Actually, though, most D&RGW narrow gauge long flatcars were oxide red and had "fishbelly" side sills. If the discrepancies disturb you (and you even find the car unsuitable for 1:29 scale), read no further. If you can live with compromise and like the model's overall appearance, you should be even more happy after you have installed Kadee® couplers. The installation is very easy.

Kadee's standard "G" scale coupler, the number 830, may be correct for Rio Grande narrow gauge rolling stock because that railroad used standard gauge size couplers but Kadee's so-called Number One Gauge coupler, the number 820, is closer to the size of a more typical narrow gauge coupler. Most such railroads specified a three-quarter size MCB coupler. The smaller draft gear box offers more than improved appearance on our models; it also allows greater truck clearance. Either coupler will install about the same way and they mate with one another.

DOWN TO WORK

First remove the trucks from the car and cut off the tang for attaching the existing coupler. Then place the flatcar body upside down on a level surface. Remove the four screws holding the underframe to the car body and remove the underframe itself. We want to lower the top of the floor to a more typical height above the rails. Trim the bolsters to a thickness of 3/8-inch where the trucks mount. You may use a bench circular saw for that job, by holding the underframe vertically against the guard, or you may manually saw the mounting tang to a total thickness of 5/16-inch. Save the cutoff piece and cut it again to 1/16-inch thick. I used a razor saw for that. File both surfaces smooth and cement them together using liquid plastic cement. Note the bolster surfaces must be parallel in both directions to the deck surface. Reassemble the underframe to the deck but wait until the cement has dried overnight before installing the trucks.

The end sills are a low flat plate. Hold a draft gear box of whatever size you have chosen centered on the ends and mark the width of the required slot. Use a razor saw to make two cuts in the top of the underframe. Remove the material between the cuts in whatever way you prefer. I used a sharp, heavy shop knife and whittled off one sliver of plastic with each pass. Be careful; you could also remove a finger! Clean up the area with a flat file so the box will fit snugly down against the main floor sills of the underframe.

Cut a 1/8-inch thick piece of wood or plastic about one inch long. Fit it between the floor beams. Cement it in place against the floor to serve as a pedestal for tapping the mounting screws.

Assemble the couplers in their draft gear boxes according to Kadee's instructions. Hold them in place in the slot with the lip of the coupler box against the car's end sill. Use the first hole in the box as a template, drill through the pedestal block and the deck with a #50 drill, then tap the hole #2-56.

Mount the coupler box using one of the screws Kadee provides. If the lip is tight against the end sill, one screw should be sufficient. The screw will protrude slightly above the deck so file it flush.

Cement the brakewheel to its shaft and drill a hole of the appropriate diameter through the rachet/pawl assembly cast onto the deck. The brakewheel should stand three scale feet above the deck. Install the grab irons, one on each side of the coupler, to complete the detailing.

FINAL ADJUSTMENTS

You will find the centerline of the coupler to be 1 1/8 inches above the rail. That is exactly what Kadee specifies for its "G" scale coupler. The centerline for a Number One scale coupler should be 1 1/16 above the railhead. Considering the variety of coupler heights the car may encounter, any height within that range should be satisfactory.

In the case of a flatcar, installing Gary Raymond "G" scale metal wheels will not only provide more weight where the car needs it, their smaller diameter also will drop the car slightly to well within the coupler height tolerance. The deck height will then be 1 9/16 inches above the rail, lower than any other make of mass produced rolling stock. Gary's "G" scale wheel is correct for a 26 inch diameter, the standard for the majority of narrow gauge railroads.

The flatcar looks good in a train. The lumber load appears realistic and the car's additional length breaks up the monotonous appearance of the 27 or 28 foot cars so many other manufacturers produce.