Just one guy's results... YMMV

Dear Mike,

Personal layout roundup

- "Brooklyn : 3AM (HO)" - 4 undertrack permanent magnets, regular use inc at shows

- "Chicago Fork (O 2R)" - 1x undertrack permanent magnet, regular use

- "Chicago Fork (HO) - 1x between-rail magnet (removable), occasional use

- "Frontline (HO, in development)" - 1x between-rail magnet on fraverser, regular use

- "Bindle Mine (On30)" - no magnets (shuttle route, no need)

- "Camp 4 (HOn30 layout-in-a-box)" - no magnets (single train consist, no need)

Given the above, one might conclude I'm a diehard #5/#805 + magnet user, but the reality is probably closer to 50/50 magnets/skewers. I find I tend to use the technique which suits the op session and crew-on-hand, as needs dictate.

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

PS have recently been involved in wiring and programming a NCE minipanel-animated NG mine layout. This makes use of DCC-controlled electro-magnetic uncouplers. If Kadee ceased integrating the trip-pins, we'd be looking elsewhere for a coupling solution for this project. Far easier for the modeller to nip the pins off if required than to add them back on...

PPS I do have a pile of Sergeants couplers I'm assembling for a future "high spec" layout. However, chosing which rollingstock and locos to dedicate to the layout (and therefore break compatibility by installing sergeants) is posing a challenge at the moment. Interestingly, tweaking and assembling the sergeants is one of the "production line" modelling tasks I find easy to do of an evening after work, at the temp workbench in the loungeroom, while watching TV and interacting with the family...

Sergent Couplers here!

I opted to basically start out with them and I have no regrets. They do struggle some with capability with Kadee's scale couplers, forget the big boxing gloves alltogether. But the slightest rough trackwork and they derail. In time I'll have a whole fleet with Sergents, but nobody else will in my Free-mo group so my trains will still only be operated by me.

Matt

O/T sergeants "end of car lift" derailments?

Dear Matt,

At the risk of thread hi-jack, are you coating/treating your sergeants with powered or solid graphite? I'm using it for all friction surfaces, inc the interleaved closed knuckles, and testing on my "typical" trackwork (never as smooth as one hopes, despite best efforts at tracklaying stage) hasn't shown any tendency for "car end lift" to the point of derailment?

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

PS I'm not worried soo much about compatibility with "foreign" (other modellers) rollingstock or locos, but just compatibility within my own fleet. I tend to build smaller layouts, so any given item in the fleet may be seen on any given layout at any given time...

All magnets for my layout.

" to offer couplers without the wire?"

Haha, they'd probably charge extra to not put the gladhand wires on them so I'll continue to buy the regular versions and cut the wires off. Actually the N scale cars are so small that just trimming the KD gladhand a bit shorter and bending it to resemble  connected air hoses is enough. for the larger cars I cut the gladhand off and add an airhose adjacent to the coupler instead of the KD airhose on the knuckle. The newer whisker couplers are handy and quick to install and nothing works like a KD when operation is the main objective. KD's are one of the major model railroad advances over the old methods, in a way equivalent to DCC in the satisfaction they've brought folks since they've been the standard..... DaveBranum

The only way.....

I would use the uncouplers is the electrified version. I have operated on a layout which has the under track magnets, (active) and you can keep them. The trains come uncoupled unless you travel over them at 3x Acela speed, and if you're switching? Forget it!! There are some things you'll never see on my layout, Uncoupling Magnets, (non electric), DCC activated couplers, DCC operated switch motors. But that's my personal preference, your results may vary. 2slim

Solving spurious uncoupling when crawling over magnets

Dear ???

Believe solving the "spontaneous uncoupling" issue has been discussed and covered here on-fora previously.
On my switching layouts, addition of calibrated drag devices on one truck of each car give just enough "inertia" for a car to stay where you put it, and keep the consist taut when slowly crawling over uncoupling magnets...
(MicroTrains actually promote exactly this solution for N scale cars, and even include axle-point springs with each packet of MT couplers...)

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

No Magnets, But...

I don't have a single magnet on my layout, and quite dislike switching on layouts with them.  That being said, I still keep the trip pins on all my couplers.  I prefer using the uncoupling pick between the trip pins to twisting it in the knuckles. 

I still find them useful ...

There are a few places where I like to spot cars that are not easily accessible with a 'pick' (i.e., inside a building); a magnet is used in these places to uncouple the cars.  The magnet can be raised to allow uncoupling and then returns to its lowered position for normal operation (and coupling of cars) -- an electro-magnet would work too, I just don't like the sound.  I suppose one could use the 'delayed' aspect of the couplers; however, I generally find that cumbersome and even disruptive to operations.

Another Sergeant Convert

When I switched back to HO six months ago, I decided to go with Sergeants.  Very pleased with them so far, though I honestly haven't done much switching.  But I was pleased with the testing I did with them.

Kadees are the basis

" may be less sanguine."

The more you do it the more you just want to get it done so I often don't bother with skewers and just fall back on the old-school method of pick up the end of the car and roll it back a bit and set it back down. I find this especially handy in N scale where the knuckles are so small that putting a skewer in there takes more care than I want to expend....DaveBranum

Oops, I mis-typed. When

Oops, I mis-typed. When trying to move a train with Sergents AND Kadees mixed the slightest bump in the track work results in an uncouple. Not a derail. I've not had a single problem with Sergents causing derailing. Nor have I had any problems at all on 100% Sergent trains. It's trying to mix and match I have uncoupling but not derailing problems.

Matt

No touch!

The Black Art of Picks

Being fairly new to Kadee couplers I am still trying to learn the best way of uncoupling them.  I have a set of 15 x 1/8" cube rare earth magnets set in three rows of five magnets between adjacent sleepers on one section of my layout.  At times this works really well but at other times the couplers stay resolutely centered no matter how many times you back and fill.

Being a cheapskate I have not bought one of Kadee's uncoupling picks nor any of the other proprietary brands of picks.  Rather, I viewed a picture of one of them online and it appeared to have a fine screwdriver blade at one end.  So I then fashioned a length of 1/16" music wire into a dowel handle and ground a small blade at one end. This sort of works but often with a lot of faffing around to get the couplers to come apart.

What am I missing here?  Is there a particular art to getting a plain old kebab skewer to uncouple quickly and easily?

Peter

RIX uncouple tool!

No magnets anywhere on the layout but I do have 4 Rix uncoupling tools scattered about.  I also have been using the skewers and find the the Rix tool to be more reliable.  So, yes I do use magnets, just not the "under the track type".

Twirl clockwise...

Re: The Black Art of Picks

Jim Rollwage showed me how to uncouple Kadee couplers quickly and easily. You simply take the end of the skewer and pull one of the trip pins to the side. If there's no slack between the couplers, you can gently use your ring finger to move one car closer while pulling the pin on the opposite car. This method avoids stabbing the skewer between the couples which invariably leads to lost springs with #5's when people miss the middle of the couplers. I believe this is the same method that Rob Spangler described in his post.

I don't use uncoupling magnets but have chosen Kadee #5's as the standard for every piece of rolling stock on the layout. They work extremely well, and I had a large supply of them that I inherited from my Stepfather. Once the #5's are all used, I'll get #58's as I've been told they work extremely well with #5's and obviously look much better. Having a standard coupler avoids some of the problems with the different brands that don't play well together. I use the pin to uncouple equipment as described above.

Tom Patterson

At least you have decent couplers, so why complain?

Hi,

no matter whether Kadee, MT or whatever, at least you have decent couplers in North America!

In Europe, it starts with the real trains having chain and buffer coupling, which is so...

For the European HO guys you have a coupler straight out of the previous millennium: it consists of a hook and a (horizontal) loop. The loop can be flipped upwards for uncoupling, by pushing a pin that goes straight down. They're somewhat reliable, but hugely ugly. The in-track uncouplers are large ramps that lift up by electro-magnetic action.

For N, well, the couplers have the size of a scale oil-drum. Some of my cars are not really high-quality, but between four cars there is only one combination that stays coupled... Someone advised me to use white glue on the couplers to permanently couple the cars...

My other problem makes matters worse: for my small layout I need small cars. Which in Europe means "old" cars that have two axles (no trucks!). While I don't mind "old" cars, I dislike the two-axle cars... And I find it quite annoying that local sources don't have US models... I tried to get US-style knuckle couplers locally...

So, whatever you dislike about Kadee (and similar), at least you have good couplers!

Enjoy.

Down with trip pins

I hate the trip pins too.  Not only is the appearance far from realistic, they get in the way and force couplers to have to be mounted incorrectly. 

For example, unless you put an extended drawbar coupler on the front of a diesel with a plow pilot (or mount the pilot ridiculously high,) you will have the trip pin from a coupled piece of equipment getting jammed against the plow.  F-units are especially bad.  If you look at a real F7, you will see that the knuckle of the coupler barely protrudes out of the hole in the pilot, yet model F-units have couplers poking several scale feet out of the hole.  These kinds of compromises could all be avoided if we could do away with the trip pin.

One particularly bad situation I'm wrestling with at the club is the small fleet of snow plows.  Though it's possible to mount a Kadee 58 equivalent onto the nose of the plow, the trip pin would never fit since it would have to pass through the blade of the plow.  Not only that, but the coupler is so far from the front of the plow that nothing could get close to being able to couple to it, again because the trip pin on coupling equipment would hit or ride up on the blade of the plow.  I know it's not likely a lot of switching will take place with these plows, but it doesn't seem likely we will be able to move them around at all, nor couple them to each other, unless the trip pins are removed from these models.

We have considered removing all the trip pins from our equipment on the Sudbury Division, and in fact did start doing so.  We stopped doing that, and even restored the pins on the care where they were removed, though.  This came about because we realized we would have some deep scenes in a few places where the only way to uncouple cars would be to use uncoupling magnets.  I have been considering some other options to allow us to uncouple in those spots without the magnets, but haven't come to any conclusions so far.  It just seems to me that visual and practical benefits of getting rid of the trip pins would justify any special arrangements which would be necessary for those few spots where remote uncoupling would be required.

All that having been said, a pair of side cutters is all that is needed to remove the pins when the time comes, so demanding that Kadee or whoever leave them off from the factory isn't warranted.  There may always be those who want to use the feature, plus the pin is actually used to hold the coupler together, so whether long or short, a pin will have to be part of the assembly anyway.

Kadee makes a NEM compatible coupler

On a related note I have some hand build resin models out of Latvia of Russian rolling stock. Incredibly detailed and accurate pieces that I paid substantially for. But as you said the European modeling situation is behind the times on couplers that for all the excellent detail they have NEM boxes mounted to the trucks. Grrr. There is even a coupler draft box molded into the detail in the end sills. Until I cut that out and mount a Sergent coupler with narrow draft box (Russian railroads use couplers very similar to North American knuckle couplers) I have to make do. 

I found out that Kadee makes a coupler that snaps into the NEM box. I don't know if you can get them locally or not but at least it's an easy change without modifications to the car. I picked up one package for now so I can move my cars around as a cut.

Matt

Magnets

I use magnets all of the time. My layout is a switching layout and I like them because I don't have to reach across scenery and take the chance of damaging anything. In some areas the reach would be extremely far. Magnets work just fine for me. It may take a little time to make sure that the couplers are all working properly, but it is worth the time for me. Been using them for over 30 years.

Another Vote for Sergent

Narrow layout shelves and close-up viewing make the Sergent coupler an easy choice for me.  I found a few of them to stick (locked) closed when testing after install, but so far in real operation, they work.

The conversion from Kadee will take a while with the huge ore car fleet, but all the Kadees are already sans trip pin.  Noted in another’s post, I could NOT get Sergent to couple worth a hoot to Kadee, so I have converted a bunch of ore cars to have one Kadee, one Sergent.  They get inserted with an 0-5-0 whenever incompatible equipment meet.  Works well enough until the shops are done with the conversion.

I was able to file the knuckle section a bit thinner on the dummy Walthers couples originally included in the ore car packs.  This allows them to couple to Sergent, and helps reduce the need for wholesale conversion.

Putting the bulk-pack Sergents together is a bit mind numbing, and the magnitude of the ore fleet reminds me of how much assembly is still ahead of me!

…but I SURE do like the way they look!Another vote for Sergent

Not for a long time

I haven't used magnets under the track or between the rails in a long time, possibly 30 years. I've been snipping those Kadee glad hands for at least a decade now. I'm a member of a club with a large layout that also does not use any magnets. Layout construction began in 1992 and hand uncoupling has always been the norm.

In my opinion, using magnets does not make you think like a railroader when operating. I can understand the need for them in certain applications, but if the layout is designed for ease of reach then magnets are not needed. I've operated on layouts that have uncoupling magnets available, but I usually ignore them and uncouple by hand.

Much of this depends upon what the owner wants from their model railroad. I prefer operating as much like the prototype as I can in HO scale. I enjoy taking the time to spot a car or switch a yard like the prototype would. Magnets are a cheat in that regard and do not convey the real work of a railroader. Again, just my opinion.