Model Railroading > Any thoughts on going back to KD #5's

I've tried going to the 158's and like them but not satisfied with the 158 / 5 hookups, your experiences appreciated, Ed

Ed Stewart
Jacksonville, FL

KD#5 all the way. I see no reason to change over 500 cars. I wondered about the mismatch.

I've had no issues matching up # 5's & 158"s.

I have no choice. I bought 500 packs back
when they were 79 cents a pack. Never any
problems with them.

twl

I use 58s on my heavy freight units, and larger road units.

My switchers, and GP9s/RS18s us the ol 5s due to the fact that they reach into areas (tight curves, or inside buildings etc) and the 5s have a better chance of hookup, beyond arms reach on the layout.

My freight cars are 90% 5s and the 58s only go on my superdetailed, heavily customized freight cars.

Sean Steele
London, ON

I stuck with the #5's for operational reliabilty. I too found operational issues trying to use #5's with the scale couplers.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

5/58's play nice together, if your heights are SPOT ON. I have two gauges, one for 5's, one for 58's. But if they are not perfect, there can be some difficulties, especially if you have any track issues. I am slowly converting over to 58's, they look better especially with all the nice equipment coming on the market.

funnelfan Wrote:
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> I stuck with the #5's for operational reliabilty.
> I too found operational issues trying to use #5's
> with the scale couplers.

As a member of Virginia's largest HO Scale club, the Chesapeake Bay & Western, in Grafton, Va. (7 miles south of Yorktown, Va.), we have also found this to be true, by and large - and while many members have the other couplers on much of their rolling stock, the Kadee #5's are by far the preferred brand due to THAT issue: operational reliability. Period.

I feel that the KD148 coupler is better than the KD5. If someone does not like the KD158 why not use the KD148?

Jeff Smith
Lakewood, CA
RailMaster Hobbies



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/15 13:39 by UPJeff.

I switched to 158's when they first came out and
never looked back since. I had had no problems at all
operating my 2 switching modules.
I cut the trip pins off all of my couplers and use
a manual un-coupling tool to un-couple when I bunch
up the slack.
Any other coupler that is installed on the cars and
engines when I buy them goes right in the trash.
cf7

I use the "standard head" couplers, such as #5, and now 148 standard head whisker couplers, on all my freight and passenger cars for the sake of reliability and standardization. I use scale head couplers such as the #158 on locomotives and cabooses because they look better. I have had no conflicts with this setup. I have had uncoupling issues with scale head Kadee's coupled to standard heads on trains going downhill. There is a town on my layout about halfway down the mountain. When trains reach that point, the grade flattens out, the slack runs out, and the scale heads uncouple. I tested this several times with different equipment and had the same result. This was especially true with my Tangent gondolas. I ended up changing out the scale heads for standard heads.

Mike

UPJeff Wrote:
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> I feel that the KD148 coupler is better than the
> KD5. If someone does not like the KD158 why not
> use the KD148?


For the purpose of this discussion, I'd consider a #148 to be the same thing as a #5, because the issue at hand is the size of the coupler head, not its centering mechanism.

jburek Wrote:
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> I've had no issues matching up # 5's & 158"s.


Same here. Both work well together. Just use the Kadee coupler height gauge.

SantaFeRuss

I have no compatibility problems between the two. I've never purchased the 158s, only have them on rolling stock that came equipped with them.

As I have hundreds of cars and scores of locomotives, I have no plans to convert to the 158s.

Art House
Gettysburg, Pa.