Large Scale Central

Coupler heights for the different scales

Modeling Rolling stock
#21

Ric and I discussed this at his annual ops session. After having a few operational issues with my new cars (they hadn’t run before) I decided to revisit my height gauge. I had initially rebuilt the Kadee gauge to hold an AMS coupler. Center line is 24" above the rail. I use 24" Sierra Valley wheels in my trucks.

(http://jbrr.com/Pics/RollingStock/Couplers/IMG_8844.JPG)

One of my issues was not having my air hoses long enough. I decided to add this to my “standard”. I glued a block on to the side of the coupler mounting and added an air hose. I wrote “SV-2” on it, as that is the plastic piece that fits over my 1/16" brass rod.

(http://jbrr.com/Pics/RollingStock/Couplers/IMG_8849.JPG)

I also decided to write down the air hose length on the gauge so I will remember it in the future.

(http://jbrr.com/Pics/RollingStock/Couplers/IMG_8852.JPG)

It’s looking good now…:wink:

#22

Bruce,
I like the air hoses!

How did you do them?
I was thinking of using a small brass wire inside the hose and bending it under the coupler.

#23

So Bruce, where does this line up to a Kadee Large Scale “G” coupler mounted correctly to the Kadee Large Scale Gauge? Do you by any chance have another gauge around to show a picture of the gauge to gauge or a picture of coupler to coupler? Maybe a correctly mounted Kadee Large Scale Coupler coupled to your modified gauge.

Once again during our Ops Session, we had problems with different heights from visiting equipment unable to couple to the KVRwy’s rolling stock. I’ve tried to provide 837 Kadees for people to modify their equipment for better operations. Works sometimes.

#24
John Bouck said:
Bruce, I like the air hoses!

How did you do them?
I was thinking of using a small brass wire inside the hose and bending it under the coupler.


John,
I use black surgical tubing. It’s very flexible. Then I have some tiny magnets in each end and they easily connect. And disconnect.

More here: http://www.jbrr.com/html/glad_hands.html

I now make the glad hand piece from styrene, since I can easily cut it to shape. And, I use a Plastruct valve instead of making a brass one. Getting lazy, I guess.

#25
Ric Golding said:
So Bruce, where does this line up to a Kadee Large Scale "G" coupler mounted correctly to the Kadee Large Scale Gauge? Do you by any chance have another gauge around to show a picture of the gauge to gauge or a picture of coupler to coupler? Maybe a correctly mounted Kadee Large Scale Coupler coupled to your modified gauge.

Once again during our Ops Session, we had problems with different heights from visiting equipment unable to couple to the KVRwy’s rolling stock. I’ve tried to provide 837 Kadees for people to modify their equipment for better operations. Works sometimes.


Ric,
I don’t know where that would line up, as that’s the only gauge I have. All of my stuff is 1:20 now.

Of course that’s one of the problems you have when you visit someone - especially for operations where you need to couple to the hosts rolling stock.

#26
Bruce Chandler said:
Ric Golding said:
So Bruce, where does this line up to a Kadee Large Scale "G" coupler mounted correctly to the Kadee Large Scale Gauge? Do you by any chance have another gauge around to show a picture of the gauge to gauge or a picture of coupler to coupler? Maybe a correctly mounted Kadee Large Scale Coupler coupled to your modified gauge.

Once again during our Ops Session, we had problems with different heights from visiting equipment unable to couple to the KVRwy’s rolling stock. I’ve tried to provide 837 Kadees for people to modify their equipment for better operations. Works sometimes.


Ric,
I don’t know where that would line up, as that’s the only gauge I have. All of my stuff is 1:20 now.

Of course that’s one of the problems you have when you visit someone - especially for operations where you need to couple to the hosts rolling stock.


That’s the main reason I went with the 831’s, as that was what Fred was using up there on the IPP&W and his was the first RR I visited for an ops session. They also line up fine with Ric’s.

#27
Bruce Chandler said:
Ric Golding said:
So Bruce, where does this line up to a Kadee Large Scale "G" coupler mounted correctly to the Kadee Large Scale Gauge? Do you by any chance have another gauge around to show a picture of the gauge to gauge or a picture of coupler to coupler? Maybe a correctly mounted Kadee Large Scale Coupler coupled to your modified gauge.

Once again during our Ops Session, we had problems with different heights from visiting equipment unable to couple to the KVRwy’s rolling stock. I’ve tried to provide 837 Kadees for people to modify their equipment for better operations. Works sometimes.


Ric,
I don’t know where that would line up, as that’s the only gauge I have. All of my stuff is 1:20 now.

Of course that’s one of the problems you have when you visit someone - especially for operations where you need to couple to the hosts rolling stock.


At Bob’s operating session last September, we ran one of Ken’s locomotives on the second day. Ken runs Kadee couplers. All of Bob’s rolling stock has Accucraft couplers, as does Bruce’s and mine. Locos that Bruce and I brought coupled well to Bob’s stock, but Ken’s was very iffy. The Kadee was quite a bit lower than the Accucraft if I remember it right. Ken and I ended up using a paperclip “link” to keep the engine couple to the first car.

#28

Maybe we need some transition cars? 1:20 height on one side, something else on the other side. Or maybe Accucraft couplers on one side, Kadee on the other. Could just be a single truck?

#29

If the couplers are on a 24" (scale) centerline, that equates to 1 3/16". The Kadee “G” centerline is 1 1/8", so there’s only 1/16" difference between the two. That shouldn’t pose an issue with a coupler face that’s nearly 1/2" tall. Sounds like perhaps Ken’s couplers were set low?

Later,

K

#30
Bruce Chandler said:
Maybe we need some transition cars?
I'm working on that already! ;)
#31

A transition car works to some degree, but not to a whole fleet. Of course, Bruce’s wonderful cars wouldn’t fit in with my stuff because we’d have edit them into RailOp and everything. Truly more trouble than it is worth, best to just use my rolling stock.

The single car with a transition coupler would work, especially on the opposite of normal end to the caboose. The everything could be used with caboose carried next to the engine.

Ken and I follow the same practice of following the IPP&WRR practices. Not a bad railroad to follow.

Really, Fred’s railroad may be easier to adjust than some of ours for all of us. He uses the #1’s and if the others were centered on the #1’s, there would be lots of room for little variances.

#32

Ric Golding said:
A transition car works to some degree, but not to a whole fleet.

Sure it does!

(http://www.hebners.net/amtrak/amtSUPER/amt39036.jpg)

Sorry…had to do it! :wink:

#33
Kevin Strong said:
If the couplers are on a 24" (scale) centerline, that equates to 1 3/16". The Kadee "G" centerline is 1 1/8", so there's only 1/16" difference between the two. That shouldn't pose an issue with a coupler face that's nearly 1/2" tall. Sounds like perhaps Ken's couplers were set low?

Later,

K


I’m not sure that the height was the issue, but it may have played some part. What seemed to be the problem was the size. Up at Doug Mathesons I tried pulling some of Bruce’s cars and under tension they held together. When they were slack, they slipped apart. Neither coupler was open but the space was wide enough that the hooked side of the couplers didn’t line up and the smaller Kadee passed through that opening…if that makes any sense.

When I first went up to Fred’s I was still in the B’mann coupler stage, so Fred gave me a set of his Kadee’s and I made a transition car out of a reefer(which doubled as a battery car), till I got my engines converted.

(should have looked at the package before I posted, I use the smaller 820’s which are what is used at Fred’s, not the 831’s)

#34

In the middle of this posting survey we had our Fall OPs Session. What this provided was that people that were “true” to their scale found that there equipment couldn’t run on visiting layouts, both mine and AndyC’s. It made an interesting analysis on this little study.

Basically it seems to me to come down to a need to use couplers like Kadees or those that are very compatible to Kadees and set to a height using the Kadee gauge. Now this may look like I want everyone to agree with what I do. Yeah, okay. But over the years I’ve put a lot of thought in to this, made lots of compromises and tested and tested the different couplers. Personally, I like the Accucraft style and uncoupling gear best. But the linkage is to fragile and the chances of a first time coupling in a shed 20 feet from you is a crap shoot. So I have settled on the Kadee “G’s”, set at the Kadee gauge height. They match up with the Kadee “#1’s” like what Fred, Ken and Andy use, plus they also match with Accucraft, Bachmann, Delton, USA and Aristo-Craft, if those are set at a close height.

Now, nobody has to follow this opinion and you can stick with your own ways, but if you ever want to take your equipment to anyone else’s railroad or have people over to your layout, you’ve got to compromise and come at least close to equal ground, if you wnat equipment to be interchanged.

That common ground seems to be a Kadee coupler height gauge. #1 or G, it doesn’t matter. They are compatible to each other, so that make your equipment, no matter what coupler, some what compatible. The height of those gauges are 1 1/8 above the rail to the vertical center of the coupler, in 1:20.3 that’s 24 inches and I don’t know what it is with in 1/29th with the smaller #1’s, but it seems to be close… Any couplers set to those heights have a chance to couple, sometimes with a lift over and wedge the closed couplers together, but they will work without bent paperclips or bread ties and I guess that is a step in the right direction.

I thank you for answering my questions and giving your opinions, maybe some one will be able to use this dribble.

#35

We use Kadee “G” on all of our rolling stock (1:29 - 1:20.3).

Jon.