need help asap

can anyone tell me if i could remove the couplers and wheels on an industrial rail box car to metal and kadee couplers. are the even any good?
 
F

Fred_M

Industrial brand cars are the cheapest sold at my LHS, like 2.25 each new. The price of metal wheel replacement trucks+ kadee #5 couplers with box + $2.25 will be more than the price of a blue box Athearns that already have decent couplers and trucks on a more accurate and detailed model. Even my LHS owner will tell you, "Industrial cars are for the Christmas Tree layout". Fred
 
ok thank you i just got 5 there detail is not that good but they run preaty good. can you give me a link to the blue box Athearns?
 
F

Fred_M

Yep, they come in a white box and are sold in N, HO, and O-27. The box says nothing else but made in China. Someone told me that Lifelike imports them, but I can't prove it and a search has never turned up who makes or imports them. I can't even find anyone selling them on the net, but I have seen them in several shops and even purchased a couple gons to experiment on with a solder iron and extreme weathering. Fred
 

jetrock

Member
You can remove the couplers and wheels--if I recall correctly, all of the Industrial cars I have seen have talgo trucks (the coupler attaches to the trucks rather than the body) so you'd either need to saw off the talgo truck and attach the Kadee coupler pocket to the ends of the cars, or get the Talgo adapter to mount them correctly.

I would echo the general responses, though, about spending $2.50 to upgrade a car that only cost about $2.50 to begin with. I have similarly upgraded used rolling stock I got at swap meets for $2-5, but typically these are for cars that cost more than that to begin with, but are older and have NMRA couplers and plastic wheels.

...it's kind of like those guys who spend $15,000 to "trick out" a Honda economy car. Sure, you *can*, but why?
 
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