# whats your favorite coupler type?



## eddie (Jan 2, 2008)

mine is a simple hook and loop coupler
mostly becaouse they are pretty reliable

yes I know that they are not very prototipical/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/satisfied.gif
so whats your favorite coupler?/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

This strikes me as the kind of question that would be best suited for the_ poll booth _where you could set up an array of possibilities and then allow for comments.  Just a suggestion.


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## cabforward (Feb 18, 2008)

Eddie 
In my mined the best coupler in link and pin. But for the standard gauge I would go with kadee. For narrow gauge I think byfar the best is the Accucraft that use working draw bars 
Matt


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

I like the Accucraft with the working drawbar because they are fairly prototypical. I like the hook and loop because they are reliable. But i use kadeefor some reason...... 
Naw i like the kadee. i cut the trip pin off and uncouple with a flat blade screwdriver. The only time i have uncoupling problems is when my 2 year old wants to "help" 
Terry


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

I replaced the oversized (and UGLY) hook and loop doodads that came on my MDC rolling stock with "O" gauge couplers epoxied to the end of a length of brass 3/8x1/8 rectangular tubing. The brass is then attached to the car with one screw. Some I attached to the car body and some to the tongue on the truck, (I see no difference in operation).

The couplers are exactly 1:32 scale (according to measurements I took from a real caboose in a park near here) and are prototypical in operation, i.e.: the knuckle hinges open near the end, instead of sliding sideways like a lot of others I have seen.

If I get way too rough in train handling (jerky starts/stops) they will uncouple, because the holding mechanism is an inverted "J" with a weight on the bottom and it will swing like a pendulum if jerked too violently, lifting the hook of the "J" and releasing the knuckle. Yet, they have held several cars together when the caboose derailed and fell from my elevated line dragging a string of 4 or 5 cars all the way to the ground.  They would have pulled my Mike off too, except it happened right at a switch and a car wedged into the "Y" of the elevated structure

I tried telescoping the tubing inside another tube with springs to hold it centered lengthwise as a shock absorber mount, but I could not find springs weak enough to do any good (I used ballpoint pen springs).

I wish I could find 40 more of them (cheap!) to do another 20 cars.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

I am using severa; different couplers.

My passenger train is Aristocraft and i use the Aristocraft knuckleson that.

My tiny Hartland kit cars had flimsy plastic springs so i changed them to body mounted kadee;s.

My logging train is link and pin.

Rest are hook and loop and I use hooks on bith ends of my rolling stock.  I have found Bachman hook and loops to be brittle and break easily plus the Bachman springs are weak.  I change these to USA hook and loops when they go bad.

Now I have an excess of couplers that I do not use like Hartland hook and loops and Aristo knuckles and Aristo hook and loops(the width of the hook at the bottom does not always work with my uncouplers). and a few USA and Bachman knuckles.

I would trade these for LGB/USA hook and loops or Kadee's.

PS  The LGB pin for the hook on the hook and loop is stronger than the USA version.


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## Madstang (Jan 4, 2008)

Mine of choice....ghands down is Kay-Dee..either 786, or 839...I run BOTH truck mounted and body mounted.

This is one of my standards on my railway....another of my standards is concrete roadbed any place the rail touches the ground...when not on my tressels and raised fence line.

Bubba


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## Jerry McColgan (Feb 8, 2008)

My favorite coupler is the LGB (or USA) Hook & Loop Couplers. I've never found anything as easy to use and as dependable. Along with it my favorite locomotives include the LGB 21900 and 23900 Auto-Uncoupling Switchers that work with the LGB Hook & Loop Couplers to drop off and pick up cars anywhere on my layout (including in the middle of curves) with no magnets etc. 

My favorite knuckle coupler is the LGB knuckle Coupler because it too is totally dependable. It may be a lot larger than others but then it works a lot better than others. 

I also use some other couplers and fortunately I have a surplus of them so when one fails I throw it away and replace it with another. Eventually I end up with trains with quite dependable couplers. 

When I watch trains running I seldom notice which couplers are connecting the cars. 

My layout has steep ramps with sharp humps and dips along with sharp curves. I have not found any coupler that comes close to the LGB couplers for my layout. 

Jerry


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

I like the LGB knuckle and Aristo knuckles.  All other knuckles are in my junk drawer.


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## Fred (Jan 2, 2008)

Having several brands of mfgr's I converted all frt cars to Aristocraft knuckle couplers (easy to install on all cars) but after awhile outdoors they began to malfunction and operating sessions became less fun to conduct with the problem with the couplers so I bit the bullet and converted all equipment with Kadees.


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## OzarkRR (Jan 2, 2008)

100% Aristocraft knuckle couplers on both my freight and passenger cars.  However, I should mention my rolling stock inventory is 95% Aristocraft.


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## Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

K/D!   started off with Aristo Craft and they kept pulling apart. Scraped them all. LGB are ok but to big.


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## llynrice (Jan 2, 2008)

Because I own several different makes of rolling stock and no two of them use the same coupler, I rip them all out and install Kadee body mounted couplers (usually the #789 type).  This makes all of my rolling stock fully interoperable, the couplers have a believable size and appearance and they're quite reliable.

Llyn


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

I've used Kadee #1 scale couplers for 20+ years, and they've proven to be virtually bulletproof. Most all of my equipment uses the #820 coupler pocket. I've used some of smaller and/or cheaper Kadee mounts in the past, but have found the "standard" pocket to have some significant advantages over the others. First is coupler swing. These couplers have a good amount of side-to-side swing which is of considerable importance on long equipment--especially going through S curves or when coupled to a locomotive with either more or less overhang going through curves. The second advantage is simplicity in mounting. Give me a flat spot and two screws, and I've got a mounted coupler. While the #822 couplers (straight shank, no mount included) were cheaper, the $3 you saved was more than lost in time and energy devising your own mounts for the things. The other advantage of the standard coupler pocket is that the coupler has a degree of springing to it, so when your train starts out, it's less strain on the remaining cars in the train. Because the 1:20 cars I run are heavier than most other cars, I double up on the springs to make them just a bit stiffer. 

Later, 

K


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Gettin' kind of personal there aren't ya.?????


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## bruce a m (Jan 2, 2008)

I use the Aristo-Craft couplers on all my locos and cars. Bruce


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Kadee because I can make them work on anything and "G-scale" (rather than Gauge 1), because they are more secure and give you more room for "slop" between railcars.


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## nkelsey (Jan 4, 2008)

Kadee on everything except the logging equipment which is link and pin.


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## GarryNCGRR (Jan 18, 2008)

Body mounted Kadee on all engines and cars.

Garry...........NCGRR


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## W3NZL (Jan 2, 2008)

Switched to body mount Kadees over 50 years ago, continued the practice in "G", 
use 95% 820s, and an occasional 821, or 819 package... There was a poll done 
here on MLS, a couple years back I think... It was K-D by a mile with Aristo a 
distant 2nd, and then a bunch of "also rans"...
Paul R...


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## Joe Johnson (Jan 2, 2008)

I started out with standardizing on Kadees. All my new stuff is Accucraft, While AC is my new standard, I'm not in a hurry to change out the old Kadees because they do play well together. 

The only exceptions are the hand built cars pulled by my Shay. Just couldn't pull knuckles behind the a Shay. That would be sacrilegious


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## Paradise (Jan 9, 2008)

Posted By eddie on 02/24/2008 6:21 PM
so whats your favorite coupler?/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif


I have many favourite couplers.
They are the ones that behave as in thier own definition - Ones that stay coupled ! /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gif


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