Hornby R2524 GWR Railcar Couplers

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Can the D shaped couplings on a Hornby R2524 Diesel railcar be removed or would I have to actually cut the D off?
Thanks
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[Mountain]

I only remember the Lima versions and very early Hornby ones when they first took over from Lima, and if I recall, one would need to cut them off, but cut them off right at the D end so one has the solid plastic to work with.

I do have coupling ideas going through my mind for 00 at the moment. It is easier to design new couplings if one does not mind if they are manually engaged. (One can make them far easier to couple and uncouple than 3 link chains as those are awful things to work with on such a small scale!)

My design criteria for 00 would be that they would negotiate 1st radius curves and stay reliably coupled and be easy to couple and uncouple using a stiff wire tool inserted from the side. They should also be easy and cheap to make.

It is do-able, though I assume you have in mind to fit a narrow tension lock?

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My design criteria for 00 would be that they would negotiate 1st radius curves and stay reliably coupled and be easy to couple and uncouple using a stiff wire tool inserted from the side. They should also be easy and cheap to make.

It is do-able, though I assume you have in mind to fit a narrow tension lock?

I think the tightest radius I have is my set track points (2nd radius ?

Quite the opposite with the couplers Mountain. If they cannot disconnect from the bogie I will cut them off without replacing them as it's a railcar, it will only ever run on it's own.

Just for completeness here is a link to the model - https://www.hornbyguide.com/item_detail ... temid=2412
Thanks
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[Mountain]

They did when used take the occasional van behind, such as a fish van which I am told was very smelly! The "First generation" (Actually second) DMU's took over this, which is why they had buffers. Example is that a DMU right into the 1980's would take a fish van from Milford Haven on the back to be shunted off at Carmarthen for heading on a freight train to go elsewhere. Such workings eliminated the wasteful use of taking either a slow shunting loco on a long journey, or taking a larger loco such as a 47 or a 37 just to drop off or collect a single fish van.
Also, when it comes back to the GWR, some of the railcar were specifically geared lower for pulling vans. There were also single end railcars used to run in pairs either back to back as a 2 car set, or up to a max of two GWR coaches inbetween them. Mostly they just ran a single GWR coach as a 3 car set. The double cabbed railcar with the lower gearing often towed a GWR coach in times of peak traffic. Which coaches were towed I do not know, but one thing I do know it was never a suburban B coach as these coaches were ALWAYS run in pairs back to back when in GWR ownership, so if a single GWR railcar was pulling a coach it would more likely be a different coach unless they pulled two which they would be somewhat overloaded. (The single end GWR railcars that ran in pairs would work back to back with any additional coach or coaches set between them so they in effect acted as two powercars).
In British Railways days, the suburban B coaches did occasionally run as a single coach so it is possible one can use a single suburban B, though I do not know if these would be towed by an ex. GWR railcar, as it is far more likely a little steam loco would have pulled the suburban B as a single coach, as B.R. by then were looking at budget ways to reduce running costs on lesser used branch lines.

Be aware that there were rules about what type of wagons or vans were allowed to be towed behind passenger services that also came in at different dates. Example is that before a certain date (I would estimate the 1920's or before) it was common on a branch line to see a few wagons or vans behind a coach with a brake van at the rear if the wagons were of the unbraked type. The coach would always come first because its brake pipes would need to be coupled to the locomotive. But after rail accidents where heavy loads (Or dangerous loads) may pile into a coach if the loco hit something, and regulations gradually became tightened, so by certain dates onwards, only vans specifically designed to run with passenger trains were used, where guards and other staff had to have detailed knowledge about what was allowed to be carried and what wasn't. 1958 is an example to remember as due to a TV campaign putting political pressure on the government a rule was made that cattle were no longer be carried by the railways. If anything, cattle going by rail was actually safer and better for the cattle than by road, but it was the odd lazy staff member backed by overly powerful unions who would break rules to save themselves work, and didn't care about the stress or harm it put animals in that caused the TV campaign to cover those rare cases, and the rule was made. By the way, both on cattle lorries or cattle vans by rail, cattle had to be packed in tight to prevent them from falling because if cattle were allowed space to move, a weaker member of cattle may fall and others would fall on them. It was (And still is to this day) a skill to transport cattle. On the railways special points were set up where cattle were checked over by a vet, rested where necessary, watered and fed before they carried on their journey and I was told Bristol was such an area they did this. Railway staff who used to work back then told me how the cattle, after they were fed (And even milked if neccessary) they would no longer fit in the wagons so they had three or four cows or other animals left over they had to send up in other future trains with other cattle which would arrive late to their destination. Everyone knew this as it was part of their job, and the farmers and markets knew this as well. The sea ports dealing with cattle also fed and watered them and had their vets checking them to pass them or have them wait until they were ready to continue their journey also had the same issue, so if cattle were needed to run in single wagons because the cattle were catching up with the rest, they may be taken behind a passenger train up to a certain date though admittedly at slower speeds. Cattle wagons up to around the 1920' or a little beyond that date used to have their lower parts white with lime, as lime was used to clean the wagons and this is VERY noticeable when one sees photographs of the railways in earlier years. Lime would be sprinkled on the floor, then straw. It was an art to use just enough lime without using too much because using too much would burn the teats of cows and other animals or where their skin was exposed if they did lie on the floor. (Less likely when packed in as the point to packing them in was so that they were not able to lie on the floor. Why the railway had those specific points were all cattle would go to to walk around and have aren't and a feed etc before carrying on their journeys.. After a certain date (I think around the 1930's or before) lime was banned and other disinfectants used instead. Was not banned in farms as some farmers still use lime under straw to this day. Is an art to use just enough lime and enough straw so that the cattle don't burn themselves and yet one is not wasting too much, as every day with cows in the winter they have their beds changed in what farm workers call "Routines" which is done during or after milking when the cows are not in their beds where the holding area and the milking parlour are pressure washed after the cows have left those areas... It is a very messy job as those doing it get get the spray splashing back from the walls and floor and I can tell you that cow poo tastes like cheese and onion flavoured crisps as one just can't avoid the spray splashing back while the daily chores of pressure washing cow much off the walls takes place! Some cows can get nervous before being milked (Poor things!) and others think it is funny to aim high!
Actually, cows are very intelligent and I have heard more than one tale of cows saving farm workers lives. Over a decade ago there were the bale wrappers which would wrap the large round bales by spinning the bales in the air. (Don't know if anyone saw these designs?) They were mostly discontinued after deaths of those who used them, as farmers or farm workers could get wrapped up and not be able to turn them off, who then suffocated in the wrapping. I was told of one farmworker who unfortunately got wrapped, and the cows saw it and ran down to the farmhouse to alert the farm owner who saw them and realized something was wrong. He followed the cows up to the fields the cows brought him to and managed to save the workers life. Farmworkers are like family to cows, where they will go out of their way to defend and look after their workers. My brother had a special cow raised from a calf he called "Butty" as from young this one cow would playfully but him! A year or two later he went back to visit the far and this cow was overjoyed to see him and could not contain her excitement!

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An interesting meander there Mountain.
In my case though I will not be running any other stock attached to my railcars or DMU thus no need for those big ugly D couplers.
If they cannot be detached they will need cutting off.
Thanks
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[Mountain]

The good news is that it is easy to cut them off.

[Bigmet]

...In my case though I will not be running any other stock attached to my railcars or DMU thus no need for those big ugly D couplers.
If they cannot be detached they will need cutting off.

That's the best move, then you can add screw link couplers both ends if you fancy the idea.

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While I think about it, are there round sprung buffers available to fit this model?

It seems as if the buffers push through the outer body into the chassis to hold the body on so any replaceable sprung buffers would need to be removable.
Thanks
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[Bigmet]

are there round sprung buffers available to fit this model? It seems as if the buffers push through the outer body into the chassis to hold the body on so any replaceable sprung buffers would need to be removable.

Specialist subject! I'd suggest this site is worth a look:
http://www.gwr.org.uk/

[Mountain]

Sprung buffers... Think I will start a new thread about them...