riogrande5761 I think it is fair to say that most, if not all KD and KD clones, are magetic couplers. What makes them magnetic? The metal "trip pin" that hangs down and responds to magnetic uncoupling devices.
I think it is fair to say that most, if not all KD and KD clones, are magetic couplers. What makes them magnetic? The metal "trip pin" that hangs down and responds to magnetic uncoupling devices.
Thanks for the clarafication.
Some times the obvious is the hardest to recogonize.
Thanks & Happy Railroading
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up
superbe Until you have done all phases of modeling you are still a newbie regardless of how long you have been in the hobby. That describes me when it comes to changing couplers. Based on the comments I have to assume that all KD's are considered magnetic as no specific reference has been to ones not being either magnetic or not Is this correct?? Thanks & Happy Railroading Bob
Until you have done all phases of modeling you are still a newbie regardless of how long you have been in the hobby. That describes me when it comes to changing couplers.
Based on the comments I have to assume that all KD's are considered magnetic as no specific reference has been to ones not being either magnetic or not
Is this correct??
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
rrinker superbe: Lee, As I'm also getting ready to replace coupler I hope you won't hold it agaist me for asking a related question and that is: Why are KD MagneMatic couplers not mentioned?? Thanks, Guys Happy Railroading Bob ? This whole thread is about Kadee couplers. --Randy
superbe: Lee, As I'm also getting ready to replace coupler I hope you won't hold it agaist me for asking a related question and that is: Why are KD MagneMatic couplers not mentioned?? Thanks, Guys Happy Railroading Bob
Lee,
As I'm also getting ready to replace coupler I hope you won't hold it agaist me for asking a related question and that is:
Why are KD MagneMatic couplers not mentioned??
Thanks, Guys
Happy Railroading
? This whole thread is about Kadee couplers.
--Randy
Not only that, it's the second in a week....
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
superbe Lee, As I'm also getting ready to replace coupler I hope you won't hold it agaist me for asking a related question and that is: Why are KD MagneMatic couplers not mentioned?? Thanks, Guys Happy Railroading Bob
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
hon30critter Hi everyone! Richard suggested that the Kadee copper spring could be installed on either the top or the bottom of the coupler box. Is this correct? (No disrespect intended Richard). The spring is different on each side. There must be a reason for that. Anybody know why? Thanks Dave
Hi everyone!
Richard suggested that the Kadee copper spring could be installed on either the top or the bottom of the coupler box. Is this correct? (No disrespect intended Richard). The spring is different on each side. There must be a reason for that. Anybody know why?
Thanks
Dave
For KD #5's snd the like which use the bronze spring, that goes in the top of the box in most cases if you follow the directions. Turn the car upsidedown, drop in the spring, then the coupler with the pin facing up, screw or clip on the cover and it's mounted. In a few rare cases where the situation demanded it (intuitively) I have mounted the spring opposite, on the bottom. I don't know why the spring is not the same on either side, but it still centers the coupler so I guess it won't be a mystical keep me up at night sort of question.
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
You may also want to "invest" in a coupler assembly fixture:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/380-701
Unless you buy only the pre-assembled couplers, after the third or fourth time the whole thing falls apart on you and you lose the tiny little spring, or one of the other parts, you will pronounce this gadget the best $10 you ever spent (including S&H).
I have found the one piece #148's very easy to install. There are some cars that if the coupler height is off, using the #5's works better, as you can put the spring under or over the coupler shaft to slightly adjust the height. They also make different length shafts and off set heads for really out of height cars or cars needing to be further apart than others. Their web site has a chart to tell you what couplers to use if the #5 or #148 don't fit for car conversions. They also have a section of their site that has directions and drawings on how to convert loco's that don't have Kadees.
Good luck,
Richard
dstarr It's really pretty simple. 4. Close the coupler pocket, and you are done.
It's really pretty simple.
4. Close the coupler pocket, and you are done.
After you close the pocket you are not really done. You may be done if the coupler height just happens to line up. Sometimes it does, sometimes not.
Step 5)
Put the car on a piece of track and check the coupler height against a coupler height gauge.
If the trip pin does not clear the bottom part of the height gauge, take a pair of needle nose pliers and squeeze the pin a bit to bend it up so that it clears.
If the coupler hangs too low, as is usually the case case with blue box Athearn cars, you will need to get it raised up to match the gauge. I usually would take a KD washer and unscrew the truck and add the washer between the bolster and the truck to lift the body up a little. I usually used the thicker of the two. Even this usually wan't quite enough to get the coupler matching the gauge but I hated to add two washer as it makes the car even higher and the truck is a bit more wobbly. I would physically bend the coupler pocket up a tad (carefully).
If you are building a blue box Athearn, I would usually add to this process filing down the lip of the bolster a bit with a flat file, and then screw the truck down to the point that it would not rotate, then back off the screw just enough so that it rotates but barely rocks. This keeps your freight car from being too wobbly.
1. Purchase a pair of Kadee couplers.
2. Open the coupler pockets on the car, remove the old couplers.
3. Install the Kadee coupler.
Some details.
1. Which Kadee coupler should I get? Most freight cars take a #5 Kadee. Passenger cars and locomotives usually want something different. Kadee publishes a "what-fits-what" list on their website, in the big Walthers book, and other places. The list has every piece of HO rolling stock manufactured over the last 50 years.
2. Coupler height. If the couplers on different cars are at different heights, they WILL uncouple when they should not. If the couplers are low, the magnetic arms (gladhands) will catch on turnouts. The coupler boxes on many cars (e.g. all blue box Athearns) are at the wrong height. The usual fix is to slip washers under the trucks to raise the whole car. An ordinary #6 flat washer from the hardware store is just the right size. You can buy the Kadee coupler height gauge or you can make your own from a bit of wood with an old coupler fastened to it. Use the NMRA gauge to check that your homemade height gauge is right on.
3. You will regret gluing the lids on coupler pockets. The coupler in a glued pocket will be the coupler that breaks and needs replacement. If the lids don't snap on somehow, your best bet is a 2-56 machine screw thru the center boss. The machine screw can cut its own threads into a hole in plastic. A #50 machinist's drill bit is the proper size for 2-56 screws. Both screws and number drill bits are sold in good hardware stores. You can use #2 wood screws, but they are hard to find, whereas the 2-56 machine screws are fairly common.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
kasskaboose Thanks to everyone for their ideas for persuading me to replace my horn-hook coupler w/ Kadee. I found a video on MR discussing how to do that. For those who've installed the Kadee, how hard is it? What material do I need (Kadee item #s would be great). TIA! ~Lee
Thanks to everyone for their ideas for persuading me to replace my horn-hook coupler w/ Kadee. I found a video on MR discussing how to do that. For those who've installed the Kadee, how hard is it? What material do I need (Kadee item #s would be great).
TIA!
~Lee
You want KaDee #s. WEll I think I psoted the conversion chart before, but incase I haven't for you, I will post it here. It helps if you can identify the car you wish to convert:
http://www.kadee.com/conv/holist.pdf
Then there is washers and the coupler height guage as mentioned and available here:
http://www.wholesaletrains.com/Detail.asp?Scale=HO&Item=KADEE&offset=25&ID=200856533
in fact awhole section of KaDee couplers and stuff starts on this page here:
http://www.wholesaletrains.com/HOProducts2.asp?Scale=HO&Item=KADEE&offset=0
screws nuts and washers here:
http://www.wholesaletrains.com/HOProducts2.asp?Scale=None&Item=KDSNW
If you look here on this page there is a menu on the side that has pulldown menus for each named item...click on the KADee parts and accesories button and you will find KaDee stuff.
Hope this helps.
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
MisterBeasley And you can take it from me that when you get the whole thing back together, put the car on the track and discover that you've installed one of the couplers upside-down, you are going to feel pretty stupid.
And you can take it from me that when you get the whole thing back together, put the car on the track and discover that you've installed one of the couplers upside-down, you are going to feel pretty stupid.
Been there. Done that. Bought the Tee Shirt twice on the same car. The second time was immediately after I had redone the first coupler. Do yourself a favour as others have suggested, get the coupler height gauge. You will find it an invaluable tool. Also, if you do not already have one, get yourself an NMRA gauge. It is something that you definitely need to make sure your track, turnouts, wheel sets are all in gauge and that your clearances to track-side obstructions are adequate. Particularly on your longest rolling stock. It will make for smooth running operations with few, if any derailments.
Good Luck.
Blue Flamer.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
My basic kit includes:
-KD height gauge-piece of flex track-one pack each of the 0.010 and 0.015 thick KD spacer washers.-a small set of needle files for filing out coupler pockets or removing burrs from couplers etc-small -sized flat head and phillips head screw drivers-basic set of Xacto knifes with chisel and sharp angle blades-a variety of KD couplers including standard set shank, under set, and over set shank (for extreme cases where the couplers are hard to get up to height or down to proper height.
Definitely get the height gauge. When the coupler heads are all the same, the cars stay coupled together much better. Just as important is the 'trip pin', if it's too low it can catch on trackwork, particularly turnouts, and lead to spectactular derailments. If it's too high, it won't work reliably for magnetic uncoupling - since I use skewers and not magnets I just crank mine up pretty high. The special trip pin pliers aren't required but make it easier to adjust the height.
Definitely review the linked information from Kadee, most common the #5 fits nearly anything, or the #48 whisker coupler, which is the same size, height, and length as a #5 but a lot easier to work with. However, not everythign works best with the #5, the Kadee chart will show you what the proper coupler is. I usually have a supply of #148's on hand because 90% of the cars and locos I have use it, and buy a pack of the others as needed.
ANd if you are goign to be doing a lot - the bulk packs are MUCH cheaper than buying the small envelopes with 2 pair. So chec the charts, and if mostof your stuff uses a #5 or #148, buy those in the bulk packs, 20 or 25 pairs to a pack.
In the simplest case, all you need is a small screwdriver. Turn the car over and remove the cover from the coupler box, or "draft gear" as it's called. Remove the horn-hook and any springs, replace with a Kadee and its springs, put the cover back on and you're done. For most cars, it really is that simple.
Different cars, though, have different mountings. Athearn "blue box" cars have a spring clip instead of a screw-mounted cover, but the insides are the same. Some cars have the couplers mounted on the trucks. Sometimes, the draft gear is too big, or too small, and the best thing to do is cut it off and replace it with Kadee draft gear boxes. (very inexpensive.)
While you're buying Kadee stuff, pick up the coupler gauge. It will help you get all of your couplers set to the right height, an important step in a smooth-running railroad.
There have been some basic Model Railroader articles on this topic. Unless you intend to go with the newer, closer to scale size Kadees, I'd buy a few packs of KD #5s. The #5 is almost undoubtedly the most used of the Kadee traditional HO couplers. If you want to get the full advantage of your couplers, now is also the time to get a Kadee coupler height gauge -- this is NOT something just for advanced modelers but a basic need. Indeed even those with horn hooks should have, and use, the coupler height slot on the NMRA track gauge.
You can get pre assembled KD #5s or they come in the familiar paper bag in parts. For your first installation you may want to pop for the preassembled but frankly they are easy to put together and you should have no problem with the traditional way. Here is the drawing you'll get with the package
http://www.hoseeker.net/compendium/compendiumcouplers1968pg2.jpg
If your horn hooks are truck mounted my strong advice would be to body mount your Kadees. First, with the horn hooks still in place, put the car on the track and see how the Kadee coupler height gauge measures up to the floor of the car. Hopefully it will be just about right. if the floor is too high you can shim the draft gear down. if the floor is too low, Kadee makes some couplers with offset heads. Some guys use washers to alter the height of the car above the trucks (and Kadee makes two thicknesses of fibre washers for just this purpose) but frankly I do not like to make my cars look like they are standing on tip-toe and if I need to adjust things to get the couplers just right, I prefer offset head coupler shanks over washers on the truck bolster. But that is just me.
It should be possible to unscrew, or pull off, the trucks with care. Cut off the integral coupler draft gear. Now may also be a good time to replace plastic wheels with metal.
You will also want to remove the top of the car -- let's start with a boxcar, reefer, or stock car -- from the frame. The package of #5s comes with a two part draft gear box. There are little "ears" to either side where small screws can fasten the gear box to the car bottom, or there is a central hole where a larger screw, or nut and bolt, can do the same thing.
A copper metal insert is the centering spring, There is a small lip on the flat part of the draft gear box that goes onto the floor of the car and faces down. Usually that fits nicely against the end of the car. You use that to measure where to drill mounting holes, or a single hole, in the bottom of the car. Some guys drill one very small hole and then attach the draft gear box with a self tapping or wood type screw. Others use a small nut and bolt with the bolt being inside the car. This assumes you are drilling into plastic floor and not trying to drill into the steel weight.
There are some installations where you really have no choice but to cement the draft gear into place but for your first several installations it is good to get used to installing it and then seeing if the height is right -- easy to unscrew the assembly, make your adjustments, and then start over.
So again, you need the package of couplers, the height gauge, some small wood type screws, a drill bit of a smaller size than the screw. and a bit of patience.
Dave Nelson