First impression of Bachmann's new dummy coupler

[Railhead]

Well,
   I finally got around to ordering three sets of the Bachmann variety pack dummy couplers. Some of the N scale internet vendors say these are in three different sizes (short, medium & long) which is miss leading. their are short & long couplers in the pack but the one that is referred to as medium is a different coupler all together. The short & long couplers have the "T" shank which will replace any Rapido couplers sharing the same "T" shank end. The othe coupler that referred to as medium doesn't have the "T" shank end. The end of this coupler has a pin hole thru it so it can be mounted on a loco using the pilot connector with the centering pin that snaps into the loco shell at the front & back pilots. If you follow Bachmann's description on these couplers your getting the correct info on which they are and what they will fit onto. The Standard line will fit locos like the first run Bachmann C40-8W's with the Rapido coupler thats mounted to the truck. The Spectrum coupler will fit the newer version of the C40-8W's where the couplers attach to the shell with the pilot connector with the centering pin on them. And last, the Rolling stock coupler which will rectro fit rolling stock using a Rapido coupler with the "T" shank end. You cannot use these to replace either a Accumate or a MicroTrain couplers directly in their standard coupler boxes...........
Now when comparing the long and short Bachmann dummies with their same counterparts made by Red Caboose (Unimates), they are pretty close to the same sizes. Were the knuckle opening on a Unimate is tight, the Bachmann Dummies have a wider opening allowing them to couple together just by pushing what ever cars or engines you place these on together. You can also couple to Accumates & MicroTrains the same way. This is a feature you can't do with a Unimate. In coupling or uncoupling with a Unimate, you must lift the cars up and over to make this move. I found I could also uncouple the Bachmann dummies using a modified screw driver shaped like a Rix's pick to do uncoupling moves. When appling a Bachmann dummy onto a piece of equipment takes a little care. Unlike the Unimate which has the heal on it's bottom so you know right away which is the upside & downside of the coupler, the Bachmann dummy looks the same on either side. So if you decide at sometime to use these, make sure your putting them on the correct way or you'll be forced to remove it and re-apply the coupler a second time. ......
Now the down side.........
     Many have spectulated on other forums about the Bachmann dummy couplers not being the proper height . When compared to a Accumate or MicroTrain coupler, the head of the Bachmann dummy is almost a half size lower. Their is no way to bring these up to proper height without some heavy modification if that's at all possible. If you compare the Bachmann dummy to a Unimate coupler you'll see first hand were the problem lies. The shank on the Unimate connects to the bottom of the head of the coupler placing it at a proper height to couple with other Unimates or other brand of couplers. The shank on the Bachmann dummy is dead center placing the head to low. If they would of place the shank at the botton of the head it would of put it up into a better position for matching the height of other coupler brands........
I went and placed these Bachmann dummies on a part of a passenger train consist to try them out. On the Concor cars I placed the Long Bachmann dummy and the shank on these get the head out enough to couple to another car and allows a close coupling effect giving a more prototypical look. I placed the short couplers on the A-B-A consist of Roco F3's drawing those pieces together eliminating the wide gaps when using the Rapido couplers that were originally on them. So far during test running I haven't experienced any false uncouplings. I'm going to order a couple of more sets so I can finish the rest of my passenger set.. I don't plan on using anything in the passenger train with any other piece's of equipment just using the whole consist with in itself so the coupler height will not be a problem. I do hope that Bachmann designs another style of dummy coupler which fixes the height problem (HINT! HINT MR BACHMANN!!  ( 8     )  as I believe that all those who model in N scale can benefit from a better designed product.  The Bachmann dummy built to the proper height would make some coupler changes like a coupler pocket design that can't be rectro fitted with any MicroTrains coupler conversions a whole heck of a lot easier and many happy campers too boot!
                                           Railhead