Ok…I have my table saw, blow torch, rivet gun, jack hammer, and sod cutter ready to the job of mounting a body coupler on the tender of Bachmann Consolidation. I have in my possession an Accucraft coupler.
So seriously…what do I need to do to get it right the first time?? I don’t want to mess this one up.
Thanks,
Richard
OK, the first step is to break the tender - oh no not that Paul!! If you turn the tender over you should see a mounting pad. It should have some screw holes that if I remember are threaded. If you bought this Loco new you should have a parts bag with Bachmann couplers, coupler boxs, and some screws. Since I don’t use Accucraft couplers I’m not sure if you will need to do to the box to get the coupler mounted.
Paul
Richard,
As EPA has alluded to there is a brown colored coupler and coupler box included in the baggie of parts. This coupler box will install directly onto the bottom pad of the Connie Tender. Although I have not converted to Accucraft couplers, the do mate quite well with the brown coupler (which is the Bachmann 1:20 coupler). I have them on my Connie and my K27, along with several pieces of rolling stock. I have had ZERO coupling problems with this coupler. Unless the quite scale appearance of the Accucraft coupler is paramount, I would use the Bachmann coupler.
That said I am sure I am going to draw fire for my statements, but I have on my asbestos and kevlar.
Bob C.
The Accucraft couplers can be made to fit into the Bachmann or Kaydee draft gear boxes with a little cutting and drilling…
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/AccCoupler05-800.jpg)
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/AccCoupler06-800.jpg)
P.S. Those are both Kaydee draft gear boxes (except for the brown Bachmann one). Original thread with step-by-step is here: http://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/17754/upgrading-bachmann-fn3-rolling-s
The Accucraft couplers I have are a body mount design. In order to get one high enough to match the AMS Jackson Sharpe coaches it looks like I must cut a rectangular hole in the back of the Connie tender. The only mounting hardware that came with the coupler are very tiny screw/bolts. These would be screwing into plastic part of the tender. Since they are threaded I’m guessing that I’d have drill small holes and use a tap and to create threads. But this just doesn’t seem very secure especially pulling the weight of three cars.
I’m looking for a solution this issue…
Thanks, Richard
OK. Another option is Kaydee which will couple quite nicely to Accucraft. They make an offset coupler with a rise that might get you where you need to go without hacking up the tender, but sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures like for my Bachmann Porter…
(http://lsc.cvsry.com/post4/PorterPilot-01.JPG)
The Accucraft coulers also have a hole up through the rear of the draft gear box that can accommodate a bolt or screw to hold the pulling force, then the little hex caps are just for show.
Here, on the rear of my Porter after cutting a hole and raising the floor, a bolt down from the floor is the primary attachment, I trimmed off the top two holes on the surface mount and used Phillips head screws because I didn’t have a hex driver small enough…
The best advice I ever got about installing couplers was “do whatever it takes to make it work” Of course, if you are worried about resale value of your models then you might need to consider alternatives.
Thanks John for the pictures…I’m a visual person so seeing your photos up close a
Re very helpful. Late last night I figured out a work around that seems to be working so far. I had some of the Kadee couplers you mentioned. I’ll still working on getting the Accucraft coupler installed but for now, since this is my only running engine I can run trains this weekend.
Richard
