in curves, and the cars are closer together than if I used a MT anyway. But I would like to change out the rapido on the HHP8 engine and the last AmFleet car just for appearance sake. Also, I too have real problems with the binding on the wheel pickups...I can only pull two cars with my HHP8. I've tried several "fixes" but think yours might do the trick. Thanks again!
Well, I modified my wheel sets and was able to pull one more car with the Bachmann HHP8 engine. I have 7 Amfleet cars and could only pull two with the HHP8, but after modifying them, I can pull three. I had really hoped to be able to pull more - for a more prototypical length - but I just don't see how that's possible. My layout is a flat dog bone with 11 inch curves at each end, but there isn't enough traction (even on clean rails) to pull more than three coaches. I'm seriously thinking about taking all the electric pickups out of the trucks, just to see if that solves the problem. That would be too bad since Bachmann did such a great job with the coach lighting on these cars. I guess if I want to pull a seven cars, I'll have to invest in another engine to gain tractive effort. If I put four cars on the HHP8, there's too much wheel slippage, the engine just can't overcome all the friction. Just to see how much power it would take...before I modified the Amfleet's trucks and pickup tabs, I modified a ConCor Budd Amtrak car with a rapido coupler at one end to couple with the Bmann Amfleet cars. It took two Kato P42's to pull the seven Bmann Amfleet coaches (plus the one Concor baggage car). One Kato just couldn't pull the unmodified Amfleet cars without slipping. I would guess that since I modified all the Bmann Amfleets that I could pull all seven plus the hybred coupler baggage car with only one Kato P42. The friction has been reduced, but not enough for the little HHP8 to pull more than three coaches.
As a side note...I widened the area the wheel axle has inside the wheel truck assembly. I very carefully used a file to open up the inside diameter where the wheel is held by the truck, being careful to not increase the opening that prevents the axle from falling out. That seemed to help decrease the friction on the axles. I also added a small amount of graphite where the axle touches the metal pickup and truck. This helped reduce the overall friction on the axles as well.
If you were to remove some of the pickups, then you would get less friction so in thoery morw could be pulled. You could still keep the coach lighting by running a bus wire from one end of the carriages right through to the other (the Left pick from the front carriage and Right on the back carriage or even somewhere in the middle of the rake, or vice versa). If you were to buy some fine Decoder wire then you could make it look quite realistic. Between the carriages you'd have a longer length of wire than the join for realism and to allow turning a corner, and could also then - if you could find small enough connectors - have a join in the wire so that you could mix and match the order of the carriages - although this would depend on how resiliant the connectors are.
r0bert, could you please let me know the reference numbers for the MT couplers you used for the Amfleet coupler modifications?
Regards,
Keith