Lionel latch couplers on a 44-tonner engine

Admittedly this project is about as far as you can go from modeling the Delaware and Hudson but it is train related. And it is my blog. So...

About a year ago I picked up some United States Toy Train Company models which were decorated in the Arcade and Attica Railroad's colors. I always wanted an engine to pull them but most Lionel and MTH steam engines are too realistic to look appropriate with the cars. And, I love 44-tonners and Lionel made one that really isn't a 44-tonner anyway (it is more like an 80-tonner in size). That is fine by me, as the A&A owns one of them too. But, the couplers on the Lionel model aren't the toy "latch" style that is on the cars. They don't look realistic or work all that well to be honest, but that is what the cars came with.

It wouldn't have been too difficult to convert one of the cars to Lionel knuckle but I didn't want to go down that road because the cars are extremely rare. Lionel 44-tonners are a dime a dozen engine. So, switching a coupler on it was the path I was going to take. But, I am not a Lionel guy and really didn't know what I was doing. I acquired a used #627 Northern Pacific engine from a good friend and during a slow weekend I decided to start on the project. The engine comes with one powered truck, and a light on the opposite end of the engine. Sadly, the coupler that I had to change was the one on the same side as the light which means the engine won't have a headlight facing forward when running (unless I somehow figure out how to reroute and install the lightbulb... unlikely).

The unpowered truck has a lot of plastic underneath so I test glued some styrene to it with MEK. That is what that little piece of thin white styrene is that is right near the center rail collector rollers. After confirming it did bond strongly, I built up a pad with 1/8" styrene and MEK. Once it cured, I drilled through it and used a 6-32 screw and a nut to confirm the correct height. I had to bend the coupler shank a bit to get the correct height and the thin metal is fragile so care was necessary. After checking the swing, I removed the coupler and painted the styrene black. Then the coupler was reinstalled and a tiny dab of threadlocker was added to the nut to prevent it from working loose.

Success!

One thing I noticed when coupling the engine and the coach together for the picture was how difficult it was to get the couplers to engage. Considering the basic premises is a hook that extends from the bottom of the coupler that is supposed to push past (or perhaps knock up) a horizontal bar that then drops down after the hook has gone through, preventing the hook from pulling loose. What a stupid system! It not only is extremely finicky it trying to get them to engage together (forget backing into a string of cars with a gentle click and then pulling away with them) but it doesn't have to be that difficult. Hook and loop cars are also unrealistic but work much better. Thankfully, Lionel finally developed into more realistic knuckle couplers.

I still need to disassemble the frame and mechanism and clean and degrease it for painting, but that is a project for another weekend.