A few of the PRR cars have a body-mount M-T coupler on one
end (more on these later) to allow easy coupling to locomo-
tives, cabooses (cabin cars), and the other hoppers.
The hoppers used for the Cresson turns are almost all two-
bay cars, and most of these are Bowser PRR GLa models. By
the time these models came out, Bowser had switched to a
knuckle coupler. Quite a few other manufacturers, including
Atlas and Micro-Trains, also offer a variety of two-bay hoppers,
with a variety of knuckle couplers.
All of these are designed to operate on narrow N-scale
curves. In order to do so, the cars couple at greater-than-
prototype distances. The cars on the Cresson jobs also need
to operate reliably in reverse in cuts of up to a dozen cars.
The best way to achieve this (in any scale) is to equip the cars
with body-mount couplers. Fortunately Leonard White came
up with a solution that addresses both issues.
Most of these two-bay cars have a dimple designed to fit the
screw mount for M-T 1015 magnetic body-mount couplers. The
car knockers began equipping the fleet with these couplers;
they are reliable and good-looking. Soon, however, the shops
found an easier, less-expensive solution.
AccuMate (now Red Caboose) also offers a body-mount non-
operating knuckle coupler. This one-piece coupler fits perfectly
when screwed to the same dimple designed for the M-T cou-
pler. As it turned out, there is no need for a coupler box. There
is enough play in the mounting and the coupler that the cars
move through the yard’s #5 turnouts without difficulty.
The Cresson fleet ended up with a mix of cars. Most have
AccuMate/Red Caboose non-operating couplers, and a few cars
have M-T body-mount couplers at one end to allow uncou-
pling from the engine or cabin car. This solution produced
