Hello everyone. I’ve been a lurker here for quite awhile and have learned a lot. I’m a real newbie, so I may have some very elementary questions. Anyway, I’ve finally started building my layout and have the benchwork done. I laid some temporary track to run trains for the time being. I am having major issues with some of my rolling stock and locomotives coming uncoupled while running trains. I find that it usually happens on uphill grade, but not always. I have different couplers on different cars, so at some point I’m going to all of them with same brand of coupler. Looking at them, the problem seems to be a height difference in the coupler housing. It is surprising to me that manufacturers do not conform to a uniform heighth. My question is do they make any type of product that will basically keep your couplers together? If not, what other solutions are there? Thanks in advance.
Like good trackwork, there’s just no substitute for good, properly adjusted couplers. You’ll find pretty good agreement here that Kadees are the way to go. If you get the couplers, the coupler height gauge and the trip-pin pliers, you’ll be well on your way to uniformity of coupler type and height.
If you are uncoupling at the top and bottom of an incline, chances are your “transition” from flat to slope is too abrupt. You’ve got one car on an angle and the next completely horizontal. If that condition is too extreme, even properly adjusted couplers won’t help.
[#ditto]
Couldn’t have said any better, Mr Beasley said it all.
The problem of coupler height differences between manufacturers is because there are no established standards to which they are expected to comply.
As far as the couplers coming apart, the answer about your abrupt transitions is most likely the cause. Another possibility is that early McHenry knuckle couplers did not have a metal spring in the knuckle and they tended to pull open on an incliine. If you have any of these, you need to change to a newer McHenry or Kadee with the metal knuckle spring. There are other brands of couplers such as Kato, Accumate, Bachmann, etc. that do not function well with each other.
Both McHenry and Kadee make couplers with raised or lowered knuckle heads that can help get them equal between brands of rolling stock.
As previously mentioned, too, a coupler height guage and coupler trip pin pliers are necessities to get everything properly adjusted.
" … I have different couplers on different cars… "
A #1030 or #13 Kadee ‘starter pack’ is what you need. A #205 is a MUST
Something that no one has mentioned about the plastic couplers is that some of them droop.
I purchased a package of 25 pairs of Bachmann #7125 EZ Mate Mark II couplers to use on some Roundhouse rolling stock. These are like Kadee except they are plastic and they also use a metal spring to hold the clasp closed. I had the Kadee coupler height guage to double check the height. What I found was that the shank on about 1/3 of them drooped. It was enough to account for 1/8". I put Kadees on the same car and it lined up perfectly.
I would stay away from the plastic couplers if at all possible for this very reason.
Like others have said your transition area may be too sharp and also causing the problem.
Thanks for everyone’s reply…very helpful. My transitions are extremely subtle, so that’s not the problem. I have some couplers that are barely coupled together at a level surface because of a big heighth difference and when they start to go up the grade they uncouple. I will start with replacing all of them with Kadees. Will that keep them from coming apart even with cars that have coupler housings at different heighths?
I don’t mean to take anything away from the original post but looking at the starter pack i noticed it contains “grease em” and i have read on the instructions when installing the kd’s you should use it. My questions is does anybody do this? is it necessary? and is this suppose to be part of routine maintenance on rolling stock with kd’s
Part of good coupler installation is getting the height right, hence the recommendations to get the height gauge. If the couplers are too high, you need to shim the mounting boxes (called “draft gear boxes”) down with thin plastic strips. If they are too low, the usual fix is to insert washers where the trucks meet the car to lift the whole car body up.
In extreme cases, you may need to completely remove the old boxes and replace them. Kadee also makes a package of draft gear boxes, which will also come in handy when replacing “oddball” couplers where the Kadees don’t just drop into the old box. The boxes are plastic, and come with a hole in the center for screw mounting. If you prefer, you can glue them in place. If I can, I use a screw mount so that I can replace them easily. A 2-56 screw fits perfectly, but you may need to drill and tap the car body for it.
Replacement, by the way, may never be necessary. In the many coupler-related threads I’ve seen here in over 2 years of forum life, no one has ever said that a Kadee coupler broke. (Well, actually someone did, but then he looked more closely and realized it wasn’t a Kadee at all.)
The question of coupler separation has plagued many modekllers for many years. myself included. I rectified my problems originally by swapping to McHenry couplers (cheaper than Kadee) but have been in more trouble for different reasons. The major problems are coupler head collapse, whisker loosing tension and coupler droop. If you use a Kadee or athearne size coupler pocket the plastic coupler will droop requiring a spacer washer (kadee part )inserted into the pocket to remove the vertical slop. I have since undertaken a complete recoupler programme to change to Kadee #5 couplers (the #38 scale coupler would have been my choice had I not invested so much prior to finding them in my hobby shop.) with the coupler height guage and spacers of filing excess height from the bolsters I have acheived a mostly problem free running on my layout running trains of 35-40 car lengths. mostly coal unit and intermodal. Transition to inclines were acheived using 3/4"ply with natural bend radius from level to the desired grade and rise. This creates a varying percentage rise but most double headder trains have no problem and those that do can use a healper locoas an added challenge for the operators.
Actually there is:
Another reason I use metal couplers on my rolling stock is running a long train plastic couplers will break or bend the knuckle itself to the point it uncouples. take 40 cars coupled together & pull them by hand(you’ll be surprised how heavy the load is if the cars are weighted properly). After doing this I was surprised that I did not have more derailments around bends or other irregularities in my trackwork & another good case for ultra smooth track on mains & passing sidings. On coupler height Kadee makes a series of couplers that uses a coil type centering spring instead of the flat brass type. They are harder to put together but can be put together with the spring over or under the coupler & the whole assembly can be mounted on 2 different thickness of shims giving a pretty good bit of coupler heights for almost any application. They will not fit a regular draftgear box, but require a flat surface with a 2-56 hole drilled & tapped in the centerline of the car. I have very few problems with my couplers, they even work well with the Kadee uncoupling magnets both electric & permanent. Tweet
Unfortunately, it’s a voluntary standard and not all companies comply, although the major brands of cars seem to for the most part.
As already mentioned, getting the coupler height gauge and trip pin pliers are “must have” tools for good running. The assortment pack from Kadee is also a good investment when you’re starting out. It contains Kadee couplers with different shaft lengths and more importantly the “underset” and “overset” couplers. These have coupler heads that are lower and higher than the “standard” No. 5 coupler. I find it prefferable (and easier) to use these if possible, before resorting to shimming the draft gear boxes and/or adding washers to the trucks or using the No.38 draft gear box.
I would recomend in addition to the gauge and pliers, you start with a couple of packs each of the underset and overset (2 pairs per pack) and get the bulk pack of No. 5. Oh, also get the “spring pick” to chase down and mount those pesky little knuckle springs, (the coupler packs all come with extra knuckle springs)
gilligan: I wouldn’t use the Grease Em unless the coupler isn’t swinging freely. And if that is the case then there’s probably something else wrong and should be investigated further.
Good Luck.
You’re correct, unfortunately it is voluntary and less manufacturer’s are “volunteering.”
http://www.nmra.org/standards/Candi/index.html
And that’s also the reason I completely agree with what