On Jul 24, 2020, at 6:45 PM, Todd Sullivan via groups.io <sullivant41@...> wrote:

Hi Ron,

I don't know what size trains you are running, or how much force is applied to your freight cars' draft gears, but I have used CA to bond coupler boxes on cars, and that has worked better than using Testor's styrene cement, especially on Intermountain cars.  Another possibility would be to use shorter screws to hold the draft gear boxes to the cars.  If the screws go in the holes snugly, and are just short of the combined thickness of the floor and draft gear box, you should be able to snug them up and they should hold.  I've used similar techniques and rarely have had a problem with things coming loose.

A story.  I used to know a sea kayaker who owned a pickup truck, and he used 3/4" hemp rope to tie his boats onto side stakes in his truck bed.  Just to make sure the rope was tight enough, he would wrap the rope around his waist and then hang off the side of the truck with his full weight, then finish tying the rope.  I watched the $2500 composite sea kayaks, weighing perhaps 60 lbs each, groan and deflect under the strain, and I was sure one would crack eventually.  I typically used 1/4" parachute cord to tie my similar kayaks down, pulled the cord reasonably taught before tying it off, and never had a problem with them coming loose.  There's an analogy in there somewhere ... maybe. 

Todd Sullivan