Looking For End Caps With Diaphragms (Lionel American Freedom Train)

I had a similar problem in that the current 21" full dome passenger car on my Santa Fe set has contemporary diaphgrams while the rest of the set has traditional ones.  Further, they really increased the visual gap between the cars.

The Lionel passenger car parts list does not show any of them for sale separately.  But, I noticed the ends of the earlier 18" cars look the same and several cars on the parts site did show the ends for sale.  So I bought a pair.

It turns out that the mounting pins are almost identical, so I was able to remove the plastic contemporary ones from the full dome and replace them with the traditional ones.

In your case, if the ends match, you can just replace the whole end.

And yes, I too cannot get in touch with Service by phone or email these days.

@PeterA posted:

I had a similar problem in that the current 21" full dome passenger car on my Santa Fe set has contemporary diaphgrams while the rest of the set has traditional ones.  Further, they really increased the visual gap between the cars.

The Lionel passenger car parts list does not show any of them for sale separately.  But, I noticed the ends of the earlier 18" cars look the same and several cars on the parts site did show the ends for sale.  So I bought a pair.

It turns out that the mounting pins are almost identical, so I was able to remove the plastic contemporary ones from the full dome and replace them with the traditional ones.

In your case, if the ends match, you can just replace the whole end.

And yes, I too cannot get in touch with Service by phone or email these days.

@PeterA

When you say "It turns out that the mounting pins are almost identical" - how identical are they? Will I need to do any modifications to the end caps or the cars?

You said "So I bought a pair". Do you have a part number? I'm guessing that's for the entire end cap which comes with the diaphragm? Where did you purchase them? Do you mind telling me the price as I need to order 22 of them!

What's the difference between the "traditional" and the ones that should have come with the AFT cars?

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm trying to make my collection of AFT cars as close to prototype as possible.

TIA!

If I remember, the diaphgram and struts brackets did match, but since it has been a while, I didn't want to say it for sure.

They were bought from Lionel's online parts store, and I have no record of the actual part number.  You just need to log in  and do a parts search for "passenger cars"   And yes, they came with the entire end part including the diaphgram.  I removed them in order to attach them to the new car.

The "traditional" cars are just the 18" aluminum passenger cars.  They came in several road names and I am afraid I no longer have the receipt, but the price is shown on the parts list when you find them.

I have never seen the AFT cars in person, so don't know what diaphgrams they have but suspect if the shells are the usual aluminum cross section, they should fit.  What I would do is when you find them on the website, order one pair and check to see how they work before buying for the rest of the set.

@paulp575 posted:

I have contacted Lionel - both by e-mail and phone. E-mails are not being answered; phone goes to a dead line.

I finally received and email back from them earlier this past week. It only took about 3 weeks to respond.

@Jayhawk500 posted:

I finally received and email back from them earlier this past week. It only took about 3 weeks to respond.

Tried the e-mail route one more time.

Actually got a reply - automated - so maybe I'll hear back from them this time - thinking Jan.

@PeterA posted:

If I remember, the diaphgram and struts brackets did match, but since it has been a while, I didn't want to say it for sure.

They were bought from Lionel's online parts store, and I have no record of the actual part number.  You just need to log in  and do a parts search for "passenger cars"   And yes, they came with the entire end part including the diaphgram.  I removed them in order to attach them to the new car.

The "traditional" cars are just the 18" aluminum passenger cars.  They came in several road names and I am afraid I no longer have the receipt, but the price is shown on the parts list when you find them.

I have never seen the AFT cars in person, so don't know what diaphgrams they have but suspect if the shells are the usual aluminum cross section, they should fit.  What I would do is when you find them on the website, order one pair and check to see how they work before buying for the rest of the set.

I checked every one of the passenger cars parts lists on the Lionel website (over 500!) and none of them had the end caps. Plenty of diaphgrams. I really don't want to place the diaphgrams on car ends that don't have doors - but may have to if that's all I can find.

@PeterA posted:

6105364006

VESTIBULE END / PLAIN / SILVER

11

$12.50

Thanks.

Looks like they are not available from Lionel. Hmmm. time for a Google search.

If someone could put together the dimensions for a nice detailed scaled version this would be a great candidate for 3D printing/laser cutting.

Dennis

Scale City Designs was upset with me for suggesting a 3D print of "their" Diaphragm; they refused to sell me a sample. EOS.

@AlanRail posted:

Dennis

Scale City Designs was upset with me for suggesting a 3D print of "their" Diaphragm; they refused to sell me a sample. EOS.

They are no longer part of this forum for several reasons.