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New to 7mm; struggling with coupling sizes!


Grafarman
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Hi all

Ok, so I've started dabbling in O gauge, using Dapol and Heljan stock with a couple of Slaters kits to get me started.  I have a small BLT layout about 18' long which I'm using as a testbed.

Now then: couplings - it seems to me that manufactures use different chain lengths/thicknesses which often don't easily drop onto the opposing hook, making coupling doubly difficult given the obvious need for a steady hand.

(I actually have a Dapol wagon 'Atrill' on which the chain is too thick to pivot properly and the link too small to pass over its own hook!)

The Heljan coupling (on a 61xx) seems superior as it's thinner and longer which does away with the need for the 'hand of God' pushing the stock together to make the connection, but the Dapol ones seem to be all different lengths and widths.  The Slaters kit couplings seem much better and couple up easily, but don't reach past the long buffers of, say, an autocoach.

Question: Is there a standard chain link size/length which can be obtained separately, which I can put on all the stock?

I have sent off for a set of 5 GLR Maglinks which I intend to experiment with, but I would like to address this problem if possible.

By the way, I've looked at the possibility of changing the whole coupling, hook and all, but some are buried in a mass of detail behind the buffer beam, so I'm going for chains first!

All input gratefully received!

Thank you

 

David

Edited by Grafarman
wrong measurement for layout!
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Hi David,

ah yes the many varied types of chain, to be honest I have and do experience this issue as Have acquired much variety of stock, Peco do packs of hooks and chains, they are a tad fiddly as you have to open up the links to join them together but once done seem to be okay.

Tony  

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Hmmm, I have a lot of stock, RTR and kit built, and would say that I don't recall an issue with couplings.

 

I do use the Dapol screw links which I think look good and are very reasonably priced.  My only issue with these is that the spring is very weak and should be replaced by something stiffer.

 

You don't say what you are using to aid coupling.  I made these and they work very well:

 

P1010001-001.JPG.591a943afe91eba190f2a93676ebba34.JPG

 

Inexpensive LED torch with thumb button.  0.032" steel wire inserted into wood dowel. 

 

That said, coupling does take practice and at some point I think muscle memory kicks in.

 

 

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26 minutes ago, brossard said:

Hmmm, I have a lot of stock, RTR and kit built, and would say that I don't recall an issue with couplings.

 

I do use the Dapol screw links which I think look good and are very reasonably priced.  My only issue with these is that the spring is very weak and should be replaced by something stiffer.

 

You don't say what you are using to aid coupling.  I made these and they work very well:

 

P1010001-001.JPG.591a943afe91eba190f2a93676ebba34.JPG

 

Inexpensive LED torch with thumb button.  0.032" steel wire inserted into wood dowel. 

 

That said, coupling does take practice and at some point I think muscle memory kicks in.

 

 

Thanks for your reply; I use something similar to this and am becoming quite adept at it, but the problems I'm having are with the couplings themselves,  which often a) aren't long enough to reach the hook without buffer compression, or b) they're too thick to go over their own or the opposing hook or c) the links are too small to be hooked up properly. 

Dapol seem to be the chief culprits in the sheer variety of couplings on their production models, but maybe their aftersales couplings might be better, along with the Peco ones mentioned earlier. 

 

 

David 

 

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5 hours ago, birdseyecircus said:

Heljan to Heljan coupling is terrible for me.

The hook point seems to come that far back it almost closes the gap, so I have trimmed off the very point of the hook allowing the link to fall into the hook.

 

Paul

I do exactly the same with my HJ couplings, and if I can remove them fairly easily I file the hook width thinner as well.

I think with the Dapol couplings there isn't much of a 'shoulder' on the shank, if at all, for it to rest against the buffer beam. The spring then pulls the shank in until the first link is caught against the buffer beam, jamming it. 

I find sprung buffers are more important than sprung couplings, so if or when I get round to it I might try gluing Dapol shanks in place. :scratchhead: :dontknow:

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Depending on what stock iam coupling dictates what I use to couple it with.

 

A magnetic tipped screw driver is my favourite weapon of choice but I do use bent wire taped to a small torch. However with the wire method coupling up diesels with airbrake stock and the various hoses hanging down does turn the air blue from time to time!

 

Paul

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This is the nightmare when we take the layout to a show. Everyone turns up with their shiny new toys none of which want to hook up. Eventually a couple of compatable sets are worked out and they pretty much dominate the entire weekend.

This is where practicality must over ride dead scale accuracy and the simplest way is to make your own links. Providing it pivots, the first link should be OK. If the overall chain is too tight, a slightly lengthened middle link helps. If the dead scale hook is too fat, a slightly wider end link will accommodate it. 

Some modellers favour a brass middle link which makes it easier to catch the steel end link with a magnetic uncoupling device. Personally, I use the mini lamp almost exactly the same as the one above and solder the end and middle links at 90 degrees making them easier to catch.

 

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8 hours ago, Paul H Vigor said:

I'm guessing a BLT layout has nothing to do with bacon, lettuce or tomato?

Only in as much that quantities of each were consumed in the making of it...

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