Old tension lock coupler

Hi Kevin,

Screwing a KD underneath is simple, most wagons will require a styrene block as it will be too high. You can always use an underset KD, which sits lower than the normal one (which is centerset). The Dapol NEM 362s are meant for Dapol wagons, other old stock will probably require adjustment. Use a KD height gauge to make sure.

I thought you wanted to keep tension lock couplers? I'm not sure what you mean by the metal plate either. If you are attaching a KD coupler box to metal (or for that matter plastic) you should use threaded screws and a drill and die set. At a minimum drill and use self tappers. Styrene blocks and glue are easler, although some of the old plastics are tough to glue to.

Get some from Dapol and have a go on an old wagon. It's not hard.

Nigel

[user=1632]BCDR[/user] wrote:

Hi Kevin,

  snip… you should use threaded screws and a drill and die set. .          snip  ,,,,

Nigel

https://kadee.com/htmbord/page246.htm    plus screws

https://kadee.com/htmbord/page256.htm

https://kadee.com/htmbord/page1706.htm

Hi Nigel.   Thank you.  Some of the coach bogies haye the coupler built in "One with the Bogie ". In that case I would have to follow the example by Sol, and cut it off, and attach the coupler to the coach body, but with the Locos ,where there a similar arrangement , the coupler is part of the chassis, and if you cut off the tension lock?? Then there is no where to attach the Kadee .   All the best. Kevin

Hi Ron.  Thank you .   "Snip?" But some of my Locos ( okay the very cheap Hornby variety) have the Tension Lock built in one piece with the chassis .Snip off the tension lock and you lose the "anchor point for the replacement coupler whether it is Kadee or any other make. Which would leave me with the "Adaptor Wagon" or whatever it is called, with a tension lock at the Loco end . And a Kadee at the "open end ". All the best. Kevin

Kevin, with loco pony trucks, I did this - screwed Kadee on the truck




as I wrote in http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=8591&forum_id=156

Now for those without a pony truck, anchor the coupler box under the buffer beam area - each loco has to be looked at as an individual item. What works for one loco may or may not work for another type.

Kadee Resources | Model Railway Forum
http://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/other/mti_article.php

Hi Ron.   Thank you again, the vans in question do have pony trucks A F A I K , which looks straightforward .i will just have to be more careful when I purchase an older Loco . All the best. Kevin

Hi Ron.   I have just remembered the proper term for the adaptor wagon. It is a "Barrier Wagon" , as used on national railways to take old Underground stock to the scrap yard, when the couplings are incompatible with the Locomotives that will remove them. Not very good with shunting puzzles though.   All the best. Kevin

I just had a look at the stock on "Blossom Hill"  I have 83 wagons,  4 rakes of carriages so maybe just 4 pairs of coupling there.  40 locos.   At present on the tracks.   at 5.50 a pair it would cost (without any other mounting parts ) £660 .  Not counting that number again of carriages in boxes ,together with about 100 unmade kits mostly Parkside.

So then quite a decision to make there.  As much as i would like to have those ,in my case perhaps i should just continue with Spratt and Wickle.

Shame but i have to be sensible about what is just a hobby..  Perhaps if i bought Kaydees a few at time it would not be so bad .  There is also the Brian Lambert  method , but i dont think one could shunt with those?

Hi Reg.    Thank you.   I used to be like that with fishing ,( Rods and Reels galore, I just kept buying, and now I am in no state to fish again. But now I am retired I cannot make my budget stretch so far) . I digress not good that.For Close    coupled, permantly coupledrakes , I knew a bloke that would replace the tension lock with a suitability bent paper clip, but of course they need to be left in a carriage shed/ sidings when not out on the main. And it sounds like you have a suitable layout to do that. Kits are a problem for me, they get out of the box, and started but then I never seem to finish them.  All the best. Kevin

Dingham couplings.




 I have in an experiment and will eventually will be fitting them to the all coach bodies at the end of each fixed rake.




 Note I have  / will have (I'm still building) 6ft radius curves. I have noted on this and other forums that those with a  tight radius have had to fit them to the bogies.









This thread has some info









http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=2220&forum_id=11&highlight=dingham+couplings









 Unfortunately Bhotopucket has done away with all the pictures.



This thread has info too



http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/99313-dingham-couplings-user-experience-00-gauge/




 and this one which has info on several different types of coupling..



https://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=126&t=2934

Hi The Q.  With your plans for a "Six Foot Radius" you must either have a big Garage, Loft or Basement. And ambitions for a High Speed Roundy Roundy, but is it GWR, or LNER??    All the best. Kevin

I've spent 10+ years building a shed (ie when I've got the spare money) for an EM gauge model of Ludgershall Station, Wiltshire, which unfortunately comes to 34ft in length, when you add the turns each end, I've ended up with a 54ft By up to 16ft shed (its an odd shape due to the property boundary). So one end is 12ft wide the other is about 16ft. Many time's I've wished I had decided to go N gauge….

The shed itself is long ago built, but I've been working my way from one end to the other fitting the shelves, cupboards and layout staging. I'm now on the last ten foot length at the 16ft wide end. One experimental base board has been completed "in white" ie landscaped. I have the materials in, to build the next half dozen boards. The aim is to get the basic boards completed in white as a circle. Then pull each board at a time to decorate scenically..

The Station / line was MSWJR then GWR, the Line had connections to LMS at the north end, GWR in the Middle and Southern in the south. The line would have been better off in the hands of SR or LMS or joint between them
 
As for high speed, I think the "express" managed the length of the line 62 miles in around 2 hours!!

The choice of Dingham couplings was for me after reviewing threads on couplings, then viewing many different couplings at shows, and then getting the opportunity to try using them on a layout at a show. Spratt and Winkles were in second place on my list and would have been appropriate since the MSWJR met end on to the Spratt and Winkle line…

I spent a day assisting on an end to end layout at a show using 3 link couplings…. I'm definitely not doing that on my layout, I was going cross-eyed at the end of the day, and from the viewers point of observation the hand of God coming over the top to uncouple was worse than a Hornby tension coupling…

Hi Q

Shed?  Sounds more like a small house!!!
I have a thread on Large layouts on here - perhaps I can ask you to share your experiences of same, particularly as you may have out-larged a lot of us

Many thanks

Barry

I'm already there!! however as I'm still working on the staging for the layout I won't be bothering with pictures for some time

I have my own thread which hasn't been updated for some time, however there is the odd bit of information and picture on there..
http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=14227&forum_id=21&highlight=ludgershall.
 hopefully when the Weather means SWMBO doesn't have me working outside, I'll get back to working on the inside of the shed.. 

Hi Nigel    This in reply to “ hackery and butchery “. Following the accident with my brakevan, which fell from the layout/ workbench , I was determined to hone my skills and fit Kadees to the chassis of the shattered brakevan, with nothing to lose. I hacked the coupler mounts to sole bar level, and filed them flat, but that leaves an odd shaped hole where the Kadee is to be screwed on. It may be that the sole bar is at the correct height to fit the Kadee ? in which case I don’t want to build it up too much, okay if it needs it, but obviously I don’t want unnecessary work, so would you please tell me , how do I fill in that hole without effecting the coupler height??  Best wishes Kevin 

Hi Kevin,

Is this a metal or plastic chassis? If plastic most solvent glue may not work. CA probably will, but key all surfaces. If metal it's probably a MAZAC alloy, special solder, flux and safety precautions. Two methods I use:

1. 2-part epoxy (small hole). Cover one side with masking tape, fill slightly profound, file flat. Remove masking tape. Key the epoxy, glue and and screw.

2. Large hole. Cover with a plastic or brass plate, fill with 2-part epoxy, glue and screw. Use a KD height tool to determine whether you will need an underset coupler and what thickness of plastic or brass to use. Key, glue and screw.

With a van it's sometimes better to put the repair plate on top if it means a centerset coupler is used. Use long screws or machine bolts.

Nigel

Hi Nigel    Thank you for your reply , it is actually a plastic chassis, so there isn’t a problem of rot. I had been reading about EMA for working with styrene, as it melts? the surface to get a bond in most plastics. I did think of epoxy resin, but I didn’t know how it would accept a thread.. I think I will cut a strip of styrene to fit the hole. And allow it to set before fitting the Kadee .  Best wishes. Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Epoxy will take a thread or a self tapper fine.

EMA might work, depends on what plastic Hornby used. It's solvent welding, not gluing.

Nigel

Hi Nigel  .Thank you for your reply. I remember those dark days of my youth, when the incorrect glue? would have a devastating effect on ones favourite game. When it would dissolve in front of one.  Best wishes. Kevin