H0 continental couplings advice please.

[Re6/6]

I'm rather baffled regarding continental H0 couplings.

 

I'm embarking on my first European small industrially located shunting effort.

 

All my stock acquired so far have these couplings as standard. Can they be used for pre-uncoupling etc by use of track magnets or ramps? I know that KayDees have that magnetic ability but I don't really want to re-equip everything with those.

 

 

I would be very grateful for any advice.

 

Many thanks.

[Allegheny1600]

Hi John,

In a word, no (sorry!).

European couplers tend to be either very or quite good at connecting together OR staying coupled together.

But for shunting, they're not so great tbh.

I'm in the process of switching (pun!) to Roco's 40397/40395 - which I call a "soft touch" coupler in that they are very easy to connect together but they need a "spade on a stick" to manually uncouple. 

https://www.roco.cc/en/product/22610-0-0-0-0-0-0-003005-0/products.html

 

For holding rakes of close coupled vehicles together, I prefer the Fleischmann 'Profi' close coupler which really locks vehicles together buffer to buffer and they still go around tight curves but I think that's no good to you.

 

The hook & look type you illustrated is the 'standard' Euro coupler (which is anything but standard!) and is about the same as the UK tension lock in terms of practicality but people like Roger Nicholls remove one loop, operate all vehicles the same way around and seem to have decent success.

 

You can also get Kadees with NEM socket fitments, No.s 17 (short) thru to 20 (long).

I wish I could say these are just as good as the American versions, No. 5 etc, etc. Due to the European practice of using at least steel axles and weights not to mention the additional swing integral with the NEM pocket, they just don't work as well as a well weighted US car or wagon. I have fought for years with mine and am still not satisfied.

Short of re-axleing and/or re-wheeling as well as re-weighting all my wagons AND fixing good old No 5's throughout, I don't know how else to do it. Plus, you have buffers to contend with, aargh!

 

So, as I say, the Roco soft touch appears to be my best option and resorting to hand uncoupling but they do couple together well. I also have some locos with digital couplings that need either the Roco soft or the Euro coupling to work.

HTH,

John.

[Andy Hayter]

I have to agree.

For my shunting layout I resorted to Kadees.

[Neil]

If you do decide to stick with the standard 'as supplied' couplings I've found that one of those small, high powered magnets on a home made wand to be the best uncoupling solution.

 

 

 

I haven't, but it could be fixed to the side of a small torch to illuminate between the wagons. If you'd like to experiment I can send you some of the magnets in the post for you to try (I have more than I will need here).

Edited January 9, 2020 by Neil

[Re6/6]

Many thanks John, Andy and Neil, much appreciated. Much to inwardly digest!

 

Here's a link to the layout plans.  

 

[Neils WRX]

The Roco couplers mentioned above, are also close couplers so another advantage.

 

I use these and the normal hook and loop couplers on my stock.

 

Neil

[D9020 Nimbus]

The problem with using a magnet to uncouple the "standard" NEM360 couplers as pictured is that not all the brands have loops that can be attracted by a magnet—Lilliput for instance. Also the size varies a lot, and can affect how they couple together. The Roco "universal" coupler which I think @Allegheny1600 is referring to work OK, are reasonably priced and come with a suitable hand uncoupler, but the stock used must have the standard "swinging link" arrangement as these couplers give a rigid connection. Stock which doesn't have this arrangement (e.g. most British stock with NEM mounts) will cause derailments.

 

Remember not all European stock has NEM362 fittings. Some (especially some Roco) has NEM363 instead.

 

Generally I think Kadees work best—but I uncouple by hand, using the hand uncoupling tool that Kadee supply.

[rue_d_etropal]

Roger Nicholls used his 'blade of grass' idea for continental couplings as well as UK ones. I have tried(which led me to start designing my own coupling), but the main problem is the hook, or lack of it. I have had similar problem with OO9 couplings, which are in effect a slimmed down version of continental couplings.

Rivarossi used to fit a metal hook on their locos. It worked well, and was not that visible,and that is part of my design idea. 

 

The simplest way is to remove one coupling from each wagon, and replace it with a simple hook made from wire(paper clip?) . Fitting it to wagon, even NEM pocket is only tricky part. Then install blades of grass in sidings where uncoupling is to be done. Note all sidings should be in same direction, as most are in reality, although the odd kick back siding is acceptable.  Uncoupling points can be changed easily. My problem has been trying to use this on inset track, mainly due to lack of clearance under some locos.

Edited January 13, 2020 by rue_d_etropal

[SM42]

By removing one loop on each vehicle and having all stock one way round they can be adapted much like the standard Bachmann tension lock for magnetic uncoupling, (the Brian Kirkby method?)

 

A quick experiment with a couple of wagons proved the concept and the fact the loop is ferrous made no difference to operation.

 

Whether they will stay coupled in a train is an experiment yet to be carried out ( pulling  a short distance seemed to work) as there is no obvious positive locking under tension except the slight backward rake of the coupling spigot.

 

One other possible problem is the staple fouling the wagon running gear or having to be so low to miss the running gear that it catches on the track, but this will to a large extent depend on the vehicle

 

 

Andy

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by SM42

[rue_d_etropal]

the top of hook on r2r stock is far too low. The one on old Rivarossi locos was quite long and curved slightly towards loco. I see no need for magnets as the blade of grass , if positioned properly is effective.

[SM42]

Granted, but I was trying to find something that doesn't involve random blades of grass in what, for me, would be odd places, scenically.

 

So far it works , but more trials required, and the replacement hook could be a useful refinement

 

Andy

 

 

 

 

[maico]

Jim's video demonstrates the Fleischmann Profi coupling. I generally change out the traditional Marklin hoop type for these as rolling stock just lift out or you can push the pin up. As they are also cheap it seems the best ho system to many.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0hBv6mDhOc&t=2s

Edited January 15, 2020 by maico

[Vinedusk]

 

On 09/01/2020 at 23:23, Re6/6 said:

I'm rather baffled regarding continental H0 couplings.

I'm embarking on my first European small industrially located shunting effort.

 

All my stock acquired so far have these couplings as standard. Can they be used for pre-uncoupling etc by use of track magnets or ramps? I know that KayDees have that magnetic ability but I don't really want to re-equip everything with those.

 

I would be very grateful for any advice.

 

Many thanks.

 

I prefer the Roco 40395 for my purposes.  Replacing all the couplers on any collection will take time and money, so you need to be sure of what you want first.

I run Marklin's 3rail C-track.  I have a couple of Marklin's decouplers  lying around somewhere. The decouplers work by 'flicking' the coupling from underneath.

 

I will be sternly disappointed if they don't work with the Rocos as I want to be able to separate rolling stock on the track, without manual intervention.

Or at least I did 8 years ago, when I bought them.

 

The 'swing links' are referred to in eurospeak as identified kurzkupplungskinematik (kkk).  Anything made in this century should be OK, but check first.

I have a few Trix cars from the 80s/90s without this mechanism; and the results have never been pretty.

 

Doing your research on this will save you a lot of angst.