After a few light runs I managed to damage a few of the weak couplers on these wagons and I decided to replace them with much stronger Micro Trains trucks and couplers with metal wheels.
Going forward I will endeavor to replace all the trucks and couplers on other Wathers rolling stock I have I just did these first as I have a ballast plant on the layout and these wagons will do a lot of shunting.
Original unmodified wagons as you can see there is quite a gap between the wagons when coupled.
The original trucks are glued in and you will have to break the plastic pins by pulling off the trucks, I drilled out the remaining plastic with a Dremil mounted on a stand.
Before and after, there is a metal under frame that the pins are pushed into and it acts as a guide for the drill leaving a tight secure fit for the Micro Trains pins.
My helper for the morning.
Testing the fit for the pins
Fox Valley 36" wheels and Micro Trains trucks.
New wheels, trucks and couplers and a lot closer together.
