Hi All I have been some years since I last posted. However this summer I finally managed to get a layout built and working. It has only taken me 40 years! I am struggling with couplers - no surprise there. In the past few weeks I have gone from tension lock to Kadee and back again. I don't want uncoupling ramps or magnets, I want to couple and uncouple where ever I want. I have read the anguish of others and just about every post on coupling and Youtube videos in excess. This is where I am. Tension Lock couplers with the hook at one end only. This does make it easy to uncouple rather than the two. Downsides are a greater tendency to un-couple at the wrong times and a much greater need to have them level with each other. If there are two hooks then the chance of coupling is doubled. The chance of a clean decouple is halved (at least for me) So here I am my couplers are not all the same height from the rails. I have replaced all the units with Bachmann but that does not solve the problem. I thought, well there is a Kadee height gauge so there must be a tension lock height gauge. Google was not my friend and I didn't find anything - someone will show me where they hide no doubt. First I selected a wagon which seemed to fit the NEM standard and then I tried running other wagons up to it. Worked sort of but was hard to see how the units aligned or more likely when they didn't. Next step was make something to attach to the end of my work track.
Sorry but the last picture is rather fuzzy.
Basically it is some plasticard scrap with a back plate and some strips added. The depth of the slot is 3mm and there is a 6mm hole through the back plate and end of the test track to accommodate the hook. The results so far as better than I had hoped I still need a way to adjust those which are too low.