Luckily they were around when I switched to HO scale, and I do not have a lot of stock on my small layout
Question: When you have a car sitting alone that is NOT over the magnet, how do you back an engine into the car to couple up to pull it away since the K-D's are spring loaded in the closed position?
The spring has a very light tension, so the the coupler knuckles slide apart against each other then snap shut.
So they must have changed the shape of the knuckle since I last saw them. I'll take note the next time I am in a Hobby Shop. If they work as well as the Mantua's do, then maybe I'll change out. Thanks Alan.
Just did a test coupling to see if I could photograph the action, but they couple so easily, I could not get them to stay partly coupled!
I've used the Kadee #58 couplers on the few HO loco's I still have. They look much better than the old Kadee # 5's. Stay cool and run steam......
Thanks guys! The old style K-D's I have tried to work with had the knuckle hinge pin right on dead center. So with the flat face of the knuckle at 90 degrees, they simply bumped together and would push the car but not swing to one side. I even tried filing as much angle on the knuckle as possible, but it wasn't enough to work even when I greased them and backed into the car at full throttle. Even the cheapo X2f coupler would couple at 25 miles an hour. A good couple is when the impact does not move the car, but a four mile an hour impact is a collision! When this 100 degree weather cools off, I'll get another pair and try them again.
The cars can be coupled very gently. The trouble with #58 couplers is that when you fit a few they make the #5's look way over scale, so you have to refit all stock with #58's
