Just looking for your opinions…

If I add snowplows to some of my diesel locomotives I will have to remove the Kadee “whiskers” from all my kadee-equipped rolling stock to enable coupling. While I don’t actually use the whiskers for auto-uncoupling, I kind of like the way they look. Whisker removal would be easy at this point, as nearly 90% of my equipment is equipped with modified Aristo Knuckles body-mounted. Newer cars will likely have Kadees, and slowly the Aristo will be phased out as they wear out.

What do you think makes sense?

I cut them all off.

Depends on the snow plow. My snowplow on my USAT GP9 allows me to retain the “whisker.”

I cut them off. They look more realistic.

Cut them off!

I don’t cut mine off either… I like the looks of them, as then represent the air hoses… I don’t need them for Operations as screwdrivers are used to uncouple, they are only there for looks… When they are adjusted properly, they don’t hinder running… I have not added any plows to my engines, tho…

Just my opinion… (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

I cut them off - I like plows better

Scott

With the number of cars in our two fleets, and the handling the rolling stock experiences, the “Tails” on the Kadee couplers are a great indicater that a coupler is in good adjustment. If it is low, it indicates that the coupler is not at the correct height…if it was mounted correctly, and checked in the first place. There have been the odd coupler that came with the tail a bit low, but it w3as caught in the checking prosses when it was mounted.

The tails also represent air hoses, and when cut off, the cars appear to be missing something. I’m not about to add air hoses to 4oo cars, and have something else to maintain…

When you start adding features to locomotives, then there often occurs the need to remove the tails…but then it just involves one pair of air hoses, to be added, if you care to do it.

One model of the B’mann Annie, has a pilot that extends too much, if you are mounting a Kadee coupler to it, and using the Kadee set suggested for it. The trick there is to order another pilot for it…there are several to choose from. The Annie/Big Hauler with the diamond stack, and wood load in the tender, is the one that suffers from the extended pilot.

I have been requested on occasion, to nip off the tails of a car belonging to a visitor. They claimed the tail was catching on the switches.

I always check with my trusty Kadee coupler gauge, when asked to do that surgery…sure enough, in 99% of the cases, the coupler is mounted too low…

I hope this helps , for anyone contemplating the “Drastic” surgery…!!!

I too use the screw driver uncoupling method. What works best is a long shafted Phillips #2 screw driver…if anyone can find a bunch of the correct size in a “Dollar Store”, I’d like to hear of it. I don’t want a high quality driver, just a cheapy, at $1-$2 each…

Fred Mills

We don’t use a screwdriver to open our Kadees. I developed a tool just for that purpose. Just insert in between the coupler jaws and push down to pop them open. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Todd Brody said:

Depends on the snow plow. My snowplow on my USAT GP9 allows me to retain the “whisker.”

Yep

I cut the pins off on my locos, plows or not, and make my own brake hose. Looks better. I have not had a problem with the trip pins on the cars fowling on my plows.

Todd,

Where did you get the “tool”?

Paul,

It is my own inspiration/design, but…,

The magnetic pick-up tool is from Harbor Freight ($4.49). Screw is just a brass screw with an OD that matches the tools’ shaft ID. Brass is a strip from K&S with a twist added and the ends rounded that is soldered into the screw’s slot and this is CA’ed into the tool after pulling off the magnet.

http://www.harborfreight.com/15-lb-capacity-telescoping-magnetic-pickup-tool-95933.html

Thanks all!

Since it is clear that a profound revival of magnetic-uncoupling is unlikely to occur in 1:29 outdoor railroading in the near future…I’m thinking I will cut the whiskers, pins, prongs, and tails in favor of plows!.

Dont take it the wrong way. As I’ve mentioned, I do like the look of the fully-intact Kadee couplers, but perhaps I question why it is that I like them. Are these truly convincing substitutes for air hoses? Or is it there a psychological explanation planted in my subconscious from my years of HO modeling? Am I associating kadee-equipped 1:29 rolling stock with today’s higher end HO models vs what I recall of the pit of horn-hook misery?

Right. Time to call it a night.

Rockwall Canyon Jeff said:

Are these truly convincing substitutes for air hoses? Or is it there a psychological explanation planted in my subconscious from my years of HO modeling?

I cut them off in HO too (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)

Personally I like the look of realistic air line hoses added to a car or loco rather then the Kadee hose.

KaDee, on their site, says that the uncoupling pins are not supposed to represent air hoses. But, at 10 feet away, with the stock moving down the track, they do tend to represent air hoses to me. Now, close up, like in a model contest, they certainty do not look like air hoses.

I am with Fred. When properly adjusted (mounted), they should not catch on anything. But of course pilots and plows are a different story.