That is correct, they are only compatible with themselves due to their prototypical design. They aren't terribly expensive per set, but the cost of converting nearly 200 cars, as my situation is, would be quite costly. Sent from my LG-P930 using Tapatalk 2
After what I've seen of Sargent couplers, I would agree. But I would leave that for a later stage until our friend gets well acquainted with Kadee couplers. Number 5 (the "Old Reliable) is wildly popular, and I use it almost exclusively. I say almost, because for the past few years I've been outfitting new cars with Kadee number 58s. They're more scale-size, and fit in the same pockets as the number 5s. ANd if you have your couplers properly mounted, they will work very well with the 5s. However, should you stay with the number 5s, you're still ahead in the game. I would also recommend getting a Kadee coupler mounting gauge to insure your new couplers are at the right height above the track, and are dead level with each other.
X2 on Friscobob's post I couldn't agree more, why change something that isn't broke. I was curious about the other brand but I have not found any reason that will convince me to swap. There are many vids online to help show the modeler a step by step on the conversion to kadee couplers. Like it was already said having the height guage and using it is a great habit to have.
This is thexway im going too. sergent couplers use an interior ball bearing to hold the coupler closed rather than that side spring. A dmall magnet lifts the bearing up and the knuckle swings open. Drop the bearing, push the knuckle closed, and aint nothing coming loose unless the couplers can travel up and down (bad track, floppy coupler boxes.) They are pricey, especially if your too shaky to build them yourself, but if you are starting out, a couple cars at a time is not a bad way to go. As to why, i have lost literally dozens of trains because a Kadee spring decided to take a walk, and caught dozens more cars that have managed to lose a spring. Some of them are stored out of their original packaging for a variety of reasons, but i am not unduly hard on them and some culprits drop their springs even though they were only stored 7 feet from the layout. Some offenders were club cars on a club layout, and i drew short straw, but i almost always do and get to be the one to fix them. Its not hard, but doing two cars every time i run is past annoying. I am an anomoly, i am the only person I know who has this problem, but i have this problem and when i build that sixty car RBBX circus train someday, the last thing i want on my mind is 50actul feet of train taking a southbound trip on a northbound run because a Kadee spring got bored Sent from my LG-LS970 using Tapatalk
The shank cn be a bit snug on the centerposts sometimes nd may need filing, but changing the couplers is no harder than a Kadee. Remove coupler box, apply couplrr, reapply box. The biggie issue, and you will gey this with the Kadee 58 scale couplers is that the smller coupler heads can be more sensitive to differences in coupler height. So yoh may spend mre time shoring up sagging coupler boxes and applying washers to either the truck bolster or to the coupler box itself, but thats not really the coupler's fault, we just get away with more because the #5 Kadees are bigger. Sent from my LG-LS970 using Tapatalk
