O scale disconnecting trucks?!

Kemtron made them in brass a long time ago, in the late 1950s. A long shot but Precisoin Scale might also have them or the parts to make them. They were basially an arch bar truck. A log bracket with a kingpin and a coupler at each end of the bracket sat on top of each truck. Chains were used to tie down the logs. 

That way, a string of these trucks by themselves could be moved to a location, separated for loading logs and then coupled together as cars and run in a train. Braking would have been done by hand with crew members as I don't think the disconnects had air brakes on them. But I could be wrong on that too.

I emailed precision; I found an outfit in Australia, he is looking into making them full O scale rather than on3...

then I need to sort out couplers....

Contact Bob Stevenson, of Stevenson Preservation Models.  You want the Climax truck.  You modify it with a simple piece of K&S rectangular tube and two couplers.

Ignore the logs - this is what they look like:

Right here http://psc1.virtualfocus.com/

I could not locate them on their site...  what are they under?

pricing?

ok--found them---what couplers are those?   lionel compatible..?

Select trucks button, then O passenger/freight trucks and scroll own to bottom.

are they lionel knuckle couplers...?

Of course not. Why would you want those big lobster claws anyway, especially for "disconnect" log cars?

i just want lionel compatible... !

Suggest you then up-grade to ALL Kadee, or other SCALE couplers, and forget about the lobster claws.

kadee works for me!

Kadee's are only part of the problem. The stock coupler will not work with lobster claws and it would look horrific if they did. I haven't worked out the details on this yet, but it will be a challenge.

Greg--yikes,    Can you shim the coupler...   looks like 1/8" ...

How about lowering the flat car? Which coupler meets the Kadee height gauge?

Bob,

are they 2R or Lionel height...  this seems to be the other issue.

Its been a while since I messed with these. The flat cars were a quick and dirty first attempt at kadees and iirc the disconnects are the correct height to a Kadee gauge. Someone suggested smaller diameter wheel sets for the flat cars, haven't got that far yet, to many other projects.

This brings up a long standing "standard" of mounting Kadee, or ANY scale couplers,,,,,ALWAYS follow the NMRA coupler height specifications! Invest in a Kadee coupler height gauge and make sure EVERY piece of rolling stock you work on has couplers that meet the gauge.

Yes!

One handy aid in installing Kadees on 3-rail equipment is that the top surface of the Kadee coupler on the Kadee height gauge is just about dead even with the top surface of "most" 3-rail lobster claws.

Before beginning a conversion, take a good look at where the top surface of the original "claw" lines up with the car body. That will give you a good starting point for figuring out what shims will be needed when installing the Kadee coupler box to the underframe of the car or engine.

But, double-check with that height gauge to check the installation.

Jim

The flat car meets the coupler gauge. Modifying the disconnects doesnt look easy. My first guess would be larger wheel sets.

Just some advice. You should remount the top of your height gauge the other direction to allow the use of the trip pin gauge.  I finally started using that as well after having a trip  pin bent out of the package and hitting the center rail.

Would equiping a car with the new o-scale Kadees work?  They have several different models with heads offset in different ways from the shank.  I just ordered a set of each so I can see what is likely to be most useful, when.

Mike

Good thought. I'm not aware of all the Kadee configurations, but what I do know is these have to go up and there really doesn't look like a practical way to accomplish that. If they make an "up" offset that would do the trick.

How about lowering the coupler on the flat car?  Or any car that can serve as an idler car between the disconnects and the engine.

I recall seeing a picture of a standard gauge car with an "S" shaped casting slipped over its coupler.  It was used to couple standard gauge cars that had their truck replaced with narrow gauge trucks to narrow gauge cars for a trip over narrow gauge tracks.  The casting was used to mate the different sized and different height couplers.  That would be perfect for your application.

Jan