zephyr1934 Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 As a modeler of N. American trains, the lego buffer plates always sort of nagged at me. They certainly show the lego roots on the Super Chief, but when going for more detail the buffers get in the way of a North American design. I typically use the old style magnets and 2x3 plates with holes to get around that problem, but at some point I will run out of those magnets and there are some places where you simply cannot use the 2x3 plates, e.g., hanging off the end of a PF or 9v train motor. I've long wished that the buffers be made a separate piece held on by a single stud, while retaining the beam to prevent ingesting the magnets. A month or two back I decided to put it to the test. Pulling out my trusty hack saw I made quick work of two unsuspecting buffers. I think the net result is good enough for my occasional use on train motors, so I thought I would share. Quote
garethjellis Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Hi zephyr, have you used any technic thin beams? I use those in conjunction with the old style magnets as a solution sometimes. Quote
Commander Wolf Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Hi zephyr, have you used any technic thin beams? I use those in conjunction with the old style magnets as a solution sometimes. I've had this problem enough times to complain about it as well, but I don't quite have the stomach to mod parts quite yet. I have considered the old Technic plates, but most of the time the problem is with the 3-stud length of the fishplate, in which case the Technic beams (and even the old 1xN Technic plates) don't help either, because they're all longer. Quote
Aaron Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 I could never find a magnet solution that I like, so I've been trying to create functional knuckle couplers out of purely legal parts for quite a while. If I'm ever successful, I will share the results with the community. Quote
greenmtvince Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 http://www.altbricks.com/product/train-coupler-clip-cylinder-gray-10-count/ Black vinyl dye and some off the shelf magnets (or up the clutch and use rare earth magnets) and it's almost as good as the real thing. Maybe if we purchase enough of them, Steve will do a run in black and save us a step. Though, I keep toying with the idea of using Kadee #806 couplers like Dan-147. Quote
zephyr1934 Posted October 14, 2014 Author Posted October 14, 2014 @garethjellis Thanks for the tips, indeed, if I recall correctly you often make long coaches where you need the extra swing for the tight lego curves. This mod was just for the cases where I do not have room to use the 2x3 plates on the trucks. @Commander Wolf That's a good point, and thinking further, there is probably some combination of pins and technic pieces that could get the coupler out there in just the right spot with only one stud to do it from the train motor, but heckifIknow what it is. Still, I suspect it would not be as strong as the buffer plate though. @Aaron Oh my, functional knuckle couplers out of strictly lego parts!? The only ideas that come to my mind would be 4 studs wide... way too large for even 8 wide trains. Definitely post in a new thread if/when you have some progress on this immense challenge. @greenmtvince Good point, that potentially solves the availability problem... though I suspect Steve assumes one would use lego magnets removed from the black couplers. It would be great if he had a potential source for compatible magnets. Still, those do not solve my original problem of getting a coupler in the right place off of a motor in the minimum amount of spacing. Truth be told, I did this mod strictly out of curiosity. For the moment all of my trains with buffers off of a motor still have buffers off of the motor. It is little nod, true to the classic lego design. Quote
legoboy3998 Posted October 18, 2014 Posted October 18, 2014 Though, I keep toying with the idea of using Kadee #806 couplers like Dan-147. I have done the Kadee couplers and am very happy with it. Quote
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted November 8, 2014 Posted November 8, 2014 Hey zephyr I've the same issue ...we can buy some enlighten sets to steal the copy of the old style lego magnet Quote
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