perhaps, since john has designed this products, he can give us the
dims and thickness
of his spring, so we experiment with fitting it into the 802 box?
thanks
mel perry
On Sep 13, 2012, at 3:36 PM, Bud Rindfleisch wrote:
--- In [email protected], Richard Karnes <rnk2202@...> wrote:
>
> 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
>
Dick, Yes, without slack, a steam locomotive would have a very
difficult time starting a train, mainly due to their tractive
effort being greater at speed than in starting. Diesels, although
having greater low speed tractive effort, still benefitted from
slack to get a train rolling. Essentially slack allowed a train to
"start" one car at a time.
As for your method of using the coupler spring vs the centering
spring, I've always been quizzical of the car to car spacing once
the slack is stretched. Typical, 1940's-50's non cushioned cars
should be 36" between the car ends. Do you somehow shorten the
opening within the coupler shank for less spring travel? I can
understand the need for the softer spring. Just curious as to the
subsequent car to car spacing.
Bud Rindfleisch
