Fitting Dapol Class 156 with Knuckle Couplers

[McRuss]

Hello,

 

has anyone here fitted Micro Trains or similar Magnetic Knuckle Couplers to a Dapol Class 156 DMU?

I ask because I want to change the Tomix couplers at the front of my Dapol 156 against Knuckle Couplers so that I could,

connect it with Farish Class 150 and other DMUs that got fitted Knuckel Couplers.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

Markus

[roundhouse]

I am about to experiment fitting Tomix couplers to my class 168's. They do look better than the Microtrains couplers but you do have to manually couple and uncouple them.

 

I presume you wish to couple and uncouple on the layout hence change to Microtrains?

 

Ian

[Revolution Ben]

Hello Markus

 

British N Gauge is in a bit of a transitional phase with regards to couplers. For years we used rapido couplers in old-style pockets, but NEM snap-in pockets are now becoming standard, and Dapol have just released a knuckle coupler designed for NEM sockets.

 

The Dapol 156 has NEM pockets, so the most straightforward answer is to use Dapol's own Easi-shunt couplers, which snap in. These can also be used on newer Farish stock, which has also standardised on NEM pockets, including the Class 150.

 

Microtrains knuckle couplers have been around for much longer than the Dapol ones, but are designed for US bufferless stock, and intended to sit at bufferbeam height. This can be problematic with British stock (though on bufferless DMUs like the 156 and 150 is should be possible to fit them, with a little hacking.)

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[mikeharvey22]

Hello Markus

 

 

The Dapol 156 has NEM pockets, so the most straightforward answer is to use Dapol's own Easi-shunt couplers, which snap in. These can also be used on newer Farish stock, which has also standardised on NEM pockets, including the Class 150.

cheers

 

Ben A.

 

I think that the challenge is replacing the Tomix Scharfenbergs at the cab ends on the 156 and 153 . The latest Arnold SNCF X73500 series DMUs have non-working scale Scharfenbergs which fit the NEM pockets which could make a useful spare part for other UK sets, even if not totally correct for the BSI type.

 

 

Mike

[McRuss]

Hello Ben,

 

I don't think that the Dapol Class 156 has a NEM Pocket at its ends. There is the Dapol/Tomix BSI coupling. The problem is that at our operating sessions we want to couple to units together, and we want to uncouple the units without touching the models. These won't work with the Dapol/Tomix couplings. So I've got to options, trying to fit a Rapido coupling or a Micro Trains or similar coupling.

 

Markus

[roundhouse]

The new Dapol magnetic couplings as Ben mentions above will do what Microtrains do. Some one somewhere on RMweb mentioned that you can modify the currently available NEM Dapol magnetic coupling to fit the old Rapido type box but does mean its not a reversible modification. The soon to be released Dapol magnetic coupler conversion pack might be worth waiting for.

 

Ian

[Zunnan]

It may not be worth waiting for in the case of the 156 as this model uses a completely different coupler pocket. The conversion pocket is apparently to be a glue on affair which may not suit body mounting to a long bogie vehicle unless it has a built in pivot or you can somehow mount it to the bogie; which will then neccessitate the removal of the ploughs. In this instance I think MT couplers are probably the more logical approach as they are designed to be body mounted on long bogie vehicles, so the pivoting is sufficient to tackle reverse curves on pointwork etc.

[happyChappy]

It may not be worth waiting for in the case of the 156 as this model uses a completely different coupler pocket. The conversion pocket is apparently to be a glue on affair which may not suit body mounting to a long bogie vehicle unless it has a built in pivot or you can somehow mount it to the bogie; which will then neccessitate the removal of the ploughs. In this instance I think MT couplers are probably the more logical approach as they are designed to be body mounted on long bogie vehicles, so the pivoting is sufficient to tackle reverse curves on pointwork etc.

 

 

Hi Markus,

 

Zunnun is right that the class 156 units do not have NEM pockets on either end.

 

I've not actually fitted MT couplers to the 156 but have had a look at the outer ends by removing the snow plough and existing coupler unit, (both just prise off), to leave an empty flat area to which an MT coupling could easily be screwed. Using this approach ensures the modification is completely reversible if needed.

 

Zunnan also raises an important point about the ability for the coupling to pivot across a wide angle as it will be body mounted. Use a medium length MT coupler unit, either a MT1016 or an MT1025, screwed to the flat area with an MT mounting screw so that the knuckle protrudes sufficiently beyond the corridor connection to enable coupling to the next vehicle. This should be fine providing you have minimum 12inch radius curves.

 

Ploughs will need to be modified to fit around the MT but as the ploughs are available as spare parts replacements can easily be sourced.

 

It looks like you'll be trail blazing on this one - so do let us know how you get on.

 

Regards

HC