I have out fitted all my power and rolling stock with Kadee #5s. They work great and I love them! My question is about the little curved metal rod that sticks down from the bottom of the coupler ( I know it is there for magnetic uncoupleing, and I know it has a name but I can’t think of it right now! ). Anyway, I have a couple of places on my trackwork, where those things want to get snagged on the rail heads or on switches and cause all kinds of problems. Can I simply cut these things off flush with the bottom of the coupler? Will doing this ever cause any problems? Has anyone else done it? Thanks for any advice!
Kevin, You need a coupler height gauge http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page120.htm
and you can buy a special pair of pliers which are curved to bend the ‘hose’ to the right height.
EDIT: Found them!!! Kadee has them too!!
http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page160.htm
Ken.
The little thing is called an air hose,and “NO” don’t cut them off,there is a tool to bind thoses up or down,or you can use a pare of neddle nose pliers to do it but be real carefull !!.I usually grasp the nuckle real carefull and then bend the hose up or down,I your case bind it up a little,check it then a little more if you have to!
GOOD LUCK . Ken is right you need to have a kedee coupler guage,by using this your couplers will all be the same.
JIM
NZRMac is right, i would bend them. i wouldnt cut them off because if you are not useing them to uncouple cars now, you might later. and yes, they do represent a hose. thats one of the things that make kadees look realistic. *EDIT,sorry oleirish, didnt mean to step on your toes, looks like we posted at the same time.LOL
The little thing is called a “trip pin” and you can purchase “trip pin pliers” to set the trip pin
to the correct height. Use the Kadee coupler height gauge to set the pins. Good luck, Dave
There is a time when you might want to cut off the trip pins, tha tis when you’re running a fixed consist train (as a psgr train, for example). I do that on some of my fixed consist psgr trains bur leave the rear cplr of the rear car and front cplr of the front car uncut.
For most uses, leave them on and by all means invest in a cplr ht guage and a set of trip pin pliers.
I know a few guys that cut them off. They use bamboo skewers to uncouple their cars so the lack of the hose is no big deal. One guy doesn’t think that hose looks realistic at all. (I don’t cut mine off. I use magnetic uncoupling and like it.) He also cuts his off. Doing this won’t cause any operational problems other than having to use a pick to uncouple the cars instead of magnets.
Like the other folks have mentioned, you probably only need a Kadee Coupler Height Gauge to properly set your hose height.
Good luck!
I ALWAYS cut off the trip pins so they won’t snag on anything and they look much better without them. I also use a skewing stick coated with graphite to un-couple after “Bunching up” as I never liked the magnets.
Kadee now also makes a manual un-coupling tool which works great without the trip pins.
When you cut the trip pin off, use a flush cutting tool to get the cleanest cut possible.
Good luck,
gtr
Hello everyone,
A bit of terminology clarification and history for you.
The wire that hangs down, as dave9999 correctly stated, is called a “trip pin”. It originated with the first type of tripping devices Kadee used back in the 1940s which was simply a straight pin that was manually “tripped” by a device in the track. Sometime in the 1950s Dale and Keith Edwards developed the Mage-Matic uncoupling system. By bending the trip pin in a curve just off center allowed the magnetic force (flux) to pull the pins in opposite directions thus opening the knuckles. The pins were never meant to represent the “air hose or glad hand” but in the early days of model railroading this was quite a good looking feature.
The trip pins are set at the factory at a certain height. If the pins hang up in your trackage then, more than likely, the coupler is not set (mounted) at the correct height or it is tilted down a bit. However, this may not always be the case since we manufacturer extremely large quantities couplers some pins may get a bit misaligned in the process.
As the others have advised, thank you, “always check each coupler” and it’s trip pin against our #205 coupler height gauge. Our Trip Pin pliers are product #237 if you need to adjust the pin.
For top coupler performance, no matter what coupers you use or scale your in, “ALL” of your couplers need to be at the “SAME’” correct height.
When everything is properly installed the Kadee Magne-Matic coupler system is a complete “hands off” operation. However, there are many modelers and clubs that prefer manual uncoupling and thus use many different methods and tools. There are also prototype modelers that will snip off the trip pins for the appearance sake. But this is all a matter of personal choice depending on what you like and how you operate your layout. It’s all a matter of what you enjoy and that’s what this hobby is “ALL” about. Just enjoy it, whatever it takes!!
Sam Clarke
Kadee Qua
The November 2004 issue of ModelRailroader has a great article on improving your rolling stock and this very question is covered. If you still have the issue then give it a read.