Call me stupid, but I don't recall anybody ever complaining about the
centering, springing or anything else about the #5 or similars on the
market. There must be a zillion or two of those on tracks! I mentioned
that to Sam (?) a few years back when Peter Loeb contacted him. What
was wrong with just making a slightly bigger version of the #5 for
us--(maybe a couple of tweaks for appearance)? Heck we could have used
the same box if necessary and saved everybody some money.
If John's centering is dependent on a bronze leaf spring, is it that
much different than the #5?
Enough for now,--- but I was only kidding about calling me stupid--got
enough people at home doing that! And no Dick, I've never been told
that I "bob" longitudinally--it must be Hogan, McCarthy, Jackson or
maybe even Nicholson!
Bob Werre
On 9/13/12 4:22 PM, [email protected] wrote:
Put me in the camp opposed to the 802. The #5 has plenty of slack
action on a ling train without the #802's spring.
Fred T
Annoyed in Tennessee
----- Original Message -----
*From:* Richard Karnes <mailto:[email protected]>
*To:* [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
*Sent:* Thursday, September 13, 2012 12:58 PM
*Subject:* {S-Scale List} Re: "Annoying slack action"
Jim King wrote:
"His design permits Kadee centering without the annoying slack
action."
Annoying?? One of my favorite memories is seeing NYC Mohawks
(Mountains for you non-NYC fans) starting a 100-car train. The
loco would back up about a car length, bunching up slack. Then it
would pull forward, ever so slowly, taking out the slack car by
car. You could hear the clunk! clunk! clunk! as each coupler
became fully extended and each car leapt into slow motion. The
Mohawks' replacements, Alco FA/FB lash-ups, did the same thing.
Thankfully, this is one of the aspects of running trains on my
layout that I really enjoy -- starting a freight train and
listening to the slack take-up as the locomotive gradually moved
forward.
Lest you rebut by observing that the Kadee 802/808 centering
springs cause the caboose to constantly bob longitudinally, I
refer you back to my oft-repeated (in print as well as via
electrons) but little-heeded recommendation (supported by Kadee
themselves!) to substitute a knuckle spring for the too-stiff
centering spring.
Dick Karnes
