Rapido Trains FP9A Product Manualline - Optional Details
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the unit, both coupler trip pins and sump tank underneath the fuel tank. A small
drop of CA-type superglue will sufficiently hold any loose parts securely. Under
the body who cares if you spill a bit?
• Make sure that the trucks swivel freely and without binding. If they catch on any-
thing, check to ensure that the brake cylinders and their associated piping do not
interfere with any of the underframe components.
• The rear buffer plate should move smoothly and spring back quickly. If not, there
may be binding – check for flash or plastic shards that may cause any interfer-
ence.
WHEELSETS AND STEAM CONNECTORS
The Rapido FP9A is equipped with solid stainless steel wheels. They cost us a mint, so
we hope you enjoy them. Plated wheels have a tendency to flake off after heavy use,
and we want you to use your FP9A for a long, long time. These wheelsets will not flake
off. The downside is they can’t be chemically blackened, so you will probably want to
tone them down with a bit of grimy black paint. Just remember only to paint the wheel
faces and to clean the wheels immediately after painting.
Like our passenger cars, the steam connectors are not installed on the model. These are
V-shaped parts that you can install at each end of the locomotive. For detailed instruc-
tions on how to do this, please call or visit our web site.
OPTIONAL DETAILS
Depending on the paint scheme and locomotive number, your FP9A may include a
whole whack of optional details for you to install if you wish. Please refer to prototype
photos to determine which details are appropriate. The best site on the internet for CN
FP9A photos is cnrphotos.com. For CP FP9A photos, the best site is cprdieselroster.com.
Each of our FP9A locomotives has been matched as best we can to a prototype photo. It
is possible that the photos you have are not from the same era and therefore some of the
details will differ slightly from what details are included and/or installed on our model.
The rear FP9A buffer is sprung. That means the FP9A can be close-coupled to a Rapido
F9B, FPA4, FPB4, or another Rapido FP9A and it will have no trouble on medium-radius
curves.
The diaphragm is not installed for two reasons. Firstly, CN and CP both removed the
rear diaphragms of the FP9A locomotives soon after delivery. They were an unneces-
sary maintenance headache and the railways did not see the need to keep their crews
protected from the elements seeing as they regularly had to get out to line switches,
couple/uncouple cars, clean signal heads, and sign register books anyway. Secondly,
in order to have functional diaphragms we would have had to make large cuts into the