@Greg Amer posted:Hi Naveen.
I was playing with them earlier this month. I epoxied some .032” diameter steel rod into the keys to make them operate magnetically. They operate pretty good with the steel inside. Since I know they work magnetically, I think I’ll solder the steel rod into them. I also tried some mini ball bearings instead of steel rod, but the rod was a better solution.
I dipped the couplers in the photos above in blacken-it. I also used neo-lube on the operating parts to blacken and lube them.
The only tool I used to assemble them was a sanding stick to burnish some parts. Assembly was pretty easy. There are 4 parts and pretty much only one way to put them together.
The double shelf E couplers I assembled worked great on the bench, but I haven’t installed them onto a car. The coupler draft gear pockets work well also. The opening in the coupler pocket is pretty narrow, so these will probably only work on broader radius turns.
I experimented the F couplers and the lower shelf E couplers, but had trouble keeping those together. I’ll have to work some more on those varieties to figure them out.
Overall, I like them, but honestly haven’t really put them to practice with any real installation and real use.
Greg,
Thank you for the update. The couplers look better with the black finish over the earlier colors of the brass castings. Do you plan to leave the couplers with the black finish or do you plan to further paint them? The couplers that I had seen on real trains seem to have a rust-colored orange / brown shades in addition to the matte black colors.
I noticed that you also bought the draft gear boxes. How do they compare to the Kadee gear boxes, in regards to height and mounting hole spacing? The newer Lionel freight cars seem to have mounting pads, screw hole spacing and some also come with spacers and screws that allow conversions to Kadee couplers, much easier.
These are just my opinion,
Thanks,
Naveen Rajan
