04-12-2011, 10:57 AM
P5se Camelback Wrote:Sarge ...
In the beginning there were dummy couplers. And God saw that while they were prototypical looking, but were dumb, and didn't operate.
Then some "brilliant" hobbiest came up with the X2F (all new, cool stuff back then started with an "X," like the Bell/North American X-15 experimental aircraft) and the X2F operated (sort of) but they were very large and very Ugly.
Then two brothers in Oregon (Initials "K" and "D") developed a coupler that although a little larger than the prototype in scale, they did in fact operate ... and quite nicely! They patented their coupler.
BiL, if I'm not mistaken, Kadees pre-dated the X2F - I've been using Kadees since my first HO scale trains in the '50s and have never used the X2F couplers. When it was presented as a "recommended standard" by the NMRA, it seemed to me, even as a child, to be a dumb choice. I didn't realise then, of course, that economics played a large role in that decision. Any that I get nowadays go into my waste basket, the one reserved for plastic for recycling.
Not all Kadees are metal, either, and I often use their plastic ones on the pilots of brass steamers - they're easy to modify (usually by cutting-off the shank and re-drilling to suit the particular installation) and stand-up well operationally.
Wayne