New Couplers

I ordered some supplies online a little while ago: Micro Trains couplers, a drill and tap combonation (matching the screws supplied with the couplers) and field grass from Woodland Scenics. I got them last week and yesterday I was able to sit down and put them to use.

I converted an FEC box car that had been in services as a conversion car. It had a Rapido coupler on one end and a Micro Trains coupler on the other. I used this to run my UB-25 on the layout while I was waiting for its coupler conversion to arrive. After the UB-25 was converted, the FEC car was out of service since all my other engines and cars had knuckle style couplers, and I was short a knuckle to replace the Rapido one.

I planned to make the new couplers body mounted instead of attached to the truck. I swapped out the truck with the Micro Train coupler for one with a Rapido coupler, before chopping off the couplers entirely with a nail clipper. I checked the floor height and found that the car was close enough to the correct coupler mounting height that I could use a standard shim supplied with the couplers. On the two 50 ft box cars I had converted to body mounted couplers earlier, I found that I had to make a custom shim out of styrene because the height difference was too great for the standard shims.

I order my couplers unassembled because it is cheaper than pre-assembled and I enjoy the maintenance tasks as much as running the trains. By this time I had already assembled 6 couplers from the pack that I used to convert my Bachmann GP-50, so I was proficient at getting the coupler together. I only had to chase down the spring a couple of times before getting the coupler box closed on top of it successfully!

I then used my new tap and drill set to make mounting holes for the couplers. This was a little bit fustrating because I didn't have a pin vise and had to hold the bit and tap in my fingers. Luckily I only was doing this one car and so I persevered, but a pin vise is on my list of tools to get before doing any more. It was worth it though, as the tap worked much more reliably then trying to screw directly into the mounting hole as I had done with the previous conversions. The screw would stay in but would not provide enough pressure to hold the coupler in line as the car went around curves. I had taken to using a drop of glue between the coupler box and floor of the car in order to add a bit more staying power. With the tap this proved unnecessary.

I don't plan on converting any more of my existing knuckle coupler cars with the extra couplers, I will save them for any new rolling stock equipped with Rapido couplers. However I am planning on redoing the mountings of the two box cars I had previously converted to body mounted couplers, and possible the GP-50 as well to take advantage of the new tap.

Interstate Freight Depot

I have a new structure on my layout: Interstate Freight Depot. I got it when I took a trip out to Nicholas Smith Trains in Broomall. I also picked up another color of vegetation while I was there.

I was a little disappointed with the advertising on this box. As you can see in the image, the box says "molded in 6 colors". However there were only 5 sprues in the box, two of them were the same color, and one was clear. That makes 3 colors: black, tan, green. Four if you include clear.

I think they took an HO version and used the same image for N scale.There were also some small differences between the model on the box and the parts inside. The chimney and roof vents were a slightly different style and spaced further apart. The chimney on the model is right up against the wall, which I don't think looks very good. You can see some extra details (such as the number of slats in the exhaust vent) on the model in the picture not in the box. The signs include were also out of scale.

The model went together pretty smoothly. I had just a few details to nitpick. The end walls could have had molded details on the back since you see a little bit of the back on the overhangs. They also did not include any doors so the freight doors must be modeled open. One of them opens up on an area where the floor is very narrow to accommodate the ground level door on the other side. I didn't like this so I fabricated my own door to cover it up. The instructions were correct and all the pieces matched up.

I think I over did the weathering on my version. It looks more early 20th century then late 20th century. If I did it again, I would have painted the brick portion concrete instead of leaving it tan. The foundation would have been left as a green color instead being painted brown.

Locomotive Maintenance

Last night I finished up maintenance on my Bachmann Southern GP-50. I took it apart and cleaned off all the old grease. I shimmed one of the worm gears that was loose. There were also a few bits of flash on the truck assembly that I snipped off. Then I lubricated the gears, axles and bearings and reassembled the locomotive.

It runs noticeably smoother then when I first got it and before I did the overhaul. Not as silky as some of the better Atlas and Kato engines, but still alright. One of the worm gears still makes a some noise, but most of the noise comes from the motor, which I don't think I can improve very much without a whole new motor.

Next on my list is my Atlas Southern MP-15 switcher. It has been running a little rough lately, hopefully this will smooth it out.

New Track

Last weekend I made a modification to the track plan of my layout. I replaced the siding that splits into two tracks after crossing the X on the bottom left with a single siding. I also had it curve back parallel to the main instead of going into the center of the layout at an angle.

The main reason for doing this was to give me more room in the center of the layout. The upper siding came too close to the street (back) side of the of the freight depot on the top half of the loop. The empty "street" area between the buildings narrowed to a small triangle which didn't look right. It goes with the method of laying out the industries first and then bringing the rails to them instead of coming up with a neat looking plan and then figuring out how to place the industries on it which I read somewhere and makes good sense.

It also reduced the number of sidings on the bottom half of the layout. This brings it closer to the complexity of my "new" layout that I keep telling myself I will build when I move to a bigger apartment. If I can keep myself occupied with this switching arrangement then I don't have to worry about getting bored on the bigger layout.

Scenicing

I did basic scenery around the outside edges of the layout., as you can see in the above picture. It is mainly a coat of earth, with a few rocks and clumps of grass, but it is a big improvement over the pink foam.

The inside of the layout has a quick coat of brown primer thrown on it as well so the layout is beginning to look like a real scene. I still need to finalize the positions of the buildings inside the loop, and add some pavement.