I have a small box full of non KaDee couplers. Last night as I was doing some switching in the yard I thought about a work train I have sitting on 2 short tracks in a corner of my yard. It has been there for probably close to 10 years not moved. The reason is that like the 1:1 railroads it is rarely needed. More than that is it has hook horn couplers. What about all of those junk knuckle couplers.

Throw them in a Gondola and pretend they are scrap, spare parts, whatever. That's what I intend to do with the collection I've amassed over the years.

Donate them to me!!!

Hi Gang,

I'm doing an "Introduction to Model Railroading" class at the end of February. Here at the North York Central Library.

The craft is to build an HO scale boxcar from cardstock and wood.

I need 40 sets of old talgo trucks with the horn/hook [xf2] couplers so that hopefully we'll have a few boxcars able to run at the end of the project.

This will be much easier and quicker to do than trying to get a bunch of 8-12 year olds to body mount kaydees and separate trucks.

Thanks!

TinGoat Wrote:Donate them to me!!!

Hi Gang,

I'm doing an "Introduction to Model Railroading" class at the end of February. Here at the North York Central Library.

The craft is to build an HO scale boxcar from cardstock and wood.

I need 40 sets of old talgo trucks with the horn/hook [xf2] couplers so that hopefully we'll have a few boxcars able to run at the end of the project.

This will be much easier and quicker to do than trying to get a bunch of 8-12 year olds to body mount kaydees and separate trucks.

Thanks!

I would if I had them. I am talking about KaDee wanabees. I cant remember the last time I saw truck mounted,sorry

I'll look though my "JUNK" box ... there just may be a few Talgo trucks with X2F couplers in them ... just maybe!

It's pretty easy to accumulate a sizeable collection of non-Kadee couplers - for quite some time, most kits and cheaper r-t-r stuff came with those X2F "horn/hooks. Accurail and several others include Accu-mate couplers with theirs and many others include McHenry or McHenry-clone knuckle couplers on their r-t-r.
I put X2Fs directly into my shop bucket of recycleable plastic, along with McKeans that have the leaf-type knuckle springs (after removing the metal trip pins, of course). The Accu-mates go to someone who uses them. The McKeans with the coil springs in the knuckles remain in service, and are especially useful for tight clearance installations, like locomotive pilots. Their integral plastic centering springs often require no draught gear box, and I have bought them strictly for this type of application. I've yet to have one fail, even on heavy trains.
I also had quite a collection of dummy couplers, both plastic and cast metal (they were once quite common, and included with many kits) and a large selection of brass ones from brass steamers that I converted to Kadees. When I started in HO in the late '50s, my first trains had the old mechanically operated Kadees - they look similar to the #5, and still work with any of the current Kadees for coupling. However, for uncoupling, they used a small raiseable diamond-shaped ramp in the track, which spread the trip pins apart - the trip pins were a straight wire, protruding from the bottom of the last bend in the coupler's knuckle - a much less obvious method than the current "air hose" type. They worked great, but provided no "delayed" operation and were phased out. When they were no longer available, I bought #5s, clipping off that ugly "air hose" with side cutters and resorting to the 0-5-0 for uncoupling. While I now use Kadees with their trip pins intact, those older ones, minus the straight trip pins, remain on some MoW equipment.
Here's one of the older-style Kadees:


...and something I picked-up a couple of weeks ago at the LHS:


While these are plastic, I had several pairs in metal, donated many years ago to someone who still used them. The coupler has the same shank style as the older Kadee, and is installed with its mounting pin just behind the crosspiece in the shank. The small centering spring is then installed between the mounting pin and the rear of the shank's slot. An alternate mounting method calls for the crosspiece to be removed, with a second spring installed between the mounting pin and the front of the opening.




I never used this style, so can't comment on its reliability, but it's a much more prototypical size and shape (less the actuating pin) than the Kadee.
Now, Kadee offers couplers to fit almost anything, and for those rare situations where one's not offered, they're fairly easy to modify to suit the application.

Wayne

Lester Perry Wrote:What about all of those junk knuckle couplers.

put them between two slices of bread........would give a whole new meaning to the phrase " Knuckle Sandwich "

Once I started using KaDee couplers, everything else went "by the board", "Deep Sixed". I haven't, yet, come across any application that could be accomplished with any of those old couplers..........and if there should be, I might have some old rolling stock that may still have old couplers........then again, I might not.

Sumpter250 Wrote: put them between two slices of bread........would give a whole new meaning to the phrase " Knuckle Sandwich "

I still unashamedly use talgo trucks and horn hook couplers on a lot of rolling stock in "through trains" that don't set out cars. Over the years I've converted a number of my cars to magnetic couplers and only buy flea market cars that have them now. I also don't photograph those cars. I have a few cars that are "converter cars" with a horn hook coupler on one end and a magnetic coupler on the other....

Ralph

Everything I have is changed to a Kadee and I should be going to a scale head coupler...but I still have a 20 pack of the standard heads.

If it is a plastic scale head coupler I keep them for decoration, lineside detail or place them on cars I am seliing off. Evertything else goes in the round file, I have enough projects and things I am going to use to keep around a bunch of stuff I have no need for.

Greg I can relate to having enough to do and I will add enough junk. However for some unknown reason I have kept these things. So now I am using them or at least some of them. I also use them for a junk pile as tetters suggested. I have 2 gondolas of them. Usually a pile outside the shops and some in a gondola being loaded . A full gondola somewhere on the layout in transit which will be emptied when it reaches its destination. the gondola then returns to shop to be reloaded with scrap iron again.

I always keep a couple on hand. Never know when you're going to need one, or two, such as here. These were EZ Mates replaced with KD's
[attachment=6698]




As far as the horn hooks, I have a drawer full of them. Well since my Rivorossi Big Boy still has horn hooks, and I model modern times and water tanks are non-exsistant along the CNE route, I made a transition car from an old three dome tank car for water for the thirsty Big Boy(When I bought it, it came complete with KD's), and replaced one KD with a horn hook.
[attachment=6697]
[attachment=6696]

88...That's got to be the shortest storage track on record..!! With a bumper, even...!!!!

I've got a few of the original "scale" couplers, like the ones Dr. W. posted. They were originally on the RS my ol' man had back in the 50's...They have all been converted to KD 4's and 5's. All new RS get KD5's.
I chuck the X2F's in the round "file"...

I have a pile of horn hooks myself. the only thing they're good for are trains that don't need to be uncoupled (like long sets of ore cars, or other special situations). In most case, the horn hooks will reliably hold the cars together without looking TOO weird (since they're buried between cars).

that said, I don't think i have a single "good" piece of rolling stock still equipped with X2F couplers. even my oldest stuff appears to have been replaced with Kadees before i got much of it.

Green_Elite_Cab Wrote:I have a pile of horn hooks myself. the only thing they're good for are trains that don't need to be uncoupled (like long sets of ore cars, or other special situations). In most case, the horn hooks will reliably hold the cars together without looking TOO weird (since they're buried between cars).
.

How do you back up