Diaphragms
Is there such a thing as a good diaphragm? I have just finished painting a pair of Cary E7 shells and they would look much better with diaphragms filling the void between the A & B units. I have tried several different manufacturers diaphragms over the years without any success. I have several Proto 2000 E7s,8s &9s that I have had to remove the diaphragms to prevent problems. I also tried them on my Daylight passenger cars and had to remove them.
My layout mainline minimum radius is 29", most are 32" or more. I have converted the couplers on my passenger cars to Kadee #119 shelf couplers, that helped a little but far from working good.
I would like any input, positive and negative on diaphragms. I've been an HO model railroader since 1952 and I'm normally a reader only of forums, posting is new to me.
Mel Perry
Bakersfield California
My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
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Look at this web
Look at this web site
http://www.americanlimitedmodels.com/category_s/1670.htm
Problem I see most times is passenger cars are on to tight of a radius and the diaphragms cause cars to derail or bind.
I have seen the American limited diaphrams in person and seam to work well. They are fragile so care is needed to make sure they don't get messed up.
Diaphragms
You cant beat the look of a diaphragm between passenger cars of locos. I used walthers diaphragms on my passenger cars and the plastic frames would sometimes get caught on curves causing problems. I have replaced these frames with solid sheets of black plastic. This was a big improvement as they dont get caught on each other and you cant tell there is no actual passageway between the cars.
"I've been an HO model
Hi Mel, Did you get to see cab forwards in operation when you were a kid? I got to see the last of them in the 50's . Last time I looked some of their water tank bases were still in place up by the loop. If you were modeling in '52 you'd have felt the earthquake if you lived in Bakersfield area then? .........DaveB
Read my blog
American Limited Models!!
I have used American Limited Models diaphragms on all my Stewart Hobbies F units and they work great. The "gapless" look between the locos is so much better!
Graeme Nitz
An Aussie living in Owasso OK
K NO W Trains
K NO W Fun
There are 10 types of people in this world,
Those that understand Binary and those that Don't!
Cab Forwards
Hi Dave
I was living in El Paso in 1952, working on my first layout at 15 years old. I spent several summers in the SP yard at Five Points climbing all over the locomotives in the roundhouse. It was neat living next door to The SP Yard Superintendent.
I was able to hitch a ride in an AC-12 #4287 in 1951 from El Paso to Alamogordo New Mexico. I rode back to El Paso in an AC-9. #3807. Check out the About Me on my blog. http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/p/about-me-my-layout.html
We moved to Bakersfield in October 1987.
Mel
Uncoupling with diaphragms
I agree that diaphragms really look good and are required, depending upon the prototype. However, how does one uncouple cars with decently looking and operating diaphragms?