Uncoupling tricks

[ghost/drgw]

 

Helllo,  I use a length of wire about 5 in. long with one end bent into a loop to form a handle.  The working end has been flatten into a chicel point. Insert and twist, don't forget about the slack as mentioned above.  I like these and they work good. I picked them up working on a 1 to 1 rail road.  They are a tool to remove the "flag" contacts from the back of B signal relays.

[ram]

I am with Roger.  GH Products made the "Uncoupling Tool that worked great.  I just forgot who made them.

[JoeinPA]

 I tried Andy Sperandeo's pencil trick and was impressed how easy it was to get flawless uncoupling.  I've tried lots of other methods in the past with mixed results and this method is very effective.  I've even gone out and bought a box of pencils.

Joe

[pathvet9]

well, some time ago I bit on a MRR mag ad and bought a "knuckle buster" from Memory Lane Studios. It is like a little flashlignt with a magnetic wand on the end. But I must have challenged dexterity as I have never gotten it to work well. But it looks cooler than a pencil or toothpick.   

[desertdog]

Der5997,

Nice, neat looking fascia.

John Timm 

 

[BRAKIE]

L&M RR

I've used a simple round toothpick for over thirty years.......thinner than the skewer, .......  I paint-em black, and mount near every siding, (look like a stubby old phone pole), where they are convenient to pull out, uncouple, and replace........works every time...and I have had little problem with sagging couplers..........

 

 

That sounds like a master plan..I'll have to try it.

[L&M RR]

I've used a simple round toothpick for over thirty years.......thinner than the skewer, .......  I paint-em black, and mount near every siding, (look like a stubby old phone pole), where they are convenient to pull out, uncouple, and replace........works every time...and I have had little problem with sagging couplers..........

[der5997]

I model in N, and use a variation of the skewer - the handle portion of used mini-brushes.

  I colour code the handles of the picks and the holsters into which they fit,

so that there is a fighting chance of them being returned to where they are needed!  Having bought the mini-brushes, I prefer not to pay again for a skewer, etc. The picks are located around the layout ( a shelf around the room) at places where switching is probable.

I relate to the trip pin fouling on turnouts and crossings, and so having to be bent out of the way mentioned already; as well as the unwanted uncoupling over ramps. There must be a sub-clause of Murphy's Law that states that a locomotive will develop some slight hesitation sufficient to introduce slack in the train when the couplers of such train are over one or more magnetic uncoupling ramps!  

...and Randy, I now use a pencil for getting the graphite where it's needed when installing/servicing couplers. Way less mess than the graphite powder. A soft lead is better, I find.

[rrinker]

 I'll have to give Andy's pencil trick a try. No need to squirt Grease'm on the couplers when you do that . Problem is, I have no pencils anywhere in the house. I came to love mechanical pencils while in college and that's all I ever use other than a pen. It might work, but probably not the ultra-fine .3 and .5mm ones I use, very tiny compared to a common #2 pencil.

                                       --Randy

 

[desertdog]

Roger,

I had one or two of those myself.  They "died" from over-use after many good years of service.

 John Timm 

 

[jacko73]

 I use either flattened brass stock or the bamboo skewers glued to a small flashlight (single AA or AAA battery) of the type you can get at any drug or hardware store.  The flashlight casts light down on the couplers allowing you to see what you are doing.  I was fortunate in finding a flat flashlight years ago and it still works, amazingly.

[pennwest]

In the mid 80's, a company named GH Products made the "Uncoupling Tool". It was a thin plastic rod (about 1/16") with a pointed oval piece of brass sheet about 1/4" to 3/8" long at one end, a little wider than the rod. I still have about 10 and use them constantly. Easier to slip between the coupler knuckles than a skewer and a twist releases the knuckles. Even works well on the scale head Kadees. Wish I had a batch more. Tried to make some but never got the shape of the brass oval quite right. Roger Thomas

[desertdog]

There are a few hard-to-reach places where I have installed under-track magnets.  Elsewhere, I either use a Rix tool or a Kadee spring pick.  The latter works exceptionally well with shelf couplers.

John Timm

[jwhitten]

rrinker

 Add another vote for skewers.

 

 

Uh-oh, there goes the price of skewers...

[PHARMD98233]

 Here is a fun way to do uncoupling with DCC.  All you need is one car with this apparatus to use as a switching idler car.

http://dccuncoupling.com/

 Yes, you can buy a lot of bamboo skewers for the price of one of these, but it is a lot more fun !

 

 

 

 

[Sperandeo]

Skewers do a good job, and I have only one thing against them: you can't write with a skewer! I like to use a nice, sharp pencil, which can multitask when I write out a switch list and then mark cars off of it as I do the work. See my video at http://www.trains.com/mrr/default.aspx?c=a&id=3834 to see me uncouple cars with a pencil.

So long,

Andy 

[rrinker]

 Add another vote for skewers. I have a Rix magnet wand and it works well too - as stated above there MUST be slack for the couplers to uncouple, Kadee couplers are designed so that they will not seperate if there is tension on them - look carefully at the knuckles and you'll see a slight lip cast into them. But the skewers work at least as well, if not better - and you can buy a LOT of skewers for the cost of one Rix tool. They're the one thing you don't have to worry about losing - can't gind one? Just grab another. I file the pointed end slightly flat, like a flat blade screwdriver but not all the way flat. I've also found this works best with real Kadee couplers, none of the various knockoffs seem to be as reliable, which is why I only use the real Kadees.

                                        --Randy

 

[richhotrain]

steamage

I've used the wooden skewers for years without problem, they let you drop the cars where you want.  Never liked the magnets and the Kadee uncoupling pin I cut off, for some strange reason the pin always tends to drop below rail level always in a switch or road crossing.

I never cut off the Kadee uncoupling pins, but over time I have bent every one of them after striking the turnout points and /or frogs and derailing

[steamage]

I've used the wooden skewers for years without problem, they let you drop the cars where you want.  Never liked the magnets and the Kadee uncoupling pin I cut off, for some strange reason the pin always tends to drop below rail level always in a switch or road crossing.

[richhotrain]

grandtrunk44

Hello all, I have a small layout that is made for switching and I have grown frustrated with the kadde magnets and even bought a rix uncoupling tool that works half the time.my question is there a homemade tool or some trick to improve my sessions? Also I should note all my freight have updated couplers

 

I have tried everything ranging from magnets under the tracks, to the Rix device, to a micro Phillips screwdriver and, finally a small wood skewer.

My conclusions over time:  the magnet works best when you don't want it to, the Rix tool works - - half the time and only with a lot of effort, the screwdriver is effective but it is still to big and thick, the wood skewer is the answer - - - it works flawlessly all of the time.

My wife picked up a package of 100 at the local Jewel store.  The skewers are about 4 inches long and about 1/8 inch thick.  I painted them green to match the base color of my layout and spread them around for easy access.

[BRAKIE]

I use a small flat tip screw driver..I started using a small screw driver to uncoupler X2F couplers way back in the early 60s.

[retsignalmtr]

Here's another one for barbeque skewers for HO. I've found they work best with Kaydee's. McHenry's and accumates work too, but it's a little harder to uncouple with them. I use the plastic Rix Pic's in N.gauge.

[markpierce]

You gotta make sure there is slack in the couplers.  If couplers are pulled tight, the coupler knuckles won't release (let go from each other) and uncoupling isn't possible.  I don't know anyone who uses the hand-held magnetic uncoupler wands: they all use some kind of probe such as described above by others.

Mark

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 I use a very non-technical device that anyone can get for almost nothing. A bamboo skewer. So far it's worked every time and it doesn't matter if the couplers have trip pins or not.

[jwhitten]

grandtrunk44

Hello all, I have a small layout that is made for switching and I have grown frustrated with the kadde magnets and even bought a rix uncoupling tool that works half the time.my question is there a homemade tool or some trick to improve my sessions? Also I should note all my freight have updated couplers

 

 

I recommend going to the grocery store and buying an el-cheapo bag of the small wooden skewers. Then take an x-acto knife and flatten the points out a bit-- so the ends somewhat resemble a flat-blade screwdriver, but don't carve so much that you lose the points. You can probably get a bag of the skewers for $1-2 bucks that will last you a lifetime. I usually carve up four or five of them and leave them around the layout.

Another item that works well in a pinch is one of those little double-ended pen-sized screwdrivers that you often get for free at trade shows and the like. It has a small flat-blade tip on one end and a small phillips tip on the other, and typically has a clip on the side so you can put it in your pocket like a pen. Use the flat blade.

Of course you can always glance around to see if anybody's looking and if the going's good, lift one end of the car... 

(Just don't do that on anybody else's layout!)

 

John

[Motley]

I just recently got the new kadee couplers and using the rix tool, and it works pretty good. Key is the little bit of slack.

[Lee 1234]

Make sure your couplers are aligned with the Kadee gauge. Clean and flash or roughness off the coupler shanks with a file. Make sure the coupler pockets are free of flash and burrs. Use the dry graphite lube in the coupler pockets. Use the Kadee fit chart and select the correct coupler for the car, #5s do not fit every car and engine. Make sure the magnets are installed in the middle of a straight section of track. Make sure the coupler hoses don't drag. Slack between the cars helps the magnets ability to pull the couplers apart. The more often you use a car with magnetic coupler release the better it will work. Using skewers tends to make many couplers droop so using skewers should be avoided if you want to use magnetic uncoupling. Pull the "hose" from the side if cars refuse to uncouple with a wire. It takes some effort to get a large fleet of cars to work with magnetic coupling but when you have it right you can just relax sit in your chair and switch cars around all day long.

[selector]

I have pretty darned good results with a 5 cent wooden skewer, the kind you buy for a buck a bag at the grocery store.  Bring the car cut closer to the engine by 1/16" so that there is some slack in the couplers, insert the skewer point between the couplers vertically until it stops, twist sharply (but with control) clockwise, and move the cut of cars away...they'll be uncoupled 90% of the time.

-Crandell

[JoeinPA]

 The Rix tool works best when you center it so that the little magnets sit on the rails.  Even then it doesn't always work well.  Some folks use the pointed end of wooden skewers to open the knuckles.  It looks easy in the videos I've seen but I haven't tried it yet.

Joe