The gap between pass.cars

[argilla01]

Recently I bought a "smooth and coach" cars from Aristo.
There is however a gap between the cars with is unnatural and to wide. How can I put them togheter like the real ones? any suggestions ??
I use the knuckle coplers
Thanks ! with love from Belguim
Marc [:D] [:D]

[Anonymous]

shorten the couplers or make draw bars to the lenght you like. problem with shorting is how tight is your curves it can cause lots of problems pulling off or wrong tracking.

[cacole]

Oversized gaps between passenger cars are a problem in all scales because the manufacturers make them so they will go around the tightest radius curves made without derailing. Shortening the couplers is impossible on most brands of rolling stock. Fabricating a drawbar to replace the couplers is a good idea provided you would never want to separate these cars in the future.

HO and N scale passenger cars always suffer from the same shortcomings, and are something you might just have to learn to live with. Lionel trains have been guilty of this for nearly 100 years. Sometimes you can find replacement or add-on flexible diaphragms that will compensate for some of this gap, but they just try to fill it in, not shorten it.

The best solution I have ever seen was a brand of coupler made in Germany, possibly by Fleischmann, with springs that allowed the cars to be pulled closer together on straight track, and spread apart as they went around curves. Unfortunately, this type of coupler was never sold as an after-market replacement for other brands, and was only available for that manufacturer's HO-scale equipment.

This seems to be one of those inventions waiting for someone with enough gumption and money to risk trying to manufacture and market it to a very limited audience.

[Anonymous]

I would live with it, what they have said above is quite right and it is an inherent problem and will eventually become the least of your trouble.


Rgds ian.

[BudSteinhoff]

I just cut off the tangs and redrill the hole for the coupler.
Set the distance between cars whatever you want for the curve radius that you have, mine almost touch on the curves.
Bud