Some of you may know about how Fairway Park Models of Surrey, B.C. started selling self-coupling HO scale air hoses in January. Now Fairway Park’s air hoses are being distributed by North American Railcar Corporation, a division of Pacific Western Rail Systems; the announcement came out yesterday (Feb. 23).
More info and links on my blog at http://cprailmmsub.blogspot.ca/2013/02/update-on-self-coupling-air-hoses.html.
John Longhurst, Winnipeg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ9Yo5Kf7Po
N scale soon! woot!
Glad to see he found a distribution partner. This will be something I will put on all my cars and engines, even for the MU and air hoses between engines. Now just have to time the air pop on those sound decoders.
I like the idea, but I would like to see an end view of the car with the magnetic air hoses. It looks to me like they are mounted under the center of the draft gear box, which would be a non-flier with me. As a Transition-era modeler, I prefer my air hoses mounted at the draft gear center line to the “thumb” (left as viewed from the roofwalk) side of the coupler.
That’s what it looks like to me, too. They’re probably mounted that way so they will line up, because if they don’t line up with each other the magnetic tip is probably not strong enough to pull one sideways to connect.
There are instructions and a video on the PWRS web site at this link showing how the hoses are mounted to the side of the coupler box and angled toward the center of the coupler.
What, no rubber bungee strap between the coupler and air hose? i guess you can’t have everything.[:)]
Now you can simulate a low hanging hose hitting a road crossing or rail at a switch and coming apart, placing the train in emergency. Now all we need to realistically enhance that scenario is break away knuckles!
Jeff
If you read the installation instructions or watch the video cited above, you’ll see that they are not low enough to catch on road crossings or turnouts if properly mounted.
What irks me is a requirement to become a registered member on the PWRS web site, and then wait to be ‘approved’ by someone, before you can purchase anything from them – and probably then start getting hundreds of spam emails weekly.
And that is why I set up a separate yahoo mail address that I use when responding to things of that nature.
Years ago I was railfanning at a crossing when that exact thing occured – right there. As the old saying goes “it’s a good day to be wearing brown pants.”
By interesting coincidence, the CP’s local railroad cop was sitting near the end of the train, so he started walking towards the power, while the brakeman in the locomotive started walking backwards, and they were in radio contact with each other as they searched for the break. We could hear all of it on our scanners. The railroad policeman reached us first and we were able to be helpful in pinpointing the car they needed to attend to. It took a surprising amount of time to get the air back up and the train on the move, and the crossing was blocked for easily over an hour.
It would be an interesting bit of circuitry if parting these air hoses would cause the model train to go into emergency.
Dave Nelson
What’s next working uncoupling bars and working brakeman to pull the uncoupling bars? [swg]
Is that coupling sound dubbed or is it a sound decoder?
If its a decoder what brand?
Well, it sounds interesting but will pass anyway. I have a really large number of freight cars and I run several unit trains during an op session, and while I could get by just putting them on the unit train sonly, it still would be silly to take my car fleet and change all of them just to have self linking air hoses. Nice idea, but not for this guy.
Anyway, if they catch on, we probably won’t be able to buy the necessary “stuff” in a local hobby shop as they would have to be manufactured in the Orient and wait on a boat to get here,
I haven’t gotten over the fact that I had to make a 10 month out reservation for a new diesel “announced” recently. I wanted at least one, and that is all I ordered. The problem is, if I ordered several and then didn’t like them when delivered, I would be stuck. No thanks.
And if you can’t tell, after being in HO since 1960 era, I am totally irked at what is going on.
Bob
These look really cool for sure, but I doubt I will convert any of my cars in the forseeable future.
It looks like one of those things you could wow your friend with but on a regular basis it would be a heck of a lot of work to convert ones fleet over, not to mention a major cost.
Nice offering! Does anyone know what a pair of these hoses is going to cost?
I think they are about $2.50 a pair.
Actually, I am a registered member of the PWRS web site and I maybe get 1 email a week, some times none at all. It’s a different system they use re: ordering/pre ordering but I have been very satisfied with their service so far. One of the great things for those living in Canada is the reduced cost for stuff because of no broker fees from stuff crossing the border. They have a Washington State warehouse as well so US buyers don’t have a broker fee either.
Dennis
Multiplied by the size of the fleet? For me that equates to over $1,100 dollars.[:O]
Naah, I don’t think so!
my fleet is still pretty “small” in size and numbers. [:P]
As is my fleet, but the way I look at it is yes it’s cool, its more practical than remote uncoupling (IE a boxcar with a decoder and gear to release the knuckle) and we are all have Kadee couplers on our equipment. besides, there’s nothing saying everything has to be converted in one shot.
Besides, how hard is it to install these hoses on a locomotive?
The air hoses cost as much as a pair of Kadees, and they probably install by gluing them onto the coupler box cover. I wonder if there are any issues when a pair of couled cars go over an uncoupling magnet? If you’rwe running on a layout with magnets, I figure that the air hoses must uncouple and drag on the magnet as the cars pass over it.
A loco should be no harder to install than any car.
Kadees? nah I’m just joking I know what they are but I use their smaller plastic cousins called MTL couplers, I’d love these airhoses though my train money spending isn’t what it used to be it’s pretty limited if I even decide to buy anything at all.