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Walthers Rapido Coupler Swap to MTL

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  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern CA Bay Area
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Posted by cuyama on Friday, December 22, 2017 3:54 PM

oops, you're right

  • Member since
    November 2017
  • 68 posts
Posted by Jonas Grumby on Friday, December 22, 2017 3:16 PM

Thanks for the link. The Kato page only lists locomotives. You can also check this page:

https://www.micro-trains.com/index.php?_route_=n-scale/magne-matic-couplers

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: Northern CA Bay Area
  • 4,387 posts
Posted by cuyama on Friday, December 22, 2017 2:57 PM

MicroTrains and Kadee were the same company originally. N scale conversions are on this page

  • Member since
    November 2017
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Posted by Jonas Grumby on Friday, December 22, 2017 2:52 PM

Thanks Wayne. It seems like Kadee only has HO and G scale couplers, but Micro Trains makes N scale couplers.

It seems like the main things to know are whether you need body mount or truck mount, and whether you need short, medium, or long shank.

There is a train store not far from me that carries them, so I think my best bet would be to go there and make sure I'm getting the right stuff.

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  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Friday, December 22, 2017 12:37 PM

The easiest way, in my opinion, would be to slice the existing couplers from the trucks, at the flat portion where the spring ends near the pin holding the truck in place.
The best way to do this is to remove the trucks from the car and use a utility knife to slice-off the unwanted portion.
You could then replace the couplers with body-mounted Kadees.  See the Kadee website for the appropriate couplers to use. 
You may need to adjust the height of either the couplers or the car itself in order to get reliable performance, but it's not difficult to do.

Wayne

  • Member since
    November 2017
  • 68 posts
Walthers Rapido Coupler Swap to MTL
Posted by Jonas Grumby on Friday, December 22, 2017 12:03 PM

What's involved in swapping out the Rapido Couplers on a Walthers N scale box car to have magnetic couplers like my Kato trains? Would I have to completely replace the trucks?

Are the couplers on Kato trains what they call MTL or Magnematic?

Also, where would I be able to get the parts?

Walthers trucks with Rapido couplers

Thanks

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