Model Railroading > Are Kadee Couplers Good Enough?

Long considered the "King" of couplers, are Kadee couplers good enough? It's kind of funny... with today's models getting to be so accurate, doesn't it seem that when you look at a model any more, the couplers (even Kadees) stand out like a sore thumb. We came a long way when we went from horn-hook couplers to Kadees, but do we need to ditch the old Kadees in favor of something that looks even more like a real coupler? Can an all-metal coupler be made to look like prototype couplers and still have the durability and functionality of today's Kadees?

I still use the standard head Kadee couplers because I place operational reliability above scale fidelity, but there the alternatives of the scale head Kadee Couplers (#58 being one of those). But if that is not enough for you, there is the Sargent Couplers that are operating all metal couplers that are about as scale as you are going to get.
http://sergentengineering.com/

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

If you're happy with the way they look on your models, then they work just fine.

Greetings
The standard Kadee is my choice and has been for thirty years. At the Thunderbird Model Railroad Club here in Phoenix, we have hand laid track over wooden ties. The track work is nearly forty years old and has suffered several (wet seasons). We have our share of track maintenance like the big railroads do. Scale couplers and scale width wheels are problematic. Reliability is the issue. Just my opinion.

Kr

I am waiting for the new version which is DCC compatible and when you hit "F82" it will tell you where the Kadee coupler spring fell out on the layout !!

Rick

Nothing will suit me until we have digital air and operating glad hands.

C27A
Enjoys operations and gladly accepts the standard #5.

sasquatch0000 Wrote:
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> Long considered the "King" of couplers, are Kadee
> couplers good enough? It's kind of funny... with
> today's models getting to be so accurate, doesn't
> it seem that when you look at a model any more,
> the couplers (even Kadees) stand out like a sore
> thumb. We came a long way when we went from
> horn-hook couplers to Kadees, but do we need to
> ditch the old Kadees in favor of something that
> looks even more like a real coupler? Can an
> all-metal coupler be made to look like prototype
> couplers and still have the durability and
> functionality of today's Kadees?

Surprised the Sergent couplers haven't been mentioned. Operation and scale wise they are very good. But to most people converting over is cost prohibitive.

1stcajon Wrote:
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> Surprised the Sergent couplers haven't been
> mentioned. Operation and scale wise they are very
> good. But to most people converting over is cost
> prohibitive.

They have been mentioned before this. But you're right, for people with huge Kadee-equipped fleets, the cost of conversion is daunting.

I presently have 200 plus locomotives, most of which are Kadee equipped. I will try a set of Sergant couplers if I ever find some to buy at my local hobby shop, and only on a unit that hasn`t been retrofitted with Kadees-why mess up what ain`t broke! NUFF SAID!
John W.

For the majority of modelers kadee's are good enough but if you think about it no other coupler type has really yet to take hold on the market.

Now I will admit I have crossed over to the Sergent rotary couplers that fit on the lbf cars and I love them once installed properly they work flawlessly its a shame the dumper we built for it only lasted 6 dump cycles of 25 cars but thats another story...The only down side to having the working rotary couplers on the lbf cars is that all of them had to be reweighted to about 6-8 ounces (empty) and only the scale kadee's (no centering springs) give enough swing on the non rotary end to allow 30 inch radius.

A couple months back I made the choice to switch over to Sergent couplers and I'm not looking back.
The interaction you have with the sergent coupler while you switch, is very realistic.
The opening knuckle operates just like real life. They look 100% real, and I have had no issues so far with them.

I will eventually sell all my Kadee couplers to help further pay for the conversion.

When you are pulling a 50 plus car train up a 3% grade with a 240 degree turn you will want Kadee couplers. They are a must at the California Southern Model Railroad Club if you are running a long train. It is better to have an oversize scale coupler than half of your train rolling backwards down the hill due to coupler failure.

My only beef with Sergent couplers is that they are not as "automatic" as Kadee couplers. Imagine trying to put locomotives on a train in the rear track in a below deck staging yard behind several other trains. There is a good reason to have centering springs on equipment, because not all parts of layouts are as accessible as Sergent couplers require them to be.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

To summarize my comments from the past, the #5's are awesome and work great on the longer cars, they seem to compensate for many other flaws but make the whole show work great. Not to worried about detail if the cars are moving and coupled together, standing by themselves or for photos is open to conjecture though.

The shorter cars get the #58's, but the 58's are a little more challenging when using a dowel to uncouple the cars during switching, sometimes damaging end details, sometimes not coupling due to the cars brake hose detail.

Then there's the question of why the highly detailed cars have two brake hoses, the KD simulated hose used for magnetic uncoupling and the detailed hose installed on the car. That's another open topic, in the mean time I'm sticking with KD's.

Well, they took my kodachrome away from me, hopefully they will never take my Kadees. I have run 50 car trains on huge layouts with 2.2% grades, curves and even on flat modules. I have not had any problem with Kadees, except for the occasional knuckle spring flying off somewhere. I'll take that F82 key any day ;), but it would be more appropriate for my work bench.

AJ

as far as i know the sergent couplers aren't in hobbyshops, they are only available direct. kadees are reliable there is no doubt, but when i was in ho (i do P48 now) i cut the airhoses off because i found that i did 98% of my uncoupling by hand anyway. prototypical anyway: automatic coupling-manual uncoupling. bill