Body mounted coupler on passenger cars

[LesterL]

I have some 10"(72 feet) passenger cars and a minimum radius of 26". Will these cars be ok if I use body mounted Kadee coulpers?

 

[wvg_ca]

actually, most manufacturer's recommend truck mounted [or Talgo] adapters for longer passenger cars ... especially if you intend to use diaphragms .. I -assume- HO scale ..

 

[Espeefan]

Just guessing here, but 72 footers are still "shorties", so at 26" radius I think you'll be OK. You could try two and see how they behave. With passenger cars things like weight, coupler height, and knuckle size get lots more important as the length of the cars magnifies the effects of misalignments. Walthers recommends a 24" minimum radius for their 85 ft. cars. I use traditional #5 Kadees on my passenger equipment, as nobody really sees the couplers under the diaphragms anyway, and I find I have to tune the train to the layout. Talgo couplers are OK for pulling, but terrible at backing the train. The quality of your trackwork and minimum turnout size are also going to be factors. I changed the couplers on IHC passenger cars from talgo to body mount back in the day. These were true 85 ft. cars on 30" radii, and they worked fine.

 

[GeeTee]

I have used "dummy" couplers or cut the coupling / uncoupling tabs and springs off rapidos and used those rather than waste a kadee. It all depends on whether your going to be coupling and uncoupling the passenger cars. I always tended to run mine as "unit" trains from one hidden yard to another. The rapidos were stock didn't cost anything, and they still allow you to break down the train if you need to remove it for maintenance.

 

[Boris]

My experience is that a 26" radius curve will handle 85' passenger cars with body mounted couplers, without any problem. So, your 72' cars will work just fine on 26", and probably 24" curves. The major concern of 26" radius is the appearance of the cars as they go around the curve.

I have had reasonable success with using talgo type trucks on 72' long cars, including shoving movements. however, the cars had replacement wheels and additional weight. As Alan remarked, track work and minimum switch size are also factors.

 

[trailrider]

While I mostly use talgo trucks on both 72 ft and 85 ft passenger cars, and run them on curves as tight as 20-inch radius! True, they don't back up all that well, but I don't generally have to back them, and don't switch them much. But I would say that if you use body-mounted draft gear that has enough swing radius, and does't interfere with the swing of the trucks, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Stay well!