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I guess I'm a little late to the party, as members I talk with about this have either already done them, or have been patiently waiting. 

Well, without too much more to wait, the design is finished and being test printed as we speak. 

IMG_7594

Like others, this will be self-aligning and should be easy to place and easy to use. 

Thanks,

Mario

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Mario,

I really enjoy your design work and upon completing the move of my current layout will be converting my fleet to Kadee couplers using your conversion pads. I have two requests for you which I think will appeal to many of your customers. 

1) Could you make some Kadee conversion pads for the for the Lionel Scale milk cars. I.e. The NYC ones that go with the century club Niagara. 

2) When you have a finished design for any of you Kadee conversion pads; could you also make a version on shapeways like you did with the PS-1 pads that comes as a 10 pack. It makes it much more cost effective when doing a bunch of cars at once. (I have a TON of Lionel PFE reefers I plan on doing and would prefer to not have to order individual prints for each).

Thank you,

John

BigJohn&theWork posted:

Mario,

I really enjoy your design work and upon completing the move of my current layout will be converting my fleet to Kadee couplers using your conversion pads. I have two requests for you which I think will appeal to many of your customers. 

1) Could you make some Kadee conversion pads for the for the Lionel Scale milk cars. I.e. The NYC ones that go with the century club Niagara. 

2) When you have a finished design for any of you Kadee conversion pads; could you also make a version on shapeways like you did with the PS-1 pads that comes as a 10 pack. It makes it much more cost effective when doing a bunch of cars at once. (I have a TON of Lionel PFE reefers I plan on doing and would prefer to not have to order individual prints for each).

Thank you,

John

John...

good news on both fronts. 

The milk cars are on deck! I have a ship-load to do, but they will take a little more work than others because of the buffer plates. 

Better news...

steel reefers ' new design is done and in in 10-packs!

IMG_7592

oh... and if you have those fab PS-1s, these are done too!

IMG_7591

thanks!

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First the good news...

I received my test prints of the Lionel double door shims today, and evidently not only are the two ends different designs, but the bolsters are different distances from the end sills; only about the width of two human hairs, but enough to make me do some work...

IMG_7652IMG_7650

So, one end has a nice 0.300" hole in the frame that I can use as a locator pin for the self alignment part, and that means only a single drill hole has to be put into the frame (center) and the rear hole in the Kadee box can just be screwed to the shim to prevent the box from rotating. 

I had to redesign the other side, to set the shim the exact distance from the sill to the body bolster, and then add some width to align it in the center of the frame. 

These come in 5-car sets, with 5 of each type of shim. 

IMG_7653

Atlas versus Lionel DD boxcar:

IMG_7654IMG_7655

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Mario, those look nice! You don't need to Dremel the coupler off, it should come off by first removing the C-clip on top that secures the coupler; next, flip,the truck over, and take needle nose pliers to the bottom plate which is part of the coupler. Pull outwards, twisting as you go and this plate comes off. Turn the truck back over, the coupler arm comes right off. Hope this helps.

Jeff78rr posted:

Mario, those look nice! You don't need to Dremel the coupler off, it should come off by first removing the C-clip on top that secures the coupler; next, flip,the truck over, and take needle nose pliers to the bottom plate which is part of the coupler. Pull outwards, twisting as you go and this plate comes off. Turn the truck back over, the coupler arm comes right off. Hope this helps.

Jeff,

you are correct... for these cars, you will have to cut off the coupler carrier. 

But for some cars, you don't. Just pull the coupler swing arms out, like my video. 

Thanks!

mario

Hi Mario, Here is a dumb A** question. Most of the rolling stock I have was given to me, How do I tell what kind of car they are so I know what type of shims to get. Everything I have has been converted to Kadee with home made shims. It sure would be nice to go back and redo them so they would look and function better.

mike g. posted:

Hi Mario, Here is a dumb A** question. Most of the rolling stock I have was given to me, How do I tell what kind of car they are so I know what type of shims to get. Everything I have has been converted to Kadee with home made shims. It sure would be nice to go back and redo them so they would look and function better.

Mike,

If they are Lionel you can compare them to the catalog, or search the website, same for MTH and Atlas.

mike g. posted:

Hi Mario, Here is a dumb A** question. Most of the rolling stock I have was given to me, How do I tell what kind of car they are so I know what type of shims to get. Everything I have has been converted to Kadee with home made shims. It sure would be nice to go back and redo them so they would look and function better.

Mike,

The might be an easier way than you think...

Somewhere on Lionel car, especially the scale cars, there is a "Built by" stamp.  This number is the product number, and all you have to do is put a "6-" in front of it and Google search for the details on the car.

For example, look at the caboose below. The 17647 is the product number, and you would search for "6-17647".

https://www.google.com/search?q=6-17647

...and its the first one on the list!

Good luck!

Thanks,

Mario

mike g. posted:

Hi Mario, Here is a dumb A** question. Most of the rolling stock I have was given to me, How do I tell what kind of car they are so I know what type of shims to get. Everything I have has been converted to Kadee with home made shims. It sure would be nice to go back and redo them so they would look and function better.

Although Mario's custom made shims are VERY nice, in my opinion I would not bother to go back and changeout any/all the "home made" shims. I have upgraded more than 100 pieces of freight rolling stock for myself, and friends, using .500" wide Evergreen styrene shims in all sorts of various thicknesses. Once the whole Kadee and shim assembly are painted to match the car underframe, and then the car is weathered, the old "three foot rule" comes into play, i.e. nobody can see them. Operation is NOT affected by the shim thickness or design.

Hot Water posted:
mike g. posted:

Hi Mario, Here is a dumb A** question. Most of the rolling stock I have was given to me, How do I tell what kind of car they are so I know what type of shims to get. Everything I have has been converted to Kadee with home made shims. It sure would be nice to go back and redo them so they would look and function better.

Although Mario's custom made shims are VERY nice, in my opinion I would not bother to go back and changeout any/all the "home made" shims. I have upgraded more than 100 pieces of freight rolling stock for myself, and friends, using .500" wide Evergreen styrene shims in all sorts of various thicknesses. Once the whole Kadee and shim assembly are painted to match the car underframe, and then the car is weathered, the old "three foot rule" comes into play, i.e. nobody can see them. Operation is NOT affected by the shim thickness or design.

Thanks for the insite, but it probably wouldn't hurt to make an inventory of what I have to date.

CentralFan1976 posted:
mike g. posted:

Hi Mario, Here is a dumb A** question. Most of the rolling stock I have was given to me, How do I tell what kind of car they are so I know what type of shims to get. Everything I have has been converted to Kadee with home made shims. It sure would be nice to go back and redo them so they would look and function better.

Mike,

The might be an easier way than you think...

Somewhere on Lionel car, especially the scale cars, there is a "Built by" stamp.  This number is the product number, and all you have to do is put a "6-" in front of it and Google search for the details on the car.

For example, look at the caboose below. The 17647 is the product number, and you would search for "6-17647".

https://www.google.com/search?q=6-17647

...and its the first one on the list!

Good luck!

Thanks,

Mario

More great information!! Man I just love this Forum!!!!

Hot Water posted:
mike g. posted:

Hi Mario, Here is a dumb A** question. Most of the rolling stock I have was given to me, How do I tell what kind of car they are so I know what type of shims to get. Everything I have has been converted to Kadee with home made shims. It sure would be nice to go back and redo them so they would look and function better.

Although Mario's custom made shims are VERY nice, in my opinion I would not bother to go back and changeout any/all the "home made" shims. I have upgraded more than 100 pieces of freight rolling stock for myself, and friends, using .500" wide Evergreen styrene shims in all sorts of various thicknesses. Once the whole Kadee and shim assembly are painted to match the car underframe, and then the car is weathered, the old "three foot rule" comes into play, i.e. nobody can see them. Operation is NOT affected by the shim thickness or design.

I agree!

I missed that part about everything you have already being converted.  Lucky dog.

The only reason I can think of to swap out an existing mount is if you gain something by doing it.  For example, a new mount would decrease the space between cars, like on the PS-1 boxcars, if the Kadee box wasn't flush with the end sill.  Or another example would be the upcoming flat cars, where the mount would also incorporate part of the end sill to fill the opening.

Thanks!

Mario

PS - Hot Water, thanks for the kind words. It means a lot that you've called my work "very" nice.

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