Working on Amfleets and Metroliners-- Phase 2, new cab ends and 3D printed GE pantographs

Trainguy KenOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBER

I've had many requests to do some custom designs based around MTH's Amfleet coaches. I just acquired a whole trunkload of "repairman's special" MTH Premier Amfleet sets. Those just arrived Friday and I've been hard at work with Phase 1 of the project-- repairing the trucks of all the sets.

One common theme that I have noticed with these cars is that almost all of them have broken couplers. Yes, this is what zinc rot looks like-- diecast parts crumble and snap like cheap resin. We've all heard the horror stories about MTH's bad metallurgy resulting in outbreaks of this, and during the mid 2000s when these Amfleet coaches were in production, passenger car couplers were badly afflicted.

After dismantling one of the trucks, I examined the situation carefully. The couplers, knuckles and the uncoupling bar were all shot, but the trucks, wheels and side frames all appeared to be fine. That was a bit relief for me-- I have a lot of experience of 3D printing couplers, it's not a big deal. I test fitted some of the 3D printed couplers that I designed for my McKeen trailers and found that they were a very close fit. I just had to make the shanks about 5/8" shorter.

After a little bit of CAD work to shorten the shanks and an overnight print run, I had a batch of ABS plastic couplers ready that were just the right size.

Replacing the couplers does require dismounting the car frame (6 screws) and dropping the trucks out (2 screws), but the rest is pretty straightforward. The coupler assembly is held together by a T-shaped crosspiece with a spring, a washer and an E-clip holding it together at the bottom. To get the spring tension right, I added an additional washer where the zinc-rotted uncoupling arm used to be.

The 3D printed couplers mate well with standard couplers.

I rebuilt enough cars to assemble an Amtrak train. I don't have any other Amtrak rolling stock since I don't normally model anything past the 1960s, but my Railking GG1 is close enough for my purposes.

Here's my refurbished Amtrak set taking the inaugural run on my layout.

These Amtrak coaches are so nice that I might just run them as they are for a while. I have a whole second set of scruffy CalTrain Amfleets to begin Phase II-- converting them into Metroliner cars. This will require new end pieces for the cars to start with, and also pantographs and eventually motorization. If you haven't seen or heard of them before, I happen to have a photo of one of the very few preserved Metroliners that I took on my first trip to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania back in 2017.

Stay tuned for updates as this project progresses!

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8/25/2411:45 AM

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GG1admirerOGR Forum Member

Metroliner at Jersey Ave. May 1977

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8/25/242:40 PM

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gunrunnerjohnOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

@Trainguy Ken posted:
After a little bit of CAD work to shorten the shanks and an overnight print run, I had a batch of ABS plastic couplers ready that were just the right size.

Any chance you might consider sharing the 3D file for the couplers?

8/25/243:38 PM

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Trainguy KenOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBER

In between other projects, I've been picking at the Metroliner conversions, and that work is finally starting to get somewhere. I spent a whole lot of time getting the dimensions dialed in so that the new endcaps would properly fit the MTH Amfleet donor cars.

Once I had the internal fitment right, detailing the faces of the parts was relatively simple.

Here's the new cab section printed in resin and pressed into the end of the car. There are some minor fitment improvements yet to be made, but the next batch should be ready for a full test build.

The Metroliners had two different styles of pantographs to pick up power from the overhead lines. I don't need fully operational brass pantographs, but I would like the kits to have something that looks right and has a little bit of flexibility built into it. My design includes 3 joints that can be pinned together with pieces of 0.050" dia wire as well as accommodations for a spring to keep the pantograph open.

I just finished printing the parts for the first pantograph. I wasn't sure if it would fit together on the first print, but after flushing all of the pinholes with a small drill bit, I was able to get pretty satisfactory fitment of all the hinges. I fished a random spring from my parts bins for mockup purposes-- I'll have to make a trip to the hardware store to scour the parts bins for a longer, narrower part that will look better.

Here's a closer view of the prototype pantograph. The insulators and the shoe contacting the catenary lines are resin parts while the rest are filament printed in ABS plastic for durability. The pantograph itself fits together with pins and press fits, but it will probably need a couple screws to properly attach to the body of the car. The base of the pantograph slides right around the set of rails that are molded into the roof of the Amfleet car-- it may be possible to use those to make a press fit, negating the need for additional screw holes.