I've fitted a few Kadee couplings in my time, but never to O gauge stock. However, the model railway that the C15 is destined for is all Kadee'd so it needs hooks. John supplied me with suitable couplings and lent me his height gauge and a wagon. I just had to work out how to attach the things to his loco.
At the back matters were complicated by the air cylinder and the decision to hack the back end of the chassis off. I started by shortening the off-cut so the bogie could swing freely. After a little measuring it became apparent that the draft box could be bolted to a plate fitted to the bottom of the chassis part, which was then attached to the body. One compromise required was the soldering up of the coupling hook - the loco retains these so it can be used on more conventional layouts - as the spring would get in the way of the fixings.
With the parts re-assembled and check for height, I chopped a big hole in the tank and fitted it. We had agreed that it was essential for the look of the locos back end but that it would need to re-locate against the buffer beam, a move of just under 4mm, to keep it out of the way. Not too bad a compromise if the model will be happy on the layout. A hole in the curved part of the tank allows access to the retaining bolt.
At the front a simple L-shaped bracket supports the draft box but I found a different problem. The front bogie axle rubs on the box and lifts the loco wheels off the track. With a piercing saw I removed the cover and this seems to have sorted things. I suspect a touch of glue to hold the spring that centres the coupling might be a good idea though as I've already lost one (John let me have spares of those as well since he suspect I might need them) and we don't want to pepper the layout with coils of wire do we ?
No comments:
Post a Comment