Couplers (or not?) for carpet

[rogertra]

NEVER, repeat NEVER lay model railroad track on carpet, NEVER.

You will plug up the gears on the locomotives faster than you can say: -

"NEVER LAY TRACK ON CARPET, EVER!"

[mabloodhound]

Link and Pin!   A number of companies now offer these to fit the coupler boxes.   Not prototypical for newer models but will work, don't come apart, and move up and down like you need.

[MacMasta]

@mabloodhound: that sounds promising; can you point me to a source?

[J3a-614]

Maybe this can help.

http://home.onemain.com/~thebackshop/link.htm

http://www.tomarindustries.com/asm.htm

See the "Early Time Kits" thread for other classic items.

[Jim Banner]

E-Z Track on carpet should be okay unless you have a dog that sheds and/or dust bunnies that collect along the walls.  Regular track with no bas is an absolute no no as rogertra states.

To further reduce the lint/fuzz/pet hair problem and to solve the uneven carpet problem, put two layers of cardboard under the tracks.  Cut corrugated cardboard into strips at least 3" wide (4" wide would be better).  For corners, put one or more sections of curved track on your cardboard and trace out curved strips that are one inch wider than the track base on both sides.  Stick two layers of these strips together using hot glue, making sure to offset the joints in the two layers.  Where you have straights joined to curves, you will have to cut some special strips that are part straight, part curve.  Use a straight joined to a curve to lay these out.  You can tack the E-Z Track to the cardboard base with a spot of hot glue here and there.  It doesn't take much.  Just make sure you don't get any hot glue on the carpet, or you will have an unhappy landlord.

To make your cardboard base really sturdy, cut one set of strips with the cardboard grain running lengthwise and the other set of strips with the grain running crosswise.  You won't get this exact with the corner pieces but close is good enough.

And don't forget to use some newspaper or larger pieces of cardboard under the area where you are working.  You really want to keep the hot glue off the carpet!

Jim

[Doneldon]

I just tie a loose loop of fishing line between the rear axle of one car and the front axle of the next.  They never come uncoupled unless I cut them apart.  This also helps a small train to look like a much longer one.

[Christopher]

I am currently running my trains on the carpet in my family room. It is not the largest layout but at 12x12 I can operate three trains at the same time. I found it was not so muck the change in elevation that caused the cars to separate but the twist in the track from side to side. My cure was to place cardboard,(the cardboard that the EZ track is packed in) under the track where the cars separated. I don't know what type of carpet you have but I can run all three of my trains wide open with no separation or derailments. I run dc only so my speeds at wide open are must faster than scale. When I run scale speed I can walk away and come back whenever and find my trains still running strong. A little bit of surface area goes a long way on carpet.

[Christopher]

I should ask have you? Do you add weights to your cars? Some times a little weight also makes the difference .

[ryeguyisme]

I have to add, that it also depends on the kind of carpet, as some carpet is okay

[ABC]

I have to add, that it also depends on the kind of carpet, as some carpet is okay

No carpet is okay, all carpet has fibers, and fibers kill locos.

[Hellhound]

Carpet fibers shouldn't be a problem with EZtrack since there is a plastic roadbed under it. Use Kadee 119 shelf couplers to prevent vertical uncoupling. I use EZ track to build temporary layouts on my living room carpet all the time. Sometimes I want to run trains in the living room instead of the attic or I want to test a new layout.
Many years ago, when I lived in a much smaller house, laying track on the living room carpet was the only option and at that time I only had standard sectional track with no roadbed. I have a lot of old locos and rolling stock with the old style X2F horn hook couplers. All of those couplers have a shelf built into them and will resist vertical uncoupling. From my experience, the X2F couplers are more reliable on imperfect track and on layouts with changes in elevation such as a figure 8 over and under layout.

[ABC]

Carpet fibers shouldn't be a problem with EZtrack since there is a plastic roadbed under it.

Okay then setup your track on some carpet and run a loco every day for a couple hours over a year with no more than maintenance required for a "regular" layout and I guarantee that by the end of the year the loco either won't be running or won't be running as well as it was previously.

[Jim Banner]

If you don't run on carpets, your locomotives will last longer.

If you don't pull long trains, your locomotives will last even longer.

If you don't pull any trains at all, the locomotives will last longer still.

If you don't run them at all, your locomotives will last forever.

But what is the fun in that?  I have fun running my locomotives.  If that wears them out, then it wears them out.  If the way I choose to run my locomotives requires more maintenance, then I clean and lubricate them more often.  If the way I choose to run my locomotives means I have to replace them more often, then I replace them more often.  What matters is that I have fun running my locomotives.

I also own an automobile, a full size 12 inches to the foot automobile.  I could make it last forever by never taking it out of the garage.  I could make it last a long time by driving it only on nice days in summer.  But hey, do I own it so that it can serve me or am I supposed to serve it?  My theory is I can walk on the nice days if I so wish.  But the worse the weather, the less inclined I am to walk and the more I depend on my automobile.  So I drive it through rain, snow, slush, mud, road salt, and once in a while, through heat.  So what if I have to replace it after 20 years?

But there are limits.  I never use my automobile to pull house trailers.  That would increase the cost and frequency of maintenance to a level that to me would be unacceptable.  And I would not run my locomotives on regular sectional track placed directly on a carpet.  That would lead to cleaning, oiling and greasing on a schedule that to me would be unacceptably frequent.  But I do use my automobile regularly to pull a utility trailer.  And if that leads to slightly more frequent maintenance, that is fine with me.  And I would be willing to run my trains on E-Z Track on the carpet if I still had carpet in my house, and if that led to slightly more frequent maintenance, that would be fine with me too.

Your opinions and results may differ.

Jim

[MacMasta]

I went with everybody's coupler advice and put in Kadee 119s, and my problem is completely solved. If / when the carpet fibers kill my locomotive, I'll let everybody say "I told you so!".

Thanks for the help,

    --M

[Hellhound]

Carpet fibers shouldn't be a problem with EZtrack since there is a plastic roadbed under it.

Okay then setup your track on some carpet and run a loco every day for a couple hours over a year with no more than maintenance required for a "regular" layout and I guarantee that by the end of the year the loco either won't be running or won't be running as well as it was previously.

Did that as long as I lived in that house (23 years) It was a small house and I didn't have the luxury of a hobby room. I still have the same locomotives today and still run them. Some of them are over 30 years old. They got cleaned and oiled periodically as the manufacturer recomended and I did tend to avoid locomotives with exposed gears.