Standard Gauge Flyer and Ives... Compatible Couplers?

David, 

 

  The couplers are different. The 20-190 Uses IVES auto couplers. If the new one is anything like the original, the couplers will be riveted on. 

Nighthawk, thanks for the info.  I had a feeling that might be the case.   Odd that such a niche market (i.e., Standard Gauge) would further segment itself by having incompatible couplers among the different brands.  Too bad MTH didn't just pick one of the coupler types and use them across all brands on the new Standard Gauge reproductions.  But I suppose that would have caused another set of issues among purists.  Just can't please everyone I guess.

 

David

Then you have American Flyer Wide Gauge couplers, the locomotives had male units and the cars had a male coupler on one end and a female unit on the other. The cars could only be coupled in one direction.

 

Ron M

So far my standard gauge is Lionel, Flyer, McCoy & CMC. McCoy uses a tab & slot that will easily fit into a Lionel universal coupler, CMC is the same, but their couplers are so cheesy, I replace them with the same type McCoy uses. To get these combinations to play together I created a few of these adapters. Handy to keep laying around.

 

Steve

 

 

David,

Yours is a common complaint among those new to Std Gauge, be it vintage or reproduction pieces. Steve "Papa" Eastman has created a unique adapter.

I think using proper couplers is the correct way for MTH to go. For those of us who want to mix n match, we're up to our own creativity.

Steve

As a kid playing with Standard Gauge trains, the couplers become a significant part of the experience.  It's the part you are most often messing with, making up or taking apart trains.  You become very familiar with the coupler type used by "your" trains.

 

Later in life, if you came across what purported to be a reproduction on "your" trains but did not have the authentic coupler, you would consider it an imposter, not the real thing.

 

For me it was my dad's Ives couplers, and to a lesser extent the Lionel latch; that's what were on our trains and what we learned to manipulate with little fingers.  Most of these Standard Gauge coupler types were called "automatic", but of course are not, they require hand intervention.  If you lined the couplers up perfectly and backed up just right, occassionally you could get a train to add on a new car, coupling "automatically", but it worked rarely enough to be a thrill.  The Ives coupler is the only one that will do this with any predictability.

 

Bing hook, Lionel crinkle hook, Lionel hook with ears, Lionel latch, Ives automatic, Flyer slide one-way and Dorfan lift-latch one-way.  Most MESG (McCoy, CMT) use simple hook unless they are reproductions in which case they use the original. Part of the fun of rediscovering Standard Gauge as an adult has been to discover these different and ingenious ways the other companies made their distinctive couplers.  

 

The differences are not insurmountable if you want to mix and match cars.  Adapter couplers, adapter cars (with an Ives coupler on one end and a Lionel on the other, for example), changing out a coupler if it's a more or less permanent situation.  A bread-bag wire twist-tie is the ultimate solution that always works, interfacing any coupler type with any other quickly, securely, and easily undone.

 

But it seems like a bigger issue than it actually is in practice.  More than nine tenths of the time you'll run Flyer cars with a Flyer engine, etc.  The different manufacturers' products are quite distinctive in many ways other than the couplers, and mixing them up in one train turns out not to be all that satisfying.

 

It's all part of the fun.

 

 

I grew up playing with my father's cousin's standard gauge trains, which were well played with long before I came along. There was a mixture of Lionel, Ives, and American Flyer. Some of the Lionel cars were missing their original couplers.

We used bent paper clips and bits of wire to couple the trains together.

 

Years later I cleaned up the trains and replaced the missing parts for the owner.

When I was new to tinplate trains I was also wondering why there was no universal coupler.  I had envisioned making up a train with different manufacturer's cars but would have to jump some hurdles to make it happen.  Then as my collection grew I had more than enough cars from each maker to put together a complete train with only one brand of cars.  I came to no longer care that they all had different couplers and now can't see myself mixing cars any more.  For the record, my favorite couplers are American Flyer, I find them the easiest to manipulate.

 

 

John.

The big problem with standardizing on one kind of coupler (most likely Lionel latch couplers) for modern Standard Gauge is that then the repros would not be compatible with originals of the same brand. I can see that generating even more complaints than the lack of standardization. I think the best solution is either Steve's adapter or what I do with my 0 gauge European tinplate - make transition cars with a different coupler at each end. ETS tinplate comes with a choice of three or four different styles of couplers. I have standardized on ETS couplers and American-style couplers, and I have a couple of gondolas with an ETS coupler at one end and a Lionel-style knuckle coupler at the other. Electric-pattern locomotives can also be fitted with a different coupler at each end - I've done this with my ETS Swiss Crocodile. (See photo below)

 

For steam engines, you could get an extra tender (not necessarily matching) and set it up with interchangeable drawbars and/or couplers, held in place with screws instead of rivets or tabs. 

 

ETS 0 gauge tinplate Seetal Krokodil with US-style knuckle coupler at left and ETS coupler at right.

 

I think I'm starting to realize that already.  At first I was completely unaware that the couplers were different across brands.  Then my next thought was, "You gotta be kidding me.  Why on earth would they do that?"    Now, I've come to accept that the incompatibilities exist, and the work-around is very manageable.  Not ideal, but it's not a show-stopper either... Especially since I plan to run Standard Gauge trains for display -- not to simulate real railroad operations.  

 

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and experiences!!!

 

David