Box Cars couplers not holding

[cfletcher]

I'm new to O-gauge trains.  I have set up a simple oval to entertain my grandson but two of the boxcars couplers keep releasing when the train is running.  It isn't consistent so I am wondering if they can be adjusted or what I can do to improve the hookups?  Thanks in advance.

[lionelsoni]

There has been considerable evolution of coupler designs over the last 110 years.  How old is the train that is giving you trouble?

[cfletcher]

The boxcars are all from the late '80s.

[8ntruck]

I have a few boxcars of the same vintage.  They show the same problem with the couplers.  I usually place them at the end of the train.  Doing so minimizes the load on the coupler, so they usually do not open.

Another trick is to place small orthidentic size rubber bands around the shank of the coupler just behind the knuckle.  The rubber band will augment the plastic spring on the latch and help keep the coupler closed.

Some have even gone as far as replacing the trucks on the offending car with post war trucks, which seem to stay latched better.

Good luck.

[brianel027]

CF, using small rubber bands as 8ntruck suggested is the easiest solution. You can also find these rubber bands at stores that sell girls combs, hair braids etc. There are bags of small rubber bands for girls hair... I've gotten bags of black ones which also make a super looking load for a gondola car.

If the trucks are plastic and not the sprung die cast ones,here's a more permanent solution that works for me perfectly. You pop out one wheel set, closest to the coupler, so then you can remove the plastic thumbtack armature assembly. The whole thing is one piece and pops out with a screw driver at the end furthest away from the coupler.

I've gotten real good at this next move. Over the gas jet on my stove, I hold this piece for 10-15 seconds to soften the plastic, and then I bend the armature upward: The side of the armature that has the pin sticking up, which engages the knuckle coupler. Then I blow on it to cool it down. Reassemble and the uncoupling problem is totally gone.

You might also try this move using a hair blow dryer, if you are worried about melting the plastic over a gas jet on a stove (which by the way can happen... I've had practice in NOT having that happen). You want to warm up the plastic so that when you give it a slight bend, you don't break it.

And just so you know, over years even postwar made Lionel couplers can do the same exact thing of coming uncoupled when pulling a train. It's a different fix here: You use a pair of needle nose pliers to bend the sheet metal coupler armature closest to the pin in a upward direction. That will usually cure that problem too. But I say this to illustrate that all couplers can be subject to fatigue and this problem of accidental opening over time.

[8ntruck]

A heat gun of the type used to strip paint would probably work too - with the added advantage of no open flames.

[ChiefEagles]

8ntruck

Another trick is to place small orthidentic size rubber bands around the shank of the coupler just behind the knuckle.  The rubber band will augment the plastic spring on the latch and help keep the coupler closed.

This is my favorite.  In fact I do this to all of my MTH cars.  They will pop open on you if you run long trains.  Easy to do.  Here, you have to get them from an Orthidonist.  Seems you would think you were buying an atomic bomb.  No joke.

[traindaddy1]

All of the above work.  Maybe not the best idea but, since I don't use the "automatic uncoupler" track, I have used a very thin wire wrapped around the car's coupler.  It is not seen and does the trick.

[cfletcher]

Thanks for all of the responses. In the interest of time for the Christmas celebration I used the rubber bands and my grandson got to see everything run.  Merry  Christmas to all.....

[AF53]

I also have the same problem with mine and my son's Pennsylvania Flyer set made by Lionel. They both come uncoupled from the same car, the tender. This is an O gauge set and to "fix" the problem we do as most do, use a small rubber band. You don't notice it and it works well.

Ray