Model Railroading > Intermountain couplers????

good bad ????ome input on these as i finally going to start changing couplers to something else instead of the ready to run stuff
thank
stuart in iowa
watching it rain

Kadee...Kadee...Kadee...

That's about all I use. I haven't used Intermountain's, but if
they're anything like Bachmann's EZ-mates, P2K's, or McHenry's, I'd
avoid them.

Kadee...Kadee...Kadee... Kadee...Kadee...Kadee...

Bad. Like all of the new plastic couplers they can easily snap off and loose their springiness. Intermountains seemed the worse. They did look better than the other couplers but the new scale size Kadee #58 is much better.

Bad... very bad. I purchased a several of the built-up Intermountain 4750 covered hoppers that come with their couplers already installed. I have found that these couplers flex up and down very easily (causes uncoupling), and some of the knuckles broke under the strain involved with a 40- 50 car train going up grades.

I have replaced all of them with Kadees, and I will never run another car with the intermountain couplers.

I switched from Kaydee to sergents months ago and that is what I swear by now.

-=Andrew=-

K-Dee is the best way to go. The others will not hold up in long trains. There is to much slop and the stress makes the heads pop off.

Genuine Kadee.....accept no substitute.
Bill

I highly recommend Kadee #58's. They look great, (scale size and detail) and cost about the same as #5's. I've had no operational problems with them on long trains and in switching. KADEE..KADEE..KADEE!!!!

I run a layout I take to shows and I have to agree with all the comments on Kadees - they surpass all the others. Any supplied with Atlas, Walthers, Athearn etc do NOT perform at all well - they fail (whisker spring snaps, jaws of coupler jam etc) too easily and do not operate properly with magnetic uncouplers, either below track or hand held. However, I have found Imtermountains do work quite well, a lot better than the other plastic types but not quite as consistent as Kadees.

1) I use Kadees - I tried McHenry and the other clones, and they are OK (especially compared to horn-hooks), plus they're simple to install, since they have an integral centering spring. They're also cheap.

However, after a couple of years, I decided that the Kadee is better, and they don't break in normal use. The cost is higher, so it's a balance between cost and performance. I haven't rooted out the plastic couplers, but as I service, I replace couplers. New stuff gets the #58, & old stuff gets cascaded (#58's replace #5's, #5's replace plastic). That lessens the "bite" a bit.

The downside is that the #58 doesn't come in variations that the #5 and its cousins do, so special situations take ingenuity. However, that isn't as bad as it sounds - most of the mods required are ones I learned when the #5 was the only Kadee I could readily obtain.
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2) NCNG9: how are the Sergent couplers to assemble? They certainly look fabulous, and I'll probably try them when/if I find them for sale around here, but the assembly looks like a hassle, now that the Kadee #58 is around.


A proud knucklehead, I remain:
B-Dubya