Paul3 I bought a dozen of the Rapido F30 flats; 6 in PRR TOFC and 6 in TTX.I replaced all the couplers with Kadee #148 whisker couplers.I also added a single red Kadee washer to every truck bolster. If you are experiencing any drag or squeaking sounds from your Rapido F30 flats, add one red Kadee washer and see if that fixes it. It worked for me.
I bought a dozen of the Rapido F30 flats; 6 in PRR TOFC and 6 in TTX.I replaced all the couplers with Kadee #148 whisker couplers.I also added a single red Kadee washer to every truck bolster. If you are experiencing any drag or squeaking sounds from your Rapido F30 flats, add one red Kadee washer and see if that fixes it. It worked for me.
I too will be replacing the couplers with #148's as original head Kadees are a requirement on my layout.
The jury is out on the trucks, but there is a high likelyhood I will replace them as well with my standard formula - Kadee sprung trucks with Intermountain wheelsets.
These cars will get lettered for the ATLANTIC CENTRAL.
I may consider picking up a few in PRR if they are still available, but I do consider the piggyback roster to be pretty much full at this point.
The piggyback roster includes kit bashed Athearn 40' and 50' cars, Walthers GSC 53' cars and 75' cars, Bachmann 50' cars, Tichy 40' cars, F&C 40' cars and a few odd balls from the way past like old Ulrich kits.
The fleet includes a long list of roadnames - I stretch history a bit with the amount of piggyback interchange model.
In addition to the ATLANTIC CENTRAL you will see piggybacks from B&O, C&O, WM, NH, PRR, Wabash, CNW, GN, SP, UP, NYC, ATSF, and others.
Sheldon
Paul, what does adding the washer do to the coupler height? Is it correct to begin with, or does adding the washer bring it to the proper height?
maxman,With the switchover to Kadee #148's, the red washer made the coupler height perfect on my Rapido F30's.
Paul3 maxman,With the switchover to Kadee #148's, the red washer made the coupler height perfect on my Rapido F30's.
So this means that the Rapido flats were riding low prior to the washer installation. Good to know. Thanks.
Oh, and I sent you an email on another topic.