Couplers, Which to use? How do they perform? What choices are there?When I first got a loop of track up, I tried to run a train...
I had a USA F3 A & B, a Bachman Shay, a USA Trains ribbed streamliner car, an Aristo box car, and some old Bachman cars.
Oops, 3 different kinds of couplers.... nothing hooked up to anything!
OK take the weird loop things off the F3 and put the knuckles on it... whoops, the Aristo knuckles and the USA ones don't mate...
I considered changing all to knuckles, then there is the controversy over which is better, and then finally realized, the heck with it, bought Kadees. Much better!
So, I've listed some of the couplers available and my take on them below.
Hook & LoopThis is the "standard" coupler for "G scale". USAT, Aristo, LGB, and most other brands in 1:20.3, 1:24, 1:29 scales provide these as standard.
They are big, ugly, look nothing like the prototype, and cheap, since they are almost always provided.
There are remote uncoupling ramps, I only know of the one from LGB.
They have a hook on at least one car in addition to the loop. You can have hooks on both cars too. They are pretty darn reliable, but ugh! Aristo H&L do not work with the LGB uncoupler, due to the narrow design of the end of the hook. You can drill the end and put a pin in it to make it wider (tip from Dan Pierce). The Bachmann, USAT, HLW, Playmobil, and of course LGB all work fine since they have a "T" shaped end. The advantages are rugged, resistant to uncoupling, handle rough track, and can work on very tight curves. Aristo KnucklesAristo-Craft has made several versions of it's knuckle coupler. The latest incarnation has an extra "plate" under the knuckle which effectively keeps couplers from riding up over each other under tension. (as long as BOTH couplers have them!)
This is great for long trains, or uneven trackwork.
Supposedly, you can use the LGB uncoupling ramp, but many people say it does not work. There is a manual one which is ok for outside, and a remote one, which is not weatherproof.
This is an OK coupler to standardize on if you don't need remote uncoupling. I would say good, but lately, the coupler quality has been getting spotty, and the couplers pull apart more often. Often you have to really bang cars together to get them to couple. They will age and get less reliable as they get older.
They work ok with Kadees, i.e. they will stay coupled, and will sometimes automatically couple. The down side is even with ones in good condition, you have to bang the cars together to couple them. To uncouple, you cannot lift one car out, since the "chin plate" will stop this, you must manually trigger the uncoupler, and make some space between adjacent cars. Aristo KupplerAnnounced in 2008, it's not here yet in January 2009. In August 2009 it was noted for Thanksgiving. Originally described as a new body mount coupler that was not compatible with Aristo or Kadee, a few months later, this picture was shown with it coupled to a Kadee, and a reference that the original "misdirection" was to avoid legal stuff. We shall see what the heck is going on, but the Kadee patents have expired, and making a coupler that works well with Kadee is now a possibility. The coupler on the left is the Aristo "Kuppler" and the coupler on the right is a G scale Kadee #830, the standard body mount coupler. Apparently it will be available in a body mount but has no draft gear action like a Kadee. Lewis Polk notes that these are not useable for 4' and 5' diameter track. (Originally it was posted by Lewis that it would work on 5' diameter, 11/1/2008) (Of course on 11/14/2008, there was this post: "Dear All,
We are hard at work at a new body mount "Kuppler" that is different than the rest. It is not a Kadee compatible coupler, but has super pulling strength and can manuever 5' diameter curves.It's original thinking and I hope it will find a place on your railroad. Obviously, you will need transition cars if you want to use our coupler along with others, but we will include it on our new 50' PS 5277 box car.
When I have a finished version I will picture it here, but it may be serveral weeks more.
All the best,
Lewis Polk"
There are 2 mounting holes in the back, and apparently a jig will be supplied to drill the mounting holes. As of January 2010, still not available. 
USA KnucklesThese are ok, I don't have a lot of experience with them. Most people who standardize on them have bought mostly USAT cars. Most reports are that they work well enough, you need to operate them manually. They do not work super well with other knuckle couplers. They seem to "age" well.
No reliable remote uncoupling.
KadeesSaving the best for last.
If you are going to standardize, or if you want remote uncoupling, this is for you. A very large selection of couplers, custom conversion kits for difficult locomotives, and the famous Kadee delayed uncoupling.
The downsides of Kadees are that you need to get coupler height spot on for best operation. Also, under tension, due to the molding relief on the inside of the knuckle, the couplers can ride over each other and come apart. This can be minimized and/or completely eliminated by:
- Body mounting - truck mounted couplers have that nice long "tang" back to the truck, and you always have some play in the truck, so this lets the couplers move up and down.
- Filing the inside of the knuckle flat with a small round file. This is a pain to do, and you must be careful to hold the file perpendicular and to not file off the ridge on the inside of the knuckle that keeps the couplers from springing open when moving under tension over an uncoupling magnet.
For long trains, or backing trains, truck mounted couplers suck anyway, so go to body mounts. If you have sharp curves, then truck mounted couplers are something you will have to live with. But most people do not run long trains with sharp curves, so you will probably be ok.
My opinion is to go to body mounts for 8 foot or greater curves if you have 40 or 50 foot cars. Longer cars will want larger curves. The standard body mount coupler is the 830.
Body mounting on locomotives is very helpful also, no sweat on a steam tender, but on long diesels it can be a problem with sharp curves. You can make the car right after the diesel have a coupler with more swing, see the Kadee kits.
There are 2 different sizes, "G" scale and #1 scale. Virtually all cars that have the Kadee body mount already are at the right height for the G scale. You will have to shim the coupler for the #1 scale. Many people have reported and complained about the coupler trip pin. The standard height for this pin is 1/8" above the rails. I will tell this to anyone's face, if your trip pin hits the rails, you did a lousy job of mounting the coupler or your trackwork is terrible. I submit that fixing your installation and/or trackwork will improve many other things besides coupler problems. Get the Kadee height gauge, it's cheap, and will make your trains a lot more fun to run. In late 2009 Kadee announced and shipped a new style coupler, which looks more realistic, better hides the knuckle return spring. The knuckle now pivots at a different point. I have done preliminary testing with a 50 car freight, all locos on the front, up my 3.4% grade with not problems. I'm impressed so far. Idea to try: Try the "coil couplers" that TAS has, they have an electric solenoid to remotely open. I have seen them in operation on Steve Seidensticker's layout in San Diego, and they mate with Kadees. They have 2 kinds in their literature, so have to research further.
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