E-Z Mate couplers

[John20723]

Is there a guide that cross references E-Z Mate couplers with Kadee, or any guidance as to which E-Z Mate should be used for various rolling stock such as Bowser or Athearn kits?

[Len]

The 78025 EZ-Mate Mk-II Medium Center Shank is equivalent to the Kadee metal #5, plastic #28 or #38, or metal 'whisker' #148 couplers. All of them work fine in Bowser and Athearn kits.

The main difference between the Kadee plastic 20 series and 30 series couplers is the draft gear box. The 20 series comes with a more or less standard rectangular box, the 30 series has a smaller, rounded off box for tight spaces. The 40 series couplers are metal with a rectangular box. They are slowly being phased out in favor of the 140 series 'whisker' couplers, with built in metal centering springs similar to the EZ-Mates. The #148 is the 'whisker' equivalent to the ubiquitous #5.

Assuming Bachmann uses 'over set' and 'under set' shank the same way Kadee does, a cross reference list would be:

                                             Kadee       Metal
                           EZ-Mate     Plastic   Std/Whisker
Med Center Set: 78025         28/38      5/148
Med Over Set:    78022         22/32     42/---
Med Under Set:  78028         27/37       -/147

Long Center Set: 78024       26/36       -/146
Long Over Set:    78021       29/39     49/149
Long Under Set:  78027       21/31     41/---

Short Center Set: 78024      23/33     43/143
Short Over Set:    78023      25/35     45/145
Short Under Set:  78029      24/34     44/---

You should be able to use this, along with the Kadee web site conversion listing, to figure out which EZ-Mate to use for a particular manufacturer's car or locomotive.

Len

[John20723]

I asked and I received.  Thank you very much.

[electrical whiz kid]

Become a member on Kadee's web site.   Len's information is good, and Kadee's info will be a good addition.
Rich

[ebtbob]

Len,

      You say that the whisker couplers are slowly replacing the standanrd KD couplers.  Is this info on the Kadee website?   If correct,  then they are moving at an evolutionary pace.

[Len]

Len,

      You say that the whisker couplers are slowly replacing the standanrd KD couplers.  Is this info on the Kadee website?   If correct,  then they are moving at an evolutionary pace.

The 40-Series couplers with the bronze springs slowly being replaced by the 140-Series "Whisker" couplers was announced by Kadee about a year ago. I don't know if it's still on thier web site somewhere or not, but notifications were also sent to distributors who passed it along to the hobby shops. It will take some time for the old tooling to be replaced, so the old couplers will not all disappear overnight.

The plan is to have an overlap period of the old & new for a while, then drop the old. Notice on the list, and the 'Discontinued Products' page at Kadee, the old #46 & #47 are already gone, replaced by the #146 & #147 respectively. Several others are still in the 'old & new' both available status, and the tooling for a few others isn't complete yet, so only the old version is available.

Personally, I find the "Whisker" couplers easier to work with, since you don't have to juggle a centering spring along with the coupler. The only problem I've run into is with some of the new 'low profile' cast in coupler boxes. The shank of the 140-Series is slightly thicker, to match the thickness of the old couplers with their springs, to keep them from sagging in Kadee size coupler boxes. So a swipe or two with a file is sometimes needed to get them to fit the newer 'low profile' boxes and swing correctly.

Len