Body Mount Kadee to Tender

Well, now that I have been changing over to body mounts for my freight cars, I can run longer trains. I hooked up the mallet and tried out a longer train. I had already truck mounted a Kadee.

The train got about 3 feet and came apart at the tender.

The coupler tang is so long and flexible that the couplers just slid over each other. The coupler also mounted low in the first place.

So, how to body mount? The standard 830 is way too long, the draft gear interfers with the tender trucks. Also, the underbody is anything but flat there, so building up a platform would be a pain.

So I measured out a 835 sitting right under the edge of the tender. Perfect height, but only a thin lip, and then it drops away.

Took apart a couple of Aristo manual switch motors, took the sliding piece inside, cut it off, and they fit in the little slot behind the coupler. Drilled a small hole and used one of the screws that hold the tender weight. Used a #33 drill.

Bingo, right height, and only took about 1/2 hour, including figuring out coupler height.