Some (more) basic questions

[leighant]

Suggestions for your old brass track... with your straight sections, you can lay track for display shelves.
Model dummy tracks that represent another railroad crossing or alongside your railroad.
Non-operating dioramas.
Remove rail from ties and use as a rail load on your work train.
Some railroads used old rail for signposts.

In other words, use it for anything EXCEPT attempting to run trains.

[CBQ_Guy]

The different Kadee numbers for the couplers are for different situations, specific models, etc. that have come along over the years.

SEE: http://kadee.com/conv/list.htm

The #5, however, is THE most used one by far, on most installations. Recently, Kadee has also come out with the #58 which is the same as the #5, if I understand correctly, but with a smaller sized coupler which is supposed to be closer to scale than the "old" #5. If you're going to start using Kadee's, the FIRST item you should get is their #205 height gauge, and use it religiously! This will ensure standardization and be great insurance for much more reliable operation.

By the way, Kadee's home page is at:
http://kadee.com/

Hope this helps . . .

[rrinker]

The numers are the Kadee model numbers. They make them with all sizes of the shank, different moutning methods, and different positions of the shank relative to the coupler head, because different cars and locos are, well, different. Rather than force you to make up a custom mounting for every car, Kadee makes different couplers to fit different situations. The kadee web site has some charts that help you figure out which coupler to use in a particular car or locomotive, and how to install it.
For uncoupling, well, I'm not a big fan of the fixed magnets, certainly not on any through track - if the slack runs in (cars bunch together, taking the tension off the couplers), they will uncouple over a fixed magnet. On a dead-end siding, they work fine. With the kadee couplers you can stop over the magnet, uncouple, pull away a little, and theb back intot he cars again to shove them into the siding without them coupling up again. This is the 'delayed uncoupling' feature.
For other palces, I liek the Rix tool, and I want to try the pick method, you can buy picks or make them cheaply from bamboo sckewers from the grocery store. This is more like being a real brakeman and uncoupling the cars by hand, but without lifting or touching them with GHA (Giant Hand Action). The Rix tool works great except on cars withthe weights near the ends - such as open hopper cars. The magnets attract the steel weights in my Accurail and Stewart hoppers, this is why I want to try a wood or plastic pick.
The 'air hose' is what activates a Kadee coupler, and the height must be properly adjusted to work reliably over the magnets. Too low and it will catch on the track and derailt he cars, too high and the magnet won't move it. If you exclusively use hand tools like the Rix or the picks, it's not as critical. If you use non-magnetic things like the picks exclusively, you can even clip off the hoses and if desired put 'real' air hose details on the end of the cars where they belong.

--Randy

[Anonymous]

OK, I get the impression that I should go with Kadee couplers. The next question is about the numbers on those things. I've seen #5 longs, #3, #9...those may not be accurate numbers, but I know that I've seen different types of Kadee couplers.

It does make more sense to go with replacing the wheels rather than the whole trucks. I guess I hadn't even thought of that as an option.

Lastly, for now, how do you generally uncouple those couplers? I've seen the Rix Products uncoupler and all of the under track, in track, devices, but do they disconnect easily? I've had a bear of a time getting those stupid black hook couplers uncoupled. It gets to the point that I pick the car up and give it a little twist to the side to disconnect it. Funny thing is, I never see a giant hand come out of the sky and disconnect real boxcars in this fashion.

Thanks again for all of the great input.

Darrin

[rrinker]

If you can help it , don't mix the track. And you will have a much more enjoyable experience using nickel silver instead of brass.
Metal wheels is something to consider. It will keep dirt down and cars will roll better, but it's not an absolute requirement. Besides Kadee wheels, check MB Klein at www.modeltrainstuff.com, Proto-2000 replacement wheelsets, 12 pack (enough for 3 cars) for $3.99. I keep a supply of these on hand and when I get a new kit that has plastic wheels, in go the P2K's.
I concur onthe couplers, I have cars that came with Accumates, Proto-2000 locos that come with their couple, and others I put Kadees in. The Kadees are by far and away the best, and I am now working on changing over all the non-Kadees I have. have one car that came with McHenry's, but they are the type that look JUST like a Kadee, with the coil spring and all, and they seem like they would hold up just fine. Overall though I don't think they end up being any cheaper than Kadees though.

--Randy

[camarokid]

I still use my brass track in places where I can easily clean it every so often. Whenever the mood strikes I replace it with NS and then I have something for a flat car load. I really can't answer your 2d question as you might have to drill and screw your new trucks to the car body. 3d question is simple. Go with Kadee and you will never be sorry. Just thinking some more on your 2d question. Do you want the whole truck or just the wheels? The wheels just snap in and there are too many brands to choose from to mention here. Walthers Catalog has just what you need to browse through.
Archie

[Jetrock]

About metal wheels and couplers:

It is certainly cheaper and probably easier to simply replace the wheels, rather than the trucks. Most freight trucks are the 33" type--you can order packages of 100 or so metal wheelsets from Intermountain, pop out the old wheel/axle with your fingers, and pop the new one in. No tools required. Cheap, easy and relatively foolproof. Also, not all trucks are the same so you don't run the risk of getting trucks that won't work on your cars--but needle-bearing wheelsets are pretty much universal.

Couplers: Any "knuckle" style coupler will do, but personally I recommend getting genuine Kadees--they are made of metal and are much stronger than the knockoffs. I have tried McHenry, P2K and other Kadee clones and they break with alarming ease and frequency--but Kadees simply don't. If you're in a real financial pinch go for the clones, but you'll probably end up switching to Kadees later when the plastic ones break.

If you are replacing couplers on "talgo" style trucks (trucks with the couplers built-in) you will also need an adapter kit that Kadee offers for placing their couplers in a talgo-style mounting. So far as I know, the other companies don't offer that part...

[tstage]

BigDarrin,

Generally, it's usually a good rule NOT to mix dis-similair metals with one another. (That's how the battery was invented. [:(]) It may not be a problem with these partiular ones.

Darrin, if it's not going to break the bank, I would just go ahead and make your layout all nickel-silver, if you can. Ed's comments on the oxidaton differences between brass and nickel-silver are right on the mark.

Tom

[Anonymous]

The biggest problem you'll run into with brass track is you'll spend more time cleaning it than running trains. All track oxidizes, but the oxide on nickel silver track conducts electricity! The oxide on brass track acts as an insulator. My personal preference would be to not use the brass track. There's a reason you don't see it offered for sale any longer.

Cheers

[Anonymous]

Hello, it's me again. You know, the one with all of the beginner questions.

Standard preface: Please forgive my ignorance.

After my last post (Confused) and the great responses, I am getting more and more excited about getting my layout going. I'm probably going to go with the track plan from the Beginner section of the NMRA site. It can be seen here: http://www.nmra.org/beginner/trk_pln2.gif

Anyway, I have a few more basic questions. Through talk of Nickel Silver vs. brass track, I haven't seen any mention of problems with mixing it. Is there any problem with using my old brass track and adding nickel silver when I buy any new stuff? I'd hate to see all the old track go to waste.

Secondly, I plan on upgrading to metal wheels on my rolling stock to attempt to mitigate the dirty track issues with the brass. Looking at Internet Trains I found a bunch of Kadee raplacement trucks, but wasn't sure if they had the necessary snap in connections to be direct replacements. Any input on that?

And finally, at least for this post, which Knuckle couplers should I use to replace the standard black hooks that are on my current trains? The answer to this question, I am sure, will tie into the answer of the above, since I will be looking for trucks with connectors on them. Then I will know what to get for the locos.

Thanks for all of the help. You people are great!!