Terribly fragile dump car hinges

[Boyd]

I have 6 9304 C&O side dump cars that I got through EBay from multiple sellers. Since they dump to just one side and have only one operating coupler. Half of them had the operating coupler at the opposite end of the other 3. So I was swapping trucks end for end on 3 of them and broke the worthless flimsy hinge on it. I'm brainstorming trying to think of how I will build another hinge or find some really tiny hinges that I will fit into the frame so this car can still function. Has anyone here made this repair?

[LIRR1926]

Could you post a picture of the car and hinge. I'm sure there's some folks here that could be helpful but aren't familiar with that particular car.

Scotie

[sir james I]

They used that car for logs and a coal tray. Yes it's very fragile and the only thing that comes to mind is maybe replacing the plastic pin with a metal one. I never did that though as replacement beds were easy to find.

[Boyd]

My home computer crashed 2 weeks ago. No way to post pics.

[BigAl 956]

It depends on what part of the hinge you broke. If it's the pin on the dump tray just replace the tray. I broke the pin cap off and repaired it by glueing a small slice of plastic on to hold down the pin,

Those flimsy modern dump cars are what they are. Your better off with post-war metal cars.