ATSFGuy I use Kadee #5's and #148's. Any others I should use?
I use Kadee #5's and #148's.
Any others I should use?
Only if you have an oddball coupler pocket. Athearn blue box F-units come to mind.
On the flip side, it may be cheaper to convert now with only 10-20 pieces of rolling stock than 150-200 10 years from now. I guess the real question is how many pieces does the lad currently have?
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Gidday HOTrainmom, to the Forum. It all depends on how far your son goes, or stays, in the hobby because while Kadees are my coupler of choice, at 10 years old and possibly with a limited budget, if you’ve been given free horn hooks, they will work well. However, if your young bloke is far more discerning than I was (am) he may wish to refer to the Kadee HO scale conversions, that has been already linked to. Have Fun, Cheers, the Bear.
Cheers, the Bear.
I agree with Bear. I have used horn hooks for years before I could afford Kadees. You can find them dirt cheap on Ebay. If the fella gets more serious about the hobby he can convert later once he gets a job ☺.
A little history here. Back in the 1950's the National Model Railroad Assn (NMRA) designed the horn hook coupler. Athough they failed to get it approved as a official NMRA design, the industry adopted it because it was cheap to manufacture (one molded plastic part) standard (would couple with other makers rolling stock), looked OK, and no patent restrictions or royalties. About the same time Kadee introduced their knuckle coupler. It was patented and Kadee wanted $2 a pair for them so the industry never adopted it as too expensive. But everyone agreed that Kadee's looked better, and worked better, especially remote uncoupling. In the late 1990's Kadee's patents finally expired, and the industry started making clones of Kadee knuckle couplers, which would intermate with Kadees and uncouple on Kadee magnetic uncoupling ramps. At this time all new production rolling stock comes from the factory with clones of the Kadee coupler. They are pretty good, I run them until they break.
Last time I looked, hobby shops all carried Kadee couplers, either two pair packs or 20 pair packs at about $2 a pair. They sometimes carry clones of the Kadee coupler for the same price. So why not buy the best, original Kadee's?
As others have mentioned, a #5 Kadee or the whisker equivalent will fit most freight cars. It is possible to warp a #5 coupler into anything, but you will save a lot of filing, hacking, and cussing if you check the Kadee what-fits-what list and buy the recommended coupler, especially for locomotives, passenger cars, and long rolling stock. Be aware that locomotives need electrically insulated couplers, either all plastic couplers, or an all plastic coupler mounting box.
Most people replace truck mounted couplers with body mounted couplers. Body mount couplers prevent derailments while backing. I retain truck mounted couplers on passenger cars and other long rolling stock because truck mounts ease the long rolling stock around sharp (18") curves where body mounts tend to pull the car off the track.
Good luck.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
For those who are extolling the virtues of KD couplers, I want to join the club. I prefer #148 because of the ease of installation compared to the #5. And, if you are really stuck, check the KD couplers web site and send Sam the KD Answer Man a message. He is wonderful.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
NYBW-JohnYou can find cheaper couplers than KD but you won't find any better.
That is not entirely true. I found a better and cheaper coupler, but it is incompatible with Kadee. It operates and looks like the real thing.
I said that "Kadee #5s where the best couplers, why would I ever need to change them out". I then met a guy who uses Sergent Couplers. Now I use Sergent Couplers. I have about 30-40 cars left to convert over, most of which were early aquisitions or Intermountain cars, both have glued coupler boxes.
The biggest take away is to always use some sort of mechanical fastner for coupler boxes, not glue. You never know when you might have to change a coupler. Kadees can in fact be broken, just like any other coupler. Its just a lot less likely to happen.
You will never go wrong going with KD #5 or the #148 which is the whisker equivalent. It is the gold standard of couplers. When I got into the hobby, horn hooks were the standard and KD was the primary alternative. About 20-25 years ago, knock offs of KD couplers came onto the market and knuckle couplers became the new standard for HO. None of these hold a candle to KD in reliability. Most RTR equipment now comes with some kind of knuckle coupler which are rarely KDs. When I buy a new piece of rolling stock, I immediately replace the couplers with KDs.
You can find cheaper couplers than KD but you won't find any better. Do yourself a favor and go with KDs. You won't regret it.
As an option, KD makes a smaller sized coupler which is closer to scale size. While these too are well made, the smaller size can be a problem if your track or your coupler height is less than perfect. It can result in unwanted uncoupling. I experimented with those but came back to the #5 and #148.
Hornhook couplers used to be sold with most cars years ago. Now they are mostly used by folks with lots of cars from 20+ years old. Don't try to use them now.
The standard coupler is the KD #5 and the KD #148. The diffrence is in the centering spring. The #5 uses a separate spring piece, the #148 uses an attached whisker spring. Other couplers are for special situations. Most use the same head as the #5/#148 but have the shanks mounted to the top or the bottom of the couplers. Others use extra long or extra short shanks.
I would suggest using the #148 with the built in whisker spring as it is a little easier to install than the #5 with separate spring. Use other couplers only if you have a special situation for a particular car. In many cases you can use the existing coupler box on the car. If the KD doesn't fit, then you'll need to use KD's coupler box. KD's couplers are sold with and without boxes, and boxes are sold separately.
When you install the couplers use a height gauge. KD makes one that is easy to use. You want all your couplers at the same height. Where a coupler is not the right height you can add washers to the trucks for slight changes in height or use the couplers with the shank mounted at the top or bottom of the coupler. KD's HO coupler page here can show which numbers they are. Personally, I have found the #5 or #148 to work in all my applications.
There are knock off couplers like the ones that came with your son's cars, but as you have found, they don't last as long.
Good luck
Paul
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Most modelers use Kadee couplers. They come in a large number of styles and types to fit many different cars. Their website has a coupler conversion chart; so, if you know who made the car, you can find a coupler to fit. You will see a lot of locomotives listed, then something like 'all boxcars' to cover freight carshttps://kadee.com/conv/hocc.htm
The basic coupler that fits most freight cars is the #5, or the #148 wisker coupler which is a newer style one piece coupler that has the same dimensions as the #5. If you have a lot of cars to do, Kadee sells bulk packs with 10 or 20 pairs of couplers which is a more economical way to go than buying singly
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Kadee has charts on their web site listing various makes of cars adn what couplers fit them. Most newer stuff, excpet for the truck-mounted couplers in train set clas equipment, will take a #5, or the #148 whisker version which is much easier to work with. Outside of that, there is no one size fits all because different manuafacturers attached the couplers at different heihgts and in different ways, this was no standard that was followerd, and that is why Kadee has so many different couplers. It's important they all be at the same height so the cars stay coupled together reliably. You will also want to get the Kadee height gauge to check that. Kadee also has two thicknesses of washers you stuck between the truck and the car bolster and then screw the truck screw back in. If the difference is minor, you can use one of these washers to raise the car up a bit. If it takes more than one washer, looks for alternative ways to adjust the height like the offset shank versions of the coupler, because too many washers will make the car wobbly and/or the truck not stay on securely.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Greetings, Mom -
Yes, Kadee makes a very durable coupler and would be a good choice for standardizing your son's rolling stock (train cars). And, with few exceptions, the Kadee #5 coupler will fit just about every piece of rolling stock your son owns. If you can find out specifically which manufacturer and car-type your son has, Kadee has a handy conversion page for figuring that out on their website.
Hope that helps...
This basic question has probably been asked a million times, but here goes... My 10-yr-old has a very basic HO model train set. Over the last few years, he's collected inexpensive train cars (in the $20-$50 range). He now has a small collection of cars that have broken couplers. I ASSUMED it would be no big deal to replace them, but it turns out there are about 10,000 different types and sizes. As we take apart our HO scale car couplers, we notice that they each have different sized couplers...even though they are all HO scale train cars. We stopped in a HobbyTown USA store today, and the guy said "Here, these Horn Hooks are probably going to work better for you. They will hold the cars together much better." So I get home and realize that in order for us to use them, we'll have to change ALL our couplers to Horn Hooks. I guess my question is, is there a standard size coupler that we can buy that will work with any of our HO scale train cars? I've read that Kadee couplers are the most durable, but it looks like they have about 10 different HO scale couplers. How do we know which ones to get? Or...are we going to have to figure out each car's couplers size? I LOVE that my son has such a passion for all this, and I don't want my ignorance to get in the way! Ha!