What's the Smart (Easy) Way to Disassemble Atlas O Couplers

Bill - it is tough to remove the snap in coupler pocket lid as the fit is very tight.  Here is how I do it.  I first remove the truck.  Then I use a needle  plier with one tip in the truck screw hole and the other on the vertical tab at the back of the pocket.  While squeezing the pliers I press downward on the coupler head.  The combination of pulling the tab rearward and the upward force of the coupler shank will cause the lid to pop free of the pockert.  Usually at this point the draft gear spring will go flying in to space. IMO a far better pocket design would use Kadee hole spacing and a screw on lid.  Hope this helps.

Ed Rappe

PS - I've found the latest AtlasO Kadee clone couplers work ok if I replace the overly strong AtlasO springs with Kadee ones.

Atlas couplers?  I'd recommend an anvil and a good 8-10 pound striking hammer.

I use wire nippers to cut the tab off - no need to try to salvage any of their parts.

I am glad somebody else has had trouble with these.  I just didn't have time to figure it out, and so simply trashed them while removing them.  I have heard that they are worth trashing.

'I have heard that they are worth trashing'

+1

Thanks, guys.  Good info.

I'll go the "destructive removal and trashing" route.   No need to add these to my parts bins (except the screws). 

 It's good to know that I wasn't missing something obvious and that these couplers are in fact difficult to disassemble.

I'll never understand why Atlas O chose to put their precious resources into designing and producing these couplers when we already had a defacto industry standard and a range of choices within that standard with Kaydee.  And to top it off several other excellent choices for those who want more scale fidelity than the Kadees offer.

I can get Atlas boxes apart a time or two, that tab distorts and eventually breaks the more times you open it.  Like Ed, I haven't had too bad an experience with the Atlas Kadee clones using Kadee springs but I haven't had the extensive experience that a lot of you have had.  The earlier couplers with a hidden spring are trash.

I think even Atlas considers any work on the couplers to require a replacement of the box.

But by using the holes originally provided by Atlas, the Kadee gear box & coupler assembly sticks out past the end sill of the freight car. 

I don't usually buy Atlas cars, but when I do, I buy 3 rail cars.  I can usually sell the truck /coupler assemblies for about $15.00 a pair. This covers the cost of Intermountain trucks ($2.50), Intermountain Wheel sets ($7.00) and the Kadee couplers ($3.50/pair).  All of those are Strasburg prices.  As a result the cars ride at the right height, the truck side frames do not grotesquely stick out, and by drilling my own holes (per Hot Water) the couplers are in a prototypical position. As a bonus, three rail cars sell for about $5.00 less.

And Thornton comes out of nowhere to nail the Triple Lindy!

John, excellent.  We're off topic but I started it and just gotta ask. Do the Intermountain trucks just screw right on in place of the Atlas O trucks or are modifications required?