At a train show a guy sold me a scale 0-gauge Atlas boxcar with beautiful detail, paint and lettering. It was 2-rail. But very cheap. So I thought I'd try a 3-rail upgrade on this car. Is there an inexpensive way to do this? can I pull some old 3-rail truck/coupler combinations out of the junk box and use those? Or am I better off keeping the 2-rail trucks on the car and using a body-mounted coupler? Maybe one of those that has a big box, long arm and springs to center? All advice welcome.
Don
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Converting a 2-rail car to 3 is not "upgrading", it's downgrading. You're taking a car that looks close to real with scale wheels and body mounted couplers and replacing them with oversized wheels and couplers that are truck mounted.
The trucks are the same, it doesn't matter if they are 2-rail or 3. Just replace the 2-rail wheels with 3. I have lots of 3-rail wheelsets and claw couplers leftover from 3-rail to 2 conversions. Now that's an upgrade.
And sell the 2-rail trucks here to recoup some of your costs.
Two screws and your set.
Order the correct style that your car needs and just swap
catnap posted:Converting a 2-rail car to 3 is not "upgrading", it's downgrading. You're taking a car that looks close to real with scale wheels and body mounted couplers and replacing them with oversized wheels and couplers that are truck mounted.
The trucks are the same, it doesn't matter if they are 2-rail or 3. Just replace the 2-rail wheels with 3. I have lots of 3-rail wheelsets and claw couplers leftover from 3-rail to 2 conversions. Now that's an upgrade.
I beg to pardon with your differences (a direct quote from my then 6-year boy, a long time ago 
). It all depends on your frame of mind.
To me, it's the exact opposite - it's an "upgrade", not a downgrade. 
catnap posted:Converting a 2-rail car to 3 is not "upgrading", it's downgrading. You're taking a car that looks close to real with scale wheels and body mounted couplers and replacing them with oversized wheels and couplers that are truck mounted.
The trucks are the same, it doesn't matter if they are 2-rail or 3. Just replace the 2-rail wheels with 3. I have lots of 3-rail wheelsets and claw couplers leftover from 3-rail to 2 conversions. Now that's an upgrade.
It’s neither an upgrade or a downgrade. It’s a simple change from one to the other to meet preferences. Same for converting to Kadee couplers.
Seek out Atlas wheelsets as the needlepoint bearings extend quite a bit further out than anyone else’s. You can find them on eBay most of the time.
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