So I received a couple Atlas freight car bodies for Christmas without Trucks or couplers from ModelTrainShells on eBay. Wanting to use some of the new Kadee #754 100-Ton Roller Bearing Trucks, I first was hoping since the cars ride high with the standard Atlas trucks that the new Kadee trucks would be a direct replacement. Well they looked awesome just using the supplied Kadee parts but meant I would need to devise a new method for mounting the couplers. So after thinking about this for a bit, I decided I wasn't wanting to go that far with this car at this time, so I needed to either devise a method to raise the car slightly without getting to Atlas truck look and use the existing coupler mounting pads or just settle for the Atlas trucks.
I noticed that an Evergreen 1/4 tube #228 fit just perfectly into the Kadee #754 truck mounting hole and went over the Atlas kingpin. After a little trial and error, I figured out that if I cut a 1/4" piece of this tube and ensured it fit all the way down into the Kadee truck hole I could use the existing coupler mounting holes as they matched perfectly on a Kadee height gauge. The car also didn't look like it was riding too high as it does using standard Atlas trucks. In the photo below you can see the highlighted section of tube slightly extending kingpin.
I drilled and tapped the kingpin mounting hold for a 4-40 screw as the standard Kadee screws included with the trucks as not long enough with the extension. I mounted the couplers as I do with all cars using 2-56 screws.
I will paint the extension, add extra weight to the car and weather, but for 30 minutes of work, I think the result turned out better than I expected. The car looks and rides at a more prototypical ride height,
