Another Alex Malliae upgrade - command coupler

That Alex-he's a crafty little guy!

Hi Ron,

I remember this job it was very interesting to do, but i didn't tackle this alone.

I had the help from a very knowledgeable fellow forum member Pete Serino

aka (Norton). Ron I thank you for the kind comments, but i also must thank

Pete for working on this project with me. 

Thanks,

Alex

Alex,

I forgot that Pete did the machining of the pilot for the coupler opening; he did a really nice, professional job.  Thank you BOTH for giving me two more engines to lead my local freights (assuming I ever finish my layout).

Here is a video and picture of the Weaver PRR H10 that Alex and Pete upgraded with a front command coupler.  Alex also upgraded this engine with ERR and Super Chuffer.  Runs really great and maybe smokes too much

Very nice job.

This is a very nice job indeed!

Ron, are those front couplers fixed in place or do they swing?

Bob,

The couplers do swing, but are limited by the opening in the footboard pilots.  On both engines, the footboard pilots are made in three sections, the two outboard sections with the footboards, and the center section the coupler comes through.  Here is a picture of the H10 before it was modified.

I discussed with Alex beforehand about how much of the pilot material to take off, and I said to remove as much material out of the center as possible but leave the footboards intact.  We were hoping it would swing enough for O-54 curves but that didn’t work out.  It will run on O-72 curves and O-72/#4 switches which works for my layout because the runaround track and industry siding are #4 switches and O-80 curves.  However, I will not be able to use the front coupler inside the yard because it has some O-54 switches.  So my local freights will have to leave the yard in the forward position.

I am looking at doing some more surgery to the footboards to give more swing, but I’m going to run as is to see how it works out (again, assuming I ever finish the layout).

Ron,

The reason I asked is that I've also modified several steam locomotives by adding front couplers.  I've done Weaver brass PRR H10s and L1s, Williams L1s and 3rd Rail I1s decapods.  When I do mine, I cut away the inside footboard supports (and the plate between the inside and outside supports on the H10s).  The coupler (I use the ones that Atlas supplies for their Erie Built diesels) is screwed to the top of the pilot truck and swings with it.  The locomotives have no problems with O54 curves but the pilot can't swing far enough to work on O42 without derailing.

Here is a photo of one of my Williams L1s 2-8-2's.  There should be video of front coupler action on a Weaver H10s and a 3rd Rail I1s on the OGR DVD of my layout, due out at October York.

Ron, this turned out to be a pretty challenging project. I realized right away that some compromises were going to have to be made. It required fabricating many one off parts and both engines required different modifications. 

Alex did indicate to me that you would be willing loose the steps but I thought it would better if you performed this yourself. We weren't sure what your minimum radius requirements were.  To increase the coupler swing just mark where the coupler contacts the steps, then remove the coupler and grind away with a dremel with an abrasive wheel. The trade off is appearance vs operation. You can best make that decision for yourself.

Pete

Bob, It was your post several months ago that got me interested in doing this.  My concern was how much material you cut away to make it work, but the capability was more important than looks.  After talking to Alex, after he talked to Pete on the different options, I agreed not to take off that much and see how that would work. If I do need to cut away the inside brace I will.

Pete, You did great work and there was more to it than just cutting away the footboard material.  I am very satisfied with them. They work on O-72 curves and #4 switches which are used to get to my industries on the leading point switches.  Once I get that portion of the layout running, I'll post videos.