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Craig
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 Posted - January 27 2025 : 11:11:01 PM
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After 50 years of sitting in my brothers closet, he recently decided to hand our HO Trains back to me. Trying to get this first of five locomotives running again. I had to drill out the rivets of the bottom plate in order to remove the hardened grease on the motor gears. It now runs and I will replace the rivets with screws, but is there a way to repair this broken rear coupler? Is this riveted in as well?
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Posted - January 28 2025 : 12:48:00 AM
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Yeah, unfortunately. The plastic spring affixed to the shank might be of a particular size, but if no one here has a spare, they can turn up on eBay for that vintage. Hornhooks allow extra slack if the shank pinhole isn't the right size. It is nice to see these old memories spark back to life. Thank you for posting.
She's got the rugged old MU 2 motor: that's the one you want. Around the 1980's, they started going over to this awful Power Torque (PT) ( or "Ringfield") motor that is garbage.
The traction tires are probably dried out, and "Calumets" are available online, and they go on easily and lie down flat.
Some of us have tried Goodies Hairbands from Walmart, and while super cheap, do not lie down flat and wear out quickly. "Bullfrog Snot" TM is pricey and does not go well on the plastic Tyco wheels.
Edited by - Chops124 on January 28 2025 12:53:28 AM
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Craig
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Posted - January 28 2025 : 08:16:40 AM
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| Thanks for the reply, but how exactly do I go about replacing it, other than finding a replacement bottom plate on ebay where the coupler is not broken.
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Posted - January 28 2025 : 09:23:35 AM
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There are members here who have replaced these couplers. Hopefully one of them will see this and respond.
Glenn
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
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Posted - January 29 2025 : 12:57:00 AM
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As I recall, it's a stamped rivet that goes through the coupler box.
It's a pain to repair; by prying open the coupler box, you can
swap out hornhooks. The next trick is to refasten the rivet. A dash
of super glue can hold the rivet in place, or if you have the tools and
bolts, drill out the old rivet and spike with was a miniature nut and
bolt assembly.
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Posted - January 30 2025 : 07:44:33 AM
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I've simply put a screwdriver in the opening for the coupler and pried the cover off.
To reinstall it, I just squeeze the original rivet with a pair of needle nose pliers, never had a problem with them coming back off doing this.
"A place for everything, everything in its place."
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Posted - January 31 2025 : 12:41:05 AM
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That's about right. Sometimes, I had trouble with the rivet staying,
I ended up winding duct tape over the box and/or a dab of superglue.
If that glue gets away from you it will bind up the lateral motion.
Try Yellow Tank Car's method first and tell us how it went.
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Craig
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Posted - February 07 2025 : 9:21:28 PM
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| I already drilled the river out so that is no longer an option. I was thinking of pressing a finish nail through the opening, one that fits snug.
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Posted - February 17 2025 : 2:15:28 PM
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| You can rig up a nail, or use a small screw/nut combination. The later Mantua engines had this style coupler pocket with a small screw in place of a rivet.
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