Long shank Kadee couplers

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’m looking for a longer shank Kadee coupler for my Proto 2000 GP38-2 that is prototypically sized.

I recently added a Details West snow plow on the front end but the #58 coupler doesn’t have enough swing and any car attached to it derails around R22" or smaller curves. The #58s and #158s come with a 9/32" medium shank. I was wondering whether the #156s with the 25/64" shank would do the trick. I’m planning on mounting the DW plows on the front and back.

Any expertise and comments welcome. Thanks!

Tom

UPDATE: Looks like Kadee’s recommendation is the new 33 BM (body mounting) coupler or the old 28 TM (truck mounting) coupler. I guess that means I won’t be able to use the smaller prototypical coupler?

2

The 156s are Loooooong and should work just fine for you.

David B

3

Tom,

The 25/64ths is the longest shank. I’m not familiar with the #156. I have used both the #36(plastic shank) and the #46(metal shank) for the same purpose. I don’t have tight radius issues to cotend with, but the style of the Chessie rock pilot requires the use of a longer shank for the trip pin to clear the convex shape of the plow.

This is a Detail West Chessie rock pilot on an Atlas GP40 the coupler is a #46

4

The #156 is the Long Shank version of Kadee’s scale size wiskar coupler. I wish they would make different shank sizes for the standard shank version though.

James

5

I ran into a similar problem with Walther’s Jordan spreader. Even with the longest Kadee on there, it still wouldn’t quite clear the plow. Since I don’t plan on running the spreader much, I just snipped off the trip pin and it works fine.

6

emdgp92 wrote:

Since I don’t plan on running the spreader much, I just snipped off the trip pin and it works fine.

I was actually thinking about doing the very same thing with the front coupler - since I will only be running it cab forward anyhow. The rear could have the longer #156 coupler.

I also e-mailed Kadee yesterday, explained to them the scenario and desire for a “scale”-size coupler, and asked them for their recommendation. I should have an answer later in the day from Sam. I’ll keep you posted…

Tom

7

Thanks for the pics again, Bob. I didn’t realize that they were the longer coupler when you posted those for me the first time.

Tom

8

I just received the following response from Sam @ Kadee:

Looks like I’ll be trying this solution on the rear coupler.

Thanks everyone for your comments and your help!

Tom

9

James, where have you been the last decade? [:)] Or do I misunderstand the comment. I presume you mean a #5 type shank with the plate brass spring centering mechanism. If so – Check out Kadee’s #40 series of couplers (a #5 would be a #48 in this scheme). They all work in the standard #5 coupler boxes. These were out years (but I don’t really know if it has been a decade) before the whisker series. I know they have been mentioned many times on this forum.