body or truck mounted couplers

[mf5117]

i was wondering which are better . i haven't had de-rails . i have seen sometimes my smaller 40' cars uncouple once in awhile .but i would like to have them all the same . which ones have the better turning radius .and does easy track make an electro magnet decoupler  .i have a couple of the ones you stick to the underside of the track .and also heard you could mod a 9" str piece . is this practical .
regards mark f

[jward]

body mounted couplers are definitely the way to go, especially if you want to back your trains. truck mounted couplers cause derailmanets when backing as they skew the trucks on your cars. with body mounted couplers, the trucks stay pretty much in alignment with the track.

as for uncouplers, kadee makes magnets that you install between the rails. you should be able to use these with any brand of track.

[mf5117]

thanks i have been wondering . i want to get a run of passenger .and hoppers .we have a nice shop near houston. that has a good supply of just about everything . i will look into the body mounted . i ran today testing my track and did notice that backing in so places was an issue .thanks for all your help .
regards newbie markf

[pdlethbridge]

depending on the curves you have, I agree, that body mount is the way to go. That said, smaller radius curves may cause problems with long 70' or 85' cars with the body mounts. Having a longer shank Kadee would help.

[mf5117]

yes at work tonight .going to go look tommorrow .i had heard the longer cars like you say 70's and 85's .i might have some problems .i have 22 and 18 radius curves . spring crossing trains has some 60 and 50 foot passengers i have been looking at . but the old time overlands and excuse my spelling revirrorsi i guess .why did they flood the market with the 85's when im seeing alot of people have smaller layouts. again thanks .

[rogertra]

Body mount is always the best way.

If you have sharp curves, under 30 inches or so, then don't run large equipment, like full length passenger cars.  They look silly anyway going around 18" curves.

Stiick to smaller diesel and steam and 40 to 50 foot freight cars.  B-B diesels like Geeps, F units, RS-2s and RS-3s and the largest steam, say 2-8-0s and the Spectrum 2-10-0.  Your model railway will look the better for it.

[jward]

some longer passenger cars, i believe bachman is one make, have a body mount coupler where the whole coupler box pivots instead of just the coupler itself. those would work better on sharp curves. but you'd want to avoid having short and long cars coupled together. the ends of longer cars can swing out and pull the car coupled to it off the track.

that said with 18: curves i would limit myself to small steamers, 4 axle diesels, and cars of 50 foot or less.

[RAM]

One thing you don't want to do is mix long 70-80 foot car with body mounted couplers, and truck mounted cars.   

[jward]

after some thought on the subject of car length and curves it occurs to me that you should be able to use cars up to 1/2 the curve radius in length. for example, the average 4 axle diesel measures between 50 and 60 feet long, in HO scale that works out to about 8 or 9 inches. they work well. but most 6 axle diesels measure 67 feet or longer. 67 feet works out to about 10"  and those locomotives tend to pull cars off the track on 18" curves but work well on 22"........

does this hold true of larger radii as well?

[mf5117]

i have 18" and 22" curves .at 1st when i put together my layout . i was excited so i put cars where ever i pleased . i did see that the shorter cars and heavier depending how routed . would pull off the track . i have a coal and log run of cars, freight puller and passenger i found a set of 50' overlands i have been experimenting with .and a 40 ton switcher .i dont run full throttle . is it best to stick with one brand of rolling stock depending on your system in ho .regards mark f

[SteamGene]

As a general rule, brand has no bearing on the tracking of a car.  What does matter are wheels and trucks.  In the long run you are better off with metal wheels.  Old (20 or so years ago ) trucks probably should be replaced.  Better trucks give better axle journals for wheel gauge and easy rolling.
Gene

[jward]

i really don't see much of a difference in the cars out to-day. years ago, there were certain brands (tyco, AHM) that were pretty horrible out of the box. but even those could usually be reworked into something that tracked well. thankfully all the brands that were so bad years ago are either out of business or have upgraded their rolling stock to higher standards. if it comes out of the box with knuckle couplers, it is usually a good performer.

[Yampa Bob]

A bit off topic, but I have two "constants" I use as a rule of thumb in choosing cars for my layout.  This is based on appearance only, what length car will negotiate a given curve is another matter.

For best appearance, I multiply the radius by 2.5, for maximum length multiply by 3.

Example 1:  18" X 2.5 = 45'.  18" X 3 = 54".  However I didn't like the appearance of 54' cars on my 18" curves, and had a few uncoupling problems.

Example 2    22" X 2.5 = 55'.  22 X 3 = 66'

Example 3  (inverse)  85' car / 2.5 = 34" + radius....etc.

Modify or average the constants to suit your perspective for appearance. A factor of 2.8 is pretty accurate for my layout.  18" X 2.8 = ~50', which is the maximum length I run.   

[mf5117]

de-railing update #5 switch . clockwise derail .these rolling stock were de-railing going threw the straight then threw the wye of a #5 sw.  then straight with the other #5sw down the way. and then into a curve . the woodlands box car that came with the set air hose hanging low ,athearn wp bay window caboose ,rh 30'flat car john deer 2 tractors ,athearn 40' flat w crates , all the hoses were low. gaged them and seemed to make a difference .and the single truck .where i had to put the 2" pc that come with the 90 degree .i got it for extra parts. it was twisting the track where it was made up. and there was'nt good make up. you really had to do some math  when building . thats why i got the extra's and odds . i think it was yampa bob who noticed the typo on the layout on my post on track .pcs ... some how got alot more than needed . i made it happen that way.  lol .....my base is flat but there are some areas where the track make up. i need to fasten as well. arcing out bothers me . take care regards mark f