I am a little fed up on this. I bought a new IHC 4-6-4 Hudson, looks great runs well, but the front coupler is rigid. I head down to my friendly neighbor hood model shop and all the Kadee couplers suggested for other IHCs look like regular couplers. Mine fits in with 2 tabs on the side, and is much narrower on the end than a regular Kadee coupler. I send an email to Kadee they haven’t seen one yet and send me a link to the page with what couplers will fit other IHC steam locos. Mike a good modeling friend of mine says most steam locos come like this. How can I double head steam power or use steam on local runs with facing siding requiring that cars be coupled to the front end of the loco?[banghead]
James
cut out the old coupler, have some tiny screws to screw the kadee box in, carefully filesize the coupler opening for the kadee box to fit, drill a hole for the screw and mount the kadee.
I was afraid you’d say that.[sigh]
Your 4-6-4 must have a dummy coupler on the pilot. My Rivarossi FEF-3 4-8-4 has this too. It’s still possible to double head other locos in front of it or couple cars to the front though. Just lift up the coupler of the other loco or car and lower it into position so it locks with the dummy coupler.
In some cases, a McHenry is a much easier conversion than a KD. When I do not want screws to show on the pilot deck I have installed KDs with 2 part epoxy with excellent results also.
They are not #5s either. It’s either a #26 or #28. I’d check the Kaydee site under conversions. They show you how to do it. Sort of.
Front couplers on STEAM are generally Dummy coupler’s, not working ones, as steam engines are alway’s used in forward mode. Here is where our model’s are different than the prototype.
First a ‘working’ coupler has to be installed in the front, with it’s centering mechanism. This most always involves cutting a hole and securing the coupler box.
Second the coupler has to stick out unrealistically to clear the pilot.
Third, the prototypes has an engineer in each engine to regulate speed, so
we need to match up engine’s speed-wise, to run together.
I would only recommend double heading with matched engines - same make, same model, due to the complexities involved - and expense - considering the minor benefit achieved is ‘looking cool’.
Tried that the coupler of the car sits on the top of the cowcatcher lifting the car into the air. What I need is coupler that also sticks out just a little father.
James
Have you tried a “long shank” Mchenry or Kadee (if there is such a thing) , the Mchenry for Rivarossi/IHC 6 axle passenger car might work but it might look a bit funny due to the spacing between locos might end up a little too long to look “right”. I used the Mchenry on some of my Rivarossis on the tenders and had the large space between the tender and the freight car.
In some cases you can modify a Kadee for your needs. If you can find one with a long enough shank you can just cut off the back end and drill and tap the shank for a screw. If you can’t find one long enough you may have to extend the shank. This allows you to keep the cast coupler box on the engine BUT it will not allow for coupler swing if you have really tight curves.
Adding a long-shanked coupler usually isn’t the best approach to this issue, as you usually end up with too much coupler droop. A sloppy coupler will mean more unwanted uncoupling.
The best option to add a front coupler to steam is to always use a METAL Kadee, in it’s box, attached to the pilot. Engine couplers see the most stresses on model railroads, so they should ALWAYS be bulletproof, and Kadees are by far the best there are.
Adding a Kadee and it’s box to a pilot means occasional modification, to either the pilot, the coupler, or both. Usually, the only thing necessary is to remove a little material from the fake cast-on coupler “box” on the front of the pilot beam, slide in the Kadee sans box or spring, assemble the coupler into it’s box, and attach the box to the pilot with a 2-56 screw. It’s sometimes necessary to cut off the Kadee’s “air hose” to ensure good coupler swing without interference with the pilot, and it’s sometimes necessary to build up the bottom of the pilot deck with scrap plastic. But the process itself only takes a few minutes, and is all part of being a MODELLING railroader.
In extreme cases, the lead truck on the engine will interfere with the coupler box. This isn’t an easy fix, and the best solution at that point is to rigidly mount the Kadee coupler to the pilot without the box. You’ll be losing the swing motion of that engine’s coupler, but that’s usually not a big deal. Attach the coupler to the frame with a 2-56 screw and some scrap built up to the bottom of the deck.
I’ll agree that ALL steam manufacturers SHOULD build all steam with working front couplers. Not doing so in the 21st centurey is sorta dopey. But I don’t let the lack of a working front coupler stop me from buying an otherwise desired model, since I know the simple modelling tricks to fix that issue. Overall appearance and running characteristics are MUCH bigger issues.
Ray says:Adding a long-shanked coupler usually isn’t the best approach to this issue, as you usually end up with too much coupler droop. A sloppy coupler will mean more unwanted uncoupling.
Ray,That coupler droop problem can be fixed by using a small washer on the mounting end of the coupler.
James,The dummy coupler can be replaced.Now by thinking beyond the conventional methods of mounting couplers you can mount a coupler on the pilot of a steamer by NOT using the coupler box.Use a small washer and screw to hold the coupler in place and be sure not to tighten the coupler to tight as you will need some play in the coupler.This may seem like it won’t work but,it will work as I use that method several times over the years.
My Athearn 2-8-2 Mike has the same thing. Don’t some of the BLI steamers have REAL or working couplers on the front?
Tom
Ray;
I have to agree with you. Basically a steamer with a dummy coupler is a non-issue, even with brass, where often there is no room for a coupler box attachment. On brass the dummy is usually held in place by a pin through the draft gear or a small screw into the pilot deck. I take a KD #4 coupler, cut off the “ears” and the “spring box”. I then enlarge the hole that KD so kindly put into the shaft to fit the pin and use the pin to hold it into place in the box. I give the coupler some springiness by coating the back of the coupler with a small dab of silicone sealer prior to insertion. I also place the loco onto a piece of track and let a KD coupler gauge hold it dead center and at the correct height until the silicone cures, generally overnight. If there is adequate room for the entire coupler but not a box, I coat the shaft with silicone and slide it into the box.
Remember though as said above its tricky to get two locomotives of different makes to match up speedwise,driver diameter, gearing and motor speed must be taken into concideration…
Easiest way is using two identical steam locomotives use painting,weathering and different engine numbers to give that uniqe look to your motive power.
dont be afraid, dig in, just be careful
Project Update: I took a standard Kadee and filed down the side and cut off the brake pipe. Is there a way to secure it without gluing it in and making it rigid there isn’t much room for a screw above the coupler box? It will stick out far enough, but I had hoped of mounting a Kadee box behind the one on the loco so it could center that wouldn’t work. I would just glue it except I have a small layout with 18" radius corners in a lot of spots.
James
Thanks! Just how narrow are a 28# or a 38#. The coupler box is 5/32" on the inside with very little room to widen it out. Will one of these fit?
James