josh_will

Problem solved - instead of adding weight, I’ve increased rolling resistance by temporarily adding this piece of foam. This is an example with a S&W coupling but it works equally well with Kadees.

Perhaps I need to add more weight to the wagons to prevent accidental uncoupling? Increased weight will of course increase tension in the couplings when being pulled along. I should stress that as this is a shunting puzzle I’ll be moving short-wheelbase wagons around individually, which may be what is making this so difficult.

Thanks for all of the responses once again. As I’ve now got an item of rolling stock with the NEM sockets in the ‘right’ place, I’ve tried Kadees once more. I don’t have a height gauge, it’s true, but I can’t see how these two couplers are not close enough in levels: The wagon coupler is perhaps very slightly lower, but we’re talking fractions of a mm here - and surely even if they were exactly level, any slight undulations in the track will cause this mismatch anyway? As it happens, they like to uncouple when I don’t want them to, when they are being pulled across the magnet. I appreciate the suggestions you have given me but right now it’s difficult for me to justify the cost, when I know I can just use a pole to uncouple whenever I want, with basically 100% reliability - for free.

I spent some more time today playing with the sprat & winkles but to my dismay they now uncouple all the time when pulling over them, despite the magnet being in the exact same location as before I must say I’m tempted to throw in the towel and just use a brass shunting pole to unhook tension locks instead. More laborious but at least I have complete control, and there’s no wobble over magnets during uncoupling due to the attraction on the axles.

I’m having another go this evening and it’s going better. I’ve done this to the couplings, taping them to the bottom of the NEM pocket. Of course this wouldn’t be a permanent solution but it seems to get them at the right height to match the Cl 08. With the 08 I added a shim under the coupler so it now clears the magnet. There’s still the issue of the wagons not coupling up and getting pushed backwards but some added weight might sort this.

Thanks John, it’s something I might look at but for me there are two issues: 1) I’ll have to go and get more couplings in a different size and 2) if I’m going to have to hack at wagons anyway, because NEM pockets are not as straightforward as I first thought, then I may as well just go with S&W. But I’m not ruling anything out just now.

I’m now trying out the Kadees. It isn’t going very well. The one I put on a Bachmann class 08 is way too low, and the trip pin keeps whacking into the magnet because I keep forgetting it’s too low. I know I can adjust the pin but then I’ve got to spend another small fortune for the correct pliers. Also there is some difficulty in getting wagons to couple up. Sometimes the couplings don’t engage and the loose wagon simply bounces off the incoming wagon/loco. Again I appreciate that there is a solution on adding more weight to the loose wagon but after seeing the delicate hooking up of the S&Ws it’s a bit off-putting.

Thanks I’ll try that too.

Yes I like the appearance of sprat and winkle but I’d say my main concern is performance. I’m constructing a shunting puzzle so I want a near-faultless hands-off system, if possible. I’m trying them with both bar and electromagnets. Concerning Kadees, I have to say that so far I don’t find them inexpensive. It’s over £5 just for the magnet, and 4 couplings cost just as much - and it would seem that there’s no guarantee that any given coupling will be the best fit for an individual wagon. However, I will find out the proof of the pudding soon when I try to fit and test them.

Thanks again for the help once again. I’m basically just carrying out some tests on different couplings. I’ve tried sprat and winkle on some older pre-NEM stock and these work pretty well. I’m waiting on the order now for the Kadees to try those too. I had assumed with the Kadees that they would be a more straight forward conversion that would give results at least as good as the sprat and winkles but if I’m going to have to butcher stock regardless then maybe sprat and winkle is the way to go. We shall see.

Thanks for the responses, yes I agree on using the couplings fixed permanently to the wagons but I want to keep this as a last resort and go with a non-permanent solution using the NEM boxes for the time being.

Not sure if this has been discussed before, but I’m just thinking about how to manage using NEM plug-in couplings (#18 or #19) on Bachmann wagons that have the NEM socket in the ‘too high’ position. Why not simply glue the tails of the Kadee couplings to the bottom of the pocket? The coupling will then line up quite well to an NEM socket at the right height.

Progress so far.

Thanks Steve, that is some very effective concrete there. However i gave the concrete colour I had one more go and added some white to create this more beige-like colour which I think will be alright. Some ballasting has also finally been started.

I’m having some trouble getting the right colour paint for concrete. I’ve tried Railmatch acrylic concrete but it came out quite green. Can anyone please help?

For anyone who hasn’t used Milliput before, I’d highly recommend it:

A bit more progress: a section of wall has been finished and it awaiting painting. I’m going to experiment at the back of the layout with creating an impression of a building in the distance using stone wall sheet intended for 2mm scale. Also, the basic structure of the fuel storage tank has been done.

Hi John, it’s just a standard Combi fixed to the panel with four small bolts.

Yes it’s just Slater’s 4mm dressed stone.

Stonework almost complete here. This wall is loosely based on those at the approach to Glasgow Queen Street although they don’t have these vertical supports.

Thanks, that’s what I’ll probably go with then, a lightly weathered appearance with faded white timbers.

Can anyone advise me on what colour the buffer stops should be, considering this is supposedly a Scottish region stabling point? i.e. somewhere on the edge of Glasgow, in the early to mid 70s. I have seen pictures of yellow buffer stops at Eastfield during the 80s, but would this be appropriate for a decade earlier? Meanwhile, some work is done on the retaining wall.

Some backscene painting.

Thanks Clive, yeah I wanted to use small radius electrofrog Y points but after seeing the problems I was having with setrack points I decided to play it safe and go with Hornby. It’s not ideal of course as I had the issues with the Lima locomotive stalling but never mind.

No problem, the isolating sections also have protective diodes on the other rail at the point of the rail break. The one on the storage siding at the back is there because I won’t be able to see the locomotive behind the wall. The one on the road in front of the wall was put there because this was originally going to be the site of the maintenance shed, so I wouldn’t be able to see it easily inside this. It is in theory possible to store another locomotive here, making use of the isolating section, as long as it’s a shunter.