I'm looking for thoughts on couplers for running on carpet.
Details: I've encircled my living room with EZ-Track. Because it's carpet, the track isn't exactly flat everywhere, and stuff like to come uncoupled (I have EZ-mate couplers, as they came with). By eyeballing it, it's clear that the problem is changes in height (so that they come apart vertically) rather than anything else.
I'm curious how people have handled this before. "Put it on an actually-flat surface" isn't an option. I thought about epoxying the couplers together, but that just seems like a bad idea.
Thoughts?
I don't think there is much you can do
If the couplers didn't come undone the car trucks would lift up from the track and you would derail
You're right, that's a bad idea. Look, at some point you have to have some sort of standards. The coupler standards happen to have pretty close tolerances. but those standards insure interoperability among several different brands of couplers for the majority of us who get our trains up off the floor.
If you can't get some sort of sub-roadbed under your track and have to run your trains on the floor, you might be better served with large scale or tinplate. Bachmann makes both. I have run an LGB train on the carpet under the Christmas tree for years with no problems, but it's designed for that kind of use.
By the way, there is a company--I don't remember the name, nor do I know if they are still in business--that makes a shelf system designed for putting a train below the ceiling but above the tops of the doors and windows. You could design your own shelves if you can't find them pre-fab. Hope this helps. Good Luck.
Old Timer
you could always cut some strips of 1/2 in plywood a little wider than the track to put under the track, two layers so you can screw them together...that would fix any issues with the change in height
Thank you everyone for the thoughts. Putting plywood down, I'm afraid, would be a terrific pain, and my landlord might be suspicious of my drilling too many holes in his walls...
I'm curious to know if anybody has fabbed couplers that don't actually come apart. I'm envisioning something with quite a bit of give (say, a piece of wire or fishing line ), to allow up-and-down and side-to-side movements without coming apart. Modeling accuracy isn't a concern, as I doubt sofas at 87 times life size are a particularly common form of railroad scenery...
Kadees are the best couplers there are, so equip all your rolling stock and locos, they're metal and run about $3 a pair. Also, running on the carpet or floor even with roadbed track (like E-Z track) is not a good idea and requires more cleaning of the track and locos and the possibility of fibers ruining the locos.
ABC: based on pictures, it's not clear that Kadee couplers will solve my problem; too much up-and-down movement looks like it could still decouple.
I'm aware of the extra maintenance issues for running on carpet; I'll keep my eye on things.
have you checqued out the hook and loop type couplers used on the thomas trains?
Kadee makes a functional "shelf" coupler. These are couplers designed to resist separating due to relative vertical movement of cars. In the real world, they are used on passenger cars and tank cars to prevent the train from coming apart and scattering cars across the landscape during a derailment. The couplers are Kadee model 118.
Having said that, I have to tell you that I don't think these will work for you. Something has to compensate for the undulations in the track. If the couplers can't move relative to each other, the cars will derail. However, at something like four bucks for two pair, I'd be tempted to try these on a couple of cars just to see what would happen. They will mate with your EZ-mate couplers just fine. Good luck!!!
Old Timer
I think what maxx was saying with the two layers of the plywood was offsetting them and screw them together. This would not put holes in anything other than the plywood. I think I would drill holds in the plywood and use bolts with wingnuts. That would make it easy to install and take down.
@jward: I have not; from the pictures, it's not clear what, exactly, I'm looking at, or if they could be adapted. Do you have some? Could you enlighten me?
@OldTimer: thanks for the pointer. I may very well do that.
Kadee 119's will work well and aren't all that expensive. They are self-sprung shelf couplers that are very resistent to vertical uncoupling.
Quote from: RAM on February 28, 2010, 09:59:54 PM
I think what maxx was saying with the two layers of the plywood was offsetting them and screw them together. This would not put holes in anything other than the plywood. I think I would drill holds in the plywood and use bolts with wingnuts. That would make it easy to install and take down.
yeah the wing nuts are a good idea for dis assembly
OldTimer, Mike, can you comment on the differences between the 118 and the 119?
118 is a couplerbox mounted unit like a no 5. 119 is a wisker sprung coupler that just drops into a coupler box and is self sprung ... Very easy to install.
NEVER, repeat NEVER lay model railroad track on carpet, NEVER.
You will plug up the gears on the locomotives faster than you can say: -
"NEVER LAY TRACK ON CARPET, EVER!"
Link and Pin! A number of companies now offer these to fit the coupler boxes. Not prototypical for newer models but will work, don't come apart, and move up and down like you need.
@mabloodhound: that sounds promising; can you point me to a source?
Maybe this can help.
http://home.onemain.com/~thebackshop/link.htm
http://www.tomarindustries.com/asm.htm
See the "Early Time Kits" thread for other classic items.
E-Z Track on carpet should be okay unless you have a dog that sheds and/or dust bunnies that collect along the walls. Regular track with no bas is an absolute no no as rogertra states.
To further reduce the lint/fuzz/pet hair problem and to solve the uneven carpet problem, put two layers of cardboard under the tracks. Cut corrugated cardboard into strips at least 3" wide (4" wide would be better). For corners, put one or more sections of curved track on your cardboard and trace out curved strips that are one inch wider than the track base on both sides. Stick two layers of these strips together using hot glue, making sure to offset the joints in the two layers. Where you have straights joined to curves, you will have to cut some special strips that are part straight, part curve. Use a straight joined to a curve to lay these out. You can tack the E-Z Track to the cardboard base with a spot of hot glue here and there. It doesn't take much. Just make sure you don't get any hot glue on the carpet, or you will have an unhappy landlord.
To make your cardboard base really sturdy, cut one set of strips with the cardboard grain running lengthwise and the other set of strips with the grain running crosswise. You won't get this exact with the corner pieces but close is good enough.
And don't forget to use some newspaper or larger pieces of cardboard under the area where you are working. You really want to keep the hot glue off the carpet!
Jim
I just tie a loose loop of fishing line between the rear axle of one car and the front axle of the next. They never come uncoupled unless I cut them apart. This also helps a small train to look like a much longer one.
I am currently running my trains on the carpet in my family room. It is not the largest layout but at 12x12 I can operate three trains at the same time. I found it was not so muck the change in elevation that caused the cars to separate but the twist in the track from side to side. My cure was to place cardboard,(the cardboard that the EZ track is packed in) under the track where the cars separated. I don't know what type of carpet you have but I can run all three of my trains wide open with no separation or derailments. I run dc only so my speeds at wide open are must faster than scale. When I run scale speed I can walk away and come back whenever and find my trains still running strong. A little bit of surface area goes a long way on carpet.
I should ask have you? Do you add weights to your cars? Some times a little weight also makes the difference .
I have to add, that it also depends on the kind of carpet, as some carpet is okay
Quote from: ryeguyisme on March 04, 2010, 01:49:56 PM
I have to add, that it also depends on the kind of carpet, as some carpet is okay
No carpet is okay, all carpet has fibers, and fibers kill locos.
Carpet fibers shouldn't be a problem with EZtrack since there is a plastic roadbed under it. Use Kadee 119 shelf couplers to prevent vertical uncoupling. I use EZ track to build temporary layouts on my living room carpet all the time. Sometimes I want to run trains in the living room instead of the attic or I want to test a new layout.
Many years ago, when I lived in a much smaller house, laying track on the living room carpet was the only option and at that time I only had standard sectional track with no roadbed. I have a lot of old locos and rolling stock with the old style X2F horn hook couplers. All of those couplers have a shelf built into them and will resist vertical uncoupling. From my experience, the X2F couplers are more reliable on imperfect track and on layouts with changes in elevation such as a figure 8 over and under layout.
Quote from: Hellhound on March 06, 2010, 04:09:43 AM
Carpet fibers shouldn't be a problem with EZtrack since there is a plastic roadbed under it.
Okay then setup your track on some carpet and run a loco every day for a couple hours over a year with no more than maintenance required for a "regular" layout and I guarantee that by the end of the year the loco either won't be running or won't be running as well as it was previously.
If you don't run on carpets, your locomotives will last longer.
If you don't pull long trains, your locomotives will last even longer.
If you don't pull any trains at all, the locomotives will last longer still.
If you don't run them at all, your locomotives will last forever.
But what is the fun in that? I have fun running my locomotives. If that wears them out, then it wears them out. If the way I choose to run my locomotives requires more maintenance, then I clean and lubricate them more often. If the way I choose to run my locomotives means I have to replace them more often, then I replace them more often. What matters is that I have fun running my locomotives.
I also own an automobile, a full size 12 inches to the foot automobile. I could make it last forever by never taking it out of the garage. I could make it last a long time by driving it only on nice days in summer. But hey, do I own it so that it can serve me or am I supposed to serve it? My theory is I can walk on the nice days if I so wish. But the worse the weather, the less inclined I am to walk and the more I depend on my automobile. So I drive it through rain, snow, slush, mud, road salt, and once in a while, through heat. So what if I have to replace it after 20 years?
But there are limits. I never use my automobile to pull house trailers. That would increase the cost and frequency of maintenance to a level that to me would be unacceptable. And I would not run my locomotives on regular sectional track placed directly on a carpet. That would lead to cleaning, oiling and greasing on a schedule that to me would be unacceptably frequent. But I do use my automobile regularly to pull a utility trailer. And if that leads to slightly more frequent maintenance, that is fine with me. And I would be willing to run my trains on E-Z Track on the carpet if I still had carpet in my house, and if that led to slightly more frequent maintenance, that would be fine with me too.
Your opinions and results may differ.
Jim
I went with everybody's coupler advice and put in Kadee 119s, and my problem is completely solved. If / when the carpet fibers kill my locomotive, I'll let everybody say "I told you so!".
Thanks for the help,
--M
Quote from: ABC on March 06, 2010, 11:26:05 AM
Quote from: Hellhound on March 06, 2010, 04:09:43 AM
Carpet fibers shouldn't be a problem with EZtrack since there is a plastic roadbed under it.
Okay then setup your track on some carpet and run a loco every day for a couple hours over a year with no more than maintenance required for a "regular" layout and I guarantee that by the end of the year the loco either won't be running or won't be running as well as it was previously.
Did that as long as I lived in that house (23 years) It was a small house and I didn't have the luxury of a hobby room. I still have the same locomotives today and still run them. Some of them are over 30 years old. They got cleaned and oiled periodically as the manufacturer recomended and I did tend to avoid locomotives with exposed gears.