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Athearn f59phi coupler help

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  • Member since
    February 2008
  • 28 posts
Athearn f59phi coupler help
Posted by NYBob on Monday, April 27, 2020 12:14 PM

I'm replacing the old horn hook couplers with mchenry couplers but the new couplers are a bit too low to properly couple up. It's impossible to raise it up do is there a coupler with an offset shank so the coupler head is higher than the shank out of the coupler pocket?

  • Member since
    February 2008
  • 28 posts
Posted by NYBob on Monday, April 27, 2020 12:28 PM

Oops fixed it. Found out the car it was coupled to was riding too high. It couples up to other cars fine. Should have checked other cars too. 

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Monday, April 27, 2020 12:35 PM

That was easy, I'll let my post stand and find out what I don't know about Athearn coupler on recent production

They have underset shanks.  They come in short medium and long  144, 147 or 141

However the Kadee conversion chart shows a long shank plastic coupler.  The coupler box is also different. 

https://www.kadee.com/ho-scale-couplers-c-272_230_231/36-30series-couplers-long-centerset-ho-p-270.htm

Plastic couplers used to be important, if one was consisting Blue Box locos.  I suppose that means the frames are hot in horn hook locos

Dan Cortipassi just did a youtube on adjusting coupler height and he filled the frame so the coupler box would fit higher.  No one here will suggest that McHenry's are better than KD.

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Monday, April 27, 2020 12:49 PM

I didn't know the Athearn P59PHI came with horn hook couplers.  I have 3 of them, in the yellow and blue box, and they all came with Kadee clones.

Mike.

  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
  • 21,483 posts
Posted by MisterBeasley on Monday, April 27, 2020 1:03 PM

Get a Kadee coupler gauge, and use it on every engine and every piece of rolling stock.  Don't just measure against other trains.  They could be incorrect, too, and then you'll have two sets to fix.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
    February 2008
  • 28 posts
Posted by NYBob on Monday, April 27, 2020 2:20 PM

This is from an athearn John Deere box set from many years ago. This engine weighs a lot so it should be a good puller.

  • Member since
    November 2015
  • 1,345 posts
Posted by ATSFGuy on Monday, April 27, 2020 2:52 PM

Athearn released that set in 2004 or 2005. It was an F59PHI pulling three Bombardier Multi-Level Cars, (two coaches, one cabcar, and one flatcar w/2 tractors.). Another version had the same locomotive pulling four freight cars.

 

Nothing prototypical here, made up toy.

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