Couplers

[ARS]

Hi!  My 10 year old has started his electric train collection with the Thunder Valley set.  He wants to expand but we are not sure whether or not all couplers are compatible.  Any suggestions when looking at add-ons?  Thanks.

[skipgear]

There are two basic types of couplers, Rapido and Knuckle. There are lots of variations of Knuckle coupler but most are compatible with one another. The Rapido couplers are the original square / block style coupler and are only compatible with themselves. Everything purchased brand new will have knuckle couplers. There is some leftover rapido equipment out there but it is rare. If you do run across Rapdio equipped cars they can be converted fairly painlessly in most cases.