MTH European couplers

Yes. I would love to see MTH make the Class 66 locomotive to run those modern tank and gondola cars. The Class 66 can be found in many parts of Europe and not just Great Britain. 

@AMF posted:

2..The MTH European freight cars are built to 1:45 scale vs our 1:48 scale, but appear to be over sized.  The European engines are also supposed to be 1:45 scale vs our 1:48, which would make me think that the engines would be a little bigger, but they seem slightly undersized.  (Specifically here, I am talking about the Taurus ES 64-U2)

If the MTH gondola appears to be oversized, after taking into account its larger scale, it's because it's a BIG car.  Think of it as comparable to a North American rotary dump 'hopper car', which if they have no bottom doors are classified as [ high side ] gondolas.  The nominal dimensions of a typical Eanos are 15740 mm length over buffer ends and 3355 mm high from top of rail -- you can do the math.

As far as the coupler conversion goes, I would be pleasantly surprised if you were not breaking new ground here, and I think you're going to have to do this with little precedent to go on.  Here's what I'd do:

   Measure the distance from the truck mounting bolt hole to the pulling face of the dummy knuckle coupler.  You now need to find an MTH truck that has a truck-mounted coupler with those dimensions.  I think I'd start with what's under the MTH 60 ft flat as an example, which may be the MTH 20-89004 truck asbly, a separate sale item. 

  Disclaimer:  The previous two sentences are purely paper speculation;  I do not have that hardware.  But I do have some MTH Eanos cars in both 2 and 3 rail configurations.

I hope the above helps.  Good luck and have fun !

SZ

@prrhorseshoecurve posted:

Yes. I would love to see MTH make the Class 66 locomotive to run those modern tank and gondola cars. The Class 66 can be found in many parts of Europe and not just Great Britain. 

Dapol is planning one in two-rail O.

Here is one of my Bachmann Branchline Freightliner 66's on a friend's layout:

Thank you Prrhorseshoecurve and Steinzeit for your feedback.  I did not realize that the gondolas were supposed to be that large!   I based my thought on the fact that the gondolas "dwarf" the engines in size!  I will probably have to wait until the COVID 19 quarantine is lifted so I can visit a local hobby store and take some measurements for finding a replacement truck for each gondola.  My concern is the mounting of the truck, as there is a "protrusion" that the truck fits over, (which you can see in the photo).  I really don't want to file this protrusion down, as it is part of where the screw is held in place.  (the screw that holds the truck to the body)  None of the other freight cars that I have, domestic or imported, do the mounting of the trucks the same way. 

This appears to be the start of a "quest"!

Thanks again for your input!

Thank you PRRMP54 for the photos of the Bachmann Branchline Freightliner 66's.  There are so many interesting engines that are in service through out the world!  

I am going to propose an idea that might be of interest to those of us who seek out engines and cars from other parts of the world.  Possibly MTH might have an interest in my idea? (Although this is probably the wrong time for "new ideas", when there is enough trouble selling "old ideas").  In any event "stay tuned!".......you never know!

@AMF posted:

........... My concern is the mounting of the truck, as there is a "protrusion" that the truck fits over, (which you can see in the photo).  I really don't want to file this protrusion down, as it is part of where the screw is held in place.  (the screw that holds the truck to the body)  None of the other freight cars that I have, domestic or imported, do the mounting of the trucks the same way.

 I.  I would see two alternatives at this point [ but obviously there are others ]:

  A.    Instead of a truck-mounted coupler, you could use a body mounted but operating coupler.  For example, I have [ at least ] one that was removed [ I think !!  ] from a -3 non-pwd TRAXX loco.  Unfortunately its shank is too long for this application, but there might be other styles in the MTH or Lionel parts bins.  Would you happen to have a -3 Taurus ?

  B.    In the case of the gondolas, you could make a new partial underframe.  Cut the existing one at both ends  between the truck mtg area and the two end mounting screws, so that they are retained for the buffers, etc.  Then make a new center section out of, say , 1/8" Masonite or similar.  With that clean sheet of pap..., er, wood, you can make your own bolster for whatever truck you come up with, and you have flexibility in its location.

II.  I would like to ask if you 'need' to do this to every car, or just a few cars, primarily for attaching / detaching locomotives.  If it is the latter, another possibility is to buy a few cars that could reasonably converted to Euro-looking cars [ buffers, rearrange safety appliances, etc ] and use those as transition cars between the Euro cars and the locos.  Of course, this is less fun than really solving the issue.......

SZ