General Discussion (Model Railroader)

can anyone help with info on n scale couplers.  What are the different options besides micro-trains and also some prices and best buys?  Thanks in advance.  Just starting in n-scale

Kirk 

I'm pretty sure that MT couplers (which BTW is a child company of Kadee) are the defacto standard for N scale knuckle couplers in much the same way that Kadees are in HO.  I can't be 100% certain on this as I model in HO.  

modelmaker51 wrote:

MT is in fact not a child company or spin-off of KD. They are separate companies owned individually by 2 brothers.

Don't take this wrong but yes it is. Micro Trains was simply the name given all N-scale Kadee products. They split after many years as one company.

By the way MT couplers are the best in my experience and everything I own will have them. I do like the magnetic/delay aspect.

MicroTrains couplers are very reliable.  They are compatable with Accumate couplers (which show up on Atlas and Athearn stuff).  I find the Accumate shanks are longer than I'd like and they seem to come apart (in a bad way) more easily.  Overall, though, I generally use whatever knuckle coupler comes with the car or loco.

If I'm building a craftsman kit or replacing the big rapido couplers, I use MicroTrains as the replacements.

Welcome to N scale!  Feel free to click on my webpage below to see what I do in N.

tattooguy67 wrote:

Well i think Rapido are the best out there, none better yes siree,( ok i am now putting on my flame proof suit and ducking behind a wall) ok but seriously every body says micro's are the best although they come with plastic wheels which i do not care for, and i really do mostly use rapidos and i think they work fine, there iv'e said it, now if you will excuse me i am probably going to have to move out of the country now!

Don't fret, even the likes of John Allen and Whit Towers used Baker couplers. Whit never moved over to the Kadee couplers.

Yes I di agree that MT needs to go with some metal wheelsets. I like to purchase coupler mounted sets but have to purchase and install metal wheelsets. The main advantage to the pizza cutters is that they are so very foregiving to questionable trackwork.

pilot wrote:

They are good but they have this terribly tiny frustrating spring....

There a spring in there?

Gotta love those. I had one dissapear the other day and my HO buddy could not believe I had estimated where it would end up and there it was. I told him when enough of them take off on ya you tend to figure it out. Well, enough BS.

I have yet to purchase the assembly jig for these but instead use an exacto knoife to attempt some sort of control.