I have been noticing the there are different couplings on railcars. The ones that I have seen mostly used are the horn-hook couplings. But I have also seen the McHenry stlye or KaDee style. What style is the best over all???
Horn hooks are generally found on train sets and equipment of lesser quality. They are less apt to be broken and are not as hard to line up for proper operation. Having said that, the Kadee’s have been around a long time and are much more prototypical in appearance, can be remotely uncoupled, and are quite finicky to align. I have no personal knowledge of the McHenry couplers.
BB
[#welcome] I’ll step in here and give my opinion (thats all it is-an opinion). What is best basicly depends on a couple of things. First, if the train(s) are to be played with by children, then I would say the horn-hook couplers are probably the best as they are cheap and easily replaced. Couplers are perhaps the first thing broken by young children. Kadee and Mchenry and the like fall under the automatic knuckle type coupler and are more scale like, but will not take the beatings that kids will give them. Back years ago there were a number of differen type couplers and those horn-hook couplers was an early attempt by the NMRA to standardize couplers. They replace the old Nonoperating knuckle and the old Mantua loop-hook couplers and have been a standard of train sets and kits for years now. Most of the brands of the automatic knuckle couplers are pretty much compatible with each other but not with the horn-hook type. Hope this helps, ken
The knuckle coupler types allow for easier train operations because magnetic placement allows the couplers to open. The horn hook have not been as successful in this area and that can become annoying if you are trying to drop cars on spurs or in yards.
Welcome Jason. This is definately the place to ask questions. Many of us here have been involved in model railraoding, probably longer than we’d like to admit.
This observation is as old as the time I’ve been in model railroading. back then, the choice was between the X2F (horn-hook) coupler or the Kadee brand knuckle coupler. The Kadee’s quickly became an ad-hoc standard because they simply worked better than the horn-hooks.
Since Kadee Quality Products patent ran out on the style of knuckle coupler, many other companies have started to produce a similar one. Most, if not all, will work with each other.
I’m going to suggest probably the two most important tools to add to your tool box, if you don’t have them yet: 1) an NMRA gauge for your scale (I’m assuming HO by the wording of your post) and 2) a Kadee coupler height gauge. Your total cost will be about $15 for the two of them at the most, so the cost is small and well worth it. Some people will suggest that you can put a certain coupler in a certain car and it will line up, or to select a car or loco as your standard for coupler height. This mistake will come back to bite you in the butt, especially if you join a club or have joint operating sessions. And it’s even more frustrating when you realize the Kadee gauge is only about $4, and it will standardize your coupler heights with everyone elses.
It does take some effort to line them up correctly, but it will be well worth it. And as you do more cars and locos, the time it takes will get shorter per unit.
I’ve stayed with the Kadee brand couplers because I’ve tried several of the other brands and they just don’t work as well. The most recent example: I just bought some Walther’s Superliner cars and they came with the EZ Mate couplers (I think by Bachmann). The cars kept coming uncoupled and until I observed it closely, I never would have guessed: the coupler shank was bending under load and slipping apart. Needless to say, they all have Kadee’s
Cool thank you everyone