i have an old (70’s) brass 0-6-0 (gem rdg b-8a) which has a coupler box molded into the front of the engine. The opening is 0.235 x 0.1". certainly isn’t large enough for a Kadee gear box and i wonder if it’s large enough a #634 centering spring. the width of the pocket is larger than on the face, so it can be filed wider.
I assume a molded front coupler pocket is not uncommon on steam engines, and hope someone can explain how to install a kadee coupler in one?
Greg.
I put the #5 coupler minus the centering spring in my OMI brass 0-6-0. My Sunset brass 2-10-0 has the room for the whole box with spring. Check the KD web site. My 0-6-0 needed a plastic bushing in the hole with plastic shims top and bottom so it would not short out coupled to another loco.
Pete
Hi Greg: Actually every steam engine has a different configuration up front so you have to improvise big time. Sometimes there is no room for the coupler pocket but the Kadee can be mounted with a machine screw. Sometimes you have to take a sprung McHenry plastic coupler and screw that in. Other times you need to cut the shank off where the mounting hole begins and stuff the coupler into the slot on the pilot beam with some epoxy to bond it. You get my drift? Each case is different. You usually have to sacrifice the coupler’s lateral movement but that’s not too much of a handicap as long as whatever you’re coupling up to has enough lateral movement to compensate.
I agree with JimValle: There is likely a need for adaptation.
I have a couple brass locomotive that didn’t have much space up front. I shaved off part of the Kadee shank that accomodates the spring, bored a hole through the shank, and then attached it within the small opening provided by the locomotive with a steel pin. Although there is no centering spring, the couplers can still do delayed action as the magnet can still pull the coupler to the side due to it’s rotating on that pin. I may have to manually “center” the coupler for the next move, but I didn’t have to do much “rippin’ & tearin’” to the pilot.
Hold a couple different Kadee couplers over the pilot (viewed from below) and see what ideas come to you.
Bill
on this engine, there is a well defined coupler pocket. I found that it is just the right width for a kadee #634 spring. However, it is not deep enough for the whole spring and it stick out a little less than a 1/16".
there is a predrilled hole into the coupler pocket that is at about the right location if the spring could slide all the way in. Can i trim off some of the spring, either the front or back? Can i do something similar to a #5 kadee or should i use a coupler with wiskers?
Since there isn’t a dummy coupler molded in, it seems like it is intended to be used. Was this pocket designed for a specific coupler?
thanks for the suggestion, but these are the ones i was hoping not to hear. c’est la vie
You can check the Kadee website for their application listing. You can use the link below to get there in a couple of clicks.
However, I agree that modification is usually required. Here is one that doesn’t use as much coupler pocket space. You can even trim the whiskers a little and there is a scale head version.
http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page148.htm
Shimming is normally required on older brass too in order to get the height just right.
Richard
Completed the coupler installation and very pleased with the results. Gem molded a coupler pocket with a smaller opening. I only needed to widen it and make it as tall as possible. The pocket was just tall enough for a kadee #232 gear box with the “ears” cut off. It fits snugly and needed no glue or screw.
Thanks the the advice and encouragement
Greg,
Nice, clean installation.[B]