Corridor Connections

[Dr Al]

As there's been talk of this - for modern coaches with close coupling systems:

New tool Farish Mk2s close coupled as Mk1s:



New tool Dapol Mk3s close coupled with the short shank couplers that come in the box of each coach:



Cheers,
Alan

[Western Exile]

I have just got round to changing the couplings on my Dapol Mk3s to the short shanks supplied and I have to say I am extremely impressed with how they look and perform. On straight track there is, as the good Doctor's picture shows, no gap at all and running in either direction through reverse curves, more severe than my layout will have, causes no problems. My 2+8 HST set is now just over 3cm shorter than it was. Thanks Dr. Al.

[njee20]

I've always assumed that a pair of short-shank couplings would be too close for anything remotely tight (I've got some set track points in the fiddle yard), so I tend to use one of each. The pair of short ones does look great though!

[Dr Al]

I have just got round to changing the couplings on my Dapol Mk3s to the short shanks supplied and I have to say I am extremely impressed with how they look and perform. On straight track there is, as the good Doctor's picture shows, no gap at all and running in either direction through reverse curves, more severe than my layout will have, causes no problems. My 2+8 HST set is now just over 3cm shorter than it was. Thanks Dr. Al.

You are welcome sir. It's always satisfying to hear that someone else is getting the most out of their investment and actually using the close coupler mechanism, as with the standard couplers it barely gets used on any of the modern rolling stock from Dapol or Farish. Using short couplers exploits it far more fully.

Cheers,
Alan

[Western Exile]

It was all going so well... I've just encountered a problem affecting the buffer fitted (loco-hauled) Dapol Mk3s whilst having a play around on some Kato Unitrack. Whilst they work fine going from straight track onto 718mm or 481mm radius curves, they do not like going straight onto 381mm radius curves or tighter and become buffer-locked.
Potential solutions:
1) put one short and one long shank on each coach. This will eliminate the buffer-locking but reintroduces a visible gap between the coaches.
2) redesign the layout with transition curves into every 381mm radius curve. Not really practical.
3) remove the buffers. At normal viewing distances these can't really be seen anyway so this is probably the way to go.

[Delboy]

3) remove the buffers. At normal viewing distances these can't really be seen anyway so this is probably the way to go.

This may be a daft suggestion but would it be possible to remove the buffers, then shorten them and re-attach them?

[njee20]

Should be, just shorten the shanks and re-attach.

Obviously won't affect HST coaches, so the short shank couplings should be more usable.

[Western Exile]

Thanks Delboy and njee20. I'll have a look and see if it's possible. If not, I'm happy just to dispense with the buffers altogether. Not prototypical, I know, but I can live with that. In the meantime, I've discovered that a long Dapol knuckle on a Farish BG is a perfect fit to couple to a short shank on Dapol Mk3s to recreate the loco-hauled Mk3 rakes of the 1970s onwards. 

[Dr Al]

When I first wrote this porst I had no buffered Mk3s, only HST sets, but subsequently, I have used them on buffered Mk3s, but my minimum curve is 12" radius (and only a tiny section of that, most is 14") so I can't vouch for buffered stock working on tighter.

Cheers,
Alan