Z scale couplers

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I am relatively new to Z scale, and right now between myself and my wife, we only have one engine, two cabooses, and a boxcar, and an oval of track.

The engine is a Marklin Chessie System F7, with a matching caboose. The track we have is Micro-Trains, as are the other two rolling stock items (a KCS boxcar, and a GN caboose, the boxcar is complete, the caboose needs new trucks, both were a deal @ $5 each at a train show yesterday).

Now we have the task of trying to figure out which type of coupler we are going to go with, at least for North American proto. (We are unsure if we want to get any European prototype equipment in Z scale yet…)

I know that the MTL coupler is more realistic, but my question is for those out there that work with Z scale:

Which coupler works better, MTL or Marklin?

Magnetic uncoupling does not matter that much, as we have no intentions on making a switching layout in Z scale. What we are concerned more about is inadvertent uncoupling and coupling related derailments.

Any input from those with Z scale experience would be appreciated.

2

I suspect that you may well have figured this out yourself, one looks better, the other hooks better!

It is all fairly well explained at this link http://www.zscale.org/articles/couplers.html

No I am not a regular runner of Z, but have a small Marklin layout because I really like their quality and feel of their product. I use Marklin hooks because that is what my set came with and I am happy with the performance.

3

Thanks for the information. I was unaware that there were so many Z scale coupler types!

The looks of the coupler are not as important to me as the reliability of them to hold together.