I have a lot of old HO cars from the 80’s and 90’s with horn hooks and very different ways of mounting them. I want to put the more scale cuppers on them is there a pack or kit to put a scale cupper on the body like real trains? I am into HO a little and don’t want it to be a long(or costly)project. Thanks?
I am from CTT and that is for the weard name.
Lionel Hudson,
Depending on how many cars you have to convert another method to consider is to replace the horn hook coupler on just one end of a couple of different cars and use them as adapter cars between your older cars and any newer cars you have that already have kadees or knuckle couplers. It’ll be cheaper and quicker than replacing couplers on a very large fleet of cars.
Andrew
One option you can try is to modify the hook-horn couplers themselves, especially if cost is an issue or a knuckle coupler won’t go into the same spot. It only takes a few cuts from a good clipper to modify them. They work okay with newer couplers, but if detail is your thing, they won’t cut it. Just a thought.
One thing I used to do was to mount a Kadee #5 coupler in the existing coupler pocket. I many cases there’s just enough space to get the centering spring and coupler to slide in. If that can’t be done you can cut the old coupler pocket off and mount a Kadee coupler pocket.
Anyone have a link for McHenry couplers, or any other coupler conversions? R. Staller
If anyone does have anymore conversion charts, besides for posting them here, could you also drop me an e-mail at randystaller@hotmail.com I can’t always get back to MR on a regular basis.
Thanks
R. Staller
Don’t bother with the Kadee imposters. They are junk. Being made of slippery plastic the imposters will slip apart on their own and the plastic shank bends when they are used in long trains. Our club has banned all but genuine KADEE couplers. Equipment with Kadee imposters is quickly removed from the layout.
There are several choices of Kadee couplers. The 5 and 148 are probably your best bet. Be sure to have a Kadee coupler hight gauge too. There are some special mounting situations too. I just body mounted Kadee couplers on a IHC SD24 and Kadee 8’s were required after building a mounting pad on each end of the locomotive body and filling in the big hole for the coupler swing.
Start with one car being a ‘transition’ car with Kadee’s on one end…Most Old cars will take th #5, whcih is available in bulk , for savings…
http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page11.htm
All knuckle couplers depend on ‘hadshake’ and the larger #5 couplers have more ‘grip -, plus you cannot see them between cars.’ I prefer Short #43’s on loco fronts, and so called 'scale’couplers on ‘my tail’ cars.for better appearance.
And if your shoes are not shined to a level 8 in the spotless scale you have to go barefoot for 3 weeks. Clubs like that make me sick. It’s nice to enjoy a club layout without spending $$ you don’t have to get the right coupler. If I was running trains there and someone pulled one of my cars off of the layout because it has look alikes then there would be hell to pay, I guarantee it. I belong to a huge club layout with many members. If some kid or starter brings in something to run (you can’t run trains unless you are a member) and it has hornhooks or other couplers we or I will run his train for him, no problem. We just enjoy it and laugh. Now if he doesn’t use Synthetic oil in his car then we will punish him. Look alike couplers are fine. Don’t listen to the remarks. If you have very limited $$$ then go to the other couplers. But I will say that Kadee’s are the way to go if you can afford them.
Mike
Mike; well said - excellent.
Just like the prototype railroads, cars used in interchange service, such as a club layout should conform to some basic standards. I have been a member of a large modular club where members bring junk to run on the club layout. This is particularly bad at a club show. Out of respect for the other members of the club and the show guests, your locomotives and rolling stock should operate well, including couplers.
I have tried other brands of couplers and I am strictly KD for performance. I have a home layout and invite others to run their equipment on my layout. I am not picky about what you have, as long as it works. Long trains, curves and 2% grades add up to failure of plastic couplers.
Want to know how I came to this conclusion?
Kadees should fit in the coupler boxes of any HO cars made from the 1970’s on. I’ve been in HO since 1988 and I’ve never had to remove a coupler box and use a Kadee one that I can recall. Athearn, MDC/Roundhouse, TrainMaster/Walthers etc. should all be fine with Kadee 5’s.
Folks:
I’ve fitted a lot of my trainset fleet o’ doom with the snap-in Walthers Scenemaster couplers as a stopgap measure until I can replace the car with a better one. Kadee does have an adapter designed for trainset-style Talgo trucks, but I just cut the pocket off and bodymount #4 or #5 in boxes, if I’m using Kadees.
Walthers’ Scenemaster knuckles, designed for their Life-Like trainset line, are 80 cents a pair and snap right into most Talgo-style pockets. They do couple with Kadees and stay coupled reasonably well, with my short trains. Sometimes you need to trim two tiny tabs from the pocket end; sometimes you need to tweak the molded spring a bit to center the coupler. I can’t get them to uncouple reliably over magnets, and they’re not nearly as reliable as the Kadees or even the plastic clones, but all I wanted was a cheap, quick, simple way to get a bunch of trainset cars into service, and they did do that. If that’s the plan, I think they’re worth a try, but don’t expect miracles. [:)]
I have to agree with the suggestions for transition cars, at least until you get all your cars done if that is your goal. I have made several in N and it helps keep things going. Problem is it had discouraged me from going all the way and just converting, still waiting for a good conversion coupler that can just drop in in N scale. I have tried some, but notice i said a GOOD one.