do all couplers meet up evenly (from car to car) as far as being body mount or truck mount or are they different heights from the rails
You can by an NMRA gauge that can help you line up all of your couplers at the standard (NMRA) height.
so the couplers on all "vehicles" of the rails have adjustable couplers or are all either, on the bodies or on the trucks...sorry for the questions but I can't really look at them as they are packed away more or less till Christmas
Adjustable is relative. You can change the height of your couplers by adding thin fiber washers between the trucks and the body (easiest method). Or you can buy couplers that have knuckles that are already raised or lowered on the shank (part connected to the knuckle). There are a couple of other, harder, ways, but you get the idea.
Regards,
Jonathan
I wasn't sure if they all were the same or not but I had to ask and thanks for the speedy replies ... coming soon... where to get all the needed things from... but that is for another day
An NMRA standards gauge, can be had at almost any local hobby shop that carries a good amount of model trains. This would not include Hobby Lobby or Hobbytown USA or other chain stores.
I have a Hobbytown USA in my neighborhood. They do, in fact, carry Kadee couplers and assorted supplies (washers, wheels, etc), inlcuding the height gage.
Regards,
Jonathan
fullmaxx : Checkout the Kadee website for information on couplers & related equipment.
John II
Quote from: jonathan on December 18, 2009, 07:06:23 AM
inlcuding the height gage.
Is that the kadee coupler gauge or the NMRA standards gauge? Because both of my Hobbytown USAs have neither and I have never seen them ever in stock. Thanks for that, I'll have to ask an employee about these.
Hobbytown is a distributor for kadee. You can get any kadee product there. Most Hobbytown employees are not serious modelers, much less model railroaders. I usually have to help them look things up. Fortunately, at my local HT, the owner is knowledgeable about what he can get. Hobbytown is not a distributor for Walthers products. You usually have to order on line, or find a real fantastic hole-in-the-wall hobbyshop, who, for some reason, Walthers likes to do business with (bad grammer).
Sorry Full Maxx, we seem to have gotten off on a tangent. I'll shut up now.
Regards,
Jonathan
All six of the non-chain hobby shops that are within thirty minutes of me have the NMRA standards gauge and the Kadee coupler gauge. All 3 of my Hobby Lobbies and both of my Hobby Town USAs don't. And you're right in that the people at Hobby Town USA usually are not very knowledgeable about the products in the model train section, but in my experiences they at least were nice.
I would get a kadee coupler gauge for gauging the coupleers. A NMRA standards gauge is great to have and will check everything but I think the Kd gauge is easier to use.
hey thanks for the info and Jonathan your are not off subject...I ask about the height of the couplers , and everybody is right on target ... we got between 8-12 inches of snow in the last 16 hrs which has not happened in a lot of years here in northern NC , I just wish it was a week later
Yeah we got the same storm in the DC area. Socked in til at least Monday,
J
Got well over two feet here in Arlington VA. Looking forward to shoveling when it gets light :P
Robert
i would like to add that most if not all rolling stock that is factory equipped with knuckle couplers will have them at the correct height. when you start converting older cars that don't haave knuckle couplers you will start to find their coupler height is off and adjustments need to be made. this is especially true of the older cars with truck mounted couplers. i don't try to use the nmra guage for coupler height, it is better suited to checquing wheel and track guage. the kadee coupler guage is much easier to use.