I am brand new to model railroading and I am attempting to set a basic switching system. I need advice on what kind of uncoupler system to use and where to get it.
Hi and welcome to the forum As for uncouplers I would try KD's couplers. These are the most populer in HO scale. You un-coupler using a small magnet that goes between the track. you will all the info you need at http://www.kadee.com/ Stuart
Stick I'm not to well versed on new stuf what was said before is pight K D 's are best but there used to be a hand neld uncupler sure as I mensioned it someone will tell nore bout it Got 2 of then you stick twix the cars and they uncupel :tb-frown: Howard Houston Minn
Use ONLY Kadee couplers. You also need to have their coupler height gauge to set the couplers at the correct height. Kadee uses a magnet in or under the track to uncouple the cars. Just bunch the slack with the couplers over the magnet and they uncouple. There are many imposter couplers that look like a Kadee but are inferior in all respects, My advice is use only the genuine Kadee's and install them properly.
Welcome to TrainBoard, mikeinaz! I like Kadee couplers and think they work best. better than the other types. For uncoupling I use magnets and other tools like bamboo sticker. Don't place the magnets in through tracks! You will get suddenly uncoupling. I've made for this places movable magnets. Wolfgang
That's cool I will have to check one of those out, I have some places where I won't be able to reach to uncouple on my layout. Either the tracks are too close together or it's just too far from the edge of the layout unless I crawl under it. I was thinking about some high strength magnets on a fork shaped thing that I could uncouple the cars with? Sudden uncoupling would suck on my layout, I have several sections with some substantial grades and that could be a disaster It's already got me thinking "fishing net" at the bottom of my reverse loop that goes under the layout......
I kind of like this one, still trying to find more about it. It would be a very expensive solution compared with rixx sticks or magnets. Interesting yes!! Click on the title, have no idea why it is reporting the video is no longer available [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNwwGSjRqgE"]YouTube - DCC Uncoupler[/ame]
Mike: I have used Rix Uncouplers (Rix Part Number: 628-0014) on HO layouts and was pleased with the method. A couple years ago, I tried what a LHS clerk (not the shop owner) claimed was an N-scale version on my layout, but it didn't work because I think it is actually the HO version. Tonight I pulled it out of my "I'm sure I'll need this some day" drawer and took some pics to post in this thread. In the 3rd picture attached below, you can see what the package looks like and how the uncoupler would be positioned over the track between two cars during use. The N-scale car shown is about an inch or so behind the magnets so the coupler is centered between the rails. The 1st pic below shows the car positioned close for uncoupling and the coupler is pulled well to the left side by the left magnet. In actual practice, the coupler on the second car would be pulled to the other side by the right hand magnet. Introducing some slack between cars releases the couplers. The reason I think this is an HO version instead of N-scale, it that the size prevented inserting the magnets between the cars unless you had extremely steady hands...and sometimes steady hands didn't help because the width of the magnets prevented the cars from coming any closer together to produce enough slack needed to release the knuckles, as shown in the middle picture. Here's a link to a thread about them on the small-layout-design Yahoo group's board: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/small-layout-design/message/10484
A combination is probably the best choice, IMHO. That way you are not required to uncouple only over the magnets. ppuinn: I do think that is an H0 scale uncoupler.
As a newbie also, I was told by "The Saturday Morning Guys" who gather at the best hobby shop here in Atlanta that, in creating the layout, I should keep my yard within reach and just use the bamboo stick for uncoupling (this is a small 4X8 layout mind you). Magnetic uncouplers can be put where the tracks are out of reach. Same with turnouts, manual within reach, remote out of reach. "The guys" also say that all the couplers on new rolling stock (not just Kadee) will respond to the magnets. Of course, years ago, when I was a young minister up in Maine, "The Guys" at the gen'l store told me the huge creature I'd seen was the offspring of a cow and a workhorse. It was a Moose. eagle37
True. Just that Kadees generally work better - ie. they are more reliable at coupling/uncoupling. The couplers won't uncouple over a magnet unless there is slack - they have a lip on the knuckle specifically for this purpose. So going uphill they will be OK, unless you stop suddenly and get an 'inertia' slack. Going downhill gravity will keep the cars together anyway, so the knuckles will just close up again after passing the magnet. That said, you shouldn't be planning to use them on any kind of grade anyway - they won't work (for the same reasons as above) unless you have a braking system
I was thinking about this and having dreams about a uncoupler and a slight downhill grade into my yard to "hump" cars and sort them. All the rolling stock would have to be in primo shape though. Some of my new genesis stock rolls forever while others don't even roll downhill. Maybe I need to find a deal on a huge lot of metal wheelsets. My yard and all but one of my switches are easy to reach. I've actually been bulding the layout in sections to fit into the garage of our house that's being built right now, and I may have to change part of it because the wife "had to have" this built in vacuum system and the big canister is right where the end of my layout should be. The upside is I'm working on her to allow me to punch a hole through the wall into the spare bedroom leaving me another 10'x14' area to conquer It's only some drywall patch and texture to fix right?
I used to help operate a layout that had a hump yard. Since you were pushing the cars up the ramp they would already have slack in the couplers. You just needed a magnet just as the cars started to go over the hump so gravity took the cars apart. Worked great.
The image below will show you how Kadee couplers work. As "the boys" told you, almost all of the knuckle coupler systems will work but a properly installed Kadee is the most reliable. Now is the time to do it, before you invest in more cars and locomotives.
