Questions, Answers & Tips - 2
Here's the Micro-Mark page of connectors and crimper:
.
– MRH
Passenger car diaphragms
Q.
Some of my old passenger cars don't have any passenger
connections between them, and the gap doesn't look very
good. How can I fix this?
A.
There have been many manufacturers of scale model passen-
ger car diaphragms over the years. They have taken many forms,
from accordion-pleated paper with metal face plates, to full-
width sliding connections, to rubber tubes (3). At any given time,
the big problems for modelers seem to be finding the part that
looks right for the application, and rounding up enough of the
same brand to give your train a uniform appearance.
2
2: Slip-joint pliers can be used to clamp the Scotchlok
connectors shut, but a flat jaw will do a cleaner job than
this rounded variety. When the connector is correctly
clamped, the lid will snap shut and the wires will resist
a judicious pull.
3
3: Walthers represents the diaphragms at the end of its
new passenger cars with a springy, sliding housing to
keep the gap between cars filled.
Walthers, Broadway Limited, High Tech Details, Rapido,
American Limited, The Coach Yard, Keil Line, Marklin, and Train
Station Products parts are listed as “in stock” at walthers.com
in a variety of scales, designs and prices. Local hobby shops
may have them, as well as out-of-production parts from IHC
and other former specialty manufacturers. Searching eBay for
manufacturers' names will also turn up suppliers with caches
of discontinued parts.
To find out what diaphragm your cars require, compare pro-
totype photographs to the catalog illustrations. The British
refer to these as “corridor connections,” (4) which has always
seemed like a more descriptive name.
MRH-Dec 2013
