I'm considering changing my K to Kadee couplers. What model coupler fits it?
Thanks,
Doug
A #830 is a "drop in" replacement for the tender. The front depends on which version of the K you have. The #830 should work for the "switching" and "road" front pilots. For the snowplow version, I'm not sure. I'd be tempted to go with the 830, and just splice the Kadee coupler onto the stock arm that comes with the locomotive. Follow the instructions that came with the loco to widen the side-to-side play on the front coupler if you're going to be connecting to other cars or locomotives.
One bit of trouble you may run into with the Kadees on the front--the trip pins may hit the existing pilots, and will need to be cut off. Unfortunately, that's only half the battle. You need to make sure the trip pins on the couplers on the car you're coupling onto don't hit the pilot, either. If you want the coupler a prototypical distance from the pilot, this sometimes requires cutting out some of the front pilot. Alternatively, you can extend the coupler out a few fractions of an inch to clear, but you may need to modify the coupler mount to accommodate this. I've only played with the "snowplow" version of the K in this regard, so I can't speak specifically to how close the trip pins come to the other versions' plows.
Later,
K
Contact Sam "the Answer Man" Clarke at Kadee. He got his look at the K-27's with the plow version--the sample that John Sipple of Model Railroad News brought in. THey figured out how to mount the plow coupler. I confirmed the regular pilot installation with him, so he has info for both types of loco. gj