I wanted to switch a USA Trains 55ft Mechanical refrigerator over to Kadee couplers. Following the included instructions, they tell you to remove 8 screws to remove the entire floor and undercarriage.
Problem 1. I could only find 5 of the 8 screws. This resutled in a floor that would not come free of the box, despite looking for more and trying to carefully spread the sides to release it.
So next I thought, forget this let's go to plan B and just screw the Kadee draft gear onto the floor with self tapping screws. But first I want to get those 5 screws I removed from the floor and get it all tightended up again.
Problem 2. I can not get those 5 long (4") screws to line up and find the respective hole far inside the box. With a lot of messing about and great aggravation, I got 2; 3 remain laying on my workbench.
I guess what irritates me the most is that USA specifically wrote these steps without any guidance of how to really do it, or a diagram to show where the "8" screws are located, or how to get them lined up again. I have been in this hobby over 25 years and this is the worst I have experienced yet.
Any suggestions are sincerely appreciated.
Dont understand why you'd remove the floor ? There are Kadee pads on the ends, just need to remove the trucks to screw them on.
Good question. The instructions provided by USA Trains clearly say to remove the floor to attach the coupllers, thereby using nuts and bolts which make for a much stronger attachment. Using the pads (and self tapping screws) as you indicated, can potentially strip out and are not as strong. This method is noted by USA but more as a suggested alternative.
In the 25+ years I have been in garden railways (and my mechanical engineering and design career) I have always preferred the raw strength of steel over self tapping screws in plastic; I've simply been burned by them too many times. As much I don't like them, I ended up going with the self tapping screws anyways.
But I still have an underfloor not fully screwed onto the body and 3 long screws not able to go back in! The really frustrating part to this mess were instructions provided by USA Trains telling you to take screws out that are very difficult (perhaps impossible for some people) to get back in. It may be easy for them at the factory where they are all tooled up for it, but that doesn't help the consumer who isn't.
Thanks for the reply! ....mike
1st thing is to get the screws back in the car you need to guide by putting your hand thru the door and guide them into there holes. 2nd I only use the self tappers with the Kadees on ALL my cars without issue. 100 car freight trains run all day long and never an issue with a Kadee falling off. You cant over think this stuff or it takes the fun out of it.
TRUTH SEEKER asap.........................
TRUTH SEEKER ASAP 1st thing is to get the screws back in the car you need to guide by putting your hand thru the door and guide them into there holes. 2nd I only use the self tappers with the Kadees on ALL my cars without issue. 100 car freight trains run all day long and never an issue with a Kadee falling off. You cant over think this stuff or it takes the fun out of it. TRUTH SEEKER asap.........................
That about all it takes with most USA trains there are some that require a shim or two so they line up correctly. Truth Seeker I would love to see a Vidio of your 100 car train. My best so far is 56 cars with mix couplers.
Dave
The head is gray, hands don't work , back is weak, legs give out, eyes are gone, money go's and my wife still love's Me.
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