KD couplers posted

A better link with photos. These are nice and Kadee has raised the bar of quality and fidelity for O scale.

http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page740_745.htm

I hope to get some of these and try them out soon.

Joe and Ray: Question ....What is the difference between the new Kadee and the protocraft(?) 48 couplers? Does anyone here use the proto48 couplers?

Thanks in advance for the help.

George/nw2124  "Progress - either you are for it, or get out the way!"

 I just went to the P&D hobby site and they are listing the new couplers. I'm not the guy to answer any specific questions.  I do like the look of these new ones. All my engines will probably get them. I'm also hopeful the long shank will fit the Atlas 89' flats and some passenger cars. I expect them to live up to KD standards. Joe

The Proto Craft couplers come as raw brass castings.  They are a true scale coupler where the Kadees are a near scale couplers.  The Proto Craft couplers are finicky little thing that take quit of bit of ability to clean up and assemble so that they will work.  You won’t pull a pair out of the package and drop them in the draft gear box like a Kadee.

Ken

I have tried the Proto Craft couplers and they are very nice--but--they are less reliable and I have found that sometimes in a long train they will uncouple. You certainly can't really switch with them like a Kadee, but I stopped using magnets a long time ago and I have one of those uncoupling doo dads from Micro Mark--which really does not work with the Proto Craft. I did set up a couple of pair with the cut lever and that is very nice until you break that little bitty chain, then they become hand operated couplers. They will couple with Kadee's but you really have to work at it. It isn't the same as running a car down the siding and have them couple--most of the time.

The new Kadee couplers are going to be just like the HO versions on steroids. I am going to try them out.

George,

There are a number of differences between the two types and need to be investigated by the individual modeler. This is because we as modelers have differences in the way we operate our trains. I have recently converted from the original Kadees to the Protocraft after doing quite a bit of testing. The testing was to ensure myself I could get the same kind of reliable operation from the Protocraft as I enjoyed from the Kadee. Most notable was my requirement to be able to just 'kiss' a car and couple to it. My reason for conversion was to better approach pure prototype modeling with as little compromise as possible.

In my prior operation we uncoupled the Kadees using stick skewers by reaching over and inserting between the knuckles. We did not use the track magnets. The Protocraft couplers can be uncoupled two ways. one, by connecting cut levers mounted on the corners of each car and manually lifting the lever to open the knuckle. Two, by using a magnet wand and moving it over the top of the coupler to lift the latch pin. Once the latch is up, it stays up until the coupler is pushed against as in coupling. We will be using the 'magnetic' version of the Protocraft. So to open a Kadee one must reach over and get down in between the knuckles. For my bifocal vision this has been getting to be a problem. With the Protocraft I don't need to touch the coupler, only get near the top with the magnet wand. 

Probably the biggest difference is that the Kadees are RTR and the Protocraft must be polished and assembled. Both are unpainted and need to be finished when mounted. At least I think so.

The draft gear provided with each brand is also different. The Kadee box allows a wider swing and will accomodate sharper radius curves. The Protocraft has a centering spring but the design is closer to the prototype and therfore has a more restricted swing (testing required for your railroad)

Price is also a factor with the Protocraft at $62.50 for 5 pair and I believe I heard that the Kadees are $9 for two pair. Some folks baulk at the Protocraft price, but for me there is value because of the final result that I am after.

The Protocraft couplers include the hardware and hoses which includes cast angle cocks and glad hands. For reference, PSC gets $5 for a set of hoses and hardware, so in reality my couplers net out at $7.50/pair.

One of the significant reasons I go through all this is that I have developed a way to have working magnetically coupled air hoses. I can't do this without cutting off the bent steel pins on the Kadees, because they are obviously in the way.

I hope that I have pointed out that there are really personal decisions to be made on how we each operate and what we want our models to look like in operation.

One thing I would point out is that according to a couple of friends, just changing over to the new Kadees is not a slam-dunk if you are used to using skewers to open. This is because the new version fits tighter when coupled. This has led to experimenting with modified tools and techniques.

So to each his own decision. If you want to see a photo essay on getting the Protocraft version ready, I did one on the O Scale Trains blog.

Regards,  Ben Brown

Well said Ben.  I have not used a set of the Protocraft couplers yet.  I love the way they look and have thought about picking some up to try them but at this time haven't.   But from what I have seen they work well if you take the time to put them together right and that takes some fiddling.

Ken

I was looking at the 700-series variants and there's one with an over-set shank. Looks like that would cover the 3RS guys who want to keep the Pizza Cutters. There's also a long-shank which would work for the Atlas 89-foor Trailer Flats. Definitely a good group of products.

I bought some of the new couplers at the Springfield show and tried them on a couple cars.  I decided uncoupling with a pick was enough harder than with the 805s that the better appearance didn't make up for it.  I wrote up the problems I had along with some pictures in my blog here:

http://rices-rails.blogspot.co...2/02/uncoupling.html

Since posting that I've discovered that the Kadee #241 uncoupling tool seems to work fairly well with the new couplers - not well enough to change my mind about sticking with the 805s, but if you're a picker and you want the new couplers you might want to try it.

Ken.

Thanks Ken for corroborating what I had heard from a train buddy...that indeed the new Kadees, while more appealing from a visual standpoint, are a bit fussy operationally by those of us who prefer to pick uncouple as part of our operational approach. The original 805 design never bothered me at all frankly and they operate perfectly...so I'll keep my money and my stockpile of 805's intact.

Bob

You can find a review of the Protocraft Type e coupler in OST #49, page 52, available for free here: http://www.oscalemag.com/docs/ost_49.pdf

You can see Ben's photo essay at the OST Form here: 

http://www.oscalemag.com/wordp...viewtopic&t=14.1  

Go to Page 2 and scroll down a bit.

A review of the new Kadee Type E will be in the May/June issue of OST. The Kadee coupler components range from 3% to 10% oversize to accommodate reliable operation and inter-operabiltiy with the old 800 series. Personally, I like them.

Joe G.

Seems to me their (Kadee) logic is flawed. From the comments in other posts in this thread, they haven't satisfied either the old die hard Kadee users nor the people who were looking for an accurate coupler. Why not just bite the bullet and get as close to the real thing as possible and forget about trying to make everything compatible. In shooting to satisfy everyone, they may not have satisfied anyone. I don't think the P48 faction is going to buy the size discrepancy and if compatibility with the original stuff is compromised, will the current users bite on the new ones to get a partial improvement in realism? Time will tell I suppose!

Simon

Well, that's in keeping with this being an election year,