I'm fairly new to 1:20.3 scale, and garden railroading.  So far I have a mix of Bachmann equipment both locomotives and rolling stock.  I am aware of the differences in coupler heights between the Big Hauler and early 1;20.3 stock and the newer Fn3, 1:20.3 stock.  I am also aware of the drop shank couplers available in the newer stock to lower the couplers to the older coupler height. 

  Looking at the NMRA Standard, S-2, Couplers, http://nmra.org/sites/default/files/standards/sandrp/pdf/s-2_2010.09.pdf, the height shown for Fn3, knuckle couplers is 1.125" +/- 0.063".   The newer equipment's couplers meet this standard.  The older equipment does not meet the standard.  It's too low.

  I would like to raise the couplers on my older equipment, a three truck Shay, and some Big Hauler stuff to the higher standard.  Is there a reasonable way to do this?  I'm particularly interested in raising the Shay's couplers as it is in fact an Fn3 model.

  Thank You,
David

My thanks for this discussion.  I'm fairly new to this whole doing it outdoors thing.  Well for that matter I'm new to model railroading in general.  I would appreciate it some of you with more experience/knowledge could help me out.  I'd really like a list of manufactures and the scales they use for their various lines.  With few exceptions I'm not seeing scales marked in ads, nor catalogs.  I know Bachmann Spectrum is 20.3 (Fn3), and I read above that LGB is 22.5, but what about everything else???  A chart would be wonderful.

Thanks,
David

Jerry

  Thanks!
  Thinking about the geometry overnight I'd decided that must be the case.  Glad you were able to confirm my thoughts before I started doing a run-in today.

David

  Just unpacked our 3 Truck Shay.  This is the second one we've received, the first was damaged and returned.  I went straight to the video to follow along with the lubrication instructions.  During this time I noted that there is no freedom of movement in the truck under the water tender.  It appears that it's supposed to rotate like most trucks, yet it has only about 5 degrees of movement.  Did I miss something that needs to be removed?  I've not seen any unpacking instructions that indicate something still needs to be removed.

  Thanks,
David