Good morning....This is how I installed the Kadee couplers. MTH did such a nice job of minimizing the gap between swinging pilot and frame I thought I would keep that feature, normally I fix my pilots. I used and old claw coupler, just the bottom steel piece with the round button on it and cut that off and drilled a new mounting hole for the Kadee, mounting the Kadee on the top side. Hope the photos explain everything better than I. Going this route I can convert back to electric claws. Had to really tighten the mount to the truck to keep it from moving, I also put some blue lock tight on the mount and all screws.
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That is a neat idea! And it looks great!
Thanks,
Mario
Nice job Clem!! I too have been working on converting some of my lionel engines, like you I used the same approach and found that no matter how much I tightened the center screw, eventually the Kadee box would not stay centered. I remedied the problem by cutting a piece of styrene just wide enough to fit through the rear pilot and the problem went away. Here are a few pic, still need to be trimmed and painted.
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Thank you Mario
Luis I like that solution, paint it black and add snowplow, never see it.
Clem
Great job Clem....if MTH ever does a Santa Fe Zebra.... I just might have to get one.
Hi Doug You will like this engine it really does run well, pulls more than it should. looks best running less then 15mph. The ground pickup is weak, I hope MTH comes up with a solution. Inside looks like it is set up for 2/3 rail. I can see how the 2 railers would like this locomotive, its really heavy.
Clem
A Kadee Coupler / Demo
Gary
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Hello, first post, if I may ask a question, how do I remove the pilot from the 44 tonner? I removed the truck side-frames and cannot see a way to remove the pilot, other than to remove the hood, but I am willing to give it a try.
Thank you!
Been awhile, I think you have to remove the body to get to the mounting screws. Be careful its tight in there.