I was given two Bachman cars which will not couple with my Marklin set. Is it possible to retrofit the Bachman cars with Marklin close couplers? Thanks!

You should post a photo so that we can identify the type of coupler used on the Bachmann car. There are a few companies which may NEM socket couplers with Kadee connections and perhaps other North American designs. It may be possible to equip the adjacent Maerklin cars/lok with such a coupling so that you can run the US cars along with Maerklin ones.

The other possibility would be installing a NEM socket, which might still be available from Roco or Symoba.

Regards

Mike C

Hi,
That coupler was designed in the 1950s by the National Model Railway Assocoation (NMRA), and is called an X2F coupler.
It was used in all trainsets for a decade or so, until Kadee (based in Oregon I believe) designed a more suitable system.
The X2F is still supplied as standard in most trainsets I believe.

Given that the X2F has a removeable screw, I imagine someone somewhere (including Kadee) has a suitable replacement.
You may have to ask a person with more up-to-date knowledge of the variations available in North America.
It also depends if your Maerklin rolling stock has either
1. the Kadee system sometimes provided by Maerklin with the standard European NEM362 box removeable coupler system, or
2. the fixed Maerklin Relex coupler.

Kimball

How about Maerklin part number 7205, the one with the hole? I measured the ones I have and they are 23mm from the edge of the hoop to the centre of the mounting hole. The width across the "feelers" in the back is 9mm.

In fact, if you only want the a pair of the couplers with the hole, the spare part number is E272910. Search for this and buy from your preferred reseller/retailer.



Hope this helps,

Harold.

As an update to my previous post --

I found a similar Bachmann car I had and checked fitment of the E292710. It is too wide to fit in the pocket, unless you trim off the "feelers" and therefore lose the self centering ability of the coupler. It is also too long to use the provided mounting hole, but a new hole can easily be drilled in the right place to use the existing screw on the bogie.

Cheers and Happy New Year!

Harold.