Just wondering what everyone thinks is the best source for a good price on McHenry couplers? Thanks in advance.
I throw them away.
Save youself a lot of grief and toss them and buy either KD couplers or Walthers ProtoMax2.
I guess I should have qualified that- I have a fleet of AHM/Rivarossi passenger cars & have had excellent success with the MH#52. Its’ a direct replacement for the horn hooks & takes a few seconds to install. I’ve got about 6 or 7 sets of different passenger cars with them & they work great for what I do with them. For all other locos & freight cars, I have Kadees, but these #52s are perfect for my needs On these cars.
I agree with Maxman and Brakie. Get out of trouble and go Kadee.
Edit: After reading your second post (posted when I was writhing mine) I agree with you. I have some IHC passenger cars on which I installed MH#52 couplers and they do the job right And are easy to install.
Ok for short trains but not long trains. They can pull apart.
I switched to Kadee. Get the Kadee coupler tool. You will need it.
Grease-em and maybe some thin washers.
Kadee has everything I believe.
Coupler conversion page also.
Google Kadee couplers if not aware of it.
Rich
Knowing model railroaders, there’s gotta be a number of people who saved these in a baggy, and will likely send them to you for the price of postage.
I’ve been tossing mine for awhile. On the plus side, I saved all the trucks off of 38 Red Caboose coil cars, on the off chance I could think of a use.
Before you start salivating, folks, consider that there’s a REASON why those trucks aren’t under those cars anymore.
Ed
Athearn’s list price is $5.98 for two pair so any thing under $5.50 would be good for me.
I’ve been using the #52s on my shortys with added weight for years without any problems. My max is 5 cars behind a MDC Shay, they work fine and look good after at least 15 years of 3½% grades.
Mel
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
Me too. They work good on those cars and are easier to replace than the Kadee recommended replacements. However I don’t know if they will stand the test of time. I am currently replacing the McH couplers which came stock on Athearn bombardier commuter cars because after several years they don’t stay closed and uncouple themsleves after being pushed and then getting pulled.
I always try my local hobby shop first because sales tax is usually less than the cost of shipping. If not then I look on eBay. You can sort the search results by lowest total including shipping.
I recently switched to Kadee for everything that was previously plastic couplers, because the headaches weren’t worth the cost.
I have two brand new Walthers Mainline 50’ RBOX boxcars that won’t couple to anything fresh out of the package. What is this rubbish?
I wish they would sell RTR stuff without the couplers…it would make the market a lot more competitive rather than letting Kadee own it by selling to every cheesed-off modeler that’s had it with the plastic OEM stuff.
To answer the original poster’s question, I think Athearn stocks all of the McHenry stuff. I don’t know if Athearn/Horizon owns them, or maybe they’re just a business partner.
The only McHenrys with which I’ve had any difficulties were the ones with the flat plastic knuckle springs. In a train parked with the slack compressed, the plastic spring “took a set”, with the result that it could no longer keep the knuckle closed.
I’ve run long trains, in excess of seventy cars, and heavy trains, over 20 lbs. trailing, and never had a McHenry (with a coil knuckle spring) or a plastic Kadee coupler fail.
My foray into HO began in the mid-'50s, with Kadee K-type couplers right from the start, and Kadee is still my first choice.
For the OP’s needs, it sounds as if the McHenrys are a good (and economical) solution.
Wayne
It shouldn’t be a big deal, if you get Kadee’s and install the, it’s essentially no effort to take out the junk couplers and toss them at the same time.
yup, that’s my problem, and I have the same problem sometimes with Bachmann EZ mate. But the EZ mate 2 with the metal spring is better.
Just a note to anyone who doesn’t remember… once upon a time all kits or RTR had NMRA horn hook couplers. They were the worst. Especially since I was used to Lionel 027 couplers which are fairly realistic.
I’ve seen the flat spring coupler on the other brands fail too. I’ve also seen the metal airhose/trip pin spin inside the plastic knuckle. Once that happens, they’re done. I don’t even bother, I just replace them with Kadees as soon as I buy the car/loco.
Preaching to the choir but giving the benefit of the doubt, there might be one or two new choir members who hasn’t seen or heard of horn hooks, may they rest in peace.
As a teen in the 1970’s I didn’t like them but didn’t have money or savvy to replace them. By the late 1970’s I switched to N scale and it was then I had some money and started to learn how to add micro trains couplers to engines and rolling stock. I switch back to HO around 1985 and bought myself a Kadee height gauge, fiber washers and began converting rolling stocks. Some engines were a bit of a challenge such as my Roco/Atlas GP40’s which required filing out the pocket in the shell and mounting KD#7 couplers. Things have gotten much better in the 1990’s for newer engines and rolling stock being more user friendly to convert. The early Proto 2000 engines unfortunately copied the aweful Athearn coupler mounting pads, such as my SD7’s and SD9’s.
Since the clones came out, as some noted, those with the plastic finger closure spring are a bad design and get fatigued over time, even in the box before the rolling stock is removed. They won’t keep the coupler closed and you will get false uncouplings. Those have to be thrown out. But I agree, that plastic couplers are overall inferior to the metal Kadee’s or Walther Protomax. I am in the process of replacing all of my plastic clones, but I have a lot of rolling stock so it will take time.
The McHenry/Bachmann couplers with the coil springs are fairly reliable, and I’ve had no reason to replace any of their scale size couplers. The ones with the plastic knuckle spring do fail over time, so it’s best to replace them.
I haven’t tried the long couplers for Rivarossi passenger cars, but they do have the better knuckle springs and appear to be made with thick enough plastic to be sturdy, so I would expect them to work at least decently. I used Kadee’s couplers on my Rivarossi cars since my hobby shop had them available, and they instead have a long coupler box that screws into the truck frame and has a typical #5 a the end. The size of the boxes have been causing derailments though, so I need to do more filing to give them the clearance they need to work. McHenry couplers are much less complicated to install.
Not sure if the OP ever got a straight answer to his question, but FWIW, you can get the #52 McHenrys at M.B. Klein for $4.79 for 2 pair
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/McHenry-Couplers-HO-KS-IHC-RIV-4-Wheel-Coupler-p/mch-52.htm
You might find them cheaper if you shop around, but M.B. Klein generally has some of the best prices in the business.
I got mine on Ebay. I just checked and they are still available. The ones I installed a few years ago still work fine on my Rivarossis. But I use KDs on my other cars.
Simon