Kato Blue Train Couplers

[ATShinkansen]

I have two blue trains in my fleet: the 7-car "Akatsuki" and the 3-car+EF81 "Hokutosei" (starter set). There were two things I did not anticipate: 1: the intermediate cars have a different coupling system than the rapidos on the end cars, and 2: the two coach sets use different, non-compatible systems. I'm getting to where I would like to transfer a couple of Akatsuki coaches to the Hokutosei consist, so I'll have two five-car sets. I haven't had a chance to look at spare Kato parts yet, but how difficult would it be to convert everything to one system or the other—or even just convert everything to rapidos? (I'll post photos of the couplers when I get home from work.)

 

Thanks,

Aaron

[ATShinkansen]

Apologies for the delay; here's the picture:

[Kiha66]

Are they both Kato? The one on the left looks more like a Tomix model with tomix TN couplers, which don't seem to work with any actual knuckle couplers, like the Kato coach on the right.

[Fenway Park]

The left hand one as a TN replacement should be wider as the upper and widest parts of the coupling clip into 4 projections, two on each side. The right hand coupling looks similar to a Kato coupling with the drop hoses but again appears to be a later addition.

 

Maybe wrong

[ATShinkansen]

Yes, they are both Kato coaches, with no modification. The lefthand one is from the "Akatsuki" coach set, and those couplers appear to be mounted the same way as the typical tightlock MU couplers. The right hand one is from the "Hokutosei" starter set. I've taken both assemblies apart (which really isn't much), but still really haven't gotten anywhere.

[nah00]

The easiest would be to convert everything to rapidos but you may have a slight height difference between them. Also with the car on the right, do you see the two little cut-outs on the bottom left and right of the car? That *may* let you install the bracket that holds the coupler box in as per the car on the right. You'll have to turn the truck around or cut off the attachment point for the coupler on it though. 

 

What year is each car from?

[ATShinkansen]

The Akatsuki coaches are from this year, and the Hokutosei coaches I believe are from 2009.

 

I'm actually leaning more toward the rapidos as they would offer greater flexibility in creating consists. I've done extensive modifications to OO Scale equipment to install Kadee couplers, so I'm not afraid to "cut and paste" parts if I need to (as long as the end result maintains the same swing radius as the original).

[kvp]

For the body mount variant, you would need new replacement bogies, while the bogie mounted couplers could be easily replaced with rapidos. The body mount variant seems to be the newer type, so you might want to upgrade to that as it allows closer coupling while still keeping the tight radius compatibility. It's similar to the Tomix TN version, but slightly different to remain incompatible. Afaik it's possible to get bogie mounted couplers that are compatible with the body mounted variant. This would allow you to change it back later and you won't have to upgrade the body mounted cars at all.

[ATShinkansen]

The Hokutosei instruction manual lists replacement truck sets as items 5050D (would need three of these), and 5056D. Don't know if they're still available or how to navigate websites in Japanese to find and purchase them, but it's something to work with.

[kvp]

Don't replace the bogies with the same coupler less bogies but try to get the same type from other older sets that had the old style coupler mounts.

 

Imho it would be easier to upgrade the older couplers to the new format while keeping them bogie mounted.

[ATShinkansen]

I've decided to go a different route: because rapidos are impossible to find, I'm going to convert everything else to Kato knuckle couplers. This would leave the "middle" couplers from the Hokutosei set intact. I still don't know what replacement options are available for the Akatsuki couplers. The D51's pilot also comes into question now. (I might just revert back to the dummy coupler and get the turntable.)

[kvp]

You should upgrade the Hokutosei bogie mounted couplers to the new couplers. Just get the bogie mounted replacements for them. This will make them compatible with the newer Akatsuki couplers. Getting the newer couplers for the older cars should be possible. This could solve the loco coupler problem too.