I've recently bought 2 kit built locos, a J50 and J52, but neither have couplings, how much of a task is it to fit NEM pockets? I understand that couplings have to be a certain height etc, is there any way to fit them properly?

Chris

It varies a lot by the loco. A lot of the kits assume a Farish chassis and coupling springs and there's not always room to replace it with a NEM pocket. For those that do the Dapol pockets should do fine. For the others if the original pockets have been retained then fitting the Farish couplers/springs into it should do the trick nicely.

You are correct there is a proper height and buffer relative depth but you can use a gauge, make one based on the standard or just compare with your other RTR stock ...

They're on older Farish chassis, and I can't see where the couplings would have gone. I did toy with glueing on Peco 'Elsie' couplings, as I did so on a kit built J39 I've since sold on, but the Peco couplings are a bit kack to be honest, although they're a lot cheaper than fitting NEM pockets....

Chris

The Dapol NEM conversion kit includes a gauge/jig to aid in positioning the NEM pocket.

It does? That will help!

There is a rectangular space and hole in each end of the chassis block. The hole is just a bit too small for a coupler to get through so it holds a coupler and spring. The body then fastens over it to keep them in.

Alan