I used the Micro-Trains # 2002 coupler conversion kit to change the coupler on the tender of this locomotive. The kit comes with two couplers, one for the front/pilot replacement and one for the tender replacement. I actually like the Kato coupler (a dummy) on the pilot better than the big bulky Micro-Trains coupler. So, I decided to leave the pilot as is. The following photo shows the various parts. The instructions tell you to remove the rear truck from the tender. That is done by removing a small screw (upper left-hand corner of photo). In the center of the photo is the capsule of springs. To the right of the capsule is the pilot coupler replacement, and the remaining parts are used to install the rear tender coupler.



After studying the parts I realized that the tender coupler would be a simple replacement. We are wanting to convert all of our locomotives and rolling stock to have body-mounted couplers. So, in the next photo you'll see the idea I came up with. Since I wasn't going to use the pilot coupler, I decided to body-mount it to the tender, and not use the tender coupler (as the instructions say).



The next step was to temporarily mount the coupler to the tender, put the rear truck back on the tender, but backwards, and test the coupler height against one of the Micro-Trains boxcars. It appeared to be a perfect match. The shape of the coupler body and the rear end of the tender were also a perfect match. This gave me some confidence to go ahead with the project. The coupler was taped to the under side of the tender.



And here is the final result. I used Walthers' Goo glue to bond the coupler to the tender bottom. I am letting it dry overnight before testing the coupler. The last thing I did was to use the Dremel tool to cut away the coupler holder on the rear tender truck. This is so that it clears the new body-mounted coupler.



But as you can see from this shot, it looks like it is going to work just fine.