I spent nearly $400.00 on updating wheel sets to metal and body mounted Kaydee couplers for around 100 pieces of cheap-O rolling stock. Yeah, I cut off all the Talgo trucks and body mounted Kaydee couplers. Painted all the wheels with a rust colored paint and used some real rust I made from 0000 steel wool soaked in vinegar for a month--poured the rusted mess into a large stainless steel photo tray and waited for it to dry, then scraped it up with a razor blade. Makes great rust powder to mix with alcohol & some Futura acrylic floor polish. I weathered each piece of rolling stock as I was working on them. A lot of modelers use chalk for weathering as well. I found that my wife's make up works great for weathering and sticks better than chalk. Wife bought me my own make up kit with quite a few different colors. You might want to give that a try. W Rusty Lane K9POW in eastern Tennessee
I spend a lot on updating cheapy cars also. I have not yet got into weatherizing them. The makeup idea sounds pretty good to me. Thanks for sharing another great tip
I bought 7 of those Tyco coal hoppers at a local hobby shop for 20$, I took mine and removed the Tyco trucks and put a sprue of plastic I had left over from other kits, superglued them in the holes then trimmed them flush, I then drilled holes in them and added Athearn 70 ton trucks and screws, I glued some evergreen styrene. 040 in place to mount KD boxes and couplers, then soaked them in 90% Isopropyl alcohol and scrubbed them with an old toothbrush, painted them up in boxcar red and added my Conrail decals for a filler to go with my Ortner Conrail rock cars!! 👍👍👍👍
One of the best tutorials I’ve ever seen. You gave multiple choices to the modelers, regarding to the couplers and the trucks, instead of focusing in just one way. Very well done Ron: you’re really one of the masters of doing so much with just so little! Thank you for sharing!
I appreciate the amount of detail you gave in this video! The part numbers make it so easy to just order the pieces without wondering if I'm getting the right combination of parts. Thanks for a great video Ron!
As a beginner I have a feeling your videos are going to be an absolute gold mine for me. Just bought a bunch of old rolling stock on Ebay with the intent to fix them up and they just so happen to be Life-Like!
Hilarious. You are cracking me up with your hunorous remarks about the little lady of the house. Again I learned a lot. Once again, Thanks for a great video.
20:36 Ron, I really enjoyed this video. Seeing all the possibilities available helps. I am almost 65 and getting back into Model Railroading. Tuning the cars will be great fun. Thanks.
Congratulations on making the milestone of 1000 subscribers! Good for you. The information you put out is very worthwhile. The subject of car tuning in these last two videos took me years of trial and error before I learned about them and I believe I picked up a item or two from you that I didn’t know. Wow, thanks for that. See you in your next video, Ron. Can hardly wait to see what tips you have for us then!
This made me feel a whole lot better about the majority of my rolling stock. I was worried about upgrade costs, or having to buy nicer cars. With these tips, I can upgrade 8-9 cars without replacing the trucks, for the cost of one new $50 car. Long term, I can upgrade 100 cars for the price of 10 new ones. Thanks for sharing.
Years ago I did a similar upgrade on that same car, which was very common in the 1980's. I crushed charcoal, filled the hpper and soaked it with thinned Elmers glue. Brought weight up to spec.
Great job! I get them at train shows for about $1 each; sometimes I can get a whole box of them at the show’s end for free. Been doing these upgrades for several years and they perform unbelievably well. People can’t believe they’re old Tyco cars.
This is one of the most informative, practical, affordable updates one can do for your rolling stock. Hope this can work for N scale rolling stock as well. Awesome video and thank you for sharing this knowledge at a comprensive level we can all understand. BRAVO!
Congrats on 1k+. You explain things easy for understanding. I think lots of us need to listen to someone who speaks like we think. Keep up your great work.
Great job updating that rail car. I like the tip of buying bulk. I myself converted 250 n- scale cars to micro trains trucks and couplers. That took a couple years. A 33%er watching your videos straight through!
That was awesome ! I like that the tutorial you did with good , better, best. I have some Tyco tank cars that had needed this kind of conversion. I did buy some bettendorf trucks and they work great. They run better than ever !
I have a fleet of probably ten 40' Life-Like TH&B boxcars with Talgo trucks and horn couplers that I refuse to run cause they run like crap, but they have sentimental value so I can't just get rid of them. This video will help breathe new life into them for sure.
You've certainly got me on board. Picked up a pair of vintage cars myself (one Tyco billboard ACF Centerflow painted for Old Dutch, one Bachmann ROCK 40' offset hopper), and this definitely makes me want to raise them up to current standards. Hopefully I can get the supplies soon.
i000.. that is very cool. This is one of those videos people should save in their watch later list. and return to it every time you get home from a train show. Until ya learn all what to do.
New to the hobby. This video is great, covering multiple options for upgrading (relatively) inexpensive rolling stock in a clear, concise manner. I have subscribed and now will work through the other videos on your channel. Like your sense of humor also!
I have used the bread bag tie trick for years and to make these highly colored pieces of plastic less visible, I use a broad tipped black Sharpie to color the visible edges black to match the coupler box. Dries in seconds.
Awesome video! To take it further you can add the correct wheel set for each car according to its load limit (LD LMT). 33in Wheels: 140,000 lbs or less 36in Wheels: 140,001 lbs to 200,000 lbs 38in Wheels: 200,001 lbs to 250,000 lbs
I just bought three of those exact coal car bodies at a hobby store that were in the used section for $0.50 each! They're Athern cars I believe, because another car I bought that was complete had an underframe with coupler pockets on them, and they're all the same paint scheme. They had NOTHING with them, but I found underframes on Ebay, and I'll put Kadee trucks with metal wheels an Kadee or McHenry couplers on them and they'll be ready to go. With some weathering they'll look really good, and run great.
As someone who just got some old Tyco rolling stock and power, this really helps! Admittedly I'm not really into model railroading, heck all I have is a loop on a plywood table that I don't touch often, but in the case I do get more into it, this seems like a good thing to try early, since I'm not a huge fan of the horn couplers, and maybe plastic wheels, both looks and functionality wise, but I think I can live with them lol
@@classicmodeltrains no problem, they really come in handy, and they're interesting, no doubt! And I wouldn't be surprised if it did, seems like it's starting to already haha
Great video on how to upgrade those old cars! A lot of my cars i just replace the wheels and keep the horn hooks, but some get the full treatment. If its a rare car I use the little adapter, that way I can reverse the upgrade if needed. Keep up the great work!
Kadee couplers are in every way superior to hook horn couplers. Hook horn couplers look like crap, are fragile, and take too much force to couple. To say they worked for sixty years is not really true. Modelers have been replacing hook horn couplers for at least 50 years. Probably longer.
Probably 95% or more of my car fleet is Athearn "Blue Box", MDC, and even some Tyco cars - all rolling on good trucks with Kadee couplers. Properly labeled and weathered, they look good and hold up well in operations. I also don't worry about breaking off grab irons or other details anytime I have to pick one up.
Thank you! I never figured out how to use those 212 talgo adapters. Edit: Subscribed. Keep it up! You probably know what car door lock anti freeze is... powdered graphite in a tube. Spritz a little of that in the journal box before installing the wheels and those cars will fly. If you have coupler sag (happens to us old guys) trimming a slice of the copperish Kadee coupler box spring and AC gluing it on the bottom of the coupler box gives that saggy coupler it's teenage virulence back. Edit edit. Using fish filter foam as an insert too add a cover over the weights works great. It won't deteriorate like cardboard and PLus, you can just press it in so you can remove it. Counter the top, coat with PVA and roll in coal/ ballast, etc. And you are set.
Awesome video! I have a box of 50 year old cars that I plan to free from storage in the next few months and I suspect some of them will need this kind of work done to them. Thanks for the how-to.
Great video, and I like how you gave several different options. I get the same flack for not using the breadbag clips. I just twist the end closed. I do have to caution about your use of the x-acto blade early in the video. It's a bad idea to pry with them. The blade steel is very brittle and they tend to break when stressed sideways. The blade fragments can fly at your face. I'd use a miniature screwdriver instead. These Tycos always get a lot of flack but the body molds date back to the high quality Mantua days. The stuff they made in the 60s was every bit as good as Athearn.
Greetings Greg. Sometimes people develop bad habits with tool usage. Thank you for pointing out a bad habit I have developed. Even though I knew the undesired consequences, apparently I did not take heed. A gentle reminder is always welcomed. Thank you :-) I agree with you on body molds. Some people just want /like / need to judge.
Pretty much how we did it back in the day. My Uncle and Grandfather had a huge layout and let me help here and there. We found the local area folks were not keen taking tools to their trains and doing these conversions actually made us enough profit for neat add-ons. Good tips here but your final solution is the only one I recommend, however remind people to do this with bulk tyco lots not the actual collector ones still in their boxes. If you Airbrush you can step up those old Tycos even further using styrene parts for added detail and of course a pristine paint job. Great video!! Very good stuff here.
@@classicmodeltrainsI've been using my Airbrush sets to rebrand all old stock that I updated pretty much the same way you did here into Milwaukee Road units and some Southern Pacific pieces as well. If ever get that Hiawatha set my Holy Grail will be complete lol. Thus far I buy old beat passenger cars of similar types and airbrush them in the Hiawatha color scheme with decals as well. Love modding old worthless beat up train parts into working works of art ;) Great video series you have going on here.
I have some old HL rolling stock that had their original couple hours before the nmra standardized the horn cork coupler for HO scale. People used to have a car with one type of coupler on one end and the nmra coupler on the other end so they wouldn't have to change over all the couplers to KD coupler s. Atrial guys generally get half their fleet converted over to kadee couplers and then they just quit on that. I am one of them.
Another great video Ron! Very happy to see you catering to other types of rolling stock from decades past. Lots of older people dislike the older stuff and it really is sad. There’s so much potential in these older trains but modernisms kill them off and the end up in the trash. I really need to invest in a truck tuner. I love the fact you can basically use it to fix any car with rolling issues. I have a few older cars that are a little stiff. I used to have a couple of the old AHM helium tank cars that I upgraded to body mount Kadee couplers and metal wheelsets. The AHM trucks work very with Intermountain wheelsets and it was a fun learning experience. Those cars are sadly gone now and I’d eventually like to get a couple more lettered for the USNX with the Tichy decal sets. I’ve yet to finish all my cars with the tire weight method. This video inspires me to get older cars and make a decent rake of freight cars in a budget. And I do enjoy making loads for said cars and dressing them up to make them look much better than they where built as. Thanks for another great installment Ron! I’d love to see you start getting into working on loads and showing your other talents!
Good evening Marc, was just sitting here enjoying craft beer, and you comment popped up. Thank you for your kind words. I like the way you think about the older stuff. Some time, and very little money can make them really nice additions. Making loads would be a great idea for a video. I would have to wait until the winter starts settling in, so I can have more time to work on and build great idea's. I really appreciate your input on what you would like to see. It keeps me "on my toes" about coming up with content idea's. Take care!
@@classicmodeltrains great to hear back Ron. I look forward to your creativity on loads. I used to make pipe loads out of straws and paint them with a jig I made out of zip ties. Used to be able to paint like 10 at a time and work off that. All different colors. If I ever get around to making another, I just might send you one in the mail, so it can help out for your future loads or whatnot. Coal loads are super fun for cars. I got real coal chunks from the UP 9000, a 4-12-2 type steam locomotive. First one built and last survivor of 88. I used to volunteer at the Railgiants museum then when I was like 15 years old. Miss that place! I use that coal for my UP engines and make some others out of that insulation foam, works wonders. Thanks for being an awesome person Ron. Glad to know there’s some good people in the world still, you are living proof!
@@_mdh_1998 Sounds like you were quite creative on building loads back in "the day". Volunteering at a RR museum at 15 years old, That must have felt like HEAVEN!! Lucky lad!!! Thanks for your kind words :-)
@@classicmodeltrains I have not had much space for a layout. So sadly my model stuff has to be kinda put on hold. When I move out eventually I’ll have more space to work on stuff. I used to be really big into the whole modeling scene. When I got into HOn3 I was building tie loads out of ties for my flat cars and gondolas. I really do miss my time out at the museum, can’t go back much and I’m always regulated to being an adult. The wife says it’s either her or the trains. She wins that round usually. But I’ll always support your content Ron. I am happy you are finally starting to get somewhere in this UA-camrs world. Very inspiring to see.
Great video !!! Cool to see someone upgrading the old tyco cars, not a ton of videos on UA-cam about this topic. Congrats on 1000 subs. Looking forward to your next video.
I used to go 1 step further in my trucks, and after tuning the axle pockets, I'd spray a puff if graphite dust to make em roll like greased lightning. And for weight, I bought a 5 lb bag of #8 lead shot for bird loads. I'd paint on some white glue or hot glue, then pour the shot on until I reached the weight I needed.
A great informational video. I find a bunch of older cars (AHM for instance) that no one makes today that are very interesting to me. Kadee 142 medium overset couplers should eliminate the breadtie spacer. Kadee makes spacers to lift the body. Kadee 208 and 209. I have been converting cars for a long time and even I learned something. I never considered the plastic sprue in the hole. I will try that. Thanks.
Thanks for the information I have several older box cars ralston purina Heinz 57 with the pickle on it and a nabisco that thanks to you I’ll change the couplers on
I've got plenty of cheap flea market cars I've done this with, but i'd never heard of that truck tuner until I saw you using it a couple videos ago. Looks like another handy investment for my tool drawer. lol
Thank you for providing a well detailed video on this process. I have done some conversions on my older rolling stock, but I still need to get that tap and drill set. This video went straight to my HO scale playlist. Also, congrats on your milestone. I have been a subscriber after discovering your first videos earlier this year. 👍
@@classicmodeltrains I finally got myself the tap and drill set last week, and I went to complete the draft gear box work needed to keep them secure to the rolling stock that I have updated. They look great! Still have some leftover screws just in case I buy a few more older cars to work on. 👍
I have salvaged many older discarded pieces of rolling stock from various mfgs and easily updated them with new wheelsets, KDs and additional weight. All run well and pass the smell test of the NMRA standards for our RR Club. I have to be selective about the candidates for the upgrade so I usually pass up the toy train cars unless it is a rarity and unique.
Another way to mount a KD on a talgo is to use a #5. The spring plate stabilizes the coupler so it doesn't sag. Plate mounts upside down from conventional so the coupler is resting on the plate. A set of new Walther's or KD wheelsets and it runs perfectly.
Done like a true Motor head just like upgrading to "Flat-top's"& a Mild Bumpstick Chose what works for you my only Gripe is KD & intermountain or Walters NOT doing real bulk packs like 2 3 4 or 500 sets lol exellent video Ron
Lol, Thanks for putting the coupler in upside down. I thought I was the only person to do that! Also I think after your instructions even I could do this. Eventually want to convert my S scale cars to Kadee. I have some modern s scale converted to scale. It looks a lot nicer than the American Flyer style couplers.
Glad I could help! Good luck on the AF conversions. I'm thinking their pretty spendy to convert to Kadee's? IDK....the original always looked pretty good to me.
Nice easy update for low cost. Instead of bread clips I.use dimensional plastic sheet bought in a hobby store. Also has use in buildings as view blocks and to stretch kits by adding plain sides and backs. Hal
@@classicmodeltrains By the way, that was a great show on Ray Boebel’s Side Track Sunday. Very entertaining and fun. I’m glad you joined in the fun. And congratulations on 1,000 subscribers. I’m glad to be one of them who appreciates your channel.
Suggestion: instead of using a piece of sprue to fill the truck mounting hole, use a bit of Plastruct tubing of the appropriate diameter. You'll already have a centered "pilot hole" that you can then enlarge and tap. Plastruct strips, sheets, tubes, etc can be had at any big box hobby and craft store and can be used for all sorts of things.
@@classicmodeltrains One particular car that I've heard modelers say repeatedly is a good candidate for upgrade is the old Tyco 50 foot flatcars. Once repainted and with the decks weathered they can stand in for just about anything or be converted into specialty cars.
I bought some cars from IHC they wore their axles out until they snapped. I got some beautiful kaady car Wheels with the printing on the wheel as well as the swirl on the backside of the wheel. You really couldn't see the wheel to well but I knew that I had metal wheels on that car that cost more than the car that they were put on
I swapped a n&w hopper car being used as a construction and demolition bin’s frame onto a southern hopper, which since it was older Bachman was able to fix it,by swapping the frames and I took couplers off a car I have taken out of service for repairs right now, and after finding extra coupler boxes standard with newer Bachman freight cars and truck screws/bolts, it works and couplers just fine and since the frame knows the couplers, height is not an issue with the car what so ever Might do this to the current fleet of hook horn cars I have left alone right now. When I can get enough trucks and couplers, and metal wheels that is
Who doesn't have a sentimental favorite "beginner" TYCO or Life Like car? My picks are the one piece body "Swift" refrigerators, and the "Southern" bulkhead end pulp wood flat cars.
Ya' did good. Good recommendations. Only problem is your use of the term bolts, when they are screws. Also some pin vises will securely hold a 2-26 tap. Personally I like body mount couplers, I'm an old "phart" dating back to the 1970's era. I will have to look into your videos more. 👍
Muchas gracias por el tutorial. Tengo esos mismos carros Tyco, el plateado y el amarillo, que me los trajo mi Papá como en 1979, desde USA, y ahora recién estoy armando mi primera maqueta de trenes, en honor a él y sus regalos que aún conservo. El ahora ya tiene 81 años y espero terminarla antes que a mi Papá se lo lleve su enfermedad. Por lo mismo me emocioné cuando vi los 2 mismos carros que me trajo en aquel tren, cuando yo era un niño. Gracias nuevamente y saludos desde Chile 🇨🇱, Sudamérica. Rafael.
Rafael, gracias por tus amables palabras. Me alegra saber que está regresando a la afición del modelismo ferroviario. Me entristece que tu padre esté muy enfermo. Es genial que estés reparando estos autos Tyco para honrar a tu padre y los buenos momentos que pasaron juntos. Me alegro de haber podido ayudar de alguna manera pequeña. Saludos desde Montana, Estados Unidos.
@@classicmodeltrains Muchas gracias por tus palabras. Estoy muy entusiasmado armando la maqueta y espero ir avanzando rápido, con el tiempo que me da mi trabajo. Agradesco tu buena voluntad y te envío un abrazo a la distancia.
love the videos, never was any good at that task but i think your help will change everything. may need help figuring out how to find parts for repairing some old locos
Glad I could help out a bit. Old loco's are hard to get parts. Kinda need a "parts" loco to get some of them going again. Thanks for your kind words :-)
I spent nearly $400.00 on updating wheel sets to metal and body mounted Kaydee couplers for around 100 pieces of cheap-O rolling stock. Yeah, I cut off all the Talgo trucks and body mounted Kaydee couplers. Painted all the wheels with a rust colored paint and used some real rust I made from 0000 steel wool soaked in vinegar for a month--poured the rusted mess into a large stainless steel photo tray and waited for it to dry, then scraped it up with a razor blade. Makes great rust powder to mix with alcohol & some Futura acrylic floor polish. I weathered each piece of rolling stock as I was working on them. A lot of modelers use chalk for weathering as well. I found that my wife's make up works great for weathering and sticks better than chalk. Wife bought me my own make up kit with quite a few different colors. You might want to give that a try. W Rusty Lane K9POW in eastern Tennessee
I spend a lot on updating cheapy cars also. I have not yet got into weatherizing them. The makeup idea sounds pretty good to me. Thanks for sharing another great tip
Great information thank you 👍
Dollar Store, make-up section.
Cool tip I'm gona try the makeup thanks
I bought 7 of those Tyco coal
hoppers at a local hobby shop for 20$, I took mine and removed the Tyco trucks and put a sprue of plastic I had left
over from other kits, superglued them in the holes then trimmed them flush, I then drilled holes in them and added Athearn 70 ton trucks and screws, I glued some evergreen styrene. 040 in place
to mount KD boxes and couplers, then soaked them in
90% Isopropyl alcohol and scrubbed them with an old toothbrush, painted them up
in boxcar red and added my
Conrail decals for a filler to go
with my Ortner Conrail rock cars!! 👍👍👍👍
Sounds like they are real nice cars now
One of the best tutorials I’ve ever seen. You gave multiple choices to the modelers, regarding to the couplers and the trucks, instead of focusing in just one way. Very well done Ron: you’re really one of the masters of doing so much with just so little! Thank you for sharing!
Regis, Thank you so much for your encouraging words and information :-)
Ron, you are truly the train doctor. I was given trains with broken trucks and now I know how to repair and give the trains a new life.
Glad I was able to help out a Fellow Modeler :-)
@@classicmodeltrains Ron, Your welcome. Thank you for the Master Class.
This guys a model train Jedi. One might think that subject matter like this is boring but I was utterly riveted by his skills and multiple solutions.
Thank you very much!
One of the best instructional videos I’ve ever watched. And I’ve watched hundreds.
Thank you very much for your kind words !!
I’ve got 50 year old Tyco rolling stock and I’m thrilled with your instructional video. Answered all my questions.
Glad to help out
You can take the old plastic Wheels glue a set of rails to a flatcar and you can make a wheel car out of it for your maintenance away train
Yup
That’s a fantastic idea!
Basic model railroad improvements presented in a very detailed and easy to understand manner. Well done! And you're at 10k as I write this. Not bad!
Thanks Jim!
I never took doing upgrades very seriously till I started watching your videos. Thanks for the tips.
Glad to help out Robert
I appreciate the amount of detail you gave in this video! The part numbers make it so easy to just order the pieces without wondering if I'm getting the right combination of parts. Thanks for a great video Ron!
You're very welcome :-)
Thanks Ron for all your tips and help I am sure that is is my problem i have a mixed bag of rolling stockregards John R from Australia😂
As a beginner I have a feeling your videos are going to be an absolute gold mine for me. Just bought a bunch of old rolling stock on Ebay with the intent to fix them up and they just so happen to be Life-Like!
I'm glad I can help out in your journey of Model Railroading :-)
Hilarious. You are cracking me up with your hunorous remarks about the little lady of the house. Again I learned a lot. Once again, Thanks for a great video.
Glad you enjoyed it
20:36 Ron, I really enjoyed this video. Seeing all the possibilities available helps. I am almost 65 and getting back into Model Railroading. Tuning the cars will be great fun. Thanks.
Thanks for watching and commenting :-)
Congratulations on making the milestone of 1000 subscribers! Good for you. The information you put out is very worthwhile. The subject of car tuning in these last two videos took me years of trial and error before I learned about them and I believe I picked up a item or two from you that I didn’t know. Wow, thanks for that. See you in your next video, Ron. Can hardly wait to see what tips you have for us then!
Thanks 13th, Glad I'm doing some good with these vids :-)
This made me feel a whole lot better about the majority of my rolling stock. I was worried about upgrade costs, or having to buy nicer cars. With these tips, I can upgrade 8-9 cars without replacing the trucks, for the cost of one new $50 car. Long term, I can upgrade 100 cars for the price of 10 new ones. Thanks for sharing.
Glad it was useful for you! Save some money and have nice operating cars :-)
Years ago I did a similar upgrade on that same car, which was very common in the 1980's. I crushed charcoal, filled the hpper and soaked it with thinned Elmers glue. Brought weight up to spec.
Right on! Sounds like a great idea :-)
Great job! I get them at train shows for about $1 each; sometimes I can get a whole box of them at the show’s end for free. Been doing these upgrades for several years and they perform unbelievably well. People can’t believe they’re old Tyco cars.
I agree! do a little work and they pay ya back in performance!
This is one of the most informative, practical, affordable updates one can do for your rolling stock. Hope this can work for N scale rolling stock as well. Awesome video and thank you for sharing this knowledge at a comprensive level we can all understand. BRAVO!
Thank you for your kind words!
Congrats on 1k+. You explain things easy for understanding. I think lots of us need to listen to someone who speaks like we think. Keep up your great work.
Yes! Thank you :-)
Great job updating that rail car.
I like the tip of buying bulk. I myself converted 250 n- scale cars to micro trains trucks and couplers. That took a couple years. A 33%er watching your videos straight through!
Thanks for the 33% Steven. 250 N scale cars? Holy Moly!!! must have a small fortune in updates for sure :-)
That was awesome ! I like that the tutorial you did with good , better, best. I have some Tyco tank cars that had needed this kind of conversion. I did buy some bettendorf trucks and they work great. They run better than ever !
Glad you liked it!
I have a fleet of probably ten 40' Life-Like TH&B boxcars with Talgo trucks and horn couplers that I refuse to run cause they run like crap, but they have sentimental value so I can't just get rid of them. This video will help breathe new life into them for sure.
Glad to help!
You've certainly got me on board. Picked up a pair of vintage cars myself (one Tyco billboard ACF Centerflow painted for Old Dutch, one Bachmann ROCK 40' offset hopper), and this definitely makes me want to raise them up to current standards. Hopefully I can get the supplies soon.
Welcome aboard Jimmy :-)
i000.. that is very cool.
This is one of those videos people should save in their watch later list. and return to it every time you get home from a train show. Until ya learn all what to do.
Thank you for your kind words :-)
New to the hobby. This video is great, covering multiple options for upgrading (relatively) inexpensive rolling stock in a clear, concise manner. I have subscribed and now will work through the other videos on your channel. Like your sense of humor also!
Thank you for the new Sub! Glad your finding my vids helpful :-)
I have used the bread bag tie trick for years and to make these highly colored pieces of plastic less visible, I use a broad tipped black Sharpie to color the visible edges black to match the coupler box. Dries in seconds.
Right on!
Awesome video!
To take it further you can add the correct wheel set for each car according to its load limit (LD LMT).
33in Wheels: 140,000 lbs or less
36in Wheels: 140,001 lbs to 200,000 lbs
38in Wheels: 200,001 lbs to 250,000 lbs
Thanks Finrow, also appreciate the info on weight vs wheel size :-)
I just bought three of those exact coal car bodies at a hobby store that were in the used section for $0.50 each! They're Athern cars I believe, because another car I bought that was complete had an underframe with coupler pockets on them, and they're all the same paint scheme. They had NOTHING with them, but I found underframes on Ebay, and I'll put Kadee trucks with metal wheels an Kadee or McHenry couplers on them and they'll be ready to go. With some weathering they'll look really good, and run great.
Nice score and some enjoyable work to do!
Old pen ink tubes often are almost the right size to use as adapters for Kadees
Thats a great idea! Thanks for sharing :-)
As someone who just got some old Tyco rolling stock and power, this really helps! Admittedly I'm not really into model railroading, heck all I have is a loop on a plywood table that I don't touch often, but in the case I do get more into it, this seems like a good thing to try early, since I'm not a huge fan of the horn couplers, and maybe plastic wheels, both looks and functionality wise, but I think I can live with them lol
Thanks for watching my video's. Perhaps the model RR bug will bite a little harder..........Never know :-)
@@classicmodeltrains no problem, they really come in handy, and they're interesting, no doubt! And I wouldn't be surprised if it did, seems like it's starting to already haha
Excellent, clear and concise, well done.
Thank you kindly Harry!
Great video on how to upgrade those old cars! A lot of my cars i just replace the wheels and keep the horn hooks, but some get the full treatment. If its a rare car I use the little adapter, that way I can reverse the upgrade if needed. Keep up the great work!
Thanks VR&R. I like the H.H.'s myself. they've worked for the last 60 years :-)
Kadee couplers are in every way superior to hook horn couplers. Hook horn couplers look like crap, are fragile, and take too much force to couple.
To say they worked for sixty years is not really true.
Modelers have been replacing hook horn couplers for at least 50 years. Probably longer.
Probably 95% or more of my car fleet is Athearn "Blue Box", MDC, and even some Tyco cars - all rolling on good trucks with Kadee couplers. Properly labeled and weathered, they look good and hold up well in operations. I also don't worry about breaking off grab irons or other details anytime I have to pick one up.
Sounds perfect to me!!
Thank you! I never figured out how to use those 212 talgo adapters.
Edit: Subscribed. Keep it up!
You probably know what car door lock anti freeze is... powdered graphite in a tube. Spritz a little of that in the journal box before installing the wheels and those cars will fly. If you have coupler sag (happens to us old guys) trimming a slice of the copperish Kadee coupler box spring and AC gluing it on the bottom of the coupler box gives that saggy coupler it's teenage virulence back.
Edit edit. Using fish filter foam as an insert too add a cover over the weights works great. It won't deteriorate like cardboard and PLus, you can just press it in so you can remove it. Counter the top, coat with PVA and roll in coal/ ballast, etc. And you are set.
Thanks for the Sub and support of my channel. He He, coupler sag......;-)
Awesome video! I have a box of 50 year old cars that I plan to free from storage in the next few months and I suspect some of them will need this kind of work done to them. Thanks for the how-to.
Thanks Rodney!
Ron your the man. Really enjoy all your videos
Thank you very much!!
Great video, and I like how you gave several different options. I get the same flack for not using the breadbag clips. I just twist the end closed. I do have to caution about your use of the x-acto blade early in the video. It's a bad idea to pry with them. The blade steel is very brittle and they tend to break when stressed sideways. The blade fragments can fly at your face. I'd use a miniature screwdriver instead.
These Tycos always get a lot of flack but the body molds date back to the high quality Mantua days. The stuff they made in the 60s was every bit as good as Athearn.
Greetings Greg. Sometimes people develop bad habits with tool usage. Thank you for pointing out a bad habit I have developed. Even though I knew the undesired consequences, apparently I did not take heed. A gentle reminder is always welcomed. Thank you :-)
I agree with you on body molds. Some people just want /like / need to judge.
Ron keep up the great work on trains detailing, I will up grade all my $2.00 cars, win I get the chance this Christmas. Keep building engines.
Thanks! Good luck on your Christmas project
Congrats on your pay raise, well deserved! Great tutorial, a great help!
Thanks EC! Almost earned enough to by a taco! :-)
Pretty much how we did it back in the day. My Uncle and Grandfather had a huge layout and let me help here and there. We found the local area folks were not keen taking tools to their trains and doing these conversions actually made us enough profit for neat add-ons. Good tips here but your final solution is the only one I recommend, however remind people to do this with bulk tyco lots not the actual collector ones still in their boxes.
If you Airbrush you can step up those old Tycos even further using styrene parts for added detail and of course a pristine paint job. Great video!! Very good stuff here.
Glad you enjoyed it! I need to take up airbrushing. Thanks for your nice words :-)
@@classicmodeltrainsI've been using my Airbrush sets to rebrand all old stock that I updated pretty much the same way you did here into Milwaukee Road units and some Southern Pacific pieces as well. If ever get that Hiawatha set my Holy Grail will be complete lol. Thus far I buy old beat passenger cars of similar types and airbrush them in the Hiawatha color scheme with decals as well. Love modding old worthless beat up train parts into working works of art ;) Great video series you have going on here.
I have some old HL rolling stock that had their original couple hours before the nmra standardized the horn cork coupler for HO scale. People used to have a car with one type of coupler on one end and the nmra coupler on the other end so they wouldn't have to change over all the couplers to KD coupler s. Atrial guys generally get half their fleet converted over to kadee couplers and then they just quit on that. I am one of them.
Yup! It's pretty costly to switch everything.
well done Ron. congrats on 1K! i see this channel exploding in no time. Keep it up
Fingers crossed!
This is crucial for modelers on a tight budget.
Thanks
Another great video Ron! Very happy to see you catering to other types of rolling stock from decades past. Lots of older people dislike the older stuff and it really is sad. There’s so much potential in these older trains but modernisms kill them off and the end up in the trash.
I really need to invest in a truck tuner. I love the fact you can basically use it to fix any car with rolling issues. I have a few older cars that are a little stiff. I used to have a couple of the old AHM helium tank cars that I upgraded to body mount Kadee couplers and metal wheelsets.
The AHM trucks work very with Intermountain wheelsets and it was a fun learning experience. Those cars are sadly gone now and I’d eventually like to get a couple more lettered for the USNX with the Tichy decal sets.
I’ve yet to finish all my cars with the tire weight method. This video inspires me to get older cars and make a decent rake of freight cars in a budget. And I do enjoy making loads for said cars and dressing them up to make them look much better than they where built as. Thanks for another great installment Ron! I’d love to see you start getting into working on loads and showing your other talents!
Good evening Marc, was just sitting here enjoying craft beer, and you comment popped up. Thank you for your kind words. I like the way you think about the older stuff. Some time, and very little money can make them really nice additions. Making loads would be a great idea for a video. I would have to wait until the winter starts settling in, so I can have more time to work on and build great idea's. I really appreciate your input on what you would like to see. It keeps me "on my toes" about coming up with content idea's. Take care!
@@classicmodeltrains great to hear back Ron. I look forward to your creativity on loads. I used to make pipe loads out of straws and paint them with a jig I made out of zip ties. Used to be able to paint like 10 at a time and work off that. All different colors. If I ever get around to making another, I just might send you one in the mail, so it can help out for your future loads or whatnot. Coal loads are super fun for cars. I got real coal chunks from the UP 9000, a 4-12-2 type steam locomotive. First one built and last survivor of 88. I used to volunteer at the Railgiants museum then when I was like 15 years old. Miss that place! I use that coal for my UP engines and make some others out of that insulation foam, works wonders. Thanks for being an awesome person Ron. Glad to know there’s some good people in the world still, you are living proof!
@@_mdh_1998 Sounds like you were quite creative on building loads back in "the day". Volunteering at a RR museum at 15 years old, That must have felt like HEAVEN!! Lucky lad!!! Thanks for your kind words :-)
@@classicmodeltrains I have not had much space for a layout. So sadly my model stuff has to be kinda put on hold. When I move out eventually I’ll have more space to work on stuff. I used to be really big into the whole modeling scene. When I got into HOn3 I was building tie loads out of ties for my flat cars and gondolas.
I really do miss my time out at the museum, can’t go back much and I’m always regulated to being an adult. The wife says it’s either her or the trains. She wins that round usually. But I’ll always support your content Ron. I am happy you are finally starting to get somewhere in this UA-camrs world. Very inspiring to see.
Great tutorial on different ways to upgrade the cars. Always look forward to the next video.
Glad you enjoyed it :-)
Fantastic tutorial. I can see how you went from 1000 subs to 10,000 subs in a year.
Thank you!
Most informative video for couplers thank you Ron
Thank you for your kind words Joe
I love your how to video, i used the do the same on one of my cheap tyco boxcar! The result is awsome!
Thanks and keep up good work!
Thank you very much!
Great video !!! Cool to see someone upgrading the old tyco cars, not a ton of videos on UA-cam about this topic. Congrats on 1000 subs. Looking forward to your next video.
Thanks & Thanks for supporting my channel :-)
Amazing tutorial and I have more than a 100 of the “cheap” bargain cars , you have convinced me and I will be doing tho upgrade to mine
Right on!! Glad I could help :-)
I used to go 1 step further in my trucks, and after tuning the axle pockets, I'd spray a puff if graphite dust to make em roll like greased lightning. And for weight, I bought a 5 lb bag of #8 lead shot for bird loads. I'd paint on some white glue or hot glue, then pour the shot on until I reached the weight I needed.
Sounds like a real good tip Danny!!
A great informational video. I find a bunch of older cars (AHM for instance) that no one makes today that are very interesting to me. Kadee 142 medium overset couplers should eliminate the breadtie spacer. Kadee makes spacers to lift the body. Kadee 208 and 209. I have been converting cars for a long time and even I learned something. I never considered the plastic sprue in the hole. I will try that. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Finally, someone else who likes to make cheap stuff roll better!
lol
Hear Here!
Can get a lot of miles out of "cheap stuff" :-)
Great video, learned so much, keep making these please, so much help for us older guys wanting to run the old school stuff!
Thank you! Old School for ever!!!!!!
Thanks for the information I have several older box cars ralston purina Heinz 57 with the pickle on it and a nabisco that thanks to you I’ll change the couplers on
Right on!!
I've got plenty of cheap flea market cars I've done this with, but i'd never heard of that truck tuner until I saw you using it a couple videos ago. Looks like another handy investment for my tool drawer. lol
Hello Charlie, Yup them tuners are real nice. There kinda proud of them with there price, but it's worth it. :-)
You make that look easy enough for a Doug to do. Great video!
Thanks 👍
WOW!!! I really like your good, better, best approach!!
Thanks, Helps out the budget conscious modeler's out there :-)
I love using the t bar things when updating tyco cuplers :) love all your vids
Yes! Thank you!
love in the options. Excited that you used a Virginian. I've got a few I want to convert. Congratulations on a 1000. Keep the good videos coming.
Hello 33, Thanks for your kind words :-)
Thanks for all of the info Ron.
Can’t wait to see the hot rod!
Your welcome.
Thank you for providing a well detailed video on this process. I have done some conversions on my older rolling stock, but I still need to get that tap and drill set. This video went straight to my HO scale playlist. Also, congrats on your milestone. I have been a subscriber after discovering your first videos earlier this year. 👍
Thank you Glenn for your nice words, and supporting my channel! I'm glad I could be of some help :-)
@@classicmodeltrains I finally got myself the tap and drill set last week, and I went to complete the draft gear box work needed to keep them secure to the rolling stock that I have updated. They look great! Still have some leftover screws just in case I buy a few more older cars to work on. 👍
@@railfan101 Right on!
I have salvaged many older discarded pieces of rolling stock from various mfgs and easily updated them with new wheelsets, KDs and additional weight. All run well and pass the smell test of the NMRA standards for our RR Club. I have to be selective about the candidates for the upgrade so I usually pass up the toy train cars unless it is a rarity and unique.
Thanks for sharing a great story. :-)
Another way to mount a KD on a talgo is to use a #5. The spring plate stabilizes the coupler so it doesn't sag. Plate mounts upside down from conventional so the coupler is resting on the plate. A set of new Walther's or KD wheelsets and it runs perfectly.
Sounds like a great idea to me!
Done like a true Motor head just like upgrading to "Flat-top's"& a Mild Bumpstick Chose what works for you my only Gripe is KD & intermountain or Walters NOT doing real bulk packs like 2 3 4 or 500 sets lol exellent video Ron
Thank you for your nice words. Bigger bulk packs would be nice :-) Vroom....Vroooommmmm....
I ended making the full upgrade. Thanks for the help!
Very Cool! Now you got a very nicely upgraded car!
another great video ron keep them coming i learn something every time
Thanks, glad I can help out :-)
Congrats on 1k! You've certainly earned it.
Thank you Peb!
Lol, Thanks for putting the coupler in upside down. I thought I was the only person to do that! Also I think after your instructions even I could do this.
Eventually want to convert my S scale cars to Kadee. I have some modern s scale converted to scale. It looks a lot nicer than the American Flyer style couplers.
Glad I could help! Good luck on the AF conversions. I'm thinking their pretty spendy to convert to Kadee's? IDK....the original always looked pretty good to me.
I like that you did the math.
:-)
Fuel line is actually and air line for the brakes. Great Video!
Thanks
Nice easy update for low cost. Instead of bread clips I.use dimensional plastic sheet bought in a hobby store. Also has use in buildings as view blocks and to stretch kits by adding plain sides and backs. Hal
Thanks Hal!
Great video mate! Very useful info; simple and effective. Congrats on 1k subs as well!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent job on the upgrade demonstration. This is a new project for me now. Thank you.
Thank you SF Bob :-)
@@classicmodeltrains By the way, that was a great show on Ray Boebel’s Side Track Sunday. Very entertaining and fun. I’m glad you joined in the fun. And congratulations on 1,000 subscribers. I’m glad to be one of them who appreciates your channel.
@@SantaFeBob Thanks, Ray seems to have a lot of really great followers and sub's. He is a hoot to visit with 🙂
Suggestion: instead of using a piece of sprue to fill the truck mounting hole, use a bit of Plastruct tubing of the appropriate diameter. You'll already have a centered "pilot hole" that you can then enlarge and tap. Plastruct strips, sheets, tubes, etc can be had at any big box hobby and craft store and can be used for all sorts of things.
Sounds like a pretty good idea!
@@classicmodeltrains One particular car that I've heard modelers say repeatedly is a good candidate for upgrade is the old Tyco 50 foot flatcars. Once repainted and with the decks weathered they can stand in for just about anything or be converted into specialty cars.
@@whiteknightcat I’ve been thinking of re-spray and decal some tyco’s to show people how nice they can look.
Awesome tutorial,definitely helps people out for anyone who can’t get high end freight cars
Thanks for watching and commenting :-)
Hot Rod, Model Trains, Bandanas, Long Hair, Tattoos... oh, beard! You got my LIKES and Subscription brother!
Thank you very much for a new Sub! I'm a bit cleaned up now. The Little Lady was "encouraging" it :-)
I bought some cars from IHC they wore their axles out until they snapped. I got some beautiful kaady car Wheels with the printing on the wheel as well as the swirl on the backside of the wheel. You really couldn't see the wheel to well but I knew that I had metal wheels on that car that cost more than the car that they were put on
Sounds like you ran your trains a lot back in the day
@@classicmodeltrains I am running my MTH subway cars sets because I don't have any thing to do.When it is not raining I am riding on my motorcycle 🏍️.
Lil late but congrats on 1k! (I know you are at 11k) but I’m almost 1k at 4 months
Congrats on your channel as well!
@@classicmodeltrains thank you
Great video on how to convert older cheaper Cars 👍
Glad you enjoyed it
Great video!! I have a few cars from the "Old" days I would love to run with the newer stock. This is just the ticket!
Glad this video helped you out! Thanks for watching :-)
Love the video. The truck replacement was something I had not considered. Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Oh very enjoyable a video and congratulations making 1000 subscribers. You are an artist a scholar and gentleman
Thank you so much 😀
My man!
I run N Scale but still found this video helpful and informative-stoked!
Thanks 🤙
Glad you liked it!!
Thank you for sharing. Enjoyed. Lots of good information here.👍
Glad it was helpful!
You deserve 1,000’s more!
Thank you :-)
Just found your channel. Enjoyed the video very much and great quality work.
Awesome, thank you!
I swapped a n&w hopper car being used as a construction and demolition bin’s frame onto a southern hopper, which since it was older Bachman was able to fix it,by swapping the frames and I took couplers off a car I have taken out of service for repairs right now, and after finding extra coupler boxes standard with newer Bachman freight cars and truck screws/bolts, it works and couplers just fine and since the frame knows the couplers, height is not an issue with the car what so ever
Might do this to the current fleet of hook horn cars I have left alone right now. When I can get enough trucks and couplers, and metal wheels that is
Sounds like you got some good plans in motion! :-)
Glue birdshot in the voids between the drop chutes under the car to bring up the weight for better operation where they will not be seen.
Ive found I cannot get enough weight added by using that technique. I have fake coal load covers to hide that added weight.
Who doesn't have a sentimental favorite "beginner" TYCO or Life Like car? My picks are the one piece body "Swift" refrigerators, and the "Southern" bulkhead end pulp wood flat cars.
I hear ya Scott!
Ya' did good. Good recommendations. Only problem is your use of the term bolts, when they are screws. Also some pin vises will securely hold a 2-26 tap. Personally I like body mount couplers, I'm an old "phart" dating back to the 1970's era. I will have to look into your videos more. 👍
If it has machined threads It is a bolt. a 2/56 is a bolt in my book. BUT.......I see your point. I would never call a 1/4"X1" N.C. a screw. :-)
Stryrene strips are the best way to get the coupler height purrrrfect.
Yup!
Congrats on 1000!
Thanks Jason :-)
Muchas gracias por el tutorial. Tengo esos mismos carros Tyco, el plateado y el amarillo, que me los trajo mi Papá como en 1979, desde USA, y ahora recién estoy armando mi primera maqueta de trenes, en honor a él y sus regalos que aún conservo. El ahora ya tiene 81 años y espero terminarla antes que a mi Papá se lo lleve su enfermedad. Por lo mismo me emocioné cuando vi los 2 mismos carros que me trajo en aquel tren, cuando yo era un niño.
Gracias nuevamente y saludos desde Chile 🇨🇱, Sudamérica.
Rafael.
Rafael, gracias por tus amables palabras. Me alegra saber que está regresando a la afición del modelismo ferroviario. Me entristece que tu padre esté muy enfermo. Es genial que estés reparando estos autos Tyco para honrar a tu padre y los buenos momentos que pasaron juntos. Me alegro de haber podido ayudar de alguna manera pequeña.
Saludos desde Montana, Estados Unidos.
@@classicmodeltrains Muchas gracias por tus palabras. Estoy muy entusiasmado armando la maqueta y espero ir avanzando rápido, con el tiempo que me da mi trabajo.
Agradesco tu buena voluntad y te envío un abrazo a la distancia.
@@pipafumador Muchas gracias
A lesson learned from this video. Thanks muchly 😅.
Glad to help
Thanks for the info I collect the Tyco 50 boxcars alot of different paint jobs on em this will help them run with my newer cars congrats on 1k.
Glad to help. I need to get me one or two of them 50 yr Tyco boxcars. Thanks for supporting my channel :-)
love the videos, never was any good at that task but i think your help will change everything.
may need help figuring out how to find parts for repairing some old locos
Glad I could help out a bit. Old loco's are hard to get parts. Kinda need a "parts" loco to get some of them going again. Thanks for your kind words :-)
A better and cheaper weight to use that costs only 5cents is to glue a nickel in as a weight 😊
Yup works as well!
I use pennies and white glue.
Hi Classic
Awesome info defiantly something to look into when I get home :)
Cheers Mark
Glad it was helpful!