i'm tried to replace the dummy coupler with a kadee on a brass loco i just obtained. I cut the trapezoid piece and the air hose off a kadee and realized that this won't work because the air hose on the car being coupled too would interfere with the pilot (see generic image below left)
the 2nd images shows one approach where the pilot was rebuilt with a kadee that extends more forward. (more than i'd like to do at this time).
i was wondering 1) if a kadee with a longer shank would work (not sure there is such a coupler), 2) could the shank be extended, or if that would affect the coupling angle, or 3) if the airhose on the one end of the passenger train this would couple to should just be removed.
would appreciate hearing your experiences
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
I'm guessing you're not ready to go the "chop off all those Kadee air hoses" route (and I mean ALL). A buncha guys I work with have done it. And I'm REAL tempted, being as I never use the magnetic uncoupling feature. But then I think how hard it would be to glue them all back on, later.......
Next:
You COULD pull off that cowcatcher thingy and replace it with footboards. On my "logging branch", ALL the locos have footboards on the front. How convenient!
Still nexter:
There's Sergents. No coupler pin. I've just installed a whole bunch more. And I love 'em. And they even actually look like couplers, something the Kadees can't quite pull off.
No, they ain't easy to build. And, no, they ain't easy to (properly) install. But it IS so cool when those tiny coupler knuckles close.
Ed
I wonder what you're going to use this loco for. You comment that you expect to couple the front of the loco to the rear of a passenger train. This sounds like use as a helper.
If the train is pretty much a standard consist, I can definitely see cutting the "air hose" off of the rear coupler. But, of course, that kind of implies you won't be using a magnetic uncoupler for that car end. If the loco is going to also be used as a helper on other trains, further cutting will be required.
I think/suspect that extending a Kadee way out in front of the cowcatcher is going to look dumb. However, I kind of maybe recall seeing that. Maybe. The only reason I can think of doing it on a real locomotive is if you were going to have two locos with cowcatchers running snout-to-snout. Which could happen, I suppose.
I'm not saying that it wasn't done, but from the photos I've seen of passenger trains with helpers, they were usually doubleheaded, rather than used as pushers. Doubleheading may even have been the only practice on passenger trains in the days of such long pilots, as most passenger cars then would have had truss rods and perhaps still be equipped with wooden underframes, too.
If you need to have a working long coupler on that locomotive's pilot, you can extend a Kadee to suit your needs. My preference would be the keep the dummy coupler for normal head-end operations, but make it easily removable, and equally easily replaceable with the modified longer Kadee. The dummy will look better when the loco is pulling on its own or even just parked somewhere, while the long Kadee will be less obtrusive when it's in use, whether pushing a passenger car or coupled to the tender of the lead engine.
I modified several brass locos, for a friend, which had either drop- or swing-type dummy couplers on the pilot, converting them to Kadees. These were modern steam locomotives, mostly with short, one-piece cast-style pilots. Unfortunately, for my tastes, I couldn't retain the drop- or swing-characteristics, but my friend, who often double- or triple-headed his trains, was well satisfied with the improvements.
Wayne
Kadee does indeed make a long shank coupler that is sold on their website. https://kadee.com/htmbord/page156.htm You get two pair for $4.60. I hope this helps. Good luck.
For me, operation is a higher priority than appearance, so longer couplers, coupler boxes that stick out of the pilot some, trimming the bottom of the pilot for the air hose of the ajacent car, are all things I will tolerate.
If you can find a photo of a Bachmann C&O 4-8-2, you can see how they extended the coupler box out over the pilot some, combined with a long coupler.
Sheldon
Some roads had steamers equipped with couplers in the front of the Cow Bumper, and some steamers just had a standard Cow Bumper with no coupler at all.
I've always referred to that pointed shape on the front of a steamer as a Cow Bumper, but do correct me if I'm wrong.
No, you're right. It's a Cow Bumper.
I do suspect that where you see a lack of a coupler, that it's really a link-and-pin style coupler, with the link permanently attached to the engine. So there's no "coupler" to see. I've seen a number of engines like that.
If you've got a photo showing different, I'd love to see it.
not helper. i should have mentioned that since i have a pt-to-pt RR, that I intended to reverse run (?) the train in the opposite direction since i won't turn the engine.
ATLANTIC CENTRALFor me, operation is a higher priority than appearance,
this is my thinking
gregc not helper. i should have mentioned that since i have a pt-to-pt RR, that I intended to reverse run (?) the train in the opposite direction since i won't turn the engine. ATLANTIC CENTRAL For me, operation is a higher priority than appearance, this is my thinking
ATLANTIC CENTRAL For me, operation is a higher priority than appearance,
That is how this railroad operates, tomorrow they will run 7 trains that way:
https://www.strasburgrailroad.com/
Locos leave the station pulling the train in reverse, and run around the train at the end of line to pull it back going forward, for about 58 years now.
Greg, I model in O scale, using Kadee and several other magnetic couplers, since the stars somehow aligned and all manufacturers seem to have designed them to couple together. They also couple to Monarch scale operating couplers, one of which I used on my MILW prototype gondola-mounted snowplow (and maybe even scale dummies)!
However, as I'm modeling 1912 equipment and want operating pilot couplers on my wood stave "cow-catcher" pilots, and the point of the bottom frame of the pilot would interfere with the trip pin of the car or locomotive coupled in front of it, I was stumped. I actually modified a Kadee coupler to lenthen the shank (Kadee makes only metal or plastic couplers in O) to make it reach forward far enough. I discovered one made by the "other" manufacturers, no longer in business, was made so you can cut off the spring box, drill a pivot hole in the shank, and hook a tension spring to the tang molded on the coupler, and have at it. Luckily, we O-scalers have an online swap site, O Scale Yard Sale, and one of the guys sold me enough pairs to equip a bunch of locos.
I want to build a gaudy "High-stepper" 4-4-0 with a classic long wood-stave pilot and a low-drivered Mogul with a medium-to-long pilot, with operating pilot couplers, so I hunted for photos of "modernized" old-timers and found pix of several that had a squarish tube with a buffer on the front, with triangular gussets fastened between the tube and pilot frame--and maybe the staves. This put the coupler knuckle far enough ahead of the beam so the point of the pilot wouldn't interfere with the trucks and outboard brake rigging of the era. I haven't fooled around with it yet, but I have a hunch that with our slightly oversize coupler rigging, it might be as ugly as original sin. (Maybe I'll forego the pilot coupler on the American, or maybe add some swooping curves to the gussets and maybe triangular cutouts.)
When I modeled 1890s railroading, back in my HO days, I used Kadee's N scale couplers (they now have scale-size HO, I see) and reversed the "air hoses" adding soft iron wire to increase the attraction to under-the-track uncoupling magnets. (Sorry, MR, the article, "Hidden Pin Uncoupling," appeared in RMC back in the '70s.) Lots of luck!
Deano
several things i'm concerned about
to fit within the existing coupler pocket, i think the coupler would need to be ~1/4" longer (see images above) than anything kadee current offers (0.25 - 0.39). i wonder if there is some way to lengthen a kadee coupler? (i will look at Sergent couplers).
I wonder about the alignment of a longer coupler with a passenger car coupler around turns. The coupler box on the loco is very narrow. a longer coupler will be able to swing more, but i'm guessing probably less than a standard coupler in a standard gearbox (?).
the other thing is that without a kadee coupler box, there's no centering spring and i wonder how big an issue this might be.
thanks for the comments
gregc several things i'm concerned about to fit within the existing coupler pocket, i think the coupler would need to be ~1/4" longer (see images above) than anything kadee current offers (0.25 - 0.39). i wonder if there is some way to lengthen a kadee coupler?
to fit within the existing coupler pocket, i think the coupler would need to be ~1/4" longer (see images above) than anything kadee current offers (0.25 - 0.39). i wonder if there is some way to lengthen a kadee coupler?
You can splice two "halves" together, with an overlap. Use two pins to reinforce the joint. I did it. A long time ago.
I suppose you could do a "double splice" and make the coupler as long as you want. Even a foot. That is 87 HO feet.
(i will look at Sergent couplers).
Sergents and Kadees don't work together.