Couplers...Pros and Cons

[BradKT]

Hi everyone.  It's been a while.  I have been working on my layout and then I took a few weeks off and now I am back to it.

I know that what I am fixing to say is sacrilege to many, but I have had very mixed experiences with Kaydee couplers.  Yes, I have a Kaydee coupler gauge, but getting them aligned just right (not to mention the ones that you have to assemble) has become a major pain in the butt! I have had a number of cars that just won't stay coupled.

I think that part of it is due to the fact that on my layout, there may be a few uneven spots on the track (nothing major), but as far as I am concerned, couplers should be able to handle that.

Question:  I know that Kaydee is (for most model railroaders) the gold standard when it comes to couplers, but has the coupler technology of other manufacturers almost caught up with Kaydee?  For example, Athearn RTR freight and passenger cars come equipped with plastic knuckle couplers that seem to work very well once I switched back to them on my Athearn passenger cars (Santa, Southern Pacific, Denver and Rio Grande Western and Union Pacific).  I am very seriously considering switching back to non-Kaydee knuckle couplers on my engines and freight cars as well. 

Your thoughts would be appreciated.  I just want the engines and cars to stay coupled so I can enjoy my trains.  It's not like I am part of a model railroaders club and I have to use Kaydee couplers, but if I don't go with Kaydee couplers anymore, do you have any thoughts and/or recommendations?

[pdlethbridge]

 You are right about Kadee's (correct spelling ) being the gold standard. having a coupler height gauge is a must when installing Kadee's as well as other couplers. If you have couplers that are not the correct height, they will uncouple on rough track. Did you use washers between the wheels and bolster to adjust them or did you try to adjust them using pliers?

[BradKT]

Both.  Sometimes, they line up just right right when the cars or engines are on on level track and then as they go around the track, they can slide up or down...and then off and the cars or engines uncouple.

[jward]

if you have humps and dips in the track, any knuckle couplrer will uncouple there, except possibly the ones modelled after the shelf type couplers used on tank cars. the longer the cars you are running, the more likely they are to uncouple.

which kadies were you using? some are easier to use than others. i prefer the #148 whisker type. and i stay away from the #58 "scale" couplers, as i feel these are the least forgiving of rough track.

as for other brands, i have had mixed results. i usually leave the plastic knuckle couplers on that came with the cars until they fail, then replace them with kadees. the ones with the plastic knuckle spring often fail to stay coupled when that "spring" wears out. if i were buying plastic couplers i would look for the ones with the metal knuckle springs.

knuckle springs might also be a reason your kadees refuse to stay coupled. they can sometimes pop out. i often use contact cement to carefully cement one end of the spring to the coupler. if the spring pops loose, you don't lose it, and can easily pop it back into place with a hobby knife or small screwdriver.

[rustyrails]

Kadee makes it about as easy as it gets to install knuckle couplers.  They have various shank lengths, overset and underset shanks, insulating draft gear boxes, integrated centering springs, etc.  They even make talgo-style trucks with attached couplers.  They invented this type of coupler in the late '50's, and all the other makes are basically copies, designed after Kadee's patents ran out.  Coupler height is an NMRA standard.  So, I'm not sure what you'd shift to that would work better. 

The first suggestion I would make is:  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  All the brands of knuckle couplers on the market today are will work with each other, so there is no reason to be changing couplers that work perfectly well. 

Second suggestion:  Fix your trackwork.  Track is one of, if not the, most sensitive parts of a model railroad.  It is the foundation upon which everything else depends.  If you have humps and dips you need to fix them.  Do you have lots of derailments?  One of the benefits of built-in roadbed track is that it is rigid enough make up for some small irregularities in the sub-roadbed.  One of the disadvantages is that it is so rigid that vertical curves want to happen suddenly at the joints between sections.

Hope this helps
Rusty

[BradKT]

The majority of the time, it actually happens on straight sections...not curves.  Most often it happens just as the cars approach one or two terminal re-railers.

[rustyrails]

Do you by any chance have uncoupling magnets installed?  Slack in the train will cause the train to uncouple over a magnet.  If this is a recurring problem, remove one wheelset from the caboose (or the last car if you don't run a caboose), put a small spring over the end of the axle and reassemble the truck.  The spring will offer resistance to the wheel turning and keep the train stretched out, eliminating slack, thereby eliminating unwanted uncoupling.

Vertical curves are up and down, not curved track.   

Hope this helps
Rusty

[RAM]

Kadee makes a trip pin pliers for adjusting the trip pins.  This is a great tool.  #80600 at Micro-Mark  www.micromark.com  They are on sale for $9.55.  Remember, these will last you a life time.  They also have an ho coupler assembly fixture on sale for $7.50.  I have never used one because I have never had much trouble assembling the KDs..I bring up the trip pin pliers because the trip pin may be too low and hitting the rerailer.

[jonathan]

_{"Question:  I know that Kaydee is (for most model railroaders) the gold standard when it comes to couplers, but has the coupler technology of other manufacturers almost caught up with Kaydee?  For example, Athearn RTR freight and passenger cars come equipped with plastic knuckle couplers that seem to work very well once I switched back to them on my Athearn passenger cars (Santa, Southern Pacific, Denver and Rio Grande Western and Union Pacific)"}

As a new disciple of the metal coupler, I'll add my two cents worth... There are plastic couplers, that work perfectly well, as you mentioned.  I have McHenry (Athearn), EZ Mate Mark II (Bachman) and the ones Atlas uses.  They would couple and uncouple and haul cars all day long.  Then, one day a coupler here and there started to let go for no apparent reason (I fixed all my humps and dips a long time ago).  Turns out the plastic was starting to weaken, particularly on an unmentioned brand.  For me it took three years to have a problem.  Mind you my layout sits in a garage, and is exposed to more extreme temps than most others, perhaps speeding up the process, but happen it will.  So I've been making the change over to metal.  Haven't tried a Protomax metal coupler, yet, but I'm sure there fine, too.  Now I'm not doing it all at once, just when I deem necessary.

If you already have some kadees in you rolling stock, please keep them, adjust them, the track, whatever, just don't toss out a perfectly good coupler.... or better yet mail 'em to me.

Respectfully,

Jonathan

[glennk28]

Most important---Do Not Adjust the trip pin until you are certain that the coupler head is at the right level!gj

[Woody Elmore]

Kadee couplers are precision items. They require some fussing to get them to operate correctly. Sounds to me like you have track problems.

As for replacing plastic couplers that work, follow the above advice - if it isn't broken, don't fix it. Wait until the plastic couplers fail, then go to Kadee. I have HO cars with the original non magnetic Kadee K-4 coupler - they still work after 50 years.

[BradKT]

I have considered what everyone has said and I decided to repair 2 of the 3 worst parts of the track and have done so.  I am going to check out the third spot as well.  The track was uneven where I had secured it to the layout with screws (I had only done it in these areas), so I just removed them.  It's more even now, the cars ride a lot more smoothly and I am probably just going to stay with the Kaydees for my freight cars and multi-engine consists.

I am going to watch this carefully and may make some minor track adjustments over the next few days before I do the minor trackbed scenery restoration (which can be done in 2 days).

By the way, I do NOT have any uncoupling magnets in the track layout.

Thank you for your advice everyone.  The one thing that I have come to realize is that on an HO scale layout, any even apparently minor track issues that you have must be fixed because the cars are very unforgiving...in terms of uncoupling and derailments...if you don't.  I am going to do whatever has to be done to get it right so I won't have to do it over at a later date.