# Bachmann Coupler Fixes



## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes, I have quite a few cars with Bachmann Couplers on them. I have ordered 10 sets of Kadees and will start converting, but in the meantime, does anyone have any ideas on how to make the Bachmann Couplers work better? 

I was having troubles with them coming apart and I remembered someone posted to spray paint them. I did that on a couple of cars and it actually did help for awhile. 

The other problem I have is that I want to go to body mounted couplers. What is the best Kadee Coupler to use on the freight cars (Bachmann). 

I have almost given up on my AMS freight cars. They are beautiful but do not run reliably on my railroad. I will probably try to sell most of them. The Bachmann 1:20 cars have been much better. But I think I will try to stick with the Bachmann 1:22 cars for several reasons: I can buy three for the price of one 1:20 car. To my eyes they are reasonably detailed and look just fine. I will be pulling them with a Bachmann Shay, a Connie, an Annie and a Porter. 

I am mainly interested in good operation -- in otherwords, I would like to most of the time just start the trains and let them run. 

John


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## Tom T (Jan 2, 2008)

John, 

You have several issues here: I cannot make any suggestions on how to improve the BM couplers as I just changed out to Kadee from the get-go. Body mounted Kadees (#830) are no brainer for the newer BM 1:20.3 freight cars. The older 1:22.5 cars take talgo couplers (#831) unless you're prepared for major surgery to body mount. Don't give up on your AMS stuff yet. The wheels are at fault on these models. I replaced mine with Sierra Valley wheels, and they're greatly improved. I understand that AMS have come out with some replacement wheels with a proper fillet, but have yet to see any in real life. Good luck! 

Regards,


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