Coupler Boxes

While the kids were tearing around before bed this evening I started cleaning up the layout a little bit (as it is one of my goals) and generally a task that is safe to do with the kids running around (as opposed to trying to position itty bitty tie plates before the glue dries). This unconvered quite a few projects actually (and I didn’t even get close to finishing cleaning so who knows what else I’ll find) and at one point I had most of the parts and tools I’d need to install coupler boxes on the flat car and I was already getting tired of cleaning so I thought what the heck why not do that.. it’s even on my goal list!

Right now it’s just a screw holding the whole box in place, after I’ve painted the car I’ll glue the top half in place (so I don’t have to mask it or worry about paint interfering with the coupler motion).

This is also a Kadee #5 (in the first picture you can just barely see the centering spring), I’ll replace it with Kadee #158s which have the smaller knuckle and whisker springs… though I have been tempted to try Sergent Couplers for a while so maybe I’ll just try to track some of them down instead.

I’ve found lately I’m taking really close shots of stuff because I’m working on small detail bits and sometimes the scale is lost to readers, especially if they aren’t model railroaders and don’t know how big say a Kadee #5 is for example. And I usually don’t think about puting an item in for scale until I’ve put stuff away, but tonight I remembered at the last minute and used a dime to show scale (and as Lionel Strang says, add value to the picture). For my readers outside of the US that don’t know how big an American dime is, it’s our smallest coin and is 17.91mm in diameter and 1.35mm thick.