Or, in other words, longer shank means it will be able to bend sharper. The short couplers are turned as far as they can go, and they still can't meet. If the shank is longer, it can reach farther out on the same bend degree. I had a good example very small, yet, uploader full thing is still trouble. I'm also too young for photobucket.

 You can also see why you can not run long Talgo mounted couplers with long body mounted couplers.  The green car the coupler would be out the rail while the red car with talgo mounted coupler would be right in the center of the track.

Back in '69 I had a loco that had body mounted couplers and all my rolling stock was truck mounted. I took the simple way out and joined the loco to the first car with a loop of wire. Don't laugh. It worked. Besides, I was 9 years old then and didn't really care what it looked like.

Hey on my HO scale set, my caboose has a bent coupler, so I just use yarn, tie it to the ladder, and to the last car, and BINGO, and 1 inch gap for a coupler! But you must be careful, to long and the train will yank it off the tracks, and to short, and you'll have contact=
http://trainweb.org/heathrob/wrecks/wcdc/wcdc02.html -AH!

OUCH! That ruined somebody's day!

More like A LOT of peoples days! Think of all the people counting on that car, or shipping something in it! I think you already know this is easier real, which I'm sure you already knew that, but I didn't want someone to possibly get mixed up.

 Thanks for the the link & the additional information about coupler variables.  We should soon have enough to make a book.  This week, I should receive the couplers I ordered & can replace the wires.   

 I did replace the horn & hook couplers on my 6 IHC passenger cars with McHenry 52 couplers.  That seems to be working.  I also replaced a defective coupler on the rear of my Spectrum EMD SD-45 with a Kadee 5 metal magnetic coupler.  I found that Bachmann uses whisker couplers in their SD-45.  Now, I can run my locomotive frontwards again to pull the train.  It is pulling my 18 freight cars without straining.
  The Life-Like horn & hook couplers on the cars from my initial train set hold pretty well to the knuckle couplers on other cars.  I find that some cars hold better when I move them to a different part of the train.

Quote from: StanierJack on September 05, 2008, 05:11:31 PM
I have a quick question about couplers.

Does anyone think that if I was to replace the NEM socket couplers from some of my newly purchased American outline sock, that I could fit it with British Tension locks without much fuss?

 I have had cars uncouple or derail, because the metal (hose) on the knuckle coupler rides low enough to strike a rail when crossing a switch.  Does anyone else have these problems?  I am trying to bend these hoses up away from the track.  Did somebody write that he snips off these hoses to prevent problems?

When I install Kadees on a car, I always bend the hose up.  I use a small needlenose pliar, hold the coupler in my left hand, with the head resting on my first finger.  Then I bend the hose towards the head.  I also file the paint off the rear of the coupler. 
If you use plastic knuckle couplers, the only solution is to cut the bottom of the hose off. 
Gene

Kadee makes a plier for bending the hoses . It also makes a gauge to check the height of the hoses to make sure they clear the tracks. Check their website .

Sometimes, the hoses on my cars jti either the rail on a switch, but sometimes, it hits the ties. The only one of my cars that hits the ties is my Union Pacific cattle car.

  Thanks for the confirmation that others have the problem & for the advice, SteamGene & Jhanecker2.

Sometimes, my coupler rides low enough, and has the hose outward enough, to grind on the side of the rail, and uneven connections make for a bumpy or thunderous ride via derailment(s). Cheaper couplers likely have plastic hoses, and the more expensive couplers have metal. Also, I would like to add another coupler type that gives me trouble- the hook-horn. Earlier hook-horns and some newer ones have that needle/icicle thing sticking down, which does the same thing. But since they're only plastic, cutting is probably the easiest way to fix it.

Here's some links:
http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page160.htm

http://www.trainweb.org/girr/tips/tips3/coupler_tips.html

Good luck!