26/03/2026 #closecoupling @darrellrogan221 My Hornby Drax biomass wagons did not run very well. They were okay being pulled with tension lock couplings, but I hate tension locks, so swapped them for Hunt magnetic couplings. However, they kept derailing at points! I soon realised that magnetic couplings, being rigid, give stiffness to the bogie units, a pair coupled together, just like they do with two axle wagons. Many people on here have shown how their wagons derail on curves using magnetic couplings. The bogies on the biomass wagons are a long way apart, hence the derailing. Bogie vehicles will only run smoothly if the bogies are free to move with the track. Many years ago, when my daughter was working in the Netherlands, I bought some bulk boxes of Roco close coupling adapters. They were cheap. The photo in the first comment shows them with the instruction sheet. I decided to use them on the Hornby biomass wagons, as there appeared to be enough space to install them. The first job was to remove the bogie and end hopper, which is all one unit (and the reason for poor running), by gently prising it out of the pivot hole which it clips in to. Next, after removing the wheelset, I carefully cut off the end hopper with a razor saw and yaw dampers and put them to one side, as I will glue them back into place later. But that is for another day. The centre part of the bogie was then cut away, leaving the rotation tags on. The wheelset was put back in and this gives you a free floating bogie at each end. As I can only post 5 photos at a time, my next post describes how I put the coupling adapters on.

Posted by Wagons Mike at 2026-03-26 11:21:19 UTC