... as in this -model- might have been around when steam
was still running ... *W*

I have a really old, all metal, Mantua flat car that actually
has pretty fair detail and well done paint and decals. But it
has the really old style Kadees that have a long, narrow,
rectangular slot in the coupler shank instead of a round hole
like a #5 or #58. The paint on this car is nice enough that
I think I'll try to rescue it. The biggest problem is that it
doesn't have a real coupler pocket like a more modern
HO car has - it has a rectangular hole in the end frame and
a hole in the fishbelly center sill - but no "pocket". So the
coupler doesn't sit "flat" it runs uphill towards the end of
the car. I'd really like to mount a standard Kadee box.
The current coupler is mounted with a screw and washer
thru the slot and no centering/buffer springs - crude but it
works ... sort of - nothing to center it if it off line. The
existing 'pocket' is considerably smaller than the size of a
Kadee box ... but the end frame seems to be cast metal
and can be "opened up" with a little care ...

Anybody ever tried to file/mill away the coupler pocket
and install a traditional Kadee on one of these? Can be done?
Don't even go there?
- Jim in San Jose