Hi, the  DG's are not that difficult of time consuming to make up, an i have now a few items fitted with these. I actually found them very easy to set up and they worked first time. Do you have to fit every item of stock with them, or could you get away with end of rakes ?

Have a look at this, it may help

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/44897-2mm-couplings-options-choices-and-recommendations/

Gary

Hi Gary (sixteen). I agree the more you make the easier it becomes. Another useful link on here is http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/43748-easy-dg/ I have found some handy bits on here that will help me (and others) to make better couplings in future.

I will fit them to most items as I like to run trains of differing lengths to suit different traffic. The nice thing about wagonload traffic is the splitting up and spotting of each/couples of wagons.

I have included in the calculation a rake of 16 HAAs  which I would use for a cement works, similar to Barrington cement works near Cambridge. For the real train they used wagons in cuts of 10 to be loaded at Kings Lynn docks before the onward journey to Barrington. For my purposes I would use wagons in cuts of 8, with only the outer wagons converted to DG.

Thanks David, you're right about the no brainer. I WILL have to blacken them first, but I have stuck some to my wagons already...patience please!!! Yes, I should be more patient!

You don't have to convert everything at once. Have a few wagons with one type of coupling at each end until you have converted all of them over. At least then you will still be able to run all of your rolling stock, even if you have to have a match-truck in between.

There is precedence for this too, though not in England. The Standard-gauge New South Wales Government Railways went on a program of converting from 3-link hook drawgear to automatic couplings that ended up taking some 40 years. There were vehicles with hook drawgear and buffers, vehicles with automatic couplings and buffers and then other with automatic couplings and no buffers. It was possible to couple a vehicle with buffers and automatic couplings to another with hook draw gear and buffers using a "transition link" (a D-shackle with a couple of links which would attack to the automatic coupling) I have a photo somewhere of a locomotive hauling 3 trucks and a carriage and two of the trucks were there to act as match-trucks!

I agree with you Harleymartin.

I plan to do what your saying by converting the outer vehicles to start, then modifying the rest as time allows. I will work on particular trains to start with (2 x ferrywaggons, 6 x SPAs, 2 x VGAs). I will still be able to run mixed trains as I wish. Eventually, I plan on having all wagons done in a relatively short time.

I did the same thing in 4mm several years ago when I was converting my stock to screw/instanter couplings. I remember one day on the local club layout before an exhibition, a mate and I double-headed our Airfix class 31s (now, there's a blast from the past!) with a converter coach making an 11-coach train and got it running a scale 55 mph. We were well impressed! We then set this up as one of the trains for the days showing.