Geof says:

Michael,

I’m a little confused about your question. Are you looking for couplers or UNcouplers?

The couplers that generally come with Bachmann equipment are Rapido style couplers. They are essentially a single piece of plastic with a spring mounted inside the coupler pocket. These aren’t regarded as true ‘knuckle’ couplers (by me at least) although there is a slight resemblance. They are generally found on the cheaper equipment. The uncouplers for these couplers are essentially little ramps between the rails that lift the couplers up until they disengage.

Bachmann (as does Kato) also has a ‘dummy’ type knuckle coupler which one can manually lift the car/loco up and over to engage it with an operating or another dummy knuckle coupler. They will NOT couple automatically nor is there an uncoupler for these types. You can find this type of coupler on Bachmann’s recent release of a GE 44 ton switcher.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a “one size fits all” universal coupler out there in N scale, so you will have to convert to the coupler type you decide to use sooner or later unless you stay exclusively with one manufacturer.

Operationally (and appearance wise) the most prototypical coupler out there is the Micro-Trains and the Accumate knuckle coupler. They both look and operate the same (and are both compatible) but the Micro-Train’s coupler has the added feature of being able to offer their so-called “delayed action” uncoupling feature which I won’t get into here. The uncouplers are bar magnets mounted either between the rails OR under the ties and ballast. Cut and paste this link into your browser to get to their site to see what I’m talking about:

http://www.micro-trains.com/

Some folks will have a couple ‘coupler conversion’ cars where a Micro-Trains coupler is at one end and a Rapido at the other. It looks a little odd but it allows you some freedom in buying and operating different manufacturers with different coupler types.

Admittedly, coupler conversions can be a little difficult (particularly considering how small they are in N scale) whereas some are as simple as just undoing a single screw and swapping couplers. Micro-Trains has coupler conversion tables on their site that list N scale equipment by manufacturer and what type of coupler you’ll need for the conversion. In a few cases, they also offer some installation tips that go beyond the standard instruction sheet. I would suggest that if you DO buy Micro-Train couplers for conversions that you buy the pre-assembled type. They cost about a dollar more (US) but the aggravation you save is well worth the extra cost.

Hope this helps,

Geof