Hi David, Thank you very much for showing the plethora of couplings. I was fascinated by the huge variety available in "these happier lands". Mind you, I was most surprised to see at 10 min 11 sec a coupling you called "Hornby coupling". In continental Europe (where I Iive) this is known as the ROCO short coupling and enables buffer to buffer couplings, provided the coaches are equipped with a kinematic, extending the coupling distance in curves. Best regards Albert

As ever, I am massively impressed by your focus on a combination of visual realism and operational effectiveness. Your patience and attention to detail remain for me both an inspiration and an admonition.

Good coupling. Getting those old old couplings off the layout is a real challenge. Well done

I think the close coupling and the gangway connectors really do make a big difference for such a small easy change. Thanks for sharing :)

That was explained and demonstrated so well that the 25 minutes flew by. Thank you very much for this learnt a lot. .....Graham

I really enjoyed this video and your layout. It is always a pleasure to sit and watch one of your productions. Thank you.

I have the close couplers but still use the tension lock couplers. Main reason why I don’t use the close couplers was because I didn’t think they could be uncoupled easily. This is great and thanks for sharing. Clint

Thanks David for showing the Horby close coupler. I will have two confirmed rakes in the future and will now use the Hornby coupler. Thanks for a very good 'How To'. Barry.Devon

Great video David with some top tips. I Like your easy to follow narration. I didn't know that the Hornby coach couplings can detach like that well you learn something new every day thanks for sharing look forward to your next one .. cheers Pete

Wow David! Excellent idea using those staples! Must try that! Lovely presentation as always! Cheers....... Alan

I have some Hornby Pullman coaches from the Orient Express set bought about 10 years ago, the ones with working table lamps. These came factory equipped with NEM coupler boxes attached to a close coupling mechanism. I tried Roco couplings which seem to be identical to the Hornby ones, but they didn't work. The coaches were hard to couple and derailed on curves. Same thing with Fleischman Profi couplings. Kadee NEM couplings worked, using one short and one long shaft on opposite coaches but there was still a gap. Then I tried Marklin/Trix close couplers. They work very well, with the added bonus that they will also couple up to regular mousetrap type couplers, which they somewhat resemble.

A excellent video as always. Probably your only American fan. Warren.

Great video. Thank you. I will admit I have never considered modifying couplers having just accepted them as supplied by the manufacturer.

Lovely detailed explanation, David. The perennial “problem” for which there never seems to be a consistent solution. (A bit like the point changing mechanisms & associated gadgetry!). I suspect that you, like me, have pondered this over and over. My shunting Layout “Chester Road” has only a few wagons and, at least for the time being, I’ve left them with their fitted tension locks. However, my next layout, which will be of a similar size of Deresley, with similar operating practices, will require some form of consistency through all stock. I saw an exhibition layout, whose name escapes me, and the builder used tufts of weeds in the centre of the track to lift the tension lock. To my great surprise it worked, every time. The drawback, and I suppose there is always one, was that each piece of stock had only one hook, and all stock, therefore, had to have its hook in one orientation, or front or back of each vehicle. I liked that as it was simple in use and “weeds”, especially the self adhesive types, could be positioned in any location and were easily replaced. My thoughts shared. Best wishes, Bob

Hi David - I look forward to your conclusions on how to improve the visual of those old LNER coaches, I have some myself and have been keen to do just that, but not thought how yet. On the close coupler, I put mine in the other ay up, to can easy uncouple manually with a small screwdriver or such, but no accidental uncoupling. Easier than removing part of the coupling. Keep up the great vids. You've encouraged me to get a bit more serious about my trains. No space for permanent layout, but seriously considering model a scenic display area for a shelf.

Hi David, I seem to have missed a couple of your videos lately mostly due to my wife's health issues but now she is better and I am catching up. The problem with tension lock couplings is a dificult one. I tink your idea of keeping your rakes of coaches confined to a single manufacturer is very sensible and one that I have also tried to follow. My last conversion involved a rake of 7 Lima HST MK3 coaches which I close coupled using those same Hornby Roco type that you used. It worke very well and another advantage of them is the elimination of any slack between the vehicles which is a feature of all types of tension lock couplings. The video was very enjoyable and it was nice to see your layout in operation amd I am always interested in the fiddle yards that people use. I will try to catch up on your other videos that I have missed but I seem to be so far behind myself that time seems to pass faster than ever. All the best. .......................John

Thanks you David for this very informative video. I wish I had never started to try & fit Kadee's but instead used your methods. Oh well! You live & learn.

David, A very clear and well composed video. In fact I think the production structure and feel would serve well as a model for how to, how to a how to! 😀. Thoroughly enjoyed the watch. Thanks. Regards Stephen.

Never easy deciding which couplings to use , you seem to have covered this subject very well ... one main thing is to use the same for each connected coach or truck ...

David... thanks for a brilliant 25 minute instructional video.... I’m impressed.... although I don’t know when I’ll get round to do my rolling stock.... busy building on the layout , more alterations..... many regards Fred

Im just going through all your old videos of Deresley, , if you are wanting close coupling of coaches with NEM pockets and wanting to keep them in a fixed rake, I find that the Bachmann pipe couplings are ideal. All my rakes are fitted with them, nearly touching on straight sections, while opening out on curves

This is one of the things that makes me appreciate N scale. Everything is equipped with Rapido couplers from the factory and it all matches and works together. if you want to have shorter space in between your roll stock you can just pick a Rapido coupler with a shorter arm or upgrade to a different type of coupler.

See, looking at the buckeye under the pullman bar on the later ones invites in my mind that Hornby should have just extended the buckeye out a bit and made it functional like a Kadee which would allow the coach to not only be correctly coupled but to articulate correctly as real passenger coaches do. However that would require correctly sprung buffers which are not cheaply made no doubt. I bought a set of short and medium Kadee's for my class 101 as the coach end gap is ridiculous, I also bought for it a concertina with the correct X bracing to give it at least a fighting chance to look like a train, it is an early Triang model but someone bought the interior and cab desk Triang packs for it and I worked out in real scale it would be something like 2 feet between gangway edge to jump if you wanted to use the loo in the next coach or speak to the guard. I quite like the idea of simple three link couplings, the one I have my eye on looks almost identical in real life to the three link coupling used on Southern Region EPB stock. (Its interesting that the EPB only had this permanent coupling, its sisters the 302, Hants Thumpers used Pullman bars that were buffered and buckeyes underneath same as CEP's, CIG's) What the issue was with model rail stock is taking the purpose of the buffers or Pullman bars away and using the bogies to do the articulating which more often than not causes derailments because of the inflexibility of the tension lock system. Back in the 70s I often made articulating bars out of old ice lolly sticks and push through brass fasteners that put the coaches almost dead on with a little slip room but the coaches did only a small amount of the articulation, the bogies did all the curve work and rarely did I get a derailment as I also like British Rail imposed speed limits for certain curves or tight points ranging from one to three notches on the power wheel and lesser speed limits on express points say down to half a wheel from full speed. I cannot remember the gangway extremis articulation degree that was permitted, it wasn't very much something like 10 degrees if that, I seem to remember it matched the compression level of the buffers who kept the coach ends under tension. I have toyed with creating electrical speed limits, where the power in that section cannot exceed a certain level to enforce slow passing, in real life speed limits on rough line or tight curve/points stop derailments yet in model rail we throw our trains through at speeds that simply would end in disaster in real life.

Great video. Informative and engaging.

Those Hornby NEM close couplings are what are pure NEM Roco close couplings, probably HO bought in by Hornby. I prefer myself, their stablemate NEM Fleischmann close couplings on my trains, as they are very much more neater. It is nice to change a train-set, into a model railway, they are more pleasing for the eye.

Davis thank you for this educational video!! Cheers Onno.

Hello there David, nice creation

“Fixed rakes” can be coupled in a different way; with a hook & loop type coupling, home made. All manufacturers’ couplings can, therefore, be removed altogether. The hook (& loop) can consist of wound wire around a solid core and bent to represent vacuum hoses. This is an idea I will be toying with in due time.

Just brilliant!!!

Nice, have subscribed for more. Cheers Matt

Very interesting and helpful videos. Will subscribe as soon as i have finished this comment. i started my interest in railways - 1/1 as well as models from a very early age and the interest has stayed with me right up to the 'wrong' end of life ! i used to be into Brit stuff, but went entirely JR a few years ago, so i need to find a 'home' for all the Brit outline stuff, as i no longer use it. The only things which i want to keep are old Hornby operating bottom drop door wagons ( i have a cunning plan to use them to re supply outside bird feeding. ) This idea was put on hold for various reasons, but i want to get the plan in operation with some renewed interest now. If you'd be interested in some of my 'old' stuff, perhaps you'd let me know, most of it is working, but i am NOT the kind of person who lovingly looks after the models - it was treated very much as the real full size articles were ! Leave a response on one of my channel railway vids and i will contact you.

Very useful video! Cheers!

Have you thought about using kadees? They're available for NEM sockets and work like knuckle couplers - very easy to install and look quite realistic as well.

Very good David but there is still no answer to the old tension lock couplings. David

I like the look of the "bellows" for connecting the corridors. There's a glimpse of some "CONNEXIONS" paperwork. Where, please, can the devices be bought? If you have experience of the "RATIO" ones, which do you find better?

Hello David. Enjoyed your video. I don't know if you can answer this but do you think the close couplers will negotiate a second radius curve especially with the corridors connections?

Very informative video. Have you thought of adding crew to your loco? Seems a shame not to detail a bit more.

I have a little, subjective suggestion:) I think it would be better if you turn down the volume of the music about 10 to 20% and also slowly fade-in the music, as it was a little startling to me. I was setting the volume rather high, so it might be entirely my own fault, though, haha. Anyway, nice video:)

Need to compare apples with apples. First coaches are under tension, but starting at LNER teak, they are under compression.

Please tell me a source for the "bellows" or "Diaphram" that you show.

Should have used Kadee #17

A pitty that you are comparing the gap by pulling the ones you don’t accept and push the ones that you accept. To me there is a difference in space between the couplings while pushing or pulling. Which is mixed up the way you show it.

Use Kadee's