# AML PS2 4750 ft3 Hopper Shipping Damage Fixes & Body Mounting Kadee 906 Couplers



## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

AML PS2 4750 ft3 Covered Hopper Shipping Damage Fixes & Body Mounting Kadee Couplers
Ted Doskaris
November 1, 2011

Shown below is the American Mainline (AML) Pullman Standard (PS2) 4750 cubic foot car after repairs were made to it from shipping damage. 
I, also, chose to body mount Kadee 906 centerset type coupler assemblies.









The AML PS2 4750 car's roof hatches can be opened, but care should be taken when closing them when trying to fully seated them since the roof will flex somewhat.










The AML PS covered hopper car is a well crafted, detailed car with beautifully made all metal roller bearing type trucks (plastic bearing caps & brake shoes, excepted) that include some of the nicest finished metal wheels I have seen.










One thing I noticed with the trucks was a squeaking noise that sometimes occurs when the car was operated on a curve track as the axles tend to skew opposite from one-another. The noise is caused by the plastic brake shoe being marginally close to the wheel flange during this circumstance. I think this is a minor issue and will want to see what other like kind cars do.









The SL-SF (Frisco) car as received suffered damage in the way of a detached under frame assembly at both ends of the car. The under frame relies on factory gluing to the car's upper body at the bulkheads above the truck pivot area without any mechanical fastening. Given this inherently fragile fastening method, it's possible shipping damage occurred due to vibration during transport from the China factory, not just from the local carrier.










With the weight of the metal truck assemblies (about a half pound each) dangling at the ends of the under frame, the car I took out of the box was not usable. 

The car, also, had a dangling part, that was easily fastened with CA glue. 
(This was a common problem with the USA Trains brand Cylindrical Hopper cars I got, too.)









Since this car was the most expensive freight car I purchased to date, it was a bit disconcerting to have received it in such a damaged condition. That said, I was able to not only fix it, but make it stronger than before it had been damaged. Along with the repairs, Kadee 906 centerset coupler assemblies were installed, too.


*Re-inforcing / Repair Method Done to the Car's Under Frame*

Re-bonding the under frame:[/i]The under frame can be re-bonded to the car body bulkheads by applying a bead of CA type glue. This is best done with the car placed on its side and then holding the glue bottle whilst approaching the narrow bulkhead ridge surface as shown in the below picture. 










Doing the gluing the way shown above seemed to limit any glue spillage to the inboard area that won't be readily seen and would be less noticeably touched up with paint that may not have a perfect match to the car's livery.

Reinforcing the bonded area:[/i]Since the surface area of the bonded joint is very thin, it's possible (given the weight of the metal trucks) that there will be a tendency to stress the bond when lifting the car, inviting separation once again.
I used a small 3/32 inch thick ABS plastic strip, 1/4 inch wide by 4 inch long (notched to clear the under frame spine) that is CA glued in place such that it spans the joint area. See below pictures.









The re-inforcing strip is to be placed over the bonding joint - to be CA glued on. 








The plastic strip, having been CA glued down, spans the bonding joint - thereby, reinforcing it.









Mechanically supporting coupler mounting pads to car ends:[/i]The under frame coupler mounting pads have a predisposed downward tilt that can be corrected by using a small "S" clip fabricated from metal to hold the pads up against the car end sills.

Mechanically attaching the cantilevered under frame pad used for body mounting couplers to the end of the car will help prevent the previously described glue bond from separating. It will, also, establish a stable and more consistent pad attitude beneficial for installation and operational use of body mount coupler assemblies.










The "S" bend clip installation was done in conjunction with the Kadee 906 coupler assembly installation; however, this can and should be done if body mounting AML coupler assemblies - or even when using truck mounted couplers.



*Installing Kadee 906 Centerset Coupler Assemblies:*The Kadee 906 coupler boxes must be trimmed on the sides so as to allow car operation on curve track such that the wheels don't rub when the trucks pivot. This should be done so operation will work on 8 to 10 foot diameter curve track. 
(I know some folks will say using the smaller Kadee 907 assemblies will avoid having to be troubled with trimming the larger box of the '906, but I prefer the performance advantage of the longer shank coupler that is in the '906.)










The Kadee 906 boxes are mounted using the center holes. The front screw also serves to mount the "S" bend supporting clip. Shown below is the Kadee 906 coupler box mounted using only the center holes.









Shown below is proper coupler alignment with the Kadee 980 track height gauge.



















For more detail on the "how to's" see the full article, *AML Pullman Standard 4750 ft3 Covered Hopper Fixes & Kadee Body Mount Couplers*.



*Operation On the Layout:*

The AML PS2 4750 Frisco Hopper car was placed behind the trailing loco on a 62 car test train.









Shown is the train rounding the 10 foot diameter, 270 degree loop back. This is a good area to stress test the car's performance with its body mounted Kadee 906 centerset coupler assemblies.









Shown below is an overhead view of the car's coupler loading on the 62 car train.









Shown below is a close up, inside view of the car's coupler loading on the 62 car train.








The lip of the "S" bend support clip can be seen straddling the car's sill in the below picture.









Shown below is a close up, outside view of the car's coupler loading on the 62 car train.









The other end of the car is coupled to a USA Trains brand cylindrical, 4 bay hopper car; the support clip's lip can be better seen in the below picture.










With easy to do modifications on the AML PS2 4750 covered hopper car to improve its under frame glue joint durability and to accept Kadee 906 centerset type coupler assemblies, the car performed flawlessly while operating in a 62 car test train on the under house layout.

-Ted


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Very nice Ted! 

On the trucks, what about putting small black nylon washers over the axle tips, that would seem to avoid the wheels touching the brake shoes. It appears that there is more side to side travel in the axles in the sideframes than is needed. 

Regards, Greg


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Ted,
Good report as usual. I agree with Greg about using nylon washers on the axles to minimze the side to side play. I don't have any of these cars yet but their 40' boxcars have the same problem with way too much side to side. I plan on checking them out at the SWGRS this weekend.


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## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

Greg & Paul

The new AML PS car roller bearing type trucks don't have anywhere near the gross amount axle displacement that the other AML Bettendorf trucks have.


The new roller bearing type trucks' wheel squeaking is intermittent and rather minor on 10 foot diameter curves in the car I got, so I prefer and wait to see what more AML cars with these new type trucks do to see how they trend. 

Anyway, adding washers occurred to me at the time I noticed the axle displacement, but it looks sort of borderline for introducing washers since I think they will have to be fairly thin (less than the typical 0.032 inch ones I've used in other trucks). 

Greg, During the development process, I made a video of the 62 car train pulling the new AML PS car. It's in the Dropbox. I don't recall hearing the wheels squeaking on the loop back in the video, but let me know if you do. 

-Ted


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

The "shipping damage" is from them putting glue on painted parts. I had shared it at the show with those cars right out of the box. 
Everyone came loose.


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## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

Good point, Marty. 

Some glues act like a solvent to paint. I don't know what the AML factory uses. 
Anyway, I believe, the surface area of the factory glue joints for this car is too marginal to rely on for holding up the weight of the metal trucks & wheels and the stresses imposed when the car is operated in a long, heavy train. 

-Ted


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## Polaris1 (Jan 22, 2010)

I just checked my AML Milw Road Yellow hopper bought from RLD hobbies 2 months ago. 

I just pulled the Hopper from the 2 boxes & foam liner. I have no loose nor broken parts. I checked the lower ends thourohly...... 

And the wheels spin freely by hand..... & the couplers snap closed too. 

Den Mayer from GBay, WI


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Video is up Ted:


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## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

I got another AML PS Covered Hopper that suffered damage like the Frisco car - this one being the green MKT car shown below: 





















The failure of the factory glue joint can be seen in the above picture. Note the blistered paint along the seam area where the glue only seems to have dissolved the paint while not effecting a bond.

The main *article* located on Greg's Web site has been updated with more material to include information learned about the MKT car example and added dimensional drawings for the "S" Bend Clip and plastic reinforcing strip. 

Merry Christmas to all,
-Ted


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

If the paint was sanded off both pieces, then it would probably stick fine.


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## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

I would hope so, but the very thin surface area may be too small to totally rely on unless the plastics are chemically "welded" together - so it depends on the type of glue used for the plastic material of the car. 

-Ted


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

Sometime I hope to try and build one in 1" scale from these hoppers with my RR logo on it.


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## DTI356 (Jan 3, 2008)

Marty, 

If you do build one don't put the stupid horizontal rib at the top of the sides......it's just plain wrong :-( 

That's not the only incorrect feature but that one stands out.


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

WHAT???????? Accucraft is ,,,,,,NOT,,,,currect????????? does Fred D. Know about this?????


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## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

I recently got two beautiful new AML Rock Island Covered hopper cars of the second production run.

Unfortunately, one of the cars came with the under frame dislodged - probably from the rigors of shipping - and the other car still had squeaking wheels. (See the pictures that follow.)
So it looks like the factory was unable to resolve these problems that had been prevalent on the first production run cars. Also, the wheels, though still high quality, are no longer made with the black finish that made them extraordinary on the first production run cars.



















-Ted


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