Couplers/Uncouplers

[DTrain]

I am very new to this all and my end is beginning to spin with all of the minor differences.  What is the difference between a coupler and an uncoupler?  Are they just different ways of accomplishing the same thing?

[SteamGene]

The coupler is what holds two or more items of mobile train equipment together (car to car, car to locomotive/tender, locomotive to locomotive/tender.)  An uncoupler is a device to separate the couplers so the equipment may go apart.  My uncoupler is normally my right hand. 
Gene

[bevernie]

Mine is the left (usually)
                                                                            THANX!!
                                                                              Ernie

[ebtnut]

I'll expand my treatise a bit from the other post.  Back in the Jurassic period, the Mantua loop-and-hook was the de facto standard.  It was a large horizotal loop of brass with a hinged hook hanging into it.  When you pushed the cars together, the loops would slide over each other until the hooks engage the loops.  It was a very positive coupling, so much so that you could pick your entire train up like a string of sausages!  Attached to the back of the hook was a brass rod that hung down towards the track.  To uncouple, you had piece of brass that snapped down between the rails.  It was curved so that it protruded just above the railhead height.  If you were good, you could back your train up so that the rods rode over the ramp and lifted the hooks enough that you could then separate the cars, i.e., uncouple. 

The original Kadee MK couplers had a thin metal wire extending down from the edge of the knuckle.  They used a diamond-shaped device set between the rails that spread the knuckles.  When you took a little slack, they popped apart to uncouple.  Later, Kadee went to the magentic couplers (Hence, MKD) that they still use. 

The old horn-hook couplers had a double-wire ramp device that also sat down between the rails.  Again, back the cars over the ramp--the wires engaged the pin under the hook and spread them.  Take some slack and the couplers woud (theoretically) open.  I never found this to be reliable with horn-hooks. 

Frankly, though the magentic knuckle couplers work pretty well with their magnet ramps, most serious operators today use some kind of wire, blade, or other mechanical device to uncouple cars.  This allows them to uncouple anywhere, rather than have to depend on where a ramp might be located.  Other problem that crops up is that if you have ramps, especially on the main running tracks, any slack action in the train may well uncouple it where and when you don't want it to.  Kadee makes an electromaget ramp to help overcome this, but its a bit of a pain to install.

[Woody Elmore]

You forgot the old Baker couplers which were similar to the hook and loop used on LGB trains.

The original Kadees were the K series and they worked well. What was tricky was getting the couplers over the ramp. Converting to magnets was a boon to modelers who like operation.

[ebtnut]

Woody:  I didn't really forget the Baker coupler.  It was just my observation that the Mantua coupler was much more popular.  That may be becuase Mantua at the time was a major manufacturer in the hobby, and their couplers came with their kits.  By the time I got well into the hobby, the horn-hook was the standard coupler supplied in most plastic kits, and I put up with them for a while until I joined a club that had gone over to Kadees.  After that, there was no looking back.

[rogertra]

Many to most operations oriented modellers do not use the magnetic uncoupling feature of Kadees.

Real railroads uncouple anywhere the crew wants and are not limited to uncoupling ramps, operations modellers therefore simply emulate the prototype.

The are several easy to use manual uncoupling tools on the market and they are easily made yourself.  I use 5 to 6 inch length of code 55 rail with the last half in or or so bent at a slight angle, thus: -

" ___________/ "

Only the angle should be about 25 degrees.  With a little practice, it's easy to uncouple anywhere.