As I sai, previously, I set up a Chritmas pike every year. We have a noon happy hour, at which time I start the trains (Three small loops with Stainz locos and three to four cars). I can get these trains to run flawlessly for six to eight hours. Then, without an obvious cause one of the cars decouples. Does not always occur at the same location, nor does it appear to involve the same car. I tried watching the behavior of the couplers and came to the conclusion that I needed a more positive coupling between cars. My solution was to remove the loop coupler on each car, place a flat washer between the coupler and the coupler body. The effect is to lower the loop coupler by about 3/64th inch. This causes the loop coupler to engage the hook coupler further down into (what I am calling) the throat of the hook coupler. At some points in the loops the loop coupler actually presses down on the hook. This modification far reduced the number of decoupling events.
Any thoughts?
Normally the loops are super reliable.
Sure, for a "display" lock them together in any fashion that works, even zip ties.
But, you should check your track for level and humps. There's something definitely wrong with either the track or something, i.e. there is nothing wrong with the design of the LGB hook and loop couplers.
Greg
Visit my site: http://www.elmassian.com - lots of tips on locos, rolling stock and more.
Click here for Greg's web site
Hi Doc,
interesting that you bring this up. 10 or15 years ago, I went on a mission to make the Bachmann knuckle coupler my defacto standard. I was doing primarily Colorado Narrow Gauge. In the last 3 years, I am acquiring a lot of Swiss, Austrian, and German LGB, and the hook and loop is the standard on all my Euro stuff.
Hook and loop couplers are excellent, but I find that I need to " double hook", that is make sure cars have hooks on both ends. This couples so well, sometimes it is a little difficult to get them apart!
So, my first question is if you have hooks on both ends of every car.
With new cars, they usually give you an extra set of hooks in every box. With used gear, you may have to purchase separately.
Paul
Doc,
I have found that Paul is right; you should "double hook" the cars. As Greg mentioned, slight undulations in the track or just the "right" rock of the cars may cause a hook to disengage. Lots of folks seem to dump hook-and-loop couplers when they upgrade, so you may be able to pick up a lifetime supply on the cheap!
Eric
Sorry for the delay in responding. Cars has a hook and one end and a loop at the other. track is set up outside on a pool deck. I have raised the track so that actually none of it is at deck level. All is at 6 to 7 inches using solid and very smooth aluminum frames. The run is not perfect but it is darned close. As you say, double hooking the cars would go some distance to solve the problem but the spacers under the loop has done the trick so far.
I am working on onedrive so as to be able to post photos.
Glad things are working! Looking forward to the pictures!
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