train locomotive couplers do you change the OE couplers?

[Anonymous]

I see so if it hangs down too much you just cut it off (if your not using the kadee uncoupler).
Thanks for the info
Scott
P.S. Magnets are the best. Repelling forces are the basis of my current project.

[Anonymous]

Trip pin on Kadee's is the little wire that's suppost to facimilate a brake line but is what makes the uncoupler work, It hangs low enough for the kadee magnet to force I guess you would call it negative fields. Ever play with two magnets and the one way stick together but the other way they push apart, that's what enables kadee's to uncouple.

[Anonymous]

Whats a trip pin?
Scott

[Anonymous]

Curmudgeon, I'll leave the trip pins on mine for now, I guess you just have to ignore them the same way Lionel guys overlook that third rail, trip pin fine, third rail NO! IMHO.

[jebouck]

TOC,
I, too, was too stubborn to switch to High speed cable. But for 20 bucks more a month, it's worth every penny.[:D][:D]
Pictures, (even the boring ones) load notch 8.
I know Kirkland ain't out in the boonies. So it's probably avalaible.
Try it on a 6 month trial for $19.95 a month, like I did.
jb

[Curmudgeon]

About half have the box with the red "X" for me.
Bad part was they load FULL SIZE (and VERY slow on dial-up), and when fully loaded they re-size.
TOC

[vsmith]

I love the security protocals on our system here, all i see is a little box with a red X in it...[xx(]

[Anonymous]

Curmudgeon
yea but thats great pics nice RR and beautiful place great weather nice looking lgb.
ian great job thanks for the nice snaps .
Happy RR


quote]Originally posted by Curmudgeon

Ian- What do the photos have to do with couplers (other than uncoupling my connection)?
The ones I can make out look stock.
TOC

[Curmudgeon]

Photo Wars.
Has to be.
TOC

[Anonymous]

[Curmudgeon]

Ian- What do the photos have to do with couplers (other than uncoupling my connection)?
The ones I can make out look stock.
TOC

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by iandor

Cool, pic!!!! Ian that is a capital pic!!!

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

img
http://www.users.bigpond.com/iandor/DCP_0009.JPG
/img

[Anonymous]

[Curmudgeon]

Did street rods for years (still run a 1949 Willys with 3/4 '50 Merc) and the restored stuff (have had a 1950 Tudor for 35 years).
Nothing wrong with flatmotors, just don't go drilling holes in them.
TOC

[bman36]

Hey guys,
Being a Street Rodder as well as being into Large Scale makes me the guy who likes to "cut one up" if you will. Car enthusiasts can be a REALLY weird bunch. They too are brand loyal and will froth at the mouth over "what's better". I recall an ad Chrysler put out years ago that read "Thankyou Ford and Chevrolet for putting Chrysler Hemis into your race cars!" Still makes me laugh today. BTW Kevin I own a 1940 Chev Coupe. Currently it has a Pontiac engine in it but it is slated for a stroked 440 that will be up to 488 cubes. I do this so the die hard Chevy guys will blow a blood vessel when I open the hood. Painted on the firewall will be "The Thunder of a Mopar stops the Heartbeat of America!" Can't wait to see the reactions. How does all this fit with couplers? Well I feel it makes for great reading when we can express our preferences without getting mad at each other. None of my rolling stock or locos was purchased to resell at a profit. Besides I will most likely modify the daylights out of them purely for the enjoyment of creating. After all when the trumpet sounds we can't take em' with us. Personally I find Bachmann couplers most suitable for my usage and budget. A bag full is quite cheap. Still having fun here! Later eh...Brian.

[Curmudgeon]

I threw out boxes full of rusted ones.
We tried cleaning them, but the rust was such they would no longer go through the moveable portion, so we gave up.
I do have a BIG bag of take-offs.
Need Delton and Lionels.....
Never, ever had to "oil" any of my other couplers.....guess you just need to be prepared, right?
TOC

[kstrong]

Wow, TOC. I must have pushed the right button. I haven't gotten you that riled up since my r/c installation article. [;)] Must have been the "pressure washing" comment.[:p]

As for the rust issue...

A small drop of oil goes a long way to keep that from happening. If, in a rare instance it does (i.e, the car is left out in a monsoon), you can tap the pin out of the coupler, take some steel wool or wire bru***o the pin to remove the rust, and tap it back into place. Of all the fixes one may ever have to do, it's rather simple. I've never had one rust shut. I've had them painted shut, but never rusted.

*sniffle* and you still laugh at my "car lifting?" *snif* I'm crushed. [:(] Had you given me a flathead screwdriver, I'm sure I would have figured it out![:D]

Seriously, though. One thing that hasn't been mentioned in all this...

If you're going to body mount the couplers, screw the coupler assembly into the frame of the car. Do not rely on glue to hold it. "Glue only" mounts had a 100% failure rate in my experience. There needs to be a mechanical link betweent the coupler and the frame of the car.

As Walt stated, there's lots of options, lots of opinions, and lots of champions for each. Pick your poison and live with the side-effects.

And TOC, if you've a pile of worthless rusted Kadees lying about, you know what my address is...[:)] I'll send you my chunky, oversized Bachmann couplers in return.

Later,

K

(Don't worry, folks... TOC and I banter back and forth like this on a routine basis.)

[Curmudgeon]

Cupla things.
There IS a standard.
Bachmann, Delton, Lionel, USA and lgb with Lionel couplers are all the same height and couple together just fine.

'nuther is collectability. I don't care a randy rat's hindquarters about that. The reason I get these given to me is they won't work with original stock when Kadees are installed.
Holes affect RESALE value.......I don't know about you, but I'd look at a car before I bought it to see if it had a bunch of holes drilled into it.

last, the first one I ever saw lift a car to uncouple was........that guy who drove his shove-it-or-leave-it into my driveway.
We still talk about that, every time we have to dig out the Remote Volume Control.....

I am not OPPOSED to them.....just, like I posted earlier, try them on a couple of cars FIRST before you do a wholesale conversion of your fleet.

And, hey, I didn't even get into the rust issue.
Remember, if it's magnetic or attracted by a magnet, it rusts.
And when that pin rusts solid in the coupler body..........

TOC

[grandpopswalt]

So there it is ..................... like most things in life, pick your expert, fall in behind him and march forth. Everyone who's posted on this subject has presented a compelling argument and offered indisputable proof that his brand of coupler is far superior to all the others. I guess it all boils down to personal taste.

Walt

[kstrong]

Don't let TOC's anti-Kadee comments scare you too much. He feels the same way about Chevrolet. I've had the pleasure of operating on TOC's railroad, and the Bachmann/Delton couplers he uses work very well. (He even let me park my Chevy on his driveway, though I think he had it pressure-washed after I left. [;)] ) As morally opposed as TOC is to Kadee's trip pins and coil springs, so am I to Bachmann's grossly oversized and blocky appearance. (It's a bit large for 1:20.3, let alone 1:29 or 1:32.) I've been using the #1 scale Kadee couplers for nearly 20 years, and have been enormously pleased with their operation. The ghastly trip pins can easily be cut off, and once you put a coat of paint on the coupler, the coil spring all but vanishes into the background. The drawback--as TOC states--is that you must either lift the car up to uncouple it, or insert a flathead screwdriver between them and twist. (The preferred and quite simple method.) I also use the same flat head screwdriver to clear the inevitable chunk of ballast or other debris from around the switch points.

As for mounting them, body mounting any manufactuer's couplers will require a fair amount of engineering, shimming, and hole drilling. Kadees are no harder or easier than Bachmann, USA, or any other brands. If ya body mount them, you're going to have to do a little bit of measuring and cutting. No two ways around that one, folks.

I do like the notion of operating the couplers prototypically with cut levers. If that's important for you, I'd opt for either the Accucraft couplers for 1:20.3, or the USA Trains couplers for 1:29 or 1:32. (You can also use the USA trains coupler for 1:20.3 (and 1:24 and 1:22.5) It would just represent a 3/4 scale coupler used by a number of narrow gauge railroads. I thought about going with the USA couplers myself, but the complete coupler pocket assembly and ease of installation of the Kadee #820 ultimately won out. (The Kadee #1 scale series of couplers scales out perfectly to a 3/4 scale prototype coupler.)

If aesthetics is not at all a concern, hook and loop couplers (with hooks on both ends) are bulletproof. They're easy to uncouple with a thin piece of plastic--even a Discover card! If aesthetics is a bit of a concern, but so is resale value, then opt for one of the truck mounted varieties from USA, Bachmann, Aristo or Kadee. These can all usually be mounted with minimal surgery to the truck itself, and ordinarily no work to the carbody. If you want operational stability, close to prototype fidelity, and aren't worried about resale value, then body mount Kadees or USA for 1:29 / 1:32, and Kadee, USA, Accucraft or Bachmann if you're doing 1:20.3.

The larger concern with couplers is compatibility. In large scale, there is none. Any that exists between brands is purely coincedental and definitely unintentional. The August 2003 issue of GR has a comparison looking at the various brands of couplers currently available. It's definitely worth a look if you're contemplating choosing a single style of coupler. (Hook and Loops are not covered.)

When the great trumet sounds, though, remember one constant... the almighty paper clip.

Later,

K

[vsmith]

Tossed all the H&L's, mounted bachmann couplers because their inexpensive and mount right onto the H&L tab. But recently I have begun converting some engines and cars yet again to Link & Pin. These look far far better than anything else so far.

[jebouck]

KD's on everything! Body mounted.
I just love taking a razor saw to the undersides of my so-called "collectable" cars and cutting notches. Even the high priced RhB Salon cars.
Uncouple with a long ignition screw driver.
Not one problem, anytime, any where.
jb

[Anonymous]

since ive had the stroke in 1998 ive used the HL couplers that came on my usat locos and never had them come uncoupled yet.
i have installed aristo couplers on all of my rolling stock and have had no problems uncoupling yet. and my few transition cars.
its easier for me to convert rolling stock then my diesels!
and no added expense.[soapbox]
happy RR