Adding Rear Couplers to Cabeese

The only thing I can think of would be to use the coupler assembly from a postwar truck. These were held on with four tabs, two crimped around each axle.

Now you are going to say, that won't work, because on modern trucks the axles turn with the wheels so you can't attach anything to them. Sure you can: you just crimp it very loosely, and sneak a little grease in there while you are at it. This is how the coupler assembly was attached, from the factory, to the '90s Madison car reissues--crimped around the axles, just not tight enough to stop them turning.

That being said, it might be less effort just to replace the whole truck.

Lionel used to make add-on coupler pieces, don't know the parts number, but I bought one or two at a train show from a Lionel parts dealer. An older Lehigh Valley quad hopper (6436-110)from the post-war era would have the coupler piece you need.

It might be easier to move the center rail pick-up to the front truck assembly and add the coupler to the rear assembly.

Lee F.

If these are plastic Symington trucks (they have molded-in springs flanking the axle caps), the pickup assembly is a snap-in module that can be separated from the truck and simply snapped into an equivalent truck with coupler. It simply hooks into the openings in the truck sideframe.

---PCJ