Here are a few of my HOn3 cars that I've been working on. I am equipping them with Kadee 178 couplers, the scale size whisker couplers with the small box. They work very well with no slinky action. To me, they look better and have a lot more detail than the 714 HOn3 couplers do. The stock car is a Rail Line kit with Blackstone trucks and Microscale decals.. The tank car is a Precision Scale kit that I also built..
Those look awesome! The black on the tank car looks really faded and it sets off the patch. I was thinking about N scale couplers for HOn3. I've not compared them to their HO scale counterparts but after seeing those 178s, I will have to give some consideration to that plan as well. Andy Tetsu Uma
Thanks y'all for the kind words. The pictures are bit washed out; I need to get used to the new camera! Andy, the D&RGW used standard gauge couplers on their equipment. The scale size of the 178's work out great and they look right.
I was more wondering how the 178s compared to N scale couplers with regards to size in the general sense, not specific application per se, but a quick check with a ruler shows N scale couplers to be about 2mm tall. That scales out to less than 7" scale inches in HO. I guess 178s are the way to go. I keep going back to look at the tank car photo. You really nailed it! Andy
I think maybe I should back track a little about the no slinky action thing. At the time I did my testing with the Kadee 178's, I was using standard gauge HO cars that, of course, weigh more. They performed awesome. But on the lighter HOn3 cars, there is a bit of it that is noticeable due to the slack in the knuckle and the light weight of the cars. This has not dampened my enthusiasm for these couplers though. I have them installed on my C-16, front and rear, and they look and operate just great. I am pleased. I guess what it all boils down to is that they LOOK great. I am, however, going to try to weight the cars a bit more to see if that helps. Sorry about that!
I think I would go with more weight as well. My HOn30 cars and locos are using Micro-Trains 1015 couplers cause there isn't a problem with slinky. Besides, heavier cars will give you an excuse for a helper! :tb-biggrin:
