Passenger car coupling mounting options?

Guys,

I know a majority of passenger cars use truck-mounted couplers. What I have to ask is: Would they work with body mounted couplers? If they work with the standard boxcars, why wouldn't they work with the passenger cars, provided that the radius of the curves on the operator's layout is large enough so that the cars do not derail?

I was thinking about this when I was assembling some athearn car kits yesterday.

I know on my club's layout, there is a problem with the cars uncoupling due to the severe grade changes on the layout, but I think that they are mounted to the truck, but have limited up-and-down movement.

Any ideas, guys?

Regards,
Mike

I don't know if I'd call it a majority anymore...at least with full 85' cars, the truck-mounted couplers are seen as toylike nowadays, so nearly every decent passenger car on the market now has some form of body-mounted couplers. However, as with Walthers cars, the coupler boxes still pivot on bracket arms to lower the minimum radius slightly. Also, a recent Model Railroader article recommended using the Darwin coupler boxes offered by The Coach Yard, which allow you to easily adjust the positions of the boxes even after they are screwed down.

True body-mounted couplers usually require a minimum radius of close to 30" on full-length cars, depending on whether they have diaphragms and how close together the ends of the coupled cars are. The difference between passenger cars and boxcars, aside from closer coupling and potentially having diaphragms in between cars, is that the greater length causes body-mounted couplers to swing out farther on curves. The cars themselves might be able to go around the curves, but the couplers might push outward so far that the cars derail. This is why most serious passenger car modelers will plan their layouts with 36" to 48" curves, so that they can mount the couplers and diaphragms more realistically for a better appearance.

The vertical problem like on your club's layout is harder to fix, since it's really the fault of the track. However, it's true that Athearn's kingpin/bolster design does not allow for much vertical movement, so if the truck tilts on the track, the couplers and the whole car will try to tilt with it, or vice versa The problem could be helped by modifying the trucks to allow them to (sort of) equalize themselves independently of the car body. But the same problem of passenger cars being longer still applies here, so any vertical motion of the couplers will be greater than with a short freight car.

One idea that some people have been trying lately is using Kadee #118 couplers, whose upper and lower shelves will restrict vertical motion. However, if the grade changes on your club layout are as steep as you describe, having the couplers locked together would likely make the cars derail instead. What it sounds like to me is that this layout is really not designed for having passenger cars run on it.

There are variables.
Truck mounted give you greater lateral truck swing for smaller curve radius.

As a comparison, the Walthers Budd Passenger Car, boby mounted requires 24" curve radius.

Really depends upon the car, Rivarorssi, Con-Cor, Athearn, Walthers.

It also depends on what scale your modeling.