couplers

[Green_Elite_Cab]

The horn-hooks get a bad reputation mostly because the look weird. But they also are sometimes problematic when backing, and more difficult to uncouple without lifting one car off the rails. But for just pulling a train foreword around a loop, the horn hooks may actually have less spontaneous uncoupling. When I first started putting Kadee #5 on cars, I was a little frustrated with the spontaneous uncoupling. My layout had 18" curves, #4 turnouts, and some rough trackwork. The Kadees were a little less forgiving with the less than-perfect-track. The horn-hooks have a substantial little barb on the end of the "hook" that keeps the couplers engaged. The Kadees have a smaller "barb", but require a little bronze spring to keep the knuckle closed and the cars coupled.

I use the horn hooks occasionally. I actually still use them on my Tank-Train kits, mostly because i ran out of kadees, but the rubber tubes between tank cars act as a buffer, and they remove alot of the problems associated with the horn hook couplers. Since i have roughly 13 of these cars, that is instance where i'd go right through a bulk pack of kadees in no time.