I have a HO layout and I still had most of the old horn hook style couplers on my locos and freight/passenger cars but they were constantly coming loose. So I bought the magnetic couplers in two styles one #5 by Kadee and the others with the copper spring in it. I also bought the Metra F40PH and the bi level commuter cars from Kato. These are coming loose as well brand new out the package. This is maddening as I have to constantly keep connecting them back. Is it my layout? I do have the over and under action and there are some elevation changes in the plywood on purpose. Also the track is on cork roadbed? What do I do?
do you have a coupler height gauge? if so use it. if not, get one and use it. you can make your own but the one from KaDee is just what you need and it shows proper coupler height and trip pin height.
do your couplers have up and down play in the draft gear box? if so, you can shim them to the right height with thin paper of styrene shims inserted into the draft gear box…
once your couplers are adjusted to the same correct height, you can observe whether they are moving up and down when the cars go over your track. if so, shim the track to make it level.
don’t get too upset since the real railroads had this problem too, especially with the longer cars that came along in later years.
i don’t know what the other couplers you bought were other than the number 5 KaDees but don’t waste your money on look a likes. stay with the real KaDee products and you won’t be unhappy.
Be happy in your work,
Charlie
Check the small springs that hold the knuckles closed. A missing spring will allow the cars to uncouple when slack action causes the cars to push together. Also, a low trip pin may be catching on trackwork or scenery and could be pulling the knuckles open.
I bought a pack of Proto Max Magnetic Knuckle Couplers by Walthers for $25.00. It comes with enough for twenty cars. These have the copper springs in them as well. The guy at the hobby shop said that these worked just as well as the Kadee. The Kadees were all out at the moment. Couplers can get expensive if you have alot of cars.
The Walthers Proto-Max metal coupler is the only other coupler I use. Walthers started using them about the time they came out with the ‘Hiawatha’ passenger train. The current wood reefers and o/b gondolas I bought at the La Crosse train show yesterday have them as well. They are maybe a little larger than the Kadee #5 knuckle.
Jim
If after following all the above suggestions, you still continue to have issues w/ random uncoupling, use the shelf coupler, especially on the longer equipment. The main problem here must be the uneveness of the track elevation, especially for easing into or out of your grades. If some of those dips are that severe, the shelf coupler can lift a truck off the rails and cause derailments . Those really bad spots need to be shimmed as mentioned.
I would also replace the Kato couplers with KDs…I think that will end your passenger train coming uncoupled.
Hopefully this will help.
Coupler Upgrade Made Easy
http://newyorkcentrallayout.blogspot.com/2012/07/coupler-upgrade-made-easy.html
Some good comments so far.
I doubt it’s the couplers, but agree with the poster who mentioned using a coupler height gauge–very important to keep things to a standard. For example, the heads could have too much vertical play within the coupler box and may need to be shimmed. While you’re at it, get an NMRA gauge too.
It sounds like you could be running longer passenger cars on a layout with pretty big grades–obviously not sure. Two of the key areas likely to cause uncoupling in that case are at the top and bottom of the grade where you transition from a flat areas at the top and bottom to the grade in between. Just pull a few of the cars through this area and see how much vertical motion you have between the couplers. One is likely sliding up while the other may be going down. Shelf couplers(double shelf are prototypical for passenger cars) can help with this, but with severe transitions can cause derailing.
Richard
correct me if i am wrong but were not tight lock couplers primarily something used to keep passenger trains from coming apart. while the shelf couplers became popular about the time the dot started requiring head shields on tank cars? i believe this was the result of the wabash (NW) decatur tank car explosion that wiped out their bunk house. or maybe when the A&S broke out most of the windows in E St Louis when a tank car of gas blew up at their hump.
Charlie