# Aristo Mallet: Body Mounting Kadees & Lowering Vandy Tender



## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

Revisiting the Aristo Mallet

I know the Aristo-Craft 2-8-8-2 Mallet has been around for quite awhile, and I've had my Union Pacific one with Vanderbilt tender (3 axle Commonwealth trucks) for many years. But I used it very little since it was equipped with Aristo knuckle couplers, and most of my locos and rolling stock had been fitted with body mounted Kadee "G" type centerset couplers.

So it's time to revisit the Mallet for improvements in the way of appearance and function by installing centerset type Kadee couplers.

While some folks had mounted Kadees on the Mallet sometime ago, from what I am aware of is a little different as described here.

What I did was to body mount a Kadee 907 with modified box shank on the Loco's pilot post, albeit with slight trimming and then reinforced the pilot with a metal strap. 

For a more realistic look and better functionality, I lowered the tender 0.16 inch, body mounted a Kadee 905, and also, body mounted a drawbar receiver on the Loco end.

Shown below is the overall Mallet Loco with its tender before modifications.










You can see the factory Aristo Knuckle couplers and how the tender looks with its truck mounted coupler. 










Moreover, the tender does not seem to look correct as it appears to sit too high off its trucks (which is something to consider when body mounting centerset couplers). Checking with prototype photographs confirmed this.

The task of installing Kadee centerset couplers and lowering the tender does not require removing the boiler or any body shells, and the loco with tender operates OK on 8 foot diameter track.

Shown below is an overall picture of how the Mallet looks now with its lowered Vanderbilt tender.










For a closer view, shown below is the Mallet Boiler section on an 8 foot diameter track curved section when I was working on it.










Note the added inverted "U" strap shown in the above picture that serves to reinforce the plastic pilot assembly.


Loco Front Pilot & Kadee Coupler

If it's intended to operate the Aristo Mallet in reverse pulling a heavy load or maybe double heading the loco, the plastic pilot is at risk of failing if mounting a coupler (or coupler box) on the pilot mount post without reinforcing it. Though better, mounting a coupler assembly connected to the platform is still not too desirable since the plastic could flex under heavy load and a screw head on the platform would not look too good either. The illustration below can be helpful to understand this dilemma. 










Shown below is how the pilot strap works in conjunction with the modified coupler box.










The most difficult part of the task was to make a fairly precise metal strap to reinforce the loco's front pilot so the pony truck wheels will clear.


Vandy Tender Lowering & Kadee coupler:

As to the Vandy tender, a comparison is shown below as to the way it looked before and then after lowering it. Note the circled areas.










When body mounting a coupler, its best to use a centerset type, not only for its appearance, but the physics of offset couplers aren't too good (leverage affect) when pulling heavy trains on curves and grades. So take advantage of the opportunity to lower the tender to reflect a prototype as it affects how the coupler assembly is to be mounted - usually making that part easier. Shown below is the lowered tender with a body mounted Kadee 905.










Shown below is the lowered Vanderbilt tender on an 8 foot diameter track circle.










Lowering the tender is fairly easy to do - just flip over its bolster, do some trimming, and reattach it on the underside of the sideframe ears with longer screws. Shown below is what's involved with the truck for lowering the Vandy tender. (Note the added spacer utilized when the truck is remounted on the tender.)










To attach a body mount Kadee 905 centerset coupler assembly to the rear of the tender a fabricated steel right angle bracket is needed (see below picture). The way it's shaped (and nestles within the tender frame) only requires removing the existing one long screw at the end of the tender, and then install the bracket and fastening it with the screw reinstalled. Believe it or not, the bracket is very rigidly held when under load with only that one screw. 










The drawbar receiver at the Loco end of the tender that was truck mount is replaced with a metal fabricated body mount one. The Loco to tender spacing is chosen for the closer distance same as with the coupler mount bracket. It was made using metal strap material purchased from a hardware store that includes holes, no all of which are needed.










Shown below is a before and after truck mount & body mount comparison. Note the issue of possible drawbar separation during layout operation is dealt with, too.












For full detail information, including drawings, see "*Aristo-Craft Mallet Vignette*" hosted for me by Greg E. on his Web site.

I made videos that show layout operation with the Mallet body mount couplers:

Mallet Kadee coupler test operation on layout





Mallet Kadee coupler test operating in reverse on layout




 




-Ted


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Ted, I will take a look at doing this to mine. Well presented.


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## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

Thank you Jerry;

It's good to have some feedback to help me determine if I should continue to do threads like this.

Since the Mallet is long out of production, that may be why there aren't other posted responses.

-Ted


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