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Lionel has made Husky/Double stack cars in their "scale" car lineup. I really like the fact that these are die-cast. 

Can these cars be easily converted to 2 rail? Atlas makes these same cars but I prefer a stronger more robust car that won't suffer from broken pieces. 684855-01684855-01

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  • 684855-01: Lionel Husky Stack
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These cars are very straight-forward to convert to 2-rail. My opinion is to swap out the trucks with Atlas O 100T 2R trucks altogether, and add Kadee couplers. You'll need to add some styrene to the area for the Kadee, then add your couplers. Same as you do on other cars that need this type of treatment. But the end result is awesome. 

I picked up some of the latest run of these Lionel Husky Stacks this past year and they came equipped with the new design Lionel roller bearing trucks with the plastic bolster which allow you to purchase the Lionel 2-Rail 33" (70 Ton) conversion kit (~$20) to at least handle the truck part of the conversion to 2 Rail relatively easily.  The coupler retrofit, as Mike Deberg shows above, is still not optimal as it requires some drilling, tapping and shimming for the use of a Kadee draft gear box.  Please note; however, that the die cast "coupler pad area" on the end of the car only allows for drilling one draft gear mounting hole as the rear hole in the Kadee draft gear box lands right over an opening in the casting so the rear hole in the coupler draft gear box is not usable, e.g. draft gear can rotate side-to-side if not also glued in place.  Also, that die cast "coupler pad area" is not that thick so not a lot of mounting screw thread engagement for that single lone coupler mounting screw.  These cars are very well detailed and do make a nice addition to a modern era fleet but just need a slight tweak in the coupler mounting area to make them a fully universal 3R / 2R piece of rolling stock.

Scott

I'm not a 2 railer but I might be some day so I try to learn a little here and there.   Check the links below on some information/advice on conversions of Lionel Husky Stacks.  Make sure to click on the spreadsheet link (pictured below) in the first hyperlink thread for some extra detail.

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...ky-conversion-update

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...96#45074140789498396

 

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I just bought 3 Husky Stacks to convert to 2-rail. I have 2 5-car sets of the Atlas Gunderson Twin Stacks that were converted from 3-rail to 2, one set by me and another by Beth Marshall from the Public Delivery Track. I’d like to get 2 or 3 sets of Atlas Gunderson Maxi IV’s just to have a little variety in well cars. I had 4 from the first run but sold them. Now, I wish I would’ve kept them.

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