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A pal of mine has some real nice scale HO stuff from the 80s he wants to sell me. All the cars in question have "hook-horn" couplers. They are all various brands. What would a good realistic coupler I could attach to these models? Also, for instance, do all couplers that look like the real thing "match up" with one another, or do you have to have one coupler common throughout the layout?
Charlie
it's a bit tricky, but those made by Kadee are preferred by many of us for this purpose, I have 100s on my layout on cars and engines made by a lot of different manufacturers.
Other 'realistic looking" ones are made by McHenry (sp?), they are popular but I've never used them. Compatible with Kadees? I don't know.
I will probably use primarily use walthers and atlas models, so just as long as the Kadees work with those.
Most folks go with Kadee couplers, pretty reliable and plenty strong.
This is from the Kadee website :
http://www.kadee.com/conv/holist.pdf
Lists pretty much everything you might come across.
Most knuckle style couplers do match up, but there some exceptions like Sargeant couplers.
A pal of mine has some real nice scale HO stuff from the 80s he wants to sell me. All the cars in question have "hook-horn" couplers. They are all various brands. What would a good realistic coupler I could attach to these models? Also, for instance, do all couplers that look like the real thing "match up" with one another, or do you have to have one coupler common throughout the layout?
Charlie
Just curious, what brand is the HO stuff, and how much is your pal charging you for them? Beware of names like Tyco.
I would be careful of anything from the 80's because what you can get today is much better looking then a lot of what was made back in the 80's. I use mostly Kadee #5 couplers or #148 Scale Head All-Metal Whisker(R) Self-Centering Knuckle Couplers. These work well with the #5 and look great. The #5 look well but some think they are to large. With any of these you can't go wrong if you are upgrading from the horn hook couplers.
Dave
If they are Tyco, it is very tricky to upgrade them to kadee. I had a bunch of tyco from the late 70s early 80s that i sold on ebay bc i just wanted to turn the page from all that and it wasnt worth much anyhow/never would be. all the info to try and upgrade tyco is on the kadee website, but to me, it just wasnt worth it.
btw, i put mainly kadees on my rolling stock and locos unless they come with walthers protomax or it is a difficult kadee conversion.
I use Kadee #5's and #148 on most of my rolling stock, including those that have truck mountings. The notable exception is for covered hoppers and tank cars for which I use #119 shelf couplers. Some of my stock has McHenry couplers with the metal springs. These get replaced with Kadee's as soon as they fail.
Interesting, I didn't ever notice the different coupler on the tank cars. Why do you use these on the covered hoppers? I was reading about the coupler on the Kadee site and it only mentioned these couplers used for tank cars or never said they are used on covered hoppers.
Dave
Most are Walthers, Atlas, and bachmann. No junk (tyco). A lot of it is underscaled mock-up stuff. But he has a few nice UP HI-cube boxcars. He's selling the cars at about $3 each, with most of the locomotives being somewhere between $5 and $10, although these are just beat up Walthers straight DC units. They are at his store, and he wouldn't send them through the mail, so please don't ask. If you're interested, PM me.
Charlie
Okay next step: how do I apply my coupler of choice? If need be, I can go down there and get more details and some pictures of the boxcar in question if need be.
Interesting, I didn't ever notice the different coupler on the tank cars. Why do you use these on the covered hoppers? I was reading about the coupler on the Kadee site and it only mentioned these couplers used for tank cars or never said they are used on covered hoppers.
Dave
I cut off the top part of the Kadee full shelf coupler to make a lower shelf coupler which is common on many hoppers I've seen.
gvtfan -
Take a look at the kadee web site and you'll see many option on how to install couplers. They even make a kit to convert old tyco car horn hook couplers to your coupler of choice.
RB-
I see I need to look a little closer next time, thanks for sharing the info.
Dave
I tried a few pairs of Sergents couplers and was dissatisfied with them. My track isn't the smoothest and even on the small dips and rises they came uncoupled as the small small heads slid up and over each other. This was with an F unit and two boxcars, 40 foot and 50 foot respectively. I'll be staying with Kadee's.
I tried a few pairs of Sergents couplers and was dissatisfied with them. My track isn't the smoothest and even on the small dips and rises they came uncoupled as the small small heads slid up and over each other. This was with an F unit and two boxcars, 40 foot and 50 foot respectively. I'll be staying with Kadee's.
Have the same problem w/ Kadees going over the module joints. The club has very good standards including using only Kadees but they don't have any good standards for the joints between the modules. Some joints are so bad they also make great coupler height gauges!
Have the same problem w/ Kadees going over the module joints. The club has very good standards including using only Kadees but they don't have any good standards for the joints between the modules. Some joints are so bad they also make great coupler height gauges!
My tank cars and covered hoppers are coupled with shelf couplers. Many times it seems like it would take an act of congress to get them apart without an uncoupling magnet or a bamboo skewer.
I will be using a modular layout, so if I do the construction solid and right (no offense intended) I guess the Kadee couplers will have to work. So with this in mind, railbuilderDHD, would you please send me a link to the kit? Is the kit nessessary for the conversion or could it be done with just the new coupler? Once again, I apologize for my ignorance, but I'm an O scaler!
All the part numbers, the instruction and examples are on the Kadee web page.
There is a Kadee HO Conversion List
http://www.kadee.com/conv/holist.pdf
That shows all the info you should need. Once you get started, it becomes fairly easy. Watch EBay and other Sales Sites like HOYardsale for good deals on bulk packages.
Len S
Kadee, definitely! As to what number, it depends on the piece of rolling stock and the coupler pockets, if they aren't Kadee to start. The old Athern blue box cars worked great with #5's. Some passenger cars with hook-horn couplers will require replacement with the proper Kadee models. The couplers themselves are basically the same, unless they have the whisker springs, but the coupler pockets will be different.
I haven't bought much rolling stock in the past 20 years, and the few new items I've bought recently with McHenry couplers seem to match up pretty well, but they will get changed out for Kadee's when they break!
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