New coupler on the way

Mike Skibbe May 7, 2012

  1. Doug A.

    Doug A. TrainBoard Supporter

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    So you get to call us "ludicrous" and "laughable" but we don't get to play? That's no fun. I'm gonna have to call no fair on that one. ;-)
     
  2. jpwisc

    jpwisc TrainBoard Member

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    If we listened to the nay sayers and not the innovators, we'd still have Rapidos as the standard. Rock on!
     
  3. Rob M.

    Rob M. TrainBoard Supporter

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    David, has the patent been issued, or is it still pending? If it has been issued, is it available online? Being able to lay eyes on the design would give us a better idea what we're nattering on about... :)

    (I don't know what the lag is between issuance and Google visibility.)
     
  4. drgw12

    drgw12 TrainBoard Member

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    Hi David, I've got a few items I'd like to share and possibly see in your new coupler (in no particular order) :

    I think the biggest thing lacking from the N scale couplers is variety. Tank cars have shelf couplers. Coal cars have the tight lock F couplers. 89' cars have the long shank couplers. Some boxcars have the short shank couplers while others have the big long cushion boxes that stick out up to 4 feet from the end of the car. I know that this is just the beginning but I think the more variations you can do, the more people will be happy.

    The ability to retro fit the coupler into some of the more popular MTL boxes like the 1015, 2004, and the Talgo box that is on the truck mounted variety. Reason being that, at least in some of my body mounting installations, I have had to glue the box to the car. This would simplify conversions.

    Possibly a rotary coupler? I don't know how your design is set up or if it could be possible. I have been trying to figure this one out on my own for my layout to run live coal loads from mine to power plant. I thought I might have a winner from the new Concor Micro Trains mimicked dummies, but no luck. Even if it was a dummy I would be happy at this point!

    Thanks for all your hard work and commitment to our hobby David! It's folks like you that show the world that our hobby is fun and moving forward! Good luck with this and can't wait to see your finished product.
     
  5. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

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    AAAawwwwwwwwwww...comeon Doug...I didnt single anyone out. It was a blanket statement. BTW "ludicrous" and "laughable" are synonymous.

    Some replies where just that....LOL :happy:
     
  6. EMD F7A

    EMD F7A TrainBoard Member

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    I'm all-for anything that'll help me clean up the look of my IM F-units and my Geeps. close-coupling is a super-important thing to me to get the "look" of passenger trains and hood deisels right in a consist. Cars are easy & already done.... but you come up with a close-coupling solution for all these ABA/ABBA sets I have? I'm on it like a fat guy at a buffet.

    Last thought? I'd like to see the same in unit trains, so a small shelf coupler or similar would be very nice to bring those strings of 35'/40'/etc. boxcars or little gondolas in tight to each other. Protoypical looks=the holy grail!
     
  7. Westfalen

    Westfalen TrainBoard Member

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    I don't think too much emphasis should be put on backwards compatibility, if it will couple with MTL, Accumate, McHenry, Bachmann and Kato then fair enough, but on the other hand where would we be today if back in the early 70's Kadee had asked N scalers of the day what they wanted in a new coupler and were told, "we want something that will couple to our Rapidos, we don't want to change anything we already own". Easy replacement of old couplers should be more important than being able to couple with them.

    I'm looking forward to these new couplers, I was in my early teens when MTL couplers came out, it would be nice to see an improved coupler before I'm in an old people's home.
     
  8. MRL

    MRL TrainBoard Member

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    Ok another thing i was thinking like I just read some others were thinking maybe long shanks for autoracks and lumber cars etc. tightlock for locos and coal cars... some others have these too you just have to watch. kind of like some trinity's in a BNSF earthworm the other day.
     
  9. BALOU LINE

    BALOU LINE TrainBoard Member

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    As far as appearance goes it would be great to see a flat finish as opposed to the shiny plastic we are all to familiar with. Couplers should be rusty, or at least have a dull finish. It is a little thing but suggestions about details is what you asked for.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 11, 2012
  10. jagged ben

    jagged ben TrainBoard Member

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    Brown please. Most prototype coupler knuckles have a quite rusty color to them. And I concur with BALOU line about a flat finish, if that's possible.

    Also, another option I would like to see is 'underslung' shanks like the MTL 2004 or 1019. It's nice to be able to do body mounts and lower ride height without performing surgery on the frame of a car. Particularly useful in the case of flat cars and stack cars. (I've asked MTL to do an 'underslung' version of the 1023 but they never have.)

    Finally, on the more creative side of things, give some thought to mounting on cars with more open end platforms. I mean well cars, spine cars, and hoppers, which often don't come with a decent place to mount anything. It would be nice to see, say, box parts that come with a bit of extra meat attached to give options for mounting to these types of cars. The MTL 1026 is sort of like what I mean, but not really.
     
  11. 282mike

    282mike TrainBoard Member

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    Sure as soon as I finally get the last of my fleet o cars converted to MT's Well I hope they turn out to be the next best- thing in couplers!
     
  12. jpwisc

    jpwisc TrainBoard Member

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    As far as the questions asked: Flat black, and I agree that a replacement for the MT 2004 would be awesome.
     
  13. Ike the BN Freak

    Ike the BN Freak TrainBoard Member

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    I agree with jpwisc, a nice replacement for the MT2004 would be nice, for some reason every SD40/40-2 I have looks odd with its huge coupler.
     
  14. ChicagoNW

    ChicagoNW E-Mail Bounces

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    Since I do not count rivets and despise the rivet counters for driving up the cost of the hobby. My focus is cost. I use the Kato 11-702 in a lot of my equipment. I get 10 couplers that I can drop into my older equipment without having to cut up or remove anything except the coupler itself. The MTs designed for this have poor rigidity and uncouple easily.

    If the look reasonably like prototype (True, according to the drawing), couple easily with everything out there (yet to be proven) Are easy to install (yet to be proven) and can compete with the low end couples, I will be interested, when it comes time to outfit some more cars. Plus they have to be in stock.

    Then again if you made a dedicated version for traction usage I'd buy those anyway.
     
  15. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Color- Brown. An aged coloration which might be seen on any rolling stock in service for a while. Not a foundry fresh orange-like hue.

    An option for no trip pin. I don't need them. Snipping them off neatly can be a slight nuisance chore with my shaky hands. I'm a Rix Pick user.

    Over time, perhaps a small variety in shank lengths. I model mid-late 1960s, so anything I might use would be for an outcome emulating appearances of cars in that era.
     
  16. David K. Smith

    David K. Smith TrainBoard Supporter

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    Thank you all for your opinions and suggestions. All will be duly noted, and as many as practical will be reflected in the final products.

    Keep them coming!
     
  17. Metro Red Line

    Metro Red Line TrainBoard Member

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    Best of luck to NZT on this. Innovation is healthy for model railroading. To those of you who think this hobby, or even this scale, is dying...you're being proved more wrong all the time.
     
  18. Westfalen

    Westfalen TrainBoard Member

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    And it's the little guys, relatively speaking, like NZT and BMLA to name two, that seem to be doing the innovating these days. More power to them.
     
  19. Jim Reising

    Jim Reising In Memoriam

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    That's because these companies are being run by entrepreneurs, not bean counters. With all respect to the accounting trade, when the bean counters take over, the spirit leaves the company. I've seen it happen time after time - up close and personal twice. And it can be even worse if the company is publicly traded...
     
  20. Glenn Poole

    Glenn Poole TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks Jim for those "kind" words.

    Glenn Poole, retired CPA
     

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