I am new to N scale. I am really an O gauge guy but decided to try my hand at N. Anyhow, I converted a bunch of my rapido couplers to micro trains coplers. The kind that come pre-assembled attatched to the trucks. Anyway, I recently purchsed a new bachman engine (ns gp-9). The new engine comes with the claw shaped couplers not rapido. They attach to the micro trains couplers fine but when I go around certain curves I notice the engines coupler moves higher than the freights and they become un-coupled. I figured if I could shim it somehow to adjust the height, this might work. What would I use to shim them or is there another way o adjust coupler height? Is this a common problem in Nscale? If I buy all the same brand will I not have this problem?
Adjusting Coupler Height?
- Thread starter n1vets333
- Start date
Larry
Long Winded Old Fart
I don't think it's the coupler. If it moves higher on certain curves, that means the track is bad. You either have humps & bumps in the rail or roadbed.
The same thing could happen on straigtaways if the track isn't flat.
You need a coupler heighth gauge. Mine is Atlas. Your's would probably come from the coupler manufacturer of the trucks. I have HO.
Larry
The same thing could happen on straigtaways if the track isn't flat.
You need a coupler heighth gauge. Mine is Atlas. Your's would probably come from the coupler manufacturer of the trucks. I have HO.
Larry
I'd pick up a height gauge, sounds like they might be mismatched a little. Also if there is a lot of play it can cause problems. MT makes a height gage, or you could pick up a starter set and get a variety of spare couplers for when you add rolling stock. Handy little pack. Also try to keep the bumps down as Larry pointed out. N isn't as forgiving as HO.
How would A clear car help with couplers problems? Please educate me I am a newbie when it comes to n scale.
I think the engine you have must be a GP50....Bachmann doesn't make any smaller GP's except the GP40. I have one and the coupler is unusually long, which means any imperfections in the track get magnified, so while a MT coupler probably wouldn't have a problem, the Bachmann will. I'd have to look, but I don't think there's any way to easily shim it. The problem is magnified because the coupler is attached to the trucks also. MTL makes a conversion for the GP50 that would probably solve most of the problem.
You can have couplers that are at perfect height - on perfect track. The problem starts when one coupler crosses a less than perfect joint or kink in a curve. It can be almost inpossible to see this happen looking at the cars from the side. With a clear flat car, you can see exactly where the coupler jumps and uncouples. They are also great to find imperfections in switches and just strange areas of derailment with no apparent reason.
