More about couplings

[njee20]

Here I am, new to the hobby, 8 years later, have spent weeks researching couplings so I can make sure I have the best chance of reliable coupling and auto uncoupling in a ready to run fashion, without modifying anything.

Are there wagon brands that come ready to run with Dapol easi shunts or similar?

No - one could only reasonably expect Dapol wagons to come fitted with them, but the Rapido is standard, so you'll be hard pressed to find anything supplied with anything else. Dapol used to include a pair of Easi-shunts with locos, but never rolling stock.

[ntpntpntp]

As NJE says, for British N the Rapido coupling is still standard from the factory.  At least with NEM pockets on more recent models it's easy to replace the Rapido with Easy-Shunt or some other design with an NEM shank.

Fleischmann European stock may be factory fitted with their Profi couplings (in which case they will come with NEM Rapido couplings in the box).  Profis work quite well but personally I think they're more ugly than Rapidos   Other European N brands still fit Rapidos.

US N scale wagons are much more likely to have knuckle couplings factory fitted as those are the preferred design.   Even then there are slight inconsistencies with the different  brands of knuckle.

If by "auto-uncoupling" you mean hands-free, then it's a choice of magnetically operated designs (with either permanent magnets or electromagnets to operate them) or the traditional uncoupling ramp which acts on the pin underneath Rapido and Profi couplings.  Some types have a "pre-uncoupling" capability where you use the magnet or ramp at the head of the siding to uncouple first then then continue to push the stock back into the siding without it re-connecting.

There are some clever DCC operated couplings from 3rd parties which you can fit to DCC locos if the decoder has a suitable function output.  Expensive and fiddly though.  I think there are now one or two locos with DCC couplings factory-fitted.

Arnold used to fit "Simplex" mechanisms to some of their locos back in the 70s and 80s which used a spring and cam to  lift the loco's Rapido coupling when you reversed a little then drove away. Clever but I find the constant "click click" of the spring on the cam annoying so remove it on my locos.


My solution?   To be honest I don't bother with much shunting, but when needed I just use a dentist's probe under the coupling. All my stock has Rapidos so I can mix and match brands and ages of 100s of models right back to the late 1960s.

[Portpatrick]

I cut the Dapol magnets in half. They can tend to splinter so care is needed.

@GrahamB That's my intention. Can I ask what you used, please? Cutting disc? Razor saw?

Razor saw. VERY slow and gentle cuts.

Next time I build a layout I must use that approach.  I have generally broken them in half, holding the magnet with 2 broader pliers .   Not had a serious splintering problem; and then generally only one "face".  So that face is glued to the baseboard.  They are placed at strategic  places in good sidings, to enable shunting.  In platforms a loco length from the buffers to uncouple the incoming train loco and also near the head for allow the station pilot to push coaches to another platform and then uncouple.  My main issue with the Easishunt occurs with slow motion shunts and platform starts, any even slight unevenes in a loco's movement sometimes causes stock to bunch up and if passing over the magnet at the time, uncoupling follows. Ideally I would prefer electrically operated magnets.  But it would be expensive.  Even on Cromarty which is a fairly simple terminus/fiddle yard layout, I have 17 half magnets, 2 in each of 3 platforms and also 2 in each of the 2 sidings in the goods yard the rest being in the fiddle yard roads to ease uncoupling of the "incoming" loco.

[EtchedPixels]

Ideally I would prefer electrically operated magnets.

Most electromagnets are not strong enough. In the US some folks build things so that small strong permanent magnets are mechanically lifted up to track level when they are operating.

[PLD]

Ideally I would prefer electrically operated magnets.

Most electromagnets are not strong enough. In the US some folks build things so that small strong permanent magnets are mechanically lifted up to track level when they are operating.

Most Electromagnets are strong enough for couplings designed to work with them such as B&Bs, DGs, Sprat & Winkle... (and you can up the magnetism by increasing the Amps if not...)

The reason Dapol EasyShunt and other similar knuckle couplings don't work well with electromagnets is the orientation of the poles. In an Electromagnet, North and South are at the ends of the core which traditionally we'd mount vertically. The knuckle couplers mostly require the North-south axis orientated across the track...