Hi Rhett, well I will have to jump in here, the "Coupler" question is always a
source for many views...The Sargent coupler seems to be favored by the "really
really scale people for apearance and scale fidelity? I don't know personally
as I have never seen them in person or used them. The oldest and (possibly)
most reliable are the Kadee #5s with the trip pin lengthened as used to be
available in S. The #5 offers "delayed" uncoupling, some of the other magnetic
couplers do not. The #5's also bennefit from having lots of flexibility in
terms of mounting method/position/shims etc. They are about 10-15% undersize
for true 1:64 proportions.
I worked for Kadee for three years and know their stuff, and tried to get them
interested in a true S sized coupler with a scale draft gear box....had the
same fight with them over their then 'New" HO box car that I helped bring into
production.That one, they also resisted until it became obvious that their #1
product (couplers) was the only item on the car that was not to scale. I was
the one who introduced Dale Edwards (Kadee owner) to the inserted wisker
springs idea for centering....was very difficult to develope a way of actually
making them.
It might be worth our collective efforts to request a SCALE S coupler instead
of oversized On3 adaptation, or undersized HO. The whole gang over there at
Kadee has been overhauled and new management has been much more open to REAL
ideas, yes numbers count...yet they created a O Lionel atlantic pilot coupler
conversion kit....how many of those could possibly be ever used??? ...sure
would be a whole lot more S standard gauge couplers needed..one for each end of
many, many thousands of cars, not to mention locomotives etc.
And then ther is McHennry coupers...their clone of the Kadee #5 was about 10%
oversized for HO...very close to S, they also have some "modern" no override
style couplers....has anyone approached them?
By the way I tried to get Kadee to do this over 30 years ago when I was
creating and manufacturing S track and Coupler height gages (my S coupler
height gage is still offered by the NASG modified to take the 802 instead of a
#5).
It would take a real PR blitz with NASG support but this is now easy with email.
S Gaugingly Yours, Dr. K. Loeb (Peter)
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