You're the second British modeller I've watched expounding the glories of Kadees, which is rightly justified, and the second to complain that there is no standard in the mounting height of the coupler pockets. I was amazed that there is no standard for draft gear height, unlike here in the U.S. where the NMRA (National Model Railroad Association) has set such a standard and most equipment manufacturers adhere to it. Also, a lot of the equipment, at least today, have coupler pockets that are very close to the Kadee #5 draft gear box, so it's basically a drop in change. I am also left wondering how British modellers view the U.S. modelling scene with our different terminology and standards.
It's truly a shame to disable the magnetic uncoupling feature of the kadees. You're missing out on one of the best features of these couplers! Most people (in the OO scale jungle) don't bother to "shunt" because it's a pain in the ass using the British idea of a "coupler". They invented their own scale, and their own couplers. Both of which is a joke! Get yourself some uncoupling magnets, get some simple pliars to bend the trip pins up, and enjoy hands free uncoupling!
Thanks for your comment! If my explanations in the video have misled you to believe that I massacre a perfectly good Kadee please rest assured this is not the case. The trimming of the pins was only for the HST modification which in reality it will never be "uncoupled" while in use on my layout, all other rolling stock has enough clearance to allow the pins to remain. As for the uncoupling aspect, I do have plans to utilize an uncoupler in the terminating platforms. But as is, it is merely one of the hundreds of items on the to-do list!
Excellent tips. Thank you! Oh, and to get your camera to focus (like at the 12 minute mark) put a white sheet of paper over the track. The track is really contrasty. That's a "focus magnet" for the camera. Cover the track and the camera will then hunt for any other contrasty thing to latch onto.
I use number 17,18 and 19 and they work fine . I also use the Fleischmann Profi coupler which gives close coupling as well as fast coach removal from the layout . Thank God for NEM pockets
This has been very educational for me. I'm seriously looking at different types of coupling and hearing/seeing the few Kaydee sizes and packets and why those ones are used if very useful. Thanks, very much.
Glad to hear that Tony! Just be mindful of the fact that unfortunately as I mentioned in the vid, pocket heights on coaching stock are different but you will have no problems if you're prepared to modify your rolling stock with the greatest of care. The #206 height gauge is a must have and some plastic card is always handy! Thanks for your comment! Cheers....Ben.
Hi mate! Unfortunately, I am not familiar with these coaches at all. I would imagine that those cars come standard with Kadee Couplers. Provided they are the correct height you should have no problems with them. I did find a video regarding these coaches: th-cam.com/video/trzT8tIKpNs/w-d-xo.html. Cheers... Ben.
Both methods are perfectly fine. Bogies are much easier to modify rather than the chassis how ever it is entirely at your discretion as to how you mount them. I will say that in some cases you can't mount to Kadees to the bogie but doing so allows more reliable running on tighter radii. Hope this gives you some insight. Cheers....
If I can throw in my two cents... It doesn't matter whether you mount the coupler to the chassis or the bogie as long as you are consistent on all your rolling stock. If you couple two carriages with one coupler on the bogie and the other on the chassis, you're gonna have, ahem, issues.
I have just started fitting Kadees to my small amount of rolling stock. I have fitted 18s and 19s to my bogie coaches. I also have two old fixed wheelbase CCT vans from which I have removed the tension lock couplings. One has the 'draft gearbox' type Kadee, and the other I have just converted by gluing a 2mm shim of plasticard to the underside and then gluing a Hornby NEM pocket to that. All the coaches run well together, and uncouple correctly over the magnets no matter what the formation. BUT... I have a Bachmann MK2 which not only requires the longest NEM coupler, but the NEM pocket is too high, so it doesn't respond to the magnet . I am tempted to employ the same method I used for the CCTs and cut the incorrect NEM pocket off and fix a Hornby pocket below the bufferbeam. I don't see the issue in mixing chassis- mounted Kadees with Bogie mounted Kadees provided the height is correct. The coaches are hauled by a fixed wheelbase shunter or a bogie loco, so both types of mounting seem to work OK
Steamie R in most cases all I do I simply cut the pin down to size. Its an easy process in most cases but the problem still stems from the nem pockets not being at the same height which is a pain. Ive found using the washer technique works well. Common mod in American rtr rolling stock to get the coupling at the same height, which is the main thing. As always it an ever evolving and developing thing, that being said since converting the mk3s, I haven't had a single issue with my hst set.
won't it affect how the train uncouples over an uncoupler magnet? plus bending the trip ins upwards would have saved you from cutting them so uncoupling the train won't be affected.
Hi Steamie R. In my case, I don't have a lot of shunting operations planned for my layout in the strict sense of shunting wagons etc. My key goal with the Kadee modification was to achieve smooth reliable running to mitigate derailments that frequently occurred with tension lock couplings over junctions and varying gradients etc. The HST conversion as an example is a complete set therefore uncoupling is not required. But in other instances, I trimmed the pin down to be a few mm clear of the rail head on coaches like the Mk1's and mk2's even locos like the early Bachmann Deltics (where the nem socket is low to the ground), and I found in my testing that by using small high-grade n52 bar magnets which you can get on eBay cheap, Have a strong enough magnetic field to uncouple the Kadees if you position them correctly under the rail, and they have no noticeable effect on your locomotive or sound speakers etc. Thanks again for your comment, Cheers.
You're the second British modeller I've watched expounding the glories of Kadees, which is rightly justified, and the second to complain that there is no standard in the mounting height of the coupler pockets.
I was amazed that there is no standard for draft gear height, unlike here in the U.S. where the NMRA (National Model Railroad Association) has set such a standard and most equipment manufacturers adhere to it. Also, a lot of the equipment, at least today, have coupler pockets that are very close to the Kadee #5 draft gear box, so it's basically a drop in change.
I am also left wondering how British modellers view the U.S. modelling scene with our different terminology and standards.
It's truly a shame to disable the magnetic uncoupling feature of the kadees. You're missing out on one of the best features of these couplers! Most people (in the OO scale jungle) don't bother to "shunt" because it's a pain in the ass using the British idea of a "coupler". They invented their own scale, and their own couplers. Both of which is a joke! Get yourself some uncoupling magnets, get some simple pliars to bend the trip pins up, and enjoy hands free uncoupling!
Thanks for your comment! If my explanations in the video have misled you to believe that I massacre a perfectly good Kadee please rest assured this is not the case. The trimming of the pins was only for the HST modification which in reality it will never be "uncoupled" while in use on my layout, all other rolling stock has enough clearance to allow the pins to remain. As for the uncoupling aspect, I do have plans to utilize an uncoupler in the terminating platforms. But as is, it is merely one of the hundreds of items on the to-do list!
How about a pair of pliers instead?
The late Allan Downes described the tension lock coupling as looking like a medieval battering ram.
Excellent tips. Thank you!
Oh, and to get your camera to focus (like at the 12 minute mark) put a white sheet of paper over the track. The track is really contrasty. That's a "focus magnet" for the camera. Cover the track and the camera will then hunt for any other contrasty thing to latch onto.
I use number 17,18 and 19 and they work fine . I also use the Fleischmann Profi coupler which gives close coupling as well as fast coach removal from the layout . Thank God for NEM pockets
I was looking at the profi coupler but choose the kadee because of the range and of course the mk3 conversions
This has been very educational for me. I'm seriously looking at different types of coupling and hearing/seeing the few Kaydee sizes and packets and why those ones are used if very useful. Thanks, very much.
Glad to hear that Tony! Just be mindful of the fact that unfortunately as I mentioned in the vid, pocket heights on coaching stock are different but you will have no problems if you're prepared to modify your rolling stock with the greatest of care. The #206 height gauge is a must have and some plastic card is always handy! Thanks for your comment! Cheers....Ben.
What kind of couplers would work best on the Walthers Proto HO Superliner cars and Viewliner cars and Amfleet cars.....?
Hi mate! Unfortunately, I am not familiar with these coaches at all. I would imagine that those cars come standard with Kadee Couplers. Provided they are the correct height you should have no problems with them. I did find a video regarding these coaches: th-cam.com/video/trzT8tIKpNs/w-d-xo.html. Cheers... Ben.
😋😋😋😋 K-D all the way frank
I'm wondering would would happen if you mount the coupler on the body instead of the bogie.
Both methods are perfectly fine. Bogies are much easier to modify rather than the chassis how ever it is entirely at your discretion as to how you mount them. I will say that in some cases you can't mount to Kadees to the bogie but doing so allows more reliable running on tighter radii. Hope this gives you some insight. Cheers....
If I can throw in my two cents... It doesn't matter whether you mount the coupler to the chassis or the bogie as long as you are consistent on all your rolling stock. If you couple two carriages with one coupler on the bogie and the other on the chassis, you're gonna have, ahem, issues.
I have just started fitting Kadees to my small amount of rolling stock. I have fitted 18s and 19s to my bogie coaches. I also have two old fixed wheelbase CCT vans from which I have removed the tension lock couplings. One has the 'draft gearbox' type Kadee, and the other I have just converted by gluing a 2mm shim of plasticard to the underside and then gluing a Hornby NEM pocket to that. All the coaches run well together, and uncouple correctly over the magnets no matter what the formation. BUT... I have a Bachmann MK2 which not only requires the longest NEM coupler, but the NEM pocket is too high, so it doesn't respond to the magnet . I am tempted to employ the same method I used for the CCTs and cut the incorrect NEM pocket off and fix a Hornby pocket below the bufferbeam. I don't see the issue in mixing chassis- mounted Kadees with Bogie mounted Kadees provided the height is correct. The coaches are hauled by a fixed wheelbase shunter or a bogie loco, so both types of mounting seem to work OK
Hungry Guy take the ahems off, they’re more trouble than they’re worth.
have you thought of using kadee trip pin pliers to bend the trip pins on the couplers upwards enough to enable clearance?
Steamie R in most cases all I do I simply cut the pin down to size. Its an easy process in most cases but the problem still stems from the nem pockets not being at the same height which is a pain. Ive found using the washer technique works well. Common mod in American rtr rolling stock to get the coupling at the same height, which is the main thing. As always it an ever evolving and developing thing, that being said since converting the mk3s, I haven't had a single issue with my hst set.
won't it affect how the train uncouples over an uncoupler magnet? plus bending the trip ins upwards would have saved you from cutting them so uncoupling the train won't be affected.
Hi Steamie R. In my case, I don't have a lot of shunting operations planned for my layout in the strict sense of shunting wagons etc. My key goal with the Kadee modification was to achieve smooth reliable running to mitigate derailments that frequently occurred with tension lock couplings over junctions and varying gradients etc. The HST conversion as an example is a complete set therefore uncoupling is not required. But in other instances, I trimmed the pin down to be a few mm clear of the rail head on coaches like the Mk1's and mk2's even locos like the early Bachmann Deltics (where the nem socket is low to the ground), and I found in my testing that by using small high-grade n52 bar magnets which you can get on eBay cheap, Have a strong enough magnetic field to uncouple the Kadees if you position them correctly under the rail, and they have no noticeable effect on your locomotive or sound speakers etc. Thanks again for your comment, Cheers.