OK folks... I'm making this post sooner than I planned to because I've gotten
FAR more replies than I expected from the HO guys about the reliability of
"scale-head" HO couplers... and I expect to get even more replies... more that
will confirm what these (below) have said :
_________________________________________________
1.
I have had NO operational problems using Kadee 58 couplers. My railroad has up
to 2.5% grades with about a 28 minimum curves. I typically run the trains with
around 25 to 30 cars. I use Atlas code 83 track along with Walthers, Atlas,
and Micro-Engineering turnouts.
-Tom Haag
2.
I've been using Kadee 58/78 "Scale" couplers since shortly after their
introduction (2003? 2001?) and have them in probably half of the cars in my
400-car active fleet.
I've never noticed any difference in their operation compared with regular
#5's... with TWO exceptions (one good, one bad). (A) the scale Kadees
absolutely cause more havoc with non-Kadee clones (particularly Accumates on
Atlas cars)... and (b) the #58 coupler's knuckle springs stay in the coupler
10x better than the #5.
Clones have been banned. ALL of them. Even the scale McHenries (lose knuckle
springs frequently).
There's a wee bit less side-to-side "gathering range" when coupling.And there's
a wee bit less (.010") vertical face... but neither has caused even a fraction
of the problems I've seen with the various "clones", which have since been
banished from the railroad (which is WHY I have such a high percentage of scale
Kadees.....)
-Dennis Lippert
3.
Kadee scale (#58's) couplers are every bit as reliable as my #5's even on
transitions to and from my helix. They also look considerably better.
The metal clones work for a while, but will have reliability issues when
coupling to a KD scale coupler. Best to change them before too much 'revenue
service' to avoid eventual frustration.
The plastic ones only induce massive amounts of language that can only be
described using the shift key and the numbers on your keyboard. Best to change
them before 'revenue service' to avoid instant frustration.
Stick with the Kadee scale coupler and you can't go wrong. For even better
'scale' appearance, cut off the trip pin and use an manual uncoupling tool.
-Tom Klimczak
4.
I have a small layout in a spare bedroom. I use Kadee #58's exclusively
without problems. I used to belong to a club that has a large layout, and I
never had an issue with the #58's there either.
-John Black
5.
I do not have a layout myself, but I have operated on a coule very large
layouts where all equipment is using Kadee #58 scale head couplers. Even on the
48 car ore train hauled up a 2% grade there was no problem with coupler
operation. This layout however had very smooth hand laid track. Another had
slightly rougher track with no grades, and again, no problems with coupler
operation on freight trains.
It is extremely important however that equipment have couplers installed at the
correct height. Both layouts did have a few problems with longer cars such as
passenger cars. I might suggest using Kadee's shelf couplers on passenger cars,
since they will likely be hidden by diaphragms, the slightly oversized couplers
won't be noticeable. Can't wait until they make a scale head shelf coupler. :)
-Shane Lambert
6.
There's no problem with reliability of the Kadee 'scale head' couplers. The
actually size difference in 'thickness' of the pulling face is 0.135 vs 0.156
inches - not a whole lot. I have been using them on my locomotives since they
came out. They will happily and reliably pull 100 car trains on our modules
with no issues. They're no more likely to slide past each other at vertical
track curves than a #5 head is.
-Craig Zeni
7.
I've been using Kadee 58's (and some 78's) since they were introduced, and
roughly 90% of my cars and all of my engines have been upgraded. I'll chime in
and agree witht he rest that they work flawlessly, so long as all of your
couplers are set to the same height.
In my experiences, none of the plastic couplers on the market (scale or
otherwise) are worth the oil wasted on them, and should be replaced with
all-metal couplers as quickly as possible. They break, they distort, they don't
mate well with others (Accurail), and they're generally pains in the butt. This
was reinforced this past weekend when I was running on a friend's gigantic home
layout. I was running scale-sized passenger trains all day (three E's, 12-18
cars), and on vertical curves (helixes especially), when the weight of the cars
on curves caused more resistance, I had several train breaks all caused by the
same thing: the arm of the plastic couplers (all McHenry scale-sized) would
bend, sliding the gathering faces out of alignment so severely that they popped
out of place. I believe that the root cause was the weight of the train bending
the relatively weak arm, coupled with the more slippery faces of the
engineering plastic used for the couplers.
Stay away from plastic couplers! (well, unless you're in N, where you have no
choice)
-Ray Breyer
8.
My experience is close to that of Denny's. Any new rolling stock right now
gets either a 58, a 158, or a 119 shelf coupler if appropriate. I still have
lots of #5 out there, and quite a few freight cars with the early gap-jaw
version of the 58.
I do NOT use magnetic uncoupling, so the trip pins are removed. So I can't
evaluate their performance in uncoupling vs. the standard heads.
The "gathering range" issue does make it harder to couple on a curve without
intervention.
The Kadee scale heads do take more effort/intervention to couple to any large
head clone, but that usually is because I've forgotten to replace a large head
clone somewhere. They seem to be reasonably compatible with the McHenry small
head clones. But I replace those also, however I think I still have some
Wathers RTR freight cars with them.
The clones add variables to operation. The scale head Kadees are a variable,
but they perform best when the other variables are reduced/eliminated. I do
not see any problems mixing large and small head Kadees, but mixing small head
Kadees with clones of any kind has the extra issues above and beyond the normal
clone issues. And yeah, the large head Accumates (std. equipment on anything
Atlas) really don't like to couple to small head Kadees. They will, but you
have to help them a but.
The small heads do have less vertical contact. Theoretically, in body mounts
on long cars, they might slip apart on vertical bumps when a large head would
stay together. But I haven't experienced this on my Kato Karpet Route yet,
when I could attribute it to the small head itself, rather than an installation
issue. The Kato on the floor is a substantial layout, I regularly run 35 car
freights and I have run up to 60 cars, and 16 car passenger trains.
I have 58s on some passenger cars, but I'm still using large heads on most of
them for now, just not tempting fate. I have installed the 118 shelf coupler
(bottom shelf only) on a few passenger cars. They aren't going to uncouple,
and in fact with diaphragms in the way, they are very difficult to get apart
even when you want to.
Only thing I have not mixed the 58s with yet are the new Walthers metal clones.
So far I've had enough of those act stiff or jammed, that I just replace them
along with all the other clones. I imagine they'll couple to a 58, but perhaps
have some of the same problems as the Accumates due to the stiff jaws.
I have not used scale Accumates or Sargents.
-Andy Harman
_________________________________________________
I hope this lays to rest any fears that folks may have about the reliability of
scale-sized couplers. None of the HO guys above have had any problems using
the Kadee, HO "scale-head" couplers... so why should we in S fear that we would
have trouble if the HO guys don't, especially when our couplers would
inherently have a larger, more reliable "vertical pulling face" than the HO
couplers?
John Degnan
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
