Kadee Couplings! For those that don’t know, they’re a more realistic looking coupling for model railways than the usual bulky tension lock ones we get on most models in the UK. They are made by an American company called Kadee (pronounced Kay-Dee as in K & D). Kadee just look more like something you’d expect to see on a train, and allow coaches and wagons to run closer together.

I ordered a selection of Kadee’s for NEM pockets from Hattons, along with the rod magnets I’d ordered from First4Magnets. Testing has been done on a siding and I'm pretty happy with my version of a budget delayed action magnetic decoupler. Also it turns out that I what I thought were modern models fitted with NEM pockets for interchangeable couplings, are in fact not-so-modern models with the older, bigger clip-in style pockets. I've ordered some Dapol wagons from Hattons which I'm assuming/hoping will have NEM pockets. Either way, I'll be testing as we go.

I was slightly disheartened initially as I thought I would have to order the underset gearbox style Kadee's, but some fettling with a drill has produced modified Kadee 18's, 19's & 20's that should fit both Hornby pockets and NEM pocket if I want to swap things around down the line.

I have also bought the Kadee coupling gauge, which really is a necessity to set the decoupling pins height accurately. I found that this made more difference to reliability than the height of the magnets under the track. Half the Kadee's required pin bending once fitted to rolling stock; I didn't use the official bending pliers but just grabbed each end of the pin with pliers in each hand and gently bent the pins up or down. You almost don't know you've done it, it's very subtle.

Photos & captions below.

Here are two couplings fitted, with decoupling magnets fitted just under the track after much trial and error.  3mm holes were drilled in the top of the board and the magnets simply push in. There's plenty of grip to hold them in place but I think I'll use a drop of PVA going forwards to make it more permanent.  I only drilled through the top surface of the Ikea Linnmon tables I'm using for base boards, which is fine until you realise really need to push the magnets up from underneath to raise or remove them - hence the massacred sleepers from much grappling with pliers!

The magnets in question - bought from First4Magnets.co.uk, arrived very quickly!

A Kadee 18 modified to fit a Hornby pocket, and a comparison with the original Hornby tension lock. My process:

1. Put the Kadee's swallow tail in a vice and drill a 2mm hole between the forks of the swallow tail, right where they meet at the knuckle end. I found the drill bit located itself in the right place, right at the tip of the V.
2. Drill a 1.5mm hole at the base of the T piece of solid plastic, between the knuckle and the 2mm hole you just drilled.
3. Use a Stanley or craft knife to cut through the plastic between the two new drill holes.
4. Push into the Hornby pocket!  The 2mm hole should "click" locate around the shaft in the socket, the 1.5mm hole and knife cut allows the additional flex.

I found this works for Hornby pockets but not for the similar pocket on a Dapol GWR grain wagon, there was too much vertical wiggle room. A bit of glue or packing would fix this, but I'm trying to find ways to keep things both glue-free and semi permanent. I don't actually have much use for that wagon anyway...

Two types of modified Kadee's fitted to each end of the Hornby auto coach, Kadee 18 on the left, Kadee 19 on the right, the latter giving an extra mm or so of clearance.  The modified 18 seems to be the best all-rounder and fits most of the Hornby non-NEM stock. Both coupled to the same butchered Kadee screwed onto a 6 plank wagon - see below.

This was a Kadee 19 with swallow tails removed and a 1.5mm hole drilled through the centre of the T plastic. It was tricky to drill close enough to the knuckle so that the coupling would be nice and close, but without the head of the screw touching the knuckle which would stop it from pivoting freely and self centring on its little springs. I failed on the other end of this wagon. In future I will err on the side of leaving too much space between hole and knuckle, then file it into a slot if I need adjustment later.  I could have left the swallow tails attached - they actually rub on the axle slightly which might help stop the wagon rolling towards the magnets when decoupled. Might try that down the line if needed.

I also had to file down the end of the stanchion that holds the coupling screw, as this was also rubbing on the knuckle and preventing it from self-centring.

In other news, most of the track is ready to glue down now, I'm just waiting for steel wire to finish the station crossover switching, and the cable to finish the electrics under the boards. I will go through both in detail in subsequent posts.

Oh and finally, as a random side project I'm trying to create a removable 5 plank wagon load using clingfilm. There is an M10 steel nut hurried in the ballast to add some weight, and the whole lot is being set using the trusty PVA/water mix... who knows if it'll work, lets see.