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20 Responses to Should I Convert My Fleet to Automatic Couplers?
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I model in “S” scale and use Kadee #5 couplers without problems
Hi,
We are using Dapol magnetic they are automatic once a magnet is set in the track to where you want to uncouple. We have changed most of our sprung couplings on our coaches which are UK rolling stock and found no trouble with them. We are running N Gauge Graham Farish.and Dapol rolling stock including locomotives which some are easily to convert just by pulling gently on the NEM coupling and inserting the magnetic coupling on a couple of our coaches we have cut away a piece that holds the sprung coupling and glued the magnetic coupling in its place.
Hope this helps,
Gloria.(GWRGirl)
It is a simple decision! Do you want to do switching operations or run around in perpetual circles. Once you decide, then it is a matter of doing due diligence and suffering the results of your work regardless of your decision. Do understand that there is a lot of extra work in developing a switching lay out, and as well setting up the cars and un-couplers for best operation. Things like grades, car weight, type of un-coupler (permanent magnet or electro-magnets each have their requirements and issues). Final decision is yours. For me, i am going full Digitrax and cannot see myself reaching over the layout when I can be comfortably seated drinking a cocktail and chatting with other engineers….
+1 Best answer!
What are you using now? If you like what you got and do not want to change, then stay with what you have. It is going to cost a bunch to do it. start slowly, it is cheaper that way.
Railroaders ( in HO Scale) use a KADEE coupler because it works really great and look real also. if you have a lot of rolling stock and want to convert, start slowly. Purchase the couplers in small quanities and see how YOU like that. If you do like it for the realism then purchase more.
Good luck and happy modelling.
DonJ
In HO modeling North American rolling stock, I strongly recommend converting to Kadee brand couplers, especially if you are going to have a yard and/or freight sidings. Their website has info for which couplers fit which brand train cars or engines. I suggest reviewing that to see if your rolling stock is listed. Their conversation instructions are reasonably detailed. You can do the conversion on only one side of a train car as an adapter if you’re going to keep a quantity of cars with the older horn hook couplers.
To me….there is no questions!
Use Kaydee couplers on each piece of rolling stock or loco.
The other comments here are very well in responding to your question. I’ve used them since the 1980’s and would not think twice about using Kaydee couplers.
Happy modeling !!
Have a look at Rapidotrains.com. Go to accessories and then Railcrew switch machines. I have not tried them but sure look slick you can also get switch stands with an assortment of targets, these look amazing. Would to see some feedback on these, there (Rapido) products are super nice.
Ryan,
Simply put you can convert to good couplers fairly easily. Start off with body mounted couplers where the boxes are already installed on your cars. Remove the old horn couplers and the standard replacement knuckle coupler from Kadee #5 will fit most cars You can buy them in 4 packs or in 20 pair bulk which is usually cheaper. I put the flat spring in the coupler box with just a smigit of Goo Glue just to hold it in place and then install the #5 coupler and secure it with the box cover. With body mounted you adjust the coupler height by installing coupler height shim washers Kedee number 208 or 209. Usually need none or just one, but depending on the car you could install as many as 3 number 208’s. The 209 is a thinner washer. You will want a coupler gauge which Kadee has one in their catalog too. It also requires to adjust the trip pin by bending it up for clearance above the rails. The gauge usually has a clearance gauge with it.
Where you will have some extra work is if you are converting old tyco or Bachmann cars where the couplers are mounted to the wheel trucks. If you plan to put the new couplers on the tracks as before there is a different number coupler package that is recommended Unsually a number 28 Kadee is the choice. It comes with a H shape clip that helps hold the coupler in place. It is a little tricky lining them up. You will need to remove the plastic indent at the coupler box opening to allow the spring to fin in without binding. But the problem is getting the proper clearance and height of the coupler. If that is the case they have different couplers that are over shank couplers and under shank couplers where the coupler sits higher or lower than the shank to the coupler box.
Most replacement of couplers that connect to body mounted boxes usually can be done for about 2 and a half dollars per car. and if height is adjusted correctly you should have little or no problems. If you are looking at replacing the one you might have where they are body mounted I recommend a better way here but it takes a little bit of work. First pick cars that you really want to spend a couple of bucks on to see if you like it. But the four pack number 5 Kadees and they come with the coupler boxes. Mount them on the bottom side of the car floor. You may need some screws for plastic to hold the cover or lightly glue the covers in place. Then with the existing wheel trucks cut off the coupler box from the wheel truck and re-install the truck. If the height checks out you are in good shape. But if not then you are in need of trucks that can be installed with screws. To do that you take a piece of plastic sprue from some of your car kits that fit the hole where the truck pin fit in. Glue it in place and let dry then cut it close to the existing bolster where the truck rides on and lightly file it smooth. With the new set of wheels drill a small hole for the screw and mount the wheel. Now you can adjust the height with those washers I mentioned.
All wheel trucks run better with metal wheel sets and I replace them later as I can afford them.
Now about the different type of couplers out there. Kadee are the best out there. but I have tried many brands But plastic couplers do not hold up and are not good when pulling a load or long train. Some have a tab knuckle spring instead of a coil spring and they don’t last long. Those when they quit working I just glue the coupler closed and use it on trains I don’t uncouple much. Plastic couplers are really better for those that run shorter trains. They may be cheaper but they also don’t last as long and are a lighter duty. I currently will replace the couplers and if necessary the wheel sets on a car. So pick your favorite cars that you think are worth the effort first. Some of those cars are every bit as good as the new cars ready fitted if you want to put a little time into them and even cheaper than buying new stuff. You will be much happier with the knucle couplers. and they back much better too.
One thing though , You said you were looking at these for the automatic uncoupling. That is good but most of us find the uncoupling device in or under the rails is always not where you want to uncouple. Also the uncouplers that use magnets or elecrical magnets can interfear with the computer chips installed in your DCC engines (especially ones with chips mounted low. Most of us just usually use a pencil like uncoupling pin tool to pop the couplers open. They sell them or you can make them or even just use a sharp pencil to do the job. If the uncoupling device is not set quite right as a train runs past it can uncouple a train when you don’t want them to. But changing to these type of couplers is really worth the effort.
They pull good and back up good as well. Now if you are running trains on sharp curves and switches a body mounted coupler has a hard time staying aligned with the tracks (especially with longer cars )and that is why cheaper trains cars went with the truck mounted couplers. Just remember keep your turns as shallow as you can when laying track. I anpulling trains of as many as 40 cars and and sometimes backing 30 car trains into the switch yard . Just try that with a horn coupler or a truck mounted coupler. One last thing some cheaper engines may need over shank or under shank couplers to get the right height and occationally a better engine may need that to get the height right. If you have a small fleet to convert take a car and fit only one end and now you will have a conversion car to connect your unconverted cars to the end till you get them all converted. it is also a good idea to have a conversion car in case you have a visitor that still has the old horn couplers and now they can run with your engines. I keep one conversion car handy for visitors. Hope this helps Go for it…… Newman Atkinson
Ryam,
Should you convert your fleet ? Yes, if you want to, No if you don’t want to Confused yet?
The guys who have already commented assume you want to convert them, and have made some suggestions. Why convert?
Your rolling stock and locos might come from different makers, each with their own, incompatible, couplers – convert them all to the same or run similar coupled rolling stock as a block. Have two cars (top and tail) of each with one compatible coupler to the block, and one coupler to join the other cars.
Do you like shunting, well Tension lock and NEM couplers from Europe can be cantankerous if that’s your thing. In that case, yes convert your fleet. And as suggested above, delayed uncouplers like KDs and the clones are surely the way to go. Whenever you buy a piece of rolling stock buy the relevant buff envelop of KDs and convert it.
It’s another new skill in the toolbox.
My experience is limited, but I found that off-set knuckle couplers are necessary to establish proper elevation converting truck mounted couplers from hook/horn couplers to knuckle couplers. Body mounted knuckle couplers seem to perform best. Norman Atkinson’s detailed explanation, above, says it best.
Converting to Kadee couplers are not the future, but a step up from 1950s horn couplers.
Most serious railroaders in the EU are at the least converting to full DCC operated electric
couplers on the locomotives. Yes, the Rapido Railcrew uncoupler works great on my Kadee
style magnetic couplers, but this will just extend the life of Kadees a few more years until all the
decoder manufactures add electronic couplers and wiring to the mix. I expect Kadee already
has an electronic coupler on the shelf–what an increase in sales that will make!
I no longer abide X2Fs on my rollingstock – the reaction force from the pivot spring can cause derailment problems, particularly when pushing back with a lightly-loadeed wagon. But I hesitate to waste a a set of full-on Kadees on a cheap Life-Like or old Tyco. The cheap option is Bachmann E-Zmate (with 3 different lengths and offsets) combined with Kadee #212 “Talgo Truck Adaptors” – the abovementioned I-piece adaptor.
Kadees certainly seem the way to go for modern era and USA, however they are really ugly for mid 20th century Europe.
I guess electro magnets rather than permanent magnets for uncouplers would cure the DCC chip interference if you must use DCC.
Personally I don’t use automatic coupling, I do a lot of shunting UK style and it looks a lot more real if wagons are dotted around where they would be loaded rather than left at an uncoupling ramp. You try leaving a 12 foot wheelbase flat at an end loading dock one day and three bogie vans there the next. You can do delayed propelling uncoupling with Kadees but not thus far automatic uncoupling between wagons when pulling. I use Peco couplings but don’t have any uncouplers installed and uncouple with cocktail stickor simply lift one end of one wagon or loco Its your choice
Again, all these comments are right on. I can’t imagine any serious modeler using Horn-Hook couplers. Kaydees in my opinion, are the way to go. The metal ones are my favorite, but they can introduce electrical problems like short-circuits between metal locomotives and cars, if they are not insulated. I run much of the older die cast equipment, with all metal wheels and trucks etc. I have to make sure of what side of the track the insulated wheels ride to prevent shorting between cars. It takes some time and practice to be able to install new couplers. All cars and Loco’s are different, and you will be working with some very tiny parts, like springs that launch and disappear. The plastic knuckle couplers are easier to work with, but the springs get weak too soon, and fail to work. The permanent magnet uncouplers do work, but have to be placed right where you want them, and to me that seems to always change. Also it would be nice if the uncouplers were designed so that you don’t have to modify the track to make them fit in, they stick up too high if you don’t. Oh, but it gets even better… Here are the newest type of couplers on the market, and they are impressive. sergentengineering.com These aren’t cheap, and for me to convert to these now, would be a major investment, but they are worth looking into.
The suggestions offered here are valid ideas and worth considering. But stop a moment and think about how large of a layout that you have or operating on. If the layout is small, say of a door size or smaller, it really would not be worth the change. Reaching across a foot-and-a-half of a layout would not be too hard to do an uncoupling of cars using an uncoupling stick. But if you have to reach farther than that, or you are disabled, or you just don’t want to move from your control station seat, then I would suggest converting to auto-uncouplers.
If you do decide to convert your couplers, be perpared for the cost, the time and energy that you will need to do the conversion with. And don’t foreget about the adjustments that you will need to do to get them to work right, and the occasional adjustments when they get knocked out of alignment.
Please understand, I’m not against anyone who wants to do the conversion of couplers. I just feel that the size of the layout and the time and amount of energy needed for the conversion and up-keep should be considered as a factor in the process.
I model UK N Gauge, and am hoping to convert at least some of my goods (freight) stock to Bachmann’s equivalent of the Kadee coupling – which will include some of my locomotives. When I get around to it, I shall practise on old wagons I bought cheaply, rather than risk making a hash of newer, more expensive ones. I hope that I shall find uncoupled wagons can be propelled into position without re-coupling; if not, I shall probably revert to manual uncoupling with a bit of wire in an old ball-point pen!
Sheldon,
What ever couplers you choose to install the effort is worth it. Check out my Caboose Parade videos, Almost all of the Cabooses were old horn couplers and about as many were truck mounted couplers and one of them was my very first caboose from 1959. Each car you may work on might need something different to make it work or adjust the height of your new coupler. A thin plastic shim for instance. A lot of those cabooses I had as a kid and I basically worn them out or broke couplers without a good source of replacements or instruction at the time. I started digging into some of my old boxes and decided into repairing the ones I had and it wasn’t long before I had quite a few repaired and converted. As you can see the Caboose Parade 2012 and caboose parade 2015 have the cabooses in working order. That doesn’t say they don’t need windows, ladders, detail parts and paint. These trains were run on New year’s Eve. 2016’s run was done on someone else’s layout and I have not got it on my page yet. The 2016 run has the highest amount of them to date and I have about 7 cabooses that still need repair or are wood kits that I have found. As you can see the number of the cabooses on these trains is a lot and there is a lot of pull on the couplers. So although there are a mixed set of Manufactures of couplers on this fleet Kadee’s have held up well where the others finally give out. If you pull this caboose line up by hand you can feel the pulling power it takes to make the run. I mostly use the ones with the KADEE couplers installed toward the front of the train to reduce the load on ones neasr the back to help the life of those plastic couplers. New Years 2017 is quickly coming up and again I will break them out for its annual run and with a couple more on the car log. I have also given clinics on how to convert old Athearn High cube 86 foot auto box cars. Athearn never designed those couplers right and now with how I do it I am now backing long trains into multi swtch switchyards and the piece of plastic is only 20 cents a car to do…… Good Luck and check out the videos from Newman
Its great to know that others are converting couplings. I have started to convert and gone for Kadee couplings. But in England the are expensive. I can get the same in the USA for half the price. What kill it is the cost of post. The Couplings look great and work very well. these type of coupling simulate the real coupling so well. I wish the manufactures would put the sockets on the trucks as well as the train so to you do not have to cut and glue the part. Please keep the article coming the give insight into model train over the world.
Hi Ken,
I have been converting couplers for quite a while now and really found the cars perform very well. My 86 foot Auto Parts box cars Athearn put out had a long shank on it’s coupler swivel box and if you backed them anywhere they would take your train right off the track. The arm was tied in to the wheel trucks with a couple of plastic tangs and the arm was thin plastic. All I did on those is cut the tangs off and cut another cross bulkhead that I glued into place just behind the coupler box to the bottom of the floor I knotched a groove for the shank to slide in limiting the travel left and right and just loose enough to allow the shank to slide without letting it droop. Install your KD of your choice. Mine was the Kadee no 118 Double shelf coupler which will really stay connected. This coupler is a good choice for long cars. These are also suppose to be the correct coupler for modern passenger cars which use the H coupler that are suppose to be the positive lock coupler I did this as I run a lot on older modules where the level from each module as they crossed to the next module a number 5 would walk out of the coupler because the modules have warped a bit over the years. I am now backing 10 Auto Boxes into a switchyard no 6 switches with 8 or 10 Walthers Auto racks on the end of the train they have to push against when backing up. Try that without this little fix Trailer flats I do the same. This is where I learned a lot about the knuckle couplers and especially the Kadees. These no 118 couplers work really well where the McHenry coupler which was suppose to be a positive lock double shelf was only looks they never stayed coupled over unlevel track The shelfs never kept them locked together and of course they were also plastic and more delicate. If you want to see the strength of the Kadee, Their display at the MFG Shows has a clear tube of freight cars hanging many cars from their couplers from way up high. I think with that many cars hanging on plastic couplers they would break from the weight. Good luck on getting them over there in the UK am sure they get you on shipping. Good Luck with your conversions from Newman Atkinson