I have quite a bit of horn hook HO rolling stock - but since it’s Vintage Tyco from my lost youth, I just don’t want to change them out for sentimental reasons.
Anyway - I was attempting to make a transition car (which originally had both couplers McHenry) so I could consist the horn hooks to my present motive power which is all McHenry.
IHC’s universal Magic Mate coupler’s looked okay - but I notice that they just don’t have the “spring” nor do they swivel good in former cast on McHenry coupler boxes.
Are there any other decent universal couplers? And just for added interest, does anyone make snap on McHenry trucks to upgrade older Lifelike or Bachmann rolling stock where the couplers were originally horn hook?
The IHC were pretty much useless. I got out of them after the first bunch. I don’t know if they even make them any more… McHenry doesn’t make any kind of truck. The simple way to do whjat you want is body mount a Kadee properly on one end of one car. Then you are good to go. You can use the car mixed in a train so not all the cars have to be one or the other.
Yeah - the IHC are still around, still being made.
The Kadee/McHenrys aren’t the problem. I have rolling stock that I am going to use as Kadee/McHenry to Horn Hook transition cars are originally Kadee/McHenry coupler equipped. Attempting to have Kadee/McHenery on one end, a horn on the other. It’s just getting one Horn Hook compatible coupler onto the end of those transition boxcars that’s getting to be a challenge.
The idea is to not switch horn hook couplers off any of the Vintage Tyco rolling stock or modifiy any of that rolling stock for knuckle couplers.
Thre is no such thing as a UNIVERSAL coupler - that works. I TRIED.
Universal advice: use couplers that MATCH. If your cars are not worth upgrading to KD’s, keep the old horn hooks; or have a 'Conversion car - same for Talgo vs Body mounts.
I have a set of IHC cars (Talgo), but since they are pulled by engines with body mount KD’s. I did convert the head-end car to a KD body mount on one end only, and Talgo on the other. Now I can take advantage of both. Again, it’s couplers that match.
The IHC cars require so much work to make decent (weight, trucks, coupler pads) that I decided not to invest in KD 508’s. At least now they stay on the track - So they don’t back up well?