[Bob G]

I recently met a hobby shop owner in the Cleveland, OH, area who said that a lot of guys in the U.S. operate
European-theme Marklin or Trix model railroads. I might just try that myself. Question: Which of the various
coupler designs offered by these manufacturers come closest to resembling the exterior appearance of the standard coupler used on most European railroads?

 

[neil_s_wood]

This is the coupler from an ICE3. I think it's safe to say no-one makes a coupler that looks like this. Kadees are probably your best bet and are readily installed in the NEM pockets that most Euro locos have.

 

[Richard Johnson]

QUOTE (neil_s_wood @ 18 Jun 2008, 13:25) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>This is the coupler from an ICE3. I think it's safe to say no-one makes a coupler that looks like this. Kadees are probably your best bet and are readily installed in the NEM pockets that most Euro locos have.

***The Sharfenberg coupler as per Neils photo is commonly used in passenger stock only. The most common coupling used on EU freight is still a buffer and chain type.

In relation to automatic couplings for freight Europe has supposedly now chosen an automatic coupler compatible with the Soviet one but so far except for some trial installation, no action has been taken to implement the conversion, due to cost.

Instead of this standard, in many heavy-haul applications, such as coal and iron ore, either US AAR-type couplers or Soviet SA-3 couplers are used. Conversion is made harder to justify because the existing buffer and chain coupling is almost universal.

Images of all are attached. Examining all of them as Neil said, the closest to standardise on will be the Kadee NEM option if you want auto coupling, (they are closest to the SA-3 and AAR types) however there's nothing much wrong with the standard couplings fitted to EU models - in particular the EU close coupling mechanisms which are truly excellent for passenger stock.

Richard
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