New RMT reefers uncoupling tab

I have always loved the RMT rolling stock but I ordered 25 steam erra tank cars a couple of years ago and the couplers do not fit together without forcing them . Still trying to find a remedy. Nick

I was considering an RMT reefer or 2, but I think I'll pass on this run.

@rockstars1989 posted:

I have always loved the RMT rolling stock but I ordered 25 steam erra tank cars a couple of years ago and the couplers do not fit together without forcing them . Still trying to find a remedy. Nick

I am pretty sure RMT is using different, upgraded couplers since then.  They are on all the new stuff coming out.

@rockstars1989 posted:

I have always loved the RMT rolling stock but I ordered 25 steam erra tank cars a couple of years ago and the couplers do not fit together without forcing them . Still trying to find a remedy. Nick

New trucks were designed, and one of the specific issues addressed was the alignment and shape of the couplers.

@jini5, I just unpacked my four RMT 36' wood side reefers.  Your observation about "dangling" is correct.  Of the eight trucks I have one that definitely hangs too low and catches on a track imperfection while rolling by hand.  Once I clear the other train from the tack I will try under power to see if I have sparking like you.  An axle on another truck seems to be very tight.  I'll try giving it a little oil to see if that solves that issue.  I may try bending the one tab if that is the only one that gives me trouble.

I bought 3 new RMT reefers from Patrick's Trains.  They look great!   ... however   two of the three reefers failed the pull test.  One of those reefers could not even pull 3 cars without one of the couplers failing.  The second could only pull 5 cars before a coupler failed.  This past Monday,  I called Pat and he was very quick to send me ( at no charge for postage or trucks ) a pair ( one for each car )  of new trucks which I received yesterday.  I've not had time to R&R the former to the new but hope to find time to do so this weekend.  Hopefully these new trucks will solve the problem.  

While at York I purchased a new RMT scale Soo Line boxcar from Mr. Muffin.  It passes the pull test fine.  No coupler issues.  

Btw- Kudo's to Patrick's Trains for standing behind their products and for excellent customer service!!  This is my first purchase from Patrick's and because of his superb customer service this will be the first of many purchases from Pat's Trains going forward!

After removing the New Yorker reefer from the tracks to take photos to compare these wonderful reefers to those of other manufacturers and placing it back on the tracks the issue with the tab seems to have resolved itself, maybe it had gotten stuck in an over-extended position.  I'll keep an eye on it.  Upon closer inspection the sticky axle on the Iroquois is due to the wheel face being in contact with the side frames.  Either the wheel set is out of gauge or the side frames got pinched closer together.  A quick call to Pat's Trains and like Trumpettrain a new truck is on the way.  Service from Pat's Trains is even better than the details on these new reefers.

Good to see the excellent service for these new reefers. I’ve fortunately had none of the above problems noted by others. However, I do notice that one coupler requires a lot of force to close, so much so that it will not lock when backed into by my switcher or pushed into another car.  I worked in some oil and that relieved it a bit but it still requires too much force for train induced closing.  I’m quite ok with this, since it is far more important for me to see that coupler remain closed when operating in a long, heavy train like it does.  THe other coupler works like a charm, easily closing yet remaining closed under heavy load.

I have not have any coupler truck problems, but had to reattach several of the box car roof walk ways.  Anyone else experience that.

@Reading RR posted:

I have not have any coupler truck problems, but had to reattach several of the box car roof walk ways.  Anyone else experience that.

No problem with the roof walk. But did loose a couple of door hinges when I tried to open the doors. Nice feature but it appears a few joints may not have gotten glued in.

Pete

My problems were on the PS-1 40' box cars.

@jini5 posted:

Does anyone out there think the uncoupling tabs seem too low? The ones I bought are maybe 3/16" above the center rail.  Also, aren't uncoupling tabs usually solid on the other brands? These new RMT"s  dangle. I have had 1 of the reefers sparking from the uncoupling tab making contact with the center rail. Anyone looked at theirs? Other than that, these cars are nice.

My new RMT reefers and boxcars seemed to run fine at first, but the last few days, the breaker popped a few times when they were running.  On close examination, the tabs that work with an uncoupling track do hang too low.  If you pull them all the way down, they are well below rail level, but the spring will generally pull them back up.  Even when in the correct position some are too low.  Note the arc strikes in attached pic.

Pretty sure I cured mine.  I held the stem that attaches to the truck with a pair of bent needle nose pliers and bent the bottom part with my thumb so it sits higher.

The original design and the samples we received all had them in the proper position.  I suspect an adjustment to the manufacturing is required.

Has anybody tried changing the trucks on the reefers?  I received two and decided I couldn't live with the roller bearing trucks on 30's era cars.  That, and 50% of the trucks were not in useable condition in my opinion.  Anyway, the only way I could figure to replace the trucks was to pop out the outer wheelset in each truck in order to get clearance for a screwdriver to access the four wells where the screws that hold the shell to the frame are located.  The floor came out easliy after the four screws are removed and I was able to substitute a better pair of trucks.  HOWEVER, then I needed to pop out the outer wheelset of each of the new trucks in order to attach the shell back to the frame.  What a PITA!!!!!!

Anybody got a better solution?  Thanks.

Cheers,

Price

You can remove those screws without first removing the trucks. You just need a thinner screw driver. I plan to replace the trucks on mine as soon as I find suitable replacements.

Pete

No problems here ! Mine are all perfect.

They run great going fast or slow.

I’m in the process of modifying the trucks and changing to kadee couplers. I don’t care for the uncoupling tab on the new RMT trucks. They are too floppy and I’ve had a couple get snagged on seams on the center track, which then causes the coupler tab to fold under, and also causes a short. Since the trucks are all metal, there’s not much choice other than cutting off the original coupler.  Then there is good clearance to mount the kadee coupler. Fortunately there’s already a couple holes for the kadee screws. To remove the trucks, I tried a smaller screwdriver but the tip is too tiny to get a grip on the screw head.  I ended up popping one of the wheels out of the truck. To cut off the couplers I completely disassembled the truck anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal.

To permanently fix the truck removal problem, I reversed the orientation of the screw.  I drilled out the threaded hole that is used to connect the truck to the car, glued a thick plastic washer on top of the car bottom over the hole where the truck screw goes, then drilled and threaded that washer to match the truck screw.  Now to attach the trucks, the bottom of the car can be screwed in place and the trucks screwed on from the bottom as the last step.

I’ll also add that I wanted to stick with the original RMT trucks because a decent set of replacement trucks is almost as much as the RMT car.

@Norton posted:

No problem with the roof walk. But did loose a couple of door hinges when I tried to open the doors. Nice feature but it appears a few joints may not have gotten glued in.

Pete

Good to know, I don't think I'll try to open mine.  That Old Indian sure does look sharp.

Posting some pics of the conversion I described earlier. The reefer looks much better with kadee couplers.  I also lowered the car about 1.5mm by shaving the top surface of each truck where it touches the bottom of the car.