North Shore Line 409 - Part 2 Couplers and Trucks

These are two comments regarding my prior experiences with Sunset Silverliners. The material used to give the appearance of the stainless steel fluting below the windows of the models started to lift off of my original 415 due to the inadvertent application of tape on the model. This plus  the material is fragile and easy to scratch has made me very "gun shy" of working on the models. This feature of the model must be protected as best you can at all times.

The red paint used on the models is hard to match. The red paint I used on my 3-car Silverliner set was not an exact match. Since a large area of the side of the 415 will be cut out and windows installed, a better match for the red would go a long way in making the whole project worth the effort. Hint - I think I found the correct color/paint.

Last and not related to my prior experience with the Sunset models is my desire to get the project done. This project came up as I was winding down the building of new models. There are enough models on my shelves and layout which need updating, finishing touches, and/or completion.

Upon arriving home from the East Penn Traction Meet immediate attention was given to seeing if the new model could be operated with NSL models currently in my collection. The prototype 409 was powered. I wanted to operate my 409 as an unpowered model.

There are 2 sets of the older NSL models in my collection. One set is a 2-car train made-up of cars normally operated in commuter service - 420 and 734. The other set are cars normally operated in Limited service between Milwaukee to Chicago - 256 and 772. The 256 is powered with an old Wagner DC60 power truck with an open frame motor. The prototype 409 operated in Limited service, therefore the new model could be operated with 256 and 772.

My 256 and 772 are coupled together using Wagner radial couplers. I used the same technique used by Charlie Pitts to install couplers on his Silverliner set. See post dated February 4, 2012 "Sunset NSL Silverliners #6A - Couplers . . . ." to see what he had done.

The only exception to how Charlie Pitts installed his couplers was, I used the exact same screw holes the couplers which came with the model were installed. These are photos of my installation of couplers on my soon to be 409. I think the same screws were used.

To change the trucks the floor was removed from the body. The interior was discarded since a new one has to be built. The trucks were removed. For the balance of the information related to the installation of new trucks see posts dated January 12, 2012 "Sunset NSL Silverliners #2 - Parts and Trucks" and March 18, 2012 "Sunset NSL Silverliners #11A - 415 Trucks".

Note the Squadron Green Putty used to fill in where the steps had to ground away.

Once the new couplers and trucks were installed, the model was placed on the track along with the cars it will be run with to see if everything works as expected. Unfortunately no photos were taken with the ex-415, soon to be 409 operating in a train with 256 and 772. The 3 cars ran together like a charm. The power truck in 256 didn't have any problems pulling the 2 trail cars.

With the 3-car train running as expected, it is time to consider the balance of the work required to transform the 415 body into the 409.

Cheers,
Ed