Single Dome Tank CarThis is a nicely scaled and detailed car.
One flaw is that combined with the plastic wheels, it's way too light. I put a couple of pounds of #9 lead shot (a few bucks from the gun store) inside and that makes all the difference on keeping this light car on the rails.
I would recommend metal wheels of course.
I had truck mounted Kadees, but decided to body mount, since this car is so short (besides other advantages of body mounting).
Use a #835, and remove the trucks. While the trucks are off, pull out the wheels, check the gauge, lubricate the journals. Cut the coupler tang off to match the length on the other side.
Now, take the "lid" of the coupler box. The end of the car has a little bit of draft gear detail in the notch where the truck mounted coupler swings. You want to file out the right and left edges of this notch. I used a cutoff wheel going slow to take the edges mostly off, and then a flat file to make the width so the coupler lit just fits. Using the 835 gets the height just right with no shim.
Now drill a 3/32" hole and mount with the machine screw and nut. Even though this places the hole closer to the end of the car, I drilled the hole corresponding to the pivot point of the coupler, which should reduce flex on long trains. You could put 2 screws, but then you have more to hide on top. To make it really pretty, you could use a flathead screw and countersink the surface.
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Last Updated on Friday, 08 January 2010 04:25 |
Trains 
