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Hunt Coupling System


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2 hours ago, Steven B said:

 

I've fitted the Elite couplings to my two Dapol HST sets (both 8+2) and run them quite happily around a figure of eight test track with 10' curves without any problems. Have you checked that the close coupling mechanisms are working properly? On a few of my Mk3s (around 25 fitted so far) I discovered that it wasn't fitted correctly, often as a result of me not holding the coupling pocket firmly enough whilst removing & fitting the couplings.

 

Steven B.

Hi Steven,

 

Yes, checked that and can’t see anything amiss. I think these couplings are very ‘hit and miss’ It’s just frustrating the way that they ignore all correspondence to them - I’d imagine they’ve realised there are some issues and find it easier to ‘bury their head in the sand’ rather than try and resolve the issues.

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  • 1 month later...

I bought these couplings and there were quite good. I found them useful for my HO stock so I could use locos and rolling stock that previously had different systems. However on my third order, some were missing. I contacted the seller and zero response. I don't allow people to sell me short, so I got my money back via Paypal and they didn't respond to them either. It's not a way to do business. Clearly if they didn't contest it, they knew they were in the wrong.

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I have been using these coupings for some time, and have found them to be generally very good. There are minor glitches, as happens with products under continual development. Yesterday I spoke to Mr Hunt by telephone. He could not have been more helpful or informative, and even said he would replace free of charge a number of couplings which have broken, mainly owing to my own incompetence.

 

It is clear to me from our conversation that he is deluged with orders, and is increasing capacity as quickly as he can. His priority is to get orders out as quickly as possible, and that may be why replying to e-mails takes a back seat. Please give the guy a break, he genuinely is doing his best. Delay in deliveries is something I have experienced, but that is down to the problems the Post Office are having.

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On 08/01/2021 at 21:35, Model Railway Noob said:

I bought these couplings and there were quite good. I found them useful for my HO stock so I could use locos and rolling stock that previously had different systems. However on my third order, some were missing. I contacted the seller and zero response. I don't allow people to sell me short, so I got my money back via Paypal and they didn't respond to them either. It's not a way to do business. Clearly if they didn't contest it, they knew they were in the wrong.

 

As Great Northern has said, this a small business with a big orderbook.  When I last spoke to the owver a while back over an order question I had, I found out that it was a produiction line in his front room!!  No mass production machines etc.

 

As with all model railway "cottage" industries which start small and then need to scale up due to mass demand, they can find it difficult to appear like big box shifters/maunfacture with seperate Sales and Tech support teams.  When you have to do all the making and communicatiing as well as living a normal life, it can be a bit overwhelming and something slip by.

 

Edited by Jaggzuk
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1 hour ago, Model Railway Noob said:

 

I understand that but there is absolutely no excuse for taking someone's money, not providing what has been paid for (a contract was in place at that point) and then completely ignoring them when they politely remind you there was something missing, you had taken their money for. There comes a point where you have to take responsibility, get in more people, take less orders or stop. When I ordered the items were in stock. It is completely up to you and everyone else here who feels a loyalty to him and who hasn't yet been short-changed to continue to order from him. That's your choice but I am not going to. I really hope you don't have the experience I had or the hassle to force him to give me my money back. I have to work full-time and have a normal life too! I don't want to waste time chasing people for good I have paid for.

I have had an occasion where goods I ordered did not arrive. After about ten days, I phoned. I did not get an immediate reply, but when I did get through, he was apologetic, even though he had posted as he always does, next day delivery. He said he would immediately send another batch, which he did, and which arrived a couple of days later, and he also said to me that if the original batch did turn up later, I could keep it with his compliments. That is two very positive dealings in a relatively short space of time, and I can't see why his approach would vary with you or anyone else. As with most people though, thr way they are approached can affect the way they respond.

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Hi all and we hope everyone is keeping safe and well during these coming times.

 

We do apologize as we don't always keep up-to date on RM Web, but have made the team all have access now to help customers on here too,  but pop on when we can the team is always flat out working getting orders out and constantly developing new products with many more to come soon!

 

if anyone does wish to contact us please do via telephone or ensure you have sent to the correct email: info@westhillwagonworks.co.uk

 

@Model Railway Noob, Mike sorry for our late reply we saw your posts yesterday and had to research to confirm your orders with us and who you was, we have had to check to see what went on here.

We did have a few issues with our web hosting provider due to quantity of traffic on our website during several times last year and also lead to us moving hosting provider after many failed promises that our email & web hosting would be reliable enough, this has since been resolved and was very frustrating for us as a company, we are sincerely sorry if anyone was affected by this!

 

We promise all our customers we do upmost to reply to everyone as quick as possible, we receive many requests help and advice daily from customers, and we are more than willing to speak to anyone via telephone: 01623 759939. 9am-5pm mon-friday.

 

We will happily contact you tomorrow @Model Railway Noob as we dont want anyone to feel unhappy or frustrated with their order.

We did actually ship goods that were ordered (see Below), but just to inform you that your order was correct as shown in picture below we apologize if any confusion but 20 couplings is the same as 10 pairs as seen in the order below, 1 pair = 2.

 

1st item: 1 x Hunt Couplings ELITE - Standard Coupling - Couplings for NEM Sockets - OO Gauge - Coupling Pack Size: 20 Couplings (10 Pairs) (Pictured Left)

2nd Item: 1 x Hunt Couplings - Screw Coupling - 5 Pairs - OO Gauge (Pictured Right)

3rd Item: 1 x Hunt Couplings - Standard Coupling - 10 Pairs for NEM Sockets - OO Gauge (5 Pairs) (Pictured middle)

 

These are from where we gave options to customers to either select 10 couplings (5 Pairs) or 20 couplings (10 Pairs).

 

@Jaggzuk, those were the days of just myself ("Chris Bower") and Chris Hunt when we started, we have expanded quite abit as a company since our launch!, we now have our own unit, shop and demonstration layouts located in kirby in ashfield, nottinghamshire, and currently employ 4 staff members along with myself Chris Bower & Chris Hunt, too working on various new projects and customer orders, since the launch, we will be hosting a online live-stream in due course with company updates, all our customers do receive updates via email send-outs.

 

As a company we will always warrant any products we produce and please contact us if we can help in anyway.

 

We do our upmost to ensure each and every order goes out promptly we do suffer sometimes to the heal of royal mail as many have in these uncertain times please bear with them im sure they do have alot on as many of us are ordering online, and we will always offer anyone any advice or help with our products or guidance you can call us anytime one 01623 759939 or email us on info@westhillwagonworks.co.uk

 

Keep safe everyone and happy modelling!

 

thumbnail_20200903_101604.jpg.c0d143e521d988f73b03426c7a6b8e1f.jpg

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51 minutes ago, great northern said:

And that, sir,  completely confirms my suspicions.  You have no idea how to deal with others in a civilised manner.


I’ll add my story .... I successfully bought some Hunt Couplings last year: each order arrived approx a week later and successful.

 

Unfortunately for my next order, my online account with West Hill Wagon Works had an item within the basket that could not be removed. I emailed with a description of the problem, gave it a few days, but no reply.

 

I then tried calling ... but no reply. I must admit my levels of frustration grew, but I remained open minded and didn’t jump to any assumptions.

 

A few days later, I called again and successfully got through first time and had a lovely brief chat. He mentioned that since lockdown and with a rapidly growing business, it had caught them out a bit hence a few delays at times, also some emails automatically diverted to the ‘junk’ box by accident (including mine). He swiftly resolved my online account issue and took my latest order over the phone and it arrived a few days later. He also mentioned that they were looking to open a business unit to cope with the expansion, but the pandemic wasn’t helping with that.

 

I’ve since successfully placed and received another order just before Christmas.

 

Overall, I recommend that if anyone does encounter a problem with an order ... simply give them a call ... and try not to jump to any negative assumptions in the meantime. Whatever the issue, the root cause is most likely to be an innocent miscommunication ... but also remember that no human is perfect, mistakes do occur ...

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On 07/12/2020 at 13:33, Steven B said:

+2 - I think the N Gauge Elite couplings are great on my Dapol Mk3 sets (loco-hauled and HST) and wanted to fit them to my Farish Mk1 sets. Unfortunately they're 0.25mm wider than the NEM specification and don't fit without a lot of work to file them smaller. I emailed asking if it was a problem with their CAD or just my couplings that had been printed out of spec and never received a reply.

 

 

Steven B.

I’m sympathetic to them here, because having 3D printed quite a bit of stock there is a huge variation in the implementation of the NEM “standard”. Dapol are fatter, and the Hunt product is a good fit. Older Farish models are much smaller. I did get Hunt Elites into my mk2s, but it wasn’t overly satisfactory. The most recent Farish pockets are closer to Dapol (which are bigger than the NEM spec). 
 

Personally I think the original ones are good for N gauge for their size. I have fitted a few locos with Elites, enabling them to couple to either polarity, but they’re much more obtrusive visually. 
 

I will admit to having printed my own to fit smaller NEM pockets!

Edited by njee20
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I would just like to say that I have ordered several sets of couplings from Hunt Couplings, which were received in good time and with which I am very satisfied.

 

I also think that they deserve an apology - and IMHO a renewed payment - from Model Railway Noob for his misunderstanding of how many couplings constitute a pair.

 

Darius

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I've purchased many packs of Hunt Couplings now and fully intend to continue doing so. They are an excellent product and the service I've received thus far has been completely fine. Everything I ordered has arrived in good time and in good condition.

 

I think from the above it's clear that West Hill Wagon Works has gone through some growing pains. I'm glad to hear that they've been able to expand to meet the demand for their products given the current economic climate. 

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9 hours ago, Westhillwagonworks said:

@Jaggzuk, those were the days of just myself ("Chris Bower") and Chris Hunt when we started, we have expanded quite abit as a company since our launch!, we now have our own unit, shop and demonstration layouts located in kirby in ashfield, nottinghamshire, and currently employ 4 staff members along with myself Chris Bower & Chris Hunt, too working on various new projects and customer orders, since the launch, we will be hosting a online live-stream in due course with company updates, all our customers do receive updates via email send-outs.

 

Wow, how things have come on as a business!  Congratuatluions.  Growing from a hobby to a businnes would not have been easy I am sure, but well done.  Good for us too who use the couplings.

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@Westhillwagonworks I've tried emailing a few times (probably using huntcouplings @ outlook.com as published on the Customer Service section of your website but most of my messages (from Yahoo or Hotmail accounts) have gone unanswered - possibly ending up in your spam folder.

 

Can you please have a look at the dimensions of the N Gauge Elite coupling and compare it to that implemented by Farish on their Mk1 and Mk2 coaches. I believe the couplings as supplied are 0.2-0.3mm wider than the NEM standard and don't fit the Farish pockets as a result. I'd really like to fit the couplings to all my fixed rakes as they work really well with the Dapol Mk3s.

 

Steven B.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Has anyone tried fitting these to Realtrack FLAs?

 

I've broken two trying to fit them in (even after filing one) and because they snap in the slot then it's near on impossible to get snapped piece out. I can't figure out a way of getting the bogie area off so the first time meant a damage bogie too! 

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I ordered and received a set of Elite cranked (for Backmann mk 1s) and a starter pack with examples of each length. I will start by saying that I really think  the concept is fantastic and they are so very nearly perfect! For the first time I have been able to close couple a Hornby Collett to the end of my Bachmann Mk1 rake. However, I have found two slight issues:

 

1) The cranked ones fit in well but the two legs are too long, so they don't fit snugly in the NEM pockets length-wise. There is therefore quite a bit of play that is taken up whilst the coaches are being hauled, which extends the gap between MK1 coaches. If the design for the legs could be made slightly shorter so that they don't move within the pocket, the distance would be perfect. The clearance provided by the crank is already perfect. UPDATE: Spoke to the manufacturer, a blob of hot glue should do the trick. 

 

2) The straight ones - I've had a bit of a nightmare. As part of my testing, I put a long one in a Hornby Hawksworth and then couldn't get it back out at all. I had to snip the end of the leg off to remove it. I also cannot get them to fit in the pocket of two of my Hornby Collett coaches - to be fair, this seems to be a pocket issue, it is curved at the far end; but the legs don't seem thin enough to be able to "squeeze". Using too much force, I then managed to snap the whole pocket protrusion from the close coupling mechanism, so I currently have no way to attach any type of coupling! Can these be bought as spares from Horny, does anyone know? Again, the legs are slightly too long which means there is too much play, but again hot glue should work. 

Edited by Adrock
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The issues you describe is more a problem with NEM pockets I find. They're supposed to be standard but I often find them to vary depending on manufacturer.

 

Using Kaydees is an example, I often find that packing or glue is needed to hold them in the correct position. Very important when positioning is vital to their operation. Therefore, the problem is not unique to Hunt Couplings. Have you ever tried taking a Bachmann tension lock and putting it in a Hornby NEM? It fits but it's not as snug or tight as the Bachmann NEM.

 

Therefore, getting a coupling like this to fit in every variation of NEM pocket precisely is going to need many different designs. That not only makes it expensive for the manufacturer but confusing for the customer.

Edited by LNERandBR
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30 minutes ago, LNERandBR said:

The issues you describe is more a problem with NEM pockets I find. They're supposed to be standard but I often find them to vary depending on manufacturer.

 

Using Kaydees is an example, I often find that packing or glue is needed to hold them in the correct position. Very important when positioning is vital to their operation. Therefore, the problem is not unique to Hunt Couplings. Have you ever tried taking a Bachmann tension lock and putting it in a Hornby NEM? It fits but it's not as snug or tight as the Bachmann NEM.

 

Therefore, getting a coupling like this to fit in every variation of NEM pocket precisely is going to need many different designs. That not only makes it expensive for the manufacturer but confusing for the customer.

I agree wholeheartedly! NEM pockets vary wildly in width. I recently found one coach where at one end the Hunt coupling just slipped out, while at the other end the pocket was so narrow that I couldn't insert it at all. I find that I often have to file the prongs of the coupling to be able to get them in, but that is not the fault of the manufacturer.

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  • 1 month later...

Bought some Elite close couplings about two weeks ago, received them three days after the order and they fitted perfectly.

They couple closely together and would be perfect for my fixed Southern sets, with Kadees on each end. All set to buy a hundred to equip my passenger stock, when I did the maths.

10 Hunt Elite will cost me £11.95.  Shopping around, I can get 8 Kadees (2x2packets) for the same price.

Now whilst Hunt Elites are visually less obtrusive, the Kadees would allow hands-off shunting and inside sets, wouldn’t be that visually intrusive. So with only 25% extra for the same money, why buy Hunt Elites?

That being said, I will almost certainly equip my Mk1’s with the Elite Cranked, but stay with Kadee elsewhere.

To reiterate, Hunt Elites are a lovely product, just not the complete game changer for me.

 

edit: cheapest Kadee #18 now £7.00, free postage!

Edited by Chuffed 1
Poor maths!
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I guess to answer your question Chuffed 1, you only really buy Hunt for "Fixed Rakes".  Whereas Kadee are ideal, as one of the many manufactured/homemade options, for hands free shunnting and uncoupling.

 

As for the price, £7.00 is good (since the price hike of late), but at the prices you quoted it still it works out at £1.19 per Hunt and £1.75 per Kadee.  Which when converting a lot of fixed rake stock, will start to be a notable finacial saving, going for Hunt.

 

There is no "right" couping system for everyone nor is there one universal fxing method for "all" the rolling stock out there.

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13 minutes ago, Jaggzuk said:

There is no "right" couping system for everyone nor is there one universal fxing method for "all" the rolling stock out there.

 

Completely agree here. Even the NEM pocket that everyone thinks is 'standard' really isn't. Any company making couplings is hard pressed to design something that will work first time every time in every NEM pocket design.

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I'm going to put my oar into this puddle of posts, and I'm not trying to offend any of you, BUT,  I see the models that you guys build from scratch or spend a lot of money buying, then I see the millions of workbench reports of the hours and hours of attention you spend detailing, repainting, upgrading them etc.    Then I get to see these truly mobile works of art you created, creations insanely detailed and realistic.  Your creations are then ran on layouts that are amazing, superb quality and truly impressive.      Then I see hook type couplings which were past their best in the 1960s  and think what could have been.  Just about everywhere else has better coupling systems or at least far less ugly and intrusive  than the UKs dreadful standard coupling.   In the last 20 year my hopes were raised when the bigger UK companies started fitting NEM 362 pockets ( often the wrong height though) and thought YES progress is coming only to see the NEM pockets stuffed with ....... Hook couplings taking us straight back to TOY levels of detail. 

 

I'm only one modeller with only a tiny fraction of the skill most of you have, and when I see these superb models on equally superb layouts connected with horn hook couplings I cannot help but think YES they do totally ruin everything you artisans created.    I welcome these magnetic couplings as I did the Kadees because ANYTHING including a piece of string is  better looking than the hook monstrosities we still use today.

 

Edited by steved99
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