When I got back into N last year, I just decided to go all knuckle couplers, no Rapidos allowed, all stuff bought with Rapidos get converted right way. I want no Rapido contamination if I can help it. I don't use the magnets, so any ol knuckle will work for me, just no hooks allowed. But what is it with ugly German couplers? Marklin has their Z coupler, which is big and ugly, and Rapido has their ugly big hooks. Even LGB!!! That loop and probe thing they have works great, looks like .... You think its because they use the bumpers and hook and loop couplers on their full size railroads that they have to dream up these ugly looking things to splooch on their model railroads? Look, if it was the French, I could see it. I mean, they just specialize in ugly cars, ugly airplanes, ugly tanks, just lots of ugly stuff. But the Germans? From the land of the Porsche, the Mercedes, the Focke Wulf 190, the Panther Tank, the Leopard tank, we get these ugly couplers? It just ain't right. Kudos to Germans for inventing and developing N scale, but their ugly hooks were not their finest design and engineering moments. And no offense to the French, but it is true... take the Citroen, any WWII airplane they made, the AMX tank... And the real shame of it is that Con-Cor, Bachmann, MP and Life-Like still use em...they ought to be embarrassed.
Anything new from Bachmann should get their new McHenry style couplers, I believe the latest shipment of 44 tonners have them.
I just started using Kato 11-702s on some Japanese passenger stuff. They don't have trip pins, but they mate with knucklers. I'm gonna start putting them in places where my current option is a Unimate. Has anyone had issues with these, that I shouldn't go there?
Bear in mind that there is no way to effectively model the European prototype coupling system. Just can't be done. So there was no attempt to be prototypical in designing a coupler and Rapido took the least expensive way. Their coupler allowed automatic coupling and could even uncouple with the use of a special ramp. In order to spur the growth of N scale and to avoid the problems that HO had in its early days Rapido made their coupler design available to all manufacturers free of charge. The other manufacturers decided there was no benefit in reinventing the wheel so they took it and that's how the Rapido became the defacto N scale standard coupler.
"Friends don't let friends buy Rapido" Ok, no, not really. I can remember making my own "transition cars", (Rapido on one end / Kadee on the other), back in high school, (circa 1970). I was very disappointed when new Bman and MP locos came with Rapido. They really ruin the appearance of the small steamers. Still, I don't have the skills / eyes I once did so I'll leave them as is. Yes, I'd like to see them go away just for visual reasons.
Can't blame their Mirage III. Those are terrific looking. And it's not just the looks that count. Lots of people here in Switzerland keep getting a Citroen car when their old Citroen needs to be replaced. And Switzerland is probably the country with the largest selection of car models. Thus, there must be a few things the French do very well. Not going into their other products now. Oh and by the way, the French invented the TGV, of which the Acela is a derivative. Not exactly an ugly train.
Robert, I was just pulling a leg with all that French stuff, like I said, no offense mean't. When I did plastic models and there were ugliest aircraft or tank contests, it was always French stuff that won, so I've always thought that was a chuckle. No arguments about almost any Mirage, if it looks good, it flies good, and that is the truth with those babies. They also did the Concorde, nothing ugly about that. And looking up French locomotives in my handy Encyclopedia of Trains and Locomotives I find that they made some really nice looking steam and diesel locomotives. So I'll have to say Viva La France!!! Todd
To comment on post 40 above, I understand that Peco will be producing something similar for those of us who model UK N. I've started using the Kato 11.702 within the consist of my passenger trains, but leave the crapido device on the outer ends as I'm not prepared, with my dodgy eyesight, to try to change out the crapidos on my locomotives. Next stage will be to do a trial conversion of some of the freight stock although, again, there will have to be adapter facility on the brake vans (caboose in North America!). Regards, Pete
