Just used up my last $2.98 Walthers diaphragm set on a baggage car. Which seems like a stiff price for some bits of cleverly folded paper and two plastic pieces. You would think you could make them yourself.
Anyone had any luck doing so? Any hints or kinks to pass on?
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
I've used American Limited diaphragms on several Athearn passenger cars and a number of Stewart F units. They work just fine, and have lasted several years.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Consider that each diaphragm is $1.49. That's how much a pack of gum costs these days (assuming you're buying anything bigger than the five sticks of Juicy Fruit). Your time alone, before materials costs, probably costs more than the $1.49 per unit.
Some years ago a very simplified diaphragm idea appeared in MR or RMC. The guy just folded black paper then cut in the overall shape of a diaphragm, sort of like paper dolls. There was no door opening. This simple black paper "accordian" would expand to meet its mate, but the tension was so slight that there was no problem with going around even very tight curves. And while it was not accurate in its pleats, so to speak, the overall effect was so close that even the photos looked quite plausible and I suspect in real life, especially a moving train, one could not tell the difference.
Dave Nelson
They look like they're probably similar to the bellows used on old view cameras. Do a search on Fold Your Own Camera Bellows and you'll probably find something. It will probably be tough to to make them so small.
Steve S
ndbprrThere was an article or column on the procedure in MR many years ago like the early 60s. Basically you folded the pleats then the shapes.
Folded paper:
January 1937 Making Coach Diaphragms - Howard K Foster - pg 17
September 1966 in an article titled Plush For Your Passengers - Gibson Kennedy - pg 36
July 1970 MR Clinic - Gordon Odegard - pg 74
Stryene:
January 1987 in an article titled Realistic Passenger Car Lighting - Eric Bronsky - pg 74 based on July 1985 in MR Workshop - Don Packard - pg 126
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
I remember seeing an article in Model Railroader a long while back on how to make more realistic diaphragms for N scale passenger cars, but I don't remember which issue it was.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad, the Route of the Black Diamond Express, John Wilkes and Maple Leaf.
-Jake, modeling the Barclay, Towanda & Susquehanna.
I realize this is an old thread but it keeps coming up in searches on the subject of making one's own diaphragms. The only sure-fire diaphragm answer I've found, when one considers couplers and coupling distances, appearance, ease of construction and reliability of use, and the need to keep cut striker plate edges from catching on each other to cause derailemnts seems to be making my own.
I solve the problem of striker plate cut edges, especially doorway cut-outs, catching on each other by covering and closing the outside end of my diaphragms with a solid layer of clear material. That way, there's no doorway cut-out edge for the striker plates to catch each other on, and the strikers slide easily over each other. I can still see into the car ends and I don't have to clean dust or debris from the vestibules.
I use very thin clear plastic, glued to the striker plate and then trimmed to its shape. The cut edges are easily disguised by painting them the same color as the diaphragms, or nearly so. You ony see that the diaphragm ends are sealed in direct light, which really hardly ever happens.
I have also tried painting the doorway opening on the inside of the clear plastic striker plate cover, when there's no interesting vestibule detail visible anyway. It looks okay, and as long as the paint is on the inside of the diaphragm there's still nothing an opposing striker plate can catch or hang up on. The smooth clear plastic covers slide over each other very easily.
I use the American Limited diaphragms, too...
A bit on the pricey side, but they work well and look good, too.
Wayne
I'm also a fan of American Limited diaphragms:
I replace/reposition couplers as needed to make them touch and work correctly.
Sheldon
dknelson Some years ago a very simplified diaphragm idea appeared in MR or RMC. The guy just folded black paper then cut in the overall shape of a diaphragm, sort of like paper dolls. There was no door opening. Dave Nelson
Yes, it was in MR, I used it when scratchbuilding a four car passenger train way back in the early 70's, and they still look good today.
The technique is to start with a piece of paper (I used regular white paper) about 4" long and 1" wide (for HO), fold the paper into a "Z" with the folds across the width of the paper. The middle fold section will determine the width of the diaphragm, and the two longer sections will be the sides, which you can trim as needed.
With the paper still folded into the Z, start at one side and make alternating fan-type folds. It helps to sharpen each crease with a hard object such as a hobby knife handle.
When you have all the fan creases done, unfold the paper along the Z folds so it now resembles an inverted "U". It is now ready to have door frames glued to the outside of the diaphragm and mounted to the passenger car.
There are a lot of commercial diaphragms available, but this is a cheap and easy way to make your own.
Jim
Back in the 1980’s early 90’s I was a member of an organization locally within the NRHS. We owned a number of heritage fleet passenger cars from the NYC, UPRR,NH and B&O to name a few. Several members owned private cars. I remember diaphragms being replaced with large diameter hard rubber tubing. Two up the side notched out at the top with a third piece laying in the notch. This could easily be modeled with electrical heat shrink tubing super glued to the door frame at the car’s end. Cost effective and easy to do with many sizes available. If memory serves me right, one of the cars was a heavy weight business car built back in the 1920’s that served on the L&N originally that had the diaphragm rebuilt with this style of replacement part.
EMDSD40 Back in the 1980’s early 90’s I was a member of an organization locally within the NRHS. We owned a number of heritage fleet passenger cars from the NYC, UPRR,NH and B&O to name a few. Several members owned private cars. I remember diaphragms being replaced with large diameter hard rubber tubing. Two up the side notched out at the top with a third piece laying in the notch. This could easily be modeled with electrical heat shrink tubing super glued to the door frame at the car’s end. Cost effective and easy to do with many sizes available. If memory serves me right, one of the cars was a heavy weight business car built back in the 1920’s that served on the L&N originally that had the diaphragm rebuilt with this style of replacement part.
Agreed, modern diaphragms are easy to model with heat shrink tubing. Pretty sure the OP is looking to model them as originally constructed.
And me, it is 1954 in my little world, so no tube diaphragms here.
The problem with RTR passenger cars and locos is there is a great disparity in how close they couple. For example, good luck trying to get Athearn BB F units to couple even reasonably close. On the other hand, more recent RTR equipment comes with diaphragms and couple very close. Most of the diaphragms I add are on passenger cars that I am putting body mounted couplers on. I generally use the Walthers rubber diaphrams which are quite thin and don't have bellows but since I control where the coupler is installed, I position them so about half the coupler head is beyond the diaphragm. This gives me reasonably close coupling without causing problems on curves. My minimum radius is 32".
I do have one Athearn BB F7 A/B set that I am trying to reduce the distance between them when coupled. The B unit is a dummy. I installed short shank KD couplers and that helped a little but still not good enough. It looks to me like the only way to get close coupling would be to saw off the piece that the coupler clip attaches to and then drill a pilot hole in the frame to take a regular KD coupler box. Even then I'm not sure how close that would get them to couple. Has anyone tried that and how difficult was it to do?
Subway Trains had no stinkin' diaphram!
They had pantograph gates. People walking between cars were protected by chains, the pantograph gates were to prevent people with low vision from walking off of the platform, thinging perhaps that this space represented an open dorway.
Today the pantograph gates are replaced with baloney springs. The 75' cars had to keep the storm doors locked since the trains made huge and sudden shifts of positions when going over switches. Someone (like me) with one foot on on car and one foot on the other would find themselves falling down onto the tracks and being run over. THAT *is* a capital offence! A decapilated offence ???
All of the newest cars are 60'. They will not repeat any 75' cars. These will not kill you crossing over between cars, but the cops will ticket ewe nonetheless. Such killjoys they are!
(ROAR)
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
John, have looked at American Limited diaphragms like the photos I posted above.
I put them on ALL my passenger cars no matter what they come with.
American Limited also makes a close coupling kit for the older Athearn F units, and diaphragms that work perfectly with them. It includes special coupler boxes and I believe is sold with or without the diaphragms.
I can post some photos later.
All my passenger cars are setup to the same specs with these diaphragms and they all couple with the diaphragms just touching and they stay touching without causing any problems.
I also use long shank Kadee 20 series couplers which have lots of swing, but they are set back on the car to get the close coupling. This works out to just a few scale inches more than prototype, and is very effective appearance wise.
I have tested some of my cars down as low as 28" radius, but my layout minimum is 36" radius.