Kadee couplings, how they work and installing

Рет қаралды 87,029

keepcalm makestuff

8 жыл бұрын

change of video, want to have hand free uncoupling on my layout, so vid on how they work and installing them

Пікірлер: 68

@w.rustylane5650 7 ай бұрын

I model the Central of Georgia railroad since I used to live in Jonesboro, GA. I bought a couple of Atlas GP-7s from another modeler in the Central of Georgia livery and he had never run them. When I got them they looked brand new and absolutely no wheel wear. I got them for $75.00 each. I've never paid more than $120.00 for an engine. I started collecting HO gauge back in the middle 80's but never really thought about modeling any certain railroad. Now things have changed and I'm getting an Atlas RS-3 in the Central of Georgia livery for Christmas along with a Kadee boxcar in the CofG livery. I also just got my very first brass diesel, a Fairbanks-Morse H-12-44 in the CofG livery. Back in the 80's I mostly bought Athearn engines and I hope the Atlas engines will perform as well as the Athearn ones as they are quite robust and keep on rolling. I recently started collecting Lionel 027 as I got the very same Lionel train set I had when I was a kid from my cousin. My train set got left behind in the attic when we moved from Hephzibah, GA. I couldn't believe my cousin had the exact same one and I sure was happy to get that set. I've now collected enough to make a 027 layout with 4 steam engines and 1 Texas Special diesel F-3. I think I have a couple dozen rolling stock to go with what I have. Oh yeah, I'm a DC guy only as I hate the sound of HO gauge DCC. I will probably end up weathering my brand new engines. I just don't like seeing pristine engines/rolling stock on the layout. Yeah, I have a section of track (about 1 ft. or 14 in.) on top of roadbed with a Kadee coupler height tool mounted on it so I can check coupler height on all my rolling stock & engines. Did you know that the back of the height tool can be used to see if your car body is at the right height? You have to check the body height with no coupler in place or it will hit the back of the tool. I just found about this the other day. If the car body will just slip over the end it is at the correct height. Then all ya gotta do is add a coupler & draft box. Instead of using the Kadee magnets, neodymium (rare earth) magnets can be used much more reliably. Since I'm a DC only guy I changed out all the magnets on my open frame (Pittman) motors with rare earth magnets (neodymium) and it made a HUGE difference in current draw and now my old Mantua Pacific's will "creep" around the tracks. I also changed all couplers to body mounted Kadee couplers and changed out all plastic wheels with Walthers Proto 2000 metal wheel sets. Cost a good chunk of $$ to do nearly 100 pieces of rolling stock. Another trick I learned is after mounting the coupler draft box and Kadee coupler, put an itsy bit of super glue next to one side of the draft box and chassis and a little itsy drop of super glue on part of the screw and draft box. That will ensure that the draft box will not move nor will the screw move. Another trick is if you glue two pieces of plastic together, make sure you use an X-acto knife (I use A-proxo knife) and scribe hash marks on both pieces to ensure a good bond. I try to never glue on draft boxes and use my Kadee drill and tap for a 256 screw. I've even drilled through the metal weights to add a screw to the draft box. Guarantee they will never come off. I've also had a some screws come through (like on a flat car) and used the Dremel to cut off the protruding screw and then paint it black or same color of the body. Cheers from eastern TN

@gordonmcillroy455 5 жыл бұрын

For somebody thinking of starting out in the hobby post retirement this was a very useful guide. How things have changed over the early years. I have now seen this in operation on a friends layout and it works very well indeed.

@keepcalmmakestuff732 5 жыл бұрын

Hi there, they Do take a bit of setting up, but once done they are so nice to use

@trmn311 4 жыл бұрын

Very good presentation. I’m an American “O” gauge modeler but I have a small HO track I run some HO and OO on. I’m not terribly worried about being that prototypical but in my opinion the Kadee’s look much better and the ease of use is worth it alone for OO rolling stock.

@MrKWiley918 4 жыл бұрын

I am a huge fan of Kadee now. Just replaced my entire fleet (5 cars and a loco) using the #1030 starter kit. I needed to provide to cement and the drill bit /drill but was otherwise complete. It did come with the gauge and trip pin pliers, as well as 2 pr of uncoupler magnets... If your going to convert or start new, buy this first.

@alanclarke4646 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the vid. Very informative. I'll have to get some Kadees now...

@dodgydruid 3 жыл бұрын

Southern Region trains all had buckeyes as standard and they could be dropped to expose the hook for the traditional bar and loop couplers. Its why SR emu stock at cab end it was the "pullman" bar that did the buffering and the buffers were retracted. Some of the Thumpers instead of having a gangway connector just had a buffered pullman bar at end of the non driving coaches instead of the single buffer the EPB's had.

@hartleymartin 5 жыл бұрын

I find that if you bend the tail of the trip pin slightly upward and outward it makes the coupling a whole lot more reliable.

@ScottishNSRailFan 5 жыл бұрын

Enjoyable viewing. I have some HO locos by MTH in my collection and they have the coupler controlled by the hand set. Simply amazing.

@keepcalmmakestuff732 5 жыл бұрын

Hi, thanks for the comment, do you have any videos of them as I would like to see how IT'S DONE!!!

@samiam619 5 жыл бұрын

That’s interesting but that only allows you to uncouple the engine from the first car, Kaydee couplers allow cars in the middle of the string to uncouple...

@MysteriousMystery33 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for making this video. I live in the us and have been interested in hornby british stuff for some time now and I thought it would be cool to see if kadee couplers would work

@keepcalmmakestuff732 2 жыл бұрын

glad u liked it Noah, pretty much all Hornby stuff can be converted newer stuff in seconds older stuff may need a bit more work, and there are some useful 3d printed adapters on ebay as well

@csxbaltimoresubdivision7746 6 жыл бұрын

nice install video, I need to install uncoupleing on my layout, thank you God bless.....

@keepcalmmakestuff732 6 жыл бұрын

Hi there, Thanks for the comments and subscribed and will catch up with your vids

@baboonmcgoon6605 7 жыл бұрын

Very informative video. Many thanks.

@keepcalmmakestuff732 7 жыл бұрын

glad you found it helpfull!!!!

@keepcalmmakestuff732 8 жыл бұрын

hello Ray, I am in the process of making one soon!!

@paulredding5864 3 жыл бұрын

Good video Ray. I am looking at KDs as I am building alot of wagons now as RTR arE just too high price . KD dont make it easy with their numbering system eg they have 416 for say long shank with pockets then use 17 18 and 19 for NEM style. I will take the plunge for some of them and maybe get the 1030 starter pack as that includes the gauge and pliers.

@ericsainte290 4 жыл бұрын

I went for a more simple approach. I used spare NEM coupler pockets from Bachmann with either tension lock or european bucle coupkers and created a lasercut adapter to glue under the wagon. I simply remove the old Triang or Hornby coupling and glue the NEM coupler with my homemade receptacle in place. It's then just the case of inserting the kadee for nem pocket and there we go.

@keepcalmmakestuff732 4 жыл бұрын

Evening Eric, since doing these vids I have found Dapol sell packs of NEM sockets and couplings in packs of 40, and that saves a whole bunch of time simply screw the NEM to the wagon insert kadee done!!!! , they even come with screws, sometimes i still have to pack them out but its alot easier, and I am not lucky enough to have access to a laser cutter!!!!!

@ericsainte290 4 жыл бұрын

@@keepcalmmakestuff732 thanks for the info. I'll be sure to check their website for it and hopefully buy some next year in Ally Pally.

@CZ350tuner 5 жыл бұрын

You can simply use uncoupling ramps with tension lock couplings. In the UK the US style "Buckeye" couplings are only used on coaching stock and fixed rake bogie hopper wagons (which have 3 link and buffers at the end wagons).

@keepcalmmakestuff732 5 жыл бұрын

Hi Andy, uncoupling ramps have a disadvantage once you have left the ramp they re-couple, The beauty of Kadees is the fact that you can once uncoupled you can then push/propel a wagon to any position without it coupling back up( great for shunting), Tension locks also tend to leave a massive gap inbetween stock, which is much improved with Kadee's, At our club we have some big layouts that we take to Exhibitions and trying to take apart a 10 coach rake at 5pm at the end of the day with tension locks is grief, the advantage of Kadees is that you just lift them up!!!.I have been using them for quite a while now and I would not go back to tension locks,!!!, disadvantage is cost and set up they take a bit of time to set up

@samiam619 4 жыл бұрын

A well traveled Yank here, been to all of GB a couple of times. Anyway, we don’t call them Buckeye, (that’s someone from the State of Ohio) we call them knuckle couplers. Good video, enjoyed it.

@beeble2003 3 жыл бұрын

@@samiam619 They're referred to as "Buckeye couplers" because that specific design was originally made by Buckeye Steel Castings, in Columbus, OH. They were the main manufacturer of them for the small UK market, so the name stuck here; in the US, Buckeye was just one of many manufacturers so their name wasn't particularly associated with what is generically known as a Janney coupler but, as you say, normally just a knuckle coupler.

@ronclark9724 7 жыл бұрын

Americans used to use hook and horns couplers in HO scale and Rapid couplers in N scale until the Kadee couplers replaced them by the modelers at first, and then later also by the manufacturers with their own make. In the same manner many of the British are doing the conversion, Americans have been there, done that. Americans tend to model freight operations more than the British, and design their layouts accordingly. These Kadee couplers make shunting operations possible without the used of your hands. The key to successful shunting operations is to place a magnet before the point leading into the sidings. You don't have to put magnets everywhere.

@keepcalmmakestuff732 7 жыл бұрын

Hi Ron, the US have got the buckeye coupling nailed, we are a bit behind in our use of it and me personally now that I have used them I dont think I would go back to tension lock!!!!, The only thing I wish they would do is under and over shank for NEM pocket couplings, they do it for their draft gearbox it would make my job alot easier, operation wise we dont tend to have massive frieght terminals as they do in America, we had some hump yards that where big but my layout is tiny in comparrison so for operation purposes i needed more than one, as it is a terminus the loco has to run around so it will always be pulling so putting one at the throat of my layout may not have worked, At the small goods yard I have then yes it would be ok.

@ronclark9724 7 жыл бұрын

The United States has a lot of freight, agricultural and natural resources, that ship hundreds of miles, if not thousands, from the central part of the country to sea ports on either of their sea coasts. Where as in the UK much of the similar freight is ship less than a hundred miles to a sea port and then shipped to another port or another county's port. After all Great Britain is a island. British friends I have were astonished of the huge corn belt of America's Midwest around Chicago. Every farm it seems within a several hundred miles of Chicago grows corn, or soybean, or oats, if not all three cash crops. And then going west to the Rockies there is another few hundred miles of another cash crop, wheat... The apples and cherries of Washington state, the vegetables and fruits of California, are shipped by reefer trains across America to its east coast in a few days, they are not shipped by sea through the Panama Canal in two weeks. You could throw in Canada with similar freight. The North American continent is not a island the size of the one state of California... Amtrak and Via are still around with a few long distance national passenger trains routes, but 99 percent of our trains today involve freight/goods. Even if HSR does receive more investment, worldwide HSR works best for distances of less than 500 miles, if not 300 miles. At over 3000 miles, no one is going to ride a HSR train which will take more than 21 hours from LA to NY, if not more, when they can fly that same distance in less than 6 hours. There never will be a US or Canada investment in a transcontinental HSR...

@ronclark9724 7 жыл бұрын

I have a small 6 feet by 4 feet layout, about the same size as the Hornby TrackMatt. I can get two ovals with two sidings off the oval, one outside and one inside. The inside siding does a 180 degree hook, to avoid using 1st radius curves I placed a straight on both ends of the main ovals. The middle siding leads to a small Inglenook yard with two sets of points. So I can do long distance running on the ovals with two trains, and shunt to my heart's content with the small Inglenook yard. Just enough to keep me busy with my trains without getting bored...

@samiam619 4 жыл бұрын

Ron Clark god, I HATE Rapido couplers! I have an old Kadee n scale (old enough to be Kadee) with factory equipped Rapido couplers installed. It WILL be converted...

@beeble2003 3 жыл бұрын

"Americans tend to model freight operations more than the British" Depends on the era. Modern British railways are basically all unit freight but anything set before about 1985 will likely have plenty of freight ops. British (prototype) trains mostly use variants of chain couplers, which means that a model will either be using chain couplers (which are a pain in the butt) or will be using something unrealistic. Tension lock couplers are easy to make and trivial to set up, so they're the manufacturers' default choice of unrealistic coupler. If they moved to Kadee, the result would be that models would be more expensive and require more care to set up. In the US, the extra effort is worth it, because Kadee couplers look fairly realistic. In the UK, Kadee doesn't have that advantage: it's just an alternative unrealistic coupling system. It does have a lot of advantages but, at the end of the day, it still looks nothing like the coupler you'll see if you go outdoors and look at a British train.

@Shinyspddmn 5 жыл бұрын

from what I could gather, for anyone watching this who doesn't know, "OO" is 1/76 scale and "HO" is 1/87scale, not a big difference, but it's there

@atlantaman 8 жыл бұрын

Very useful. I have old Hornby, Lima, Mainline, Airfix etc stuff with tension types. If you do succeed in converting to KD, please do another video explaining how. Much appreciated. :)

@keepcalmmakestuff732 8 жыл бұрын

hello thanks for the comments, the older mainline and Lima stuff actually converts quite easy,my intention is a video this week

@SeatedViper 6 жыл бұрын

I have a mixture of new stock, with the NEM pockets, and very old stock (such as Farish from about 40 years ago). Using Mr Keep Calm's videos as a guide, it is VERY easy to do the conversion. Good luck, and greetings from Southampton!

@billvassar7473 5 жыл бұрын

Kadee also makes a trip pin pliers to adjust the pin.

@keepcalmmakestuff732 5 жыл бұрын

Hi Bill, you are right, I have managed to get some and they work well,

@ewoodrailway 3 жыл бұрын

Great video, just did the exact same thing as you ..just wandering if you can paint the magnet to disguise it on the layout?

@keepcalmmakestuff732 3 жыл бұрын

with a bit of imagination it would be possible to paint a planked effect on them, don't think it would effect operation

@jameshennighan8193 7 жыл бұрын

The Kay Dee couplings bear a remarkable similarity to the older Hornby Dublo couplings, which were metal. I suspect that is the true heritage of the Kay Dee couplings anyway, but they obviously have the added refinement of the uncoupling pin which works as it crosses the fixed magnet. As a child when I had Hornby Dublo, I always thought their coupling was superior to what was then, in the UK, the other type of coupling then available that was fitted to Triang and which became known as the Tension Lock coupler. I always regarded the Triang coupler as a bit of a fiddly thing and rather difficult to uncouple, certainly by hand. The older Hornby Dublo couplings can and should be adjusted to a few critical angles and this can be done, with care, with a small pair of pliars. The later Hornby Dublo style couplings in plastic cannot be adjusted, but then they don't really need to be because they do not sustain the slight damage and bending which the metal ones are susceptible to over the years with knocks and bumps.........the plastic ones can only break........but they do seem remarkably tough and it would be a hell of a knock, perhaps by carelessly dropping a wagon or coach, that caused the plastic one to break. Just a couple of observations in the coupling debate....!

@keepcalmmakestuff732 7 жыл бұрын

Hi James, There is a huge similarity between them you are right, It makes me wonder why as a nation the tension became the norm,(reminds me of the whole betamax/vhs debate!!!!), I now find tension lock hugely frustrating to operate, Hand of God reaching over a layout puts me off!!!!!, the look is not the only resemblance as the kadee also needs to be precisely adjusted to function correctly as they too can be bent through use, once set up though they are a joy to use, It can be a bit pricey to change all your couplings over as they aint cheap.

@beeble2003 3 жыл бұрын

@@keepcalmmakestuff732 Tension lock became the norm just because it's cheap to make and you don't have to set it up precisely to work properly. Kadee is more expensive to make and also requires the height of the couplers to be set fairly precisely. For US use, Kadee has the advantage of looking like the couplers on real trains, but that doesn't apply in the UK. (OK, Kadee looks much better than tension lock, but it still looks nothing like a real train.)

@raymondleggs5508 3 жыл бұрын

You could just have a "shorty" flatcar with a Kadee on one end and a Tension lock/NEM on the other

@lawrencejneuser8801 3 жыл бұрын

# 5's work on just about any rolling stock

@mattseymour8637 3 жыл бұрын

Great video! Useful and informative. How do you stop the magnet uncoupling the train when it goes over it when you don't want it uncoupling?

@keepcalmmakestuff732 3 жыл бұрын

Cheers for the comments, when the train is underway the tension in the coupling when pulled stops it, if pushed providing you dont stop the coupling does not come apart and will stay coupled once clear of magnet, flat track is important, if the magnet is in a dip In the track they may uncouple if the trailing wagon catches up over the magnet!!!!! Hope that makes sense!!!!!,

@mattseymour8637 3 жыл бұрын

@@keepcalmmakestuff732 thanks for the info. But if the loco goes over the magnet constantly on a main track not siding what stops it uncoupling the train? Does it only uncouple when going over it slowly?

@keepcalmmakestuff732 3 жыл бұрын

@@mattseymour8637 providing there is tension on the coupling ie weight of train it will remain coupled they only uncouple when they are pushed together over a magnet, if there is enough drag/ weight on the train it should never uncouple, the tension prevents the pins from moving over

@TheFrogfeeder 3 жыл бұрын

@@mattseymour8637 let me explain it in American ;) ... tension keeps the cars coupled over the magnet during regular operation. you would need to stop the cars/couplers directly over the magnet then back the train up slightly to relieve the tension in the couplers, then they will uncouple and you can pull the train forward again.

@rhiwderinraytube 8 жыл бұрын

There is a surprising lack of video for conversion of old Hornby couplings (non-NEM type) to Kadee. If you have now converted could you please make another video to show how you did it? Ta Ray

@ronclark9724 7 жыл бұрын

As he will show in the other video, with much of the rolling stock and locos there isn't much choice other than to cut and file away the older coupler. A touch of black paints helps. As for the plastic cards he is using as a washer, Kadee sells plastic washers in different heights as well that work with their coupler box mounts.

@trerod 6 жыл бұрын

Can this system be used on modern Hornby/Bachmann coaching stock ?

@kennyball3956 6 жыл бұрын

yes....just make sure u get the correct fittings as there r a few differefnt designs for different wagons and as per the vid u may hav to cobble something together for older or unusal makes of models.....plenty vids about this subject....as it is a big task to swap all ur rolling stock its worth a visit to a good model store where all the help ull need will be given to u im sure

@keepcalmmakestuff732 6 жыл бұрын

Hello Trevor, The modern "stuff" is quite easy if they are fitted with NEM pockets check out my other video its got a bit more info on the subject

@opensesame525 5 жыл бұрын

Can you use these Kadee couplings on locomotives as well as wagons

@keepcalmmakestuff732 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching, if you have the NEM pockets on the loco then yes they go straight in!!!!, if no NEM then it is a bit of a pain, Most newer British manufactured RTR has pockets so its just a bit of fine tuning, some of the older mainline/hornby/bachmann are difficult I am lucky in that most of the stuff I run is easy to fit, I try to steer clear of older stuff!!!!!

@keepcalmmakestuff732 8 жыл бұрын

I have made a follow on video to this for older stock if anybody is interested( see keep calm carry on.

@HungryGuyStories 4 жыл бұрын

If you buy American HO trains from America, they come with Kadee couplers already fitted. Unfortunately, the Americans don't use NEM pockets, so you can't change the Kadee couplers to Tension Lock couplers if that's what you use.

@metalmicky 5 жыл бұрын

Kadee developed by Kieth and Dale Edwards ,

@user-mp2tl8zv2t 7 жыл бұрын

Very good. All life in the railway?

@raymondleggs5508 3 жыл бұрын

Code 100 is for mainline, code 70 or 80 is for sidings

@keepcalmmakestuff732 3 жыл бұрын

Hi Raymond, code 75 is more prototypical to standard Rail used across the network( height of rail), regardless of where its used, so from a modelling point of view if you wanted a layout to look like the real thing using code 75 throughout would look better( apart from handbuilt)

@raymondleggs5508 3 жыл бұрын

@@keepcalmmakestuff732 I was probably just thinking of American Railroads although a line like a branch line would obviously have shorter and thinner rail since they wouldn't "see" big locomotives like giganic 2-6-6-6 Mallets and big 6 axle diesels and High drivered express steam locos.

@keepcalmmakestuff732 3 жыл бұрын

in the UK, Kadees are nowhere as popular as the US, but I much prefer them to our tension locks, in the era of my layout(50's to 60's) we had pick up goods so a train could be separated and wagons could be left and others taken so the ability to separate and shunt In a short space was a defining reason.