Kadee couplers

Thanks Mike, that's started me on my way!

I may be a little late with this but the kadee couplers I find work well for me anyway are number
18s the number 15s are a little bit short I get them from MACS MODELS who do a good mail order service
hope it's a little help

I used number 19 or number 20 on locos and number 18 on Gresley stock, the new ones, and number 19 on the Hornby Staniers. I found that 18's aren't real good on locos so go for the longer ones. Any Bachmann locos use 19 or 20's but you'll find that the coupler heights vary considerably on Bachmann stock.

Hornby BR mk1's well you have to chop the horn hook off make a pad out of styrene sheet and mount a Kadee number 5 to that pad. Trail and error will try your patience but it'll all come good in the end.

Ozzie21

QUOTE (YEOVIL @ 9 Mar 2007, 22:42) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Gentlemen,

Can any of you help me with the type of Kadee coupling(s) and fitting advice I need for the following locos

HORNBY:Un-rebuilt W.C. M.7. Re-built M.N & W.C. Q.1.Black 5

BACHMAN:Standard 4 tank. N class.
Thanks

Yeovil

How easy are Kadee couplers to fit and replace Hornby and Bachmann etc couplers
Am I correct in assuming that all rolling stock will require changing

I'm a bit stuck again on my Kadee conversions.

This time I'm trying to convert the Bachmann GWR 57xx tank.
Using a No 5 and sticking it to the underside of the buffer beam will work (even though a small amount of the box protrudes), but the biggest problem is that this would cover the screws holding the body to the chassis. I'd prefer not to do that for obvious reasons.
Thought of using the body retaining screw to fix the coupling as well, but it's too short, so I would need to find out the size and thread needed.
Has anyone else done this job Your advice would be welcome.

Wurzel Junction
a useful site for Kadee's this guy really knows what he's on about !

isn't your 5700 equipped with NEM pockets why don't you use a no 19 with double sided tape under it to stop it flopping around.

No NEM pockets unfortunately (this is a Bachmann product ), just one of those whacky looking triangular cut outs to snap their own coupling into.
There seems to be as many different Bachmann fittings as there are models!!!
What an outfit!!

This must an elderly 5700 Bachmann have fitted NEM pockets on this model of as long as I can remember. I suppose you have the open frame motor as well in that case it's origins are Mainline. As Sol says Kadee's with everything I've never found anything I couldn't convert. Although I never like the Lima 6 wheeled tank. I hope the new Dapol ones prove less of a challenge.

Yeovil

The standard Class 4 tank is a special case, The coupler under the coal hopper as far I can remember is too high. I simply screwed a no 20 to the underside of the NEM pocket. I used CKS screws they use for model ships. You have to be crafty with kadee's ! Unrebuilt West Country's have a no 31 coupler screwed directly (no body) into the coupling socket with a long self tapper.

fun with kadees?

obviously you folk haven't had the benefit of springs going into orbit?

or a sudden droop in a coupler,plunging an entire express train over the incredibly high cliff that is the edge of the baseboard...or off a trestle?...( the droppers can drop, snagging on points etc..]

or the last train from the hidden sidings ending in a solitary kadee coupler and its box.......

or even forgetting the coupler height gauge is still o the layout....creating that mysterious short circuit that you've taken 14 days to look for?

Kadees, unfortunately, are not 'fit and forget' couplers.

they require 'servicing'.

spring replacement is the usual chore, in my experience....although on the No5's, sometimes troble can occur with the 'copper' centering spring in the box.

graphite lubrication is another chore....

to gain better operation, the actual moving jaw needs examining...if there is a rough outer face, this needs careful filing to smooth it off...otherwise mysterious problems occur.....kadees are good quality, but like all manufactured goods, that quality may vary.
I have had the pivot pin drop out, thus the coupler separates into its compnent parts...ackwardly!
I think most US modellers probably have a spare packet of couplers at hand....plus those surplus springs....

In the US, I got the impression most rolling stock was held together with small self-tappers....a problem with screwing a No.5 box, or others, to the underside of stock is that care is needed to ensure the screw doesn't pinch the box top together, thus restricting freedom of coupler movement.

since for years, the kadee was the only effective coupler in the US.....despite what most stock used to equipped with out of the box....folk put up with its idiosyncracies.....

incidentally, I found Kadees were pretty much inflation-proof....a 'used' pair selling for the same price as a new pair?

thus, at NMRA regional meets, one usually bought a pair of used kadees for a couple of quid..the same price as a packet of No.5's......but the used one's came with a free freight car attached!

thus, one's surplus freight cars had a fixed market value...the price of the couplers!

don't forget the 'weight' the goods wagons!

with todays free-rolling wheelsets, you might find your empty coal wagons have a peculiar affinity with the nearest uncoupling magnet?

Having a couple[r?] of old Peco wunderbar vagons (for DB)..with the old Peco Simplex couplers, I have to admit the actually look a lot less obtrusive than even the tiniest of hook-and-bar couplers from bachmannnn......especially if the drop arm is shortened...

I don't know why this coupler has been ignored so much.

It has many of the attributes of operation as the kadee, without the obvious drawback of looks that a buckeye coupler has......plus fewer moving parts.

plus, it is/was home-grown?

Hornby-Dublo used it successfully for years......Peco threw its mighty influence behind it....yet the horrible hook and bar won through?