switching couplers on pre war and early post war passenger cars and other rolling stock

short answer...YES you can,what you have are BOX COUPLERS..you'll need to change to knuckle type you need  coil coupler trucks available from parts dealers also at shows make sure the truck has a roller pick up you need it for the lights....not a big job....good luck...joe

@joe krasko

Thank you so much. I'll search for coil coupler trucks. Because I have only recently decided to put up a fairly large (one section 8x8, at 90 degrees from the far right of the 8x8 a 4x8, and at the far right of that 4x8, another 4x8 to make a sort of upside down U if these were all vertical instead of horizontal) year round layout to run my 3 Williams engines (Erie Lackawanna ALCO Passenger ABA, B&O Royal Blue steam, and brown Pennsy ALCO AA), the Lionel 224E, a Lionel Amtrak passenger train set (027), a 246X (Scout steam & tender from 2010), and a Lionel ALCO A Liberty Special, and a Lionel Trolley plus a small loop for an American Flyer freight set, I haven't even thought of attending train shows. I guess I could have considered going to York this year, but this coupler conversion wasn't on my mind at the time. I already have quite a bit of rolling stock accumulated over the years and many Plasticville structures with the idea that some day I'd be able to build a layout so I didn't want to be tempted to buy any more engines or cars if I attended the show in York.

You may be better off to only switch 1 truck, so you will have a "conversion car" so to speak. You could most likely use any post war truck. However you slice it, changing trucks may be expensive, and it's not really necessary. One truck will do the trick.

Box and Latch couplers are compatible with each other. Latch couplers came before Box couplers. Latch couplers have a latch that needs to be raised to couple and uncouple. therefore the name latch.

Might this Lionel adapter work for you?

@Scotie

I have no idea because I have no idea how to use that or those adapter(s). I'm totally ignorant.

The folded end where the screw goes goes over the pin on the latch coupler and then the other end mates with a later coupler. It does increase the distance between them but is fully removable and leaves the rolling stock in as made condition. Here's another version Lionel TS-100 available from many vendors.

@john in western pa

I was on the concrete floor of our unheated basement when I tried out the recently serviced 224E and the prewar cars that I had just to see how the the locomotive & tender looked actually pulling cars. I found out that I had to lie down on the floor to work with those darn "latch" couplers on my freight cars...and raise the latches on the two couplers that I was bringing together. By the time I was done, this 75-year old man was cold, had a stiff neck, and my arms were sore from how long it took me to hook up each latch coupler. I envision my year-round layout being about 32 or 33 inches high so I won't by lying on the basement concrete floor, but I still don't want to fool around with those latch couplers. However, that doesn't mean that I won't take your advice and create a conversion car except I really wanted to run all the green, metal passenger cars with the 224E. I guess the first passenger car could be the conversion car to hook up with the other 3 green, metal passenger cars with knuckle couplers. I have a second green, metal passenger car--an observation car--that has a leading box or latch coupler and no coupler off the trailing end. It needs to have some work done on it because every time I put it on the track hooked up to the Pullman car in the attached pic above and the 224E and tender, the train would short out. Because there's a roller with the lead wheel truck and a light bulb inside, I think it's fairly obvious that there's something wrong with the wiring to the light or the light fixture itself. So I've got to inspect that observation car to see if: A. it can be disassembled without destroying it, B. if I can figure out what the problem is, and C. whether I am capable of fixing that problem.

@Scotie

Thanks for the explanation! Pretty cool adapter. I love the ingenuity of work-arounds. I'm not a stickler for original vs. modified, and I'm not sure I'd like the visual of the increased distance between the two cars as a result of using the adapters. If I decide to go the route of changing trucks and couplers, I would keep the originals so if I ever decide in the future to sell the pieces, I could put them back in their original configuration.

Before there are any additional comments/replies/suggestions, I would like to thank all those who have offered suggestions and/or advice. I really appreciate it. And while I thought I had a lot to learn about maintaining, cleaning, and lubricating my engines and rolling stock (if necessary), I now realize that I have a whole heckuva lot more to learn.