# Aristo-Craft couplers 29200/29199



## TheFishGuy (Feb 1, 2011)

what's the difference between aristo-craft 29200 couplers and aristo-craft 29199? 

Those aristo-craft couplers are the cats a$$, you can literally hang cars from one another without them coming undone! LOL, I know, I've tried... I'm changing all my stock and engines over to them and just found the 29199 for a heck of a lot cheaper... Just curious if anyone knows the difference...


----------



## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Same coupler. 29199 is a 12 pack 29200 is just a pair.


----------



## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

ok, so these couplers are strong. 

But do you still have to slam the two cars together to get them to couple like the old Aristo Craft couplers? 

If so, no thanks. 

I'll keep my Kadees


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Aristo couplers have 3 things that make them inferior to Kadee couplers: 

1. the one that Randy mentioned, often taking "bashing" to couple 
2. that there is no remote uncoupling (the LGB unit is not reliable with AC couplers, nor weatherproof) 
3. that the couplers wear over time and "let go" on their own. 

Kadees do not have any of the 3 negatives above. 

Not the fault of the couplers, but they come "mounted" from the factory in all kinds of different heights, usually due to variations in manufacturing, which causes coupling problems. 

They do have some advantages, on poor trackwork, and with severe mismatches in height, once coupled, they can hang in there more tenaciously than other couplers. 

Regards, Greg


----------



## W3NZL (Jan 2, 2008)

U left out a couple of things Greg, their w-a-a-y oversized, and their not body mounted...
Paul R...


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Well, the Kadee G scale couplers are oversize too (not as bad as the Aristo), so I did not want to get in a war with Kevin, nor did I want to get into the issues of using the #1 size, since many people have layouts that cannot handle them (and not have an additional war with Kevin on this point). 

So, you are right, but I kinda ducked that one.









On the body mounts, I also agree, and I was going to mention that, but then someone would say that some Aristo couplers are body mounted (on locos), and that you CAN body mount them, and then of course we have another war about the difference in having a real draft gearbox like Kadee, or the lame way of just putting a single screw in the end of an Aristo. 

So, again you are right, but I also ducked that one too.









Greg


----------



## eheading (Jan 5, 2008)

I would not disagree with Greg and his comments. He has far more experience in this arena than I have. However, I can share with you my personal experience. I do not have to "slam" my cars together to get them to couple, and even though I run my trains most every day, and some are over 8 years ago, I have yet to experience the "letting go" problem that some folks seem to experience. I have been very happy with the Aristo couplers, and have essentially standardized on them for all of the rolling stock I have. I agree with your observations; for my personal use, they have performed very well over the years. 

Ed


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

In good shape, they will couple relatively easily, but not without a good solid bang... the kadees will couple as soon as the knuckles overlap and you can do it without even moving the other car. 

After a while, when working heavy loads, they can wear and come apart. 

If you don't run longer trains, then this may never happen... 

Also newer couplers have a better plastic, so recently they have been better, except for the first batch that came from the new Sanda Kan factory, the GP40's were the first things built there, and they had a lot of problems, including the couplers, so that was a low point. 

Greg


----------



## TheFishGuy (Feb 1, 2011)

Interesting... 

Thanks Paul for answering my question.  I appreciate it! 

As for all the other comments... My five and seven year old boys and I just want to see the trains run and count the cars as they go by. 
My layout is small and simple and no where near level. The grades change with the land and we tried to get the track as level as possible from left to right. 
We got thrown into garden trains when a customer gave me a set that included an F3 A/B about ten cars and 60' of track. We now have seven engines (one steam, but not live steam), about 25 cars and over 300' of track. 
Size/scale/color of the coupler doesn't matter to us on JDM railways, only performance. All of the stock we got for free had kaydee couplers but they were old and did not function properly due to corrosion. After buying three tanker cars on eBay that had stock couplers we decided to go in that direction. Let me explain why. My son (who just turned four at the time) picked up a car and another was dangling from it. After running towards him yelling no no no no no I had decided those were the couplers for us! LOL 
We've only had our outdoor layout for about a month... So we're newbies... 
Some day when dad's got time to make the big layout and take his time to make it level and have prototypical grades and such we may switch to different couplers. But as it stands for the moment and the near future, we love what we have and we're having a blast running the trains when I get home from work every day!


----------



## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

The criticisms are true, but I still use almost all aristo couplers. Yes, they're too big, they often have to be whacked together to couple, and they sometimes let go. They're very reliable on lousy track, and they're easy to uncouple. They can be body mounted--as Greg said, not well, but it works--and they look better if you cut them down to make them couple more closely. They mate reliably with USAT and AML couplers.

I've often thought of switching to kadees but they seem too finicky to me


----------



## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

I had too many Arsito knuckles uncouple and I changed to Kadee and have never had an issue. 

Another thing I prefer for Kadee over Aristo is that aristo only mounts to aristo without modifing the mount/coupler!!! 

LGB, Bachmann, USA trains all have the same coupler mount and LGB knuckles fit on all of these with no modifications as do the hook and loops from these 3. 
Sure these are truck mounted, but at least these are compatible with each other. and with Kadee. 

Note, HLW is a different mount then all the above.


----------



## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

@import url(http://www.mylargescale.com/Provide...ad.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(/providers/htmleditorproviders/cehtmleditorprovider/dnngeneral.css); I've had no trouble getting aristo knuckles to couple to USAT's metal couplers and AML's knuckles, also the old Lionel knuckles. But you can't actually "operate" them--you need to close both couplers then bring the Aristo knuckle under the other brand. The aristo coupler has a little "shelf" on the bottom designed to compensate for height differences, and so the aristo knuckle has to come up from below for it to work. Once they're coupled, they stay coupled. 

I readily admit all their faults--they're a "sloppy" alternative. All of mine, with a couple exceptions, are truck-mounted. But I insist you can reliably couple them to other brands


----------



## TheFishGuy (Feb 1, 2011)

Do you all think there's a market for my old kaydees?


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yes, I have several friends that sell their old Aristo couplers on ebay when they convert to Kadee, and if you buy right, you can at least break even, and since Aristo sometimes runs out, you can often make a profit doing this! 

Greg


----------



## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Fish 

I have mostly the old style Kadees. 

If I purchase new Kaydees I will get the new design but I am not going to replace the old style Kadees I already have in place. 

If the price was right and I was looking to purchase more Kaydees, I would buy the old style for my use.


----------



## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

Speaking of Kadees, how does the new G scale coupler head scale out compared to the older style head?


----------



## TheFishGuy (Feb 1, 2011)

So you think it's worth listing the kaydee couplers on eBay then. That's cool because my wife just text me that our new couplers came! Gee... What am I doing this evening? Lol What do you think I'll get for a pair of kaydees?


----------



## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

You're a first class member here on MLS. 

Why not list the couplers in the classifieds here? 

No listing or selling fees. 

New kadees sell for around $6.69 a pair new. 

I'd list good used Kadees for $3.00 a pair and see if you don't sell them all.


----------



## TheFishGuy (Feb 1, 2011)

Couplers in action 
youtube.com/watch?v=T6a6x1ij5eE


----------



## TheFishGuy (Feb 1, 2011)

Let me try this again.... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6a6x1ij5eE


----------



## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Well I also use all AC couplers and am very happy with the way they work. Also I do not have to spend a lot of time installing Kadee couplers and also not have the added expense of doing so. Yep they maybe over sized but as we say who gives a Rats A as I'm the only one that sees and plays with the trains. Later RJD


----------



## TheFishGuy (Feb 1, 2011)

Good news, bad news and good news... 
Good news is I now have all my stock equipped with AC couplers, bad news is I dislocated my right shoulder, and the good news is since I can't work I had plenty of time to get them installed and list and sell all my other couplers! Lol 

I also added weight to all my rolling stock making every car three pounds. I used a digital scale ( my wife calls it the crack scale) to dial them all in. Now the kids can choose what ever order they want the cars to go in. I used sand and zip lock baggies to add the weight. In most cars I tried to put the weight right over the trucks. Does anyone else do that?


----------



## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Why are you adding weight to the car bodies--is it to make them track better? You could accomplish the same thing more effectively by adding metal wheels to the cars


----------



## TheFishGuy (Feb 1, 2011)

The cars have metal wheels, but some are much lighter than others and I don't want to have to put them in a specific order ie heavier cars first.


----------



## Ted Doskaris (Oct 7, 2008)

Amber wrote: "Speaking of Kadees, how does the new G scale coupler head scale out compared to the older style head?"


Amber, 


See the "New" coupler in Kadee 980 gauge on the left and "traditional" coupler in Kadee 880 gauge on the right.

Top view:









Side view:









See article title:, " *Kadee 880 Coupler Height Gauge Measurements Vignette* "

-Ted


----------



## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The look of the coupler is more realistic on the newer ones in my opinion:


----------



## Bob in Kalamazoo (Apr 2, 2009)

Maybe I'm just too old and my eyesight isn't what it used to be, but at 10 feet, I just don't see enough difference to care.
Bob


----------



## W3NZL (Jan 2, 2008)

Ur right Bob, the difference is more "eyewash" than anything else, certainly nothing to get excited over, 
I have absolutely no intention of changing out 250-300 pair of the old ones for the new type...
Paul R...


----------



## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

I use the #1 scale kadees and do like the look of the new style but do have a minor problem with them. I use a long skinney screw driver that I poke down between the couplers and then give a quick twist to uncouple. Easy with the old style but quite a bit trickier with the new ones.


----------

