Good ole Kadee or Accumate couplers

moose Dec 8, 2000

  1. Tunnel88 said it. The knuckle extends a little too far. This is to allow it to mate with current Kadee's. Kadee calls it a 'near scale' coupler and that is what it is.

    Roger
     
  2. 2slim

    2slim TrainBoard Member

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    Howdy,
    I wondered if anyone is using the McHenry couplers with the little springs? I thought the ones that replace Rivarossi passenger car couplers were a novel idea! I got some for mine, they work OK. I still wouldn't use them on locomotives, but I like being able to swap them on the passenger cars without alot of sweat. KD's conversion kits are a bit too time consuming, they should steal that idea from McHenry!!!

    Cheers [​IMG]
     
  3. nbrr2000

    nbrr2000 Guest

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    <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tunnel88:
    Anybody interested in hundreds of mostly #5s? [​IMG]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

    Tunnel88, Ill gladly take 'em


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    CSX and HO Scale
    The Newark Branch RR
    Ship it the good 'ole way, BY RAIL
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  4. tunnel88

    tunnel88 TrainBoard Member

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    But they wont be free mind you!

    Man i'm still fooling with wheels and haven't finished that i think i need to get on the ball and get something done!
     
  5. StickyMonk

    StickyMonk TrainBoard Member

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    <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tunnel88:
    But they wont be free mind you!

    Man i'm still fooling with wheels and haven't finished that i think i need to get on the ball and get something done!
    <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


    <font color="336633">im still waiting for my wheels to arrive.... been waiting about 2 months now, are P87 wheels hard to get over in the States??</font>


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    Matthew
    wheres all the C636's????
    [​IMG]

    stickymonk.com
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  6. tunnel88

    tunnel88 TrainBoard Member

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    No they aren't...

    Caboose Hobbies has a small selection of wheels available for cars but not any for locomotives. It took a week or so for my order to come in if i remember right...
     
  7. StickyMonk

    StickyMonk TrainBoard Member

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    <font color="336633">oh ok, i just ordered 1 pack of 36inch wheels to test out, oh well i guess i will get them sometime</font>

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    Matthew
    wheres all the C636's????
    [​IMG]

    stickymonk.com
    Matts Photo gallery
    TrainBoard member #257
     
  8. tunnel88

    tunnel88 TrainBoard Member

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    After getting used to the look of the proto width whenever i see the NMRA ones i do a double take! [​IMG]
     
  9. Big D

    Big D TrainBoard Member

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    I too use KDs on some of my cars and locos. Unfortunately, I do not have the money to purchase any more because they seem to be rather expensive to me. Now I mostly use either Mc.Henry or Proto 2000 couplers. I have been using them now for about a year, and they are nothing at all compared to the KDs!! As for the Accumates, I haven't really had a problem with them. Maybe because I run long trains on a flat layout rather than on one with the grades? I don't know. The few items that I do have with Accumates installed on them work perfectly and I have no complaints about them or the KDs at all!!
     
  10. Big D

    Big D TrainBoard Member

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    I do also use the Mc.Henry's with the little springs. They work fine and all, except after a while the springs fell off of them and rendered them totally useless!! Qite honestly, I still prefer the Accumates and the KDs.
     
  11. Geep_fan

    Geep_fan TrainBoard Member

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    my policy is. when i have Kadees. replace em when i can. However i do have a few cars with factory couplers because the coupler boxes are too fragile and past cars I've had have been a PAIN to replace. (Athearn genesis cars and Walthers kits that have snap on coupler covers, they always seem to snap off more then intended.).
     
  12. Benny

    Benny TrainBoard Member

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    The "True to proto" folks are now in euphoria over the Sargent Couplers, which are exact to scale and as youc an guess, operate true to scale. which means tight curves and other things like that become even more difficult!!

    The Kadee is roughly half in price and other than being a little over sized, which kadee appears to be working on with the 158s and such, they work near flawlessly.

    Kadee will only be overcome when someone can offer something better at only a marginal increase in price - it hasn't happened yet!!!
     
  13. ctxm

    ctxm TrainBoard Member

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    I've got a few pair of sergents to test out. They look good and seem to work ok so far, but some of my cars are old metal athearns which is a problem because the magnetic wand sticks to them and moves them when trying to uncouple. I think KD's are actually easier to use with an uncoupling pick but the sergents lack of knucle spring looks better and their knuckles look neat when a car is left with them open waiting to be recoupled later. They are expensive but I figure I'll just buy half as many cars as I would have and come out ahead. I might just go with KD #58's and 78's but I won't know until I do more tests.....dave
     
  14. Mike Sheridan

    Mike Sheridan TrainBoard Member

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    I've tried the Sargents as well. They are very nice, but strictly manual operation only (with the wand).

    The problem I found was the lack of self-centering. It's very prototypical, but, combined with the small size of the couplers, unless you can look down pretty much on top of the cars it is hard to ensure the couplers are going to mate when they hit. Since I can't get a higher view than about 30-45 deg above horizontal on most of my layout I decided to stick with #158 Kadees.
     
  15. Mr. SP

    Mr. SP Passed away August 5, 2016 In Memoriam

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    Kadee ONLY!

    Kadee ONLY here. There is nothing that is as reliable as Kadee couplers if installed correctly.
    I bought the Walthers Empire Builder a couple of years ago and have a fifteen car train. The EB cars came with some kind of imposter couplers and the train was parting all the time. A trip to the car shop and Kadee couplers replaced the imposters. The parting problem was solved.
    Moral of the story is: If you want excellent operation then go with Kadee's installed properly.
    All other couplers go in the trash as they are substandard.
     
  16. GP30

    GP30 TrainBoard Member

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    I've tried the imitators such as McHenry, which I found to be weak and flimsy, and the plastic "spring" tended to wear out quickly. The Accumates seemed to be alright, but sometime they would bind up and wouldn't close during a coupling, or they wouldn't uncouple easily. I have been a faithful Kadee user for over 10 years, nothing enters service on the Gulf & Ohio Midland without metal wheels, properly adjusted Kadees and modified for appropriate weight.
     
  17. ctxm

    ctxm TrainBoard Member

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    Hi Mike, I ordered some KD 158 's to test them. I'll see if they look good enough and if they are easier to use than sergents. The HO layout I'm planning is small so I don't mind detailing the cars more but I do want it to operate without much fuss. Do you have any experience with more scale like wheels ? I'm thinking about using code 88 intermountain wheels, NWSL code 72, or proto87 wheels but again I want ease of operation along with good looks. Regards, Dave Branum
     
  18. Wolfgang Dudler

    Wolfgang Dudler Passed away August 25, 2012 TrainBoard Supporter In Memoriam

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    This is another case. If you go to smaller wheels, smaller flanges you have to look at a few points. With code 88 you can even build better looking turnouts. Here at FREMO we have a group H0-fine which follows these RPs.
    [​IMG]

    There's also a group FREMO:87 , with modules!

    Wolfgang
     
  19. stewarttrains98

    stewarttrains98 TrainBoard Member

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    Well I perfer the Kadee and now all I buy is the 58 unless I need something else for a specific cause. I also from time to time have purchased the McHenery couplers. Specifically the new versions of the lock tight coupler. My thing is as long as there is a centering spring and is of good quality, I will get it and use it. If it ever fails on me and its something other than a Kadee, it will get replaced with a Kadee coupler.
     
  20. ctxm

    ctxm TrainBoard Member

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    Hi Wolfgang, I measured the back to back distance for the code 88 intermountain wheels and it looks the same as regular HO wheels so I don't see how much more accurate switches could be built with them? Code 72 wheels have smaller flanges so they should allow better track fidelity and P87 would be just about perfectly to scale but I'm not sure I want to work to those tolerances....dave
     

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