On30 coupler frustration (new person with new train)

[meneelyt]

Hi,

We bought a "Home for the Holidays" Spectrum On30 set for running under the Christmas tree, mixed in with my wife's ceramic houses. It's running on the oval EZ Track from the set, plus another loop added using 44561/44562 turnouts. The track is on a sheet of plywood (covered with felt) and as far as I can tell is perfect - no noise when the engine runs over any of the joints.

The problem is the cars won't stay coupled to the tender, or to the front of the engine, or (rarely) to one another. I've tried the passenger cars individually and in sets, on the back of the tender and front of the locomotive - and they'll run for about one loop, and then the cars come off. It's not always in the same place, just random.

When I put the tender and the cars on a "test track" on a counter, it seems that the tender coupler is higher than the car couplers. In the worst pairing the two have about 50% "overlap" - about 25% of the car coupler is hangin' out low, then 50% engagement, then 25% of the tender coupler stickin' up high. Other pairings are better, with perhaps 75% overlap. The car couplers are pretty close in height to one another - and in fact the usual failure point is between the tender and the first car.

Is there an adjustment I need to make, or anything I can do? This all looks like plastic or as if it's contained within plastic, so I don't see what I can bend.

(In case it's not obvious, this is my first train in anything other than "O".)

Thank you,
Tim

[ChrisS]

Coupler shanks(the piece going into the car coupler box) tend to get bent in packaging. If the tender coupler is the worst, you can swap it with the one on the rear of the caboose. Or visit a hobby shop, most sell replacement coupler packs and sets. You can buy bachmann or even kadee(which are better). They are very inexpensive if just buying for a few cars.

[S. Calloway]

Tim,  This is an easy problem to fix!  The On30 sets use HO scale couplers and they come in different hights  to fix your problem. Also check the trip pins to see that they are not bent and catching the rails in the curves. With just a little trouble shooting, you can soon be running those trains for hours!!!   Dwayne

[Anubis]

Hi Tim,

I agree with what Dwayne and Chris said, and I reckon that you should purchase yourself a Kadee HO (also suits On30) coupler height gauge. This is the ONLY way to ensure your Kadee and Kadee-clone couplers are not suffering from the dreaded 'droop'.

A little hint though - paint the bloody thing a fluorescent orange, yellow, or green! This makes it a lot easier to find, especially if you don't have it permanently mounted on a test track...

[meneelyt]

Thank you all for the help, and especially for the encouragement. "Running those trains for hours" is exactly my goal!

Given that a) these Bachmann couplings don't impress me and b) I have a total of eight couplings right now, the idea of switching Kadee is appealing.  And I really like the idea of buying a gauge - I'm an engineer, and I'd like to set them correctly. However, I see a bewildering selection of HO couplings on the Kadee web site, and the cross-reference guide doesn't list my train. Is there some standard I should assume?

I guess maybe I should go to my hobby store and see what they sell...

And by the way (or maybe not so much) there's enormous variation in the height and shape of the trip pins. I haven't had the courage to grab them with two pair of pliers and get them further up off the track - but that looks as if it as serious potential. 'Course, I'd like to have that gauge to know how high it should be...

Thanks,
Tim

[meneelyt]

Hang on - some more staring at the Kadee site made it all make more sense. I just panicked.

Oddly, my tender (which is generally higher than the others) came with a "centerset" coupling, and all the cars have "overset" couplings... Seems doomed from the start...

Tim

[kcsivils1]

These new castings are nice. This is how the prototype dealt with mismatched coupler heights.

The link will take you directly to the home page and the new castings are the first thing you will see. Neat way to deal with this problem on models in On30.

Jerry Kitts, the owner is a good guy and makes great stuff!

Here is the link: http://www.foothillmodelworks.com/

[meneelyt]

Oddly, my tender (which is generally higher than the others) came with a "centerset" coupling, and all the cars have "overset" couplings... Seems doomed from the start...

And, problem solved! I took an "overset" coupling from one of the cars and put it onto the tender (replacing the factory's "centerset" coupling), and now it works great - just runs and runs. I'm very happy!

I am confused about why Bachmann set it up the way they did. But the train looks great running through those houses!

Thanks,
Tim

[railtwister]

Hi Tim,

The suggestion to get a Kadee coupler height gauge is an excellent one, I recommend the new model 206 height gauge which is plastic and won't short out your power if you forget to turn it off. Before you go out and replace the couplers with Kadees (which is not as easy as it sounds if you do it right), look at them carefully. The first thing you want to check is if they are the older type couplers with the plastic leaf springs that hold the knuckle closed, or of they have the coiled metal springs on the knuckles. Many of the sets came with the leaf springs which were not durable or strong enough to do the job. Most of the On30 equipment (but not all) also uses the medium length couplers where the head is offset to lower it (called overshank) because the On30 cars sit higher than a normal HO car. Obviously, if the shanks are bent with either type coupler, it's best to replace them with ones that are not bent.


I have replaced all of my old couplers with leaf springs with the newer Bachmann EZ-mate II coupler's that use the coiled knuckle springs and have had great results.

Below is an excerpt from another post I made about couplers some time ago:

"Whenever I have tried to replace the original couplers with Kadees on Bachmann
On30 equipment, I have found that the shanks of the Kadees are thicker, and
tightening the screw on the coupler box cover prevents them from centering
properly. Loosening the screws enough to allow the couplers to center, also
allows the lid to droop enough so that the coupler is no longer at the correct
height. I have found that the Bachmann EZ-Mate Mark II couplers with the coiled
metal knuckle springs are the easiest replacements to fit in the Bachmann
coupler boxes. The most commonly used version for the original run cars is the
Medium Length Overshank coupler, part number 78022. If your car has the newer
lowered frame with Archbar trucks, you'll need the Medium CenterShank version
(78025), and the Medium UnderShank (78028) version should fit the Pulpwood and
Camp Cars (or any cars equipped with the lower frame and Low Archbar trucks).

Probably the most reliable fix would be to grind off the frame's cast on coupler
box and use the Kadee whisker couplers and the boxes that come with them, but
for me, that's too much work if you have more than one or two cars to fix."

Regards,
Bill in FL

[Jerry1949]

You've received a lot of great addvice in this thread and I want to add mine. I like the Spectrum line of On30 but the couplers have always been a sore spot with me no matter which spring they have. When ever I get a new car/loco/set, the first thing I do is take it/them to my local train mechanic and have them switched to kadees and tuned to the proper height. I never get a suprise disconnect after doing this. The cost is nominal and it allows me to play with my trains rather than work on them.

[ChrisS]

but working on the railroad is at least half of the fun.

[bussy65]

Hey Guys,

I just fixed the same problem concerning the coupler on the tender. Replaced it with

with the coupler from the last car on the train, end of story.

This stuff is more fun than old people deserve.

Jack