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 Posted - March 20 2009 : 2:42:30 PM
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I'm building a HO scale layout after being out of the hobby for 25 years. Being older (and I thought wiser) I decided to spring for DCC, "good" locos (Proto), kadee couplers etc. Back in the 70's most of my railroad consisted of Tyco motive power and freight cars, all with truck mounted horn hook couplers. Yes, I had the Layout expander system with the two sidings and spent hours switching freight cars using those uncoupler tracks. Well, I just mocked up my layout and had one big discovery- you can't couple kadees on 18 or 22" curves! Since my sidings have many curves, I'm in trouble.
Here's my layout design (don't laugh, it's 7x4):
Sure, with the horn hooks you could only uncouple on the special track and couldn't move the cars to another location "uncoupled" but at least with the coupler mounted horn hooks I could couple anywhere.
Is anyone still running horn hooks? I don't think I'll go back to them but this does mean I'll have to rethink my sidings. Perhaps a small "yard" using straight track instead...
Todd
Edited by - TycoTodd on March 20 2009 2:43:10 PM
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Posted - March 20 2009 : 2:51:38 PM
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| hi i thought kadees were magnetic,if so surely a magnet anywhere will uncouple ken
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Posted - March 20 2009 : 3:00:42 PM
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Uncoupling isn't the issue, it's coupling them on curves.
Edited by - TycoTodd on March 20 2009 3:00:59 PM
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Posted - March 20 2009 : 3:03:49 PM
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Could it be that now, your new equipment uses exclusively body-mount, as opposed to talgo or truck-mount couplers?
In the 70's most equipment used the truck-mount couplers, which would naturally stay in-line on a curve. With body-mount couplers there will always be an offset of some degree. Of course horn-hooks might have more reach even so... but the lesser reach of a knuckle would be more compounded on a body-mount.
I pretty much run knuckles exclusively now EXCEPT for the vintage / Tyco type stuff. I have a few conversion cars I use so I can mix them in trains from time to time. But since the original kadee patent expired, almost all new rolling has come with knuckles, so horn-hooks could very be considered obsolete. There's billions of em out there though...!
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Posted - March 20 2009 : 5:21:24 PM
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I run horn-hooks because they are cheaper, stay together (unlike the majority of my knuckle-equipped stuff  ), and if you have a small screwdriver they can still be easily uncoupled.
Problem is, most of them are mounted on the trucks, so derailments can be an issue.
    
- Matt -
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Posted - March 21 2009 : 5:39:57 PM
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I agree with GiC. On my layout, I find it's more a problem of how the couplers are mounted, rather than the couplers themselves. I prefer using truck-mounted couplers as they follow the track, and *usually* stay in-line with each other. Body-mounted couplers, regardless of whether they are knuckle or horn-hook, are always more akward. I've had one or two close calls where I've had to catch 85ft streamliners in mid-air 4 ft off the ground
quote:| Is anyone still running horn hooks? I don't think I'll go back to them but this does mean I'll have to rethink my sidings. |
I often convert knuckles back to hornhooks. The guy at my LHS has told me a few times that I'm going backwards. 
-cheez
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Posted - March 21 2009 : 6:18:06 PM
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quote:| I often convert knuckles back to hornhooks. Originally posted by DaCheez-March 21 2009: 5:39:57 PM
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I hear ya on that one! 
- Matt -
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