I vaguely recall an article in O Scale News about 2-railing K-Line TTAX spine cars. I have a string I'd like to convert. Anyone have any experience doing this? I'm curious about the pitfalls. Thanks.
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I've never done it and I know why you ask. I'm just guessing it would be pretty standard? Set the height to you liking. Hard to get stuff accurate height when it's made for 3 rail.
Is the chassis metal? If so watch for wheel rubbing and use plastic couplers and/or boxes.
& Wait for someone else to chime in!
Would be awesome to have scale spine cars and 53' trailers to go along with them? Atlas Master Line would great!
Hi Mike.
I ride Metrolink to work in Lost Angeles and they have some stored in the ATSF Coach Yard. There are a few 3x53' car sets.
The K-Line sets were 5x40', though the trailers were actually about 39'. They sold the cars in pairs, with the fifth unit available once you had two pairs (you sent in a coupon and some amount of money). The pairs normally came with a tractor to go with the trailers.
Joe:
The spines are die cast. I'm thinking I might have to invest in some drills and taps. I don't like the stock K-Line trucks and would switch them over to 100-ton roller bearing types. I'm also thinking about making a special carry case for articulated container car sets -- assembling and disassembling them at the club is a pain.
Fwiw, use Atlas O two rail trucks. You will need a drill press to widen out the hole for the screw that holds those articulated trucks. If you can come across a 125 ton trucks then you will need them for all the articulated sections. I believe the ends are 100t trucks.
Also consider adding the damping pads on the articulated trucks bolsters to make them car more realistic.
When I started heavy in O scale, I bought a lot of intermodal stuff. I still find that desirable. Anything I can get more of that's accurate or close, I'd grab if I had the cash. These models included!
I really like all my Atlas O 2 rail cars. Maybe with the exception, of the crumbling trucks that one time...
Nice Clem! I didn't think they could ride so low!
Now I'd like to compare those with the MTH version. Looks like Rich M already knows!
Thanks Clem. I definitely see why you'd need broader curves for these.
AGHRMatt posted:Hi Mike.
I ride Metrolink to work in Lost Angeles and they have some stored in the ATSF Coach Yard. There are a few 3x53' car sets.
The K-Line sets were 5x40', though the trailers were actually about 39'. They sold the cars in pairs, with the fifth unit available once you had two pairs (you sent in a coupon and some amount of money). The pairs normally came with a tractor to go with the trailers.
Joe:
The spines are die cast. I'm thinking I might have to invest in some drills and taps. I don't like the stock K-Line trucks and would switch them over to 100-ton roller bearing types. I'm also thinking about making a special carry case for articulated container car sets -- assembling and disassembling them at the club is a pain.
Matt,
Yeah, NS has a bunch of these cars stored in their Good Yard in Normal, IL for many years,
Honestly, I'd be happy with either the Trinity 53' RAF33C or RAF53C cars or the Trinity 57' RAF30A models. Along with the 53' trailers!
Clem, I will say the lowered 2-rail version of the k-line cars look a lot better! Great work!
Matt I have more photos of the build, if you would like I'll post them. bad part about the way I did it is they are bolted together. When not in use I keep them stored on a grooved piece of 1x4.
clem k posted:Matt I have more photos of the build, if you would like I'll post them. bad part about the way I did it is they are bolted together. When not in use I keep them stored on a grooved piece of 1x4.
Would definitely appreciate that, Clem.
I had a set of those, looked like they were hovering above the rail as opposed to riding on them. I looked at lowering them and even for 3 rail seemed daunting. Your work is quite impressive Clem.
Here you go Matt.....
I had to make my own shoulder bolts with tubing and used lock tight on bolts, also finding the correct washers for ride height could be difficult, had to Tap for the Kadee one screw only needed. With two rail wheels you could probably get more truck swing for tighter curves. Notice where I ground down for the big three rail flange. I used standard Delrin Weaver trucks. I'm not a two railer yet, but all my equipment can be changed very easy, the next road will only have two rails.
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Nice work gentlemen. I have a couple of 5-car sets I'd like to convert to 2-rail as well.
Geno
FYI, the article Matt speaks of is in issue #178 48/ft O Scale News. A now defunct magazine.
Clem:
Thanks for the update, I'll study the photos so I can figure out how to attack the conversion.
'Curve:
Thanks for the info.