Coupler Conundrum (N part 70)...

Those of you who stop by regularly may remember a previous dalliance with North American N a year or so ago ended in disappointment when I just couldn't get on with the Microtrains couplers and hands free operation I was used to in HO and British N...

Couplings seem to be so pivotal to happy operation in any scale - before I got too far into this latest N scale adventure I decided it would be useful to buy some samples, test them and then compare their reliability vs appearance.

Before we go any further, I am discounting the wonderful but un-workable N-possible. These look fantastic, and can be coupled and uncoupled, but there is no provision for delay action - and that is what I am looking for in this comparison.

I dug around the internet yet I couldn't find anything other than opinions - and of course we all have one of those. This post isn't likely to add much more to the conversation but I hope these photos and my reflections may at least help others in the same boat make their own mind up.

I have some experience of Microtrains. Traditionally they have a noticeable 'slinky' effect as the jaws of the knuckle are held closed by a spring behind the pivot point and the force of this wants to keep the jaws together. I find they're decent enough, but their appearance is let down by the wings that are used to create a large gathering angle. I wanted to look at what else was available? Could I eliminate the slinky effect and have a more 'realistic' knuckle?

In terms of 'non Microtrains' there are three similar options - all use a sprung knuckle joint and have plastic fish tails to provide a degree of springing in the coupler box - these are Bachmann's EZ-Mate, Athearn's McHenry and the Chinese 'Evemodel' available on Ali Express and EBay - which sadly comes with a brass pin, so should be discounted for operation at this stage. These all offer a slightly more 'realistic' look than the Microtrains and with a fixed pivot point, completely eliminate the 'slinky'.

I think it is interesting to compare each of these - they are all smaller than Dapol's Easi-shunt! Why, then, must we put up with that in British N?!! I figure it could have been made smaller and still operate...

Notice that each is a different shape, but about the same vertical depth. 

In use, the EZ Mate is the least desirable, the knuckle seems stiff and doesn't reliability couple (probably around 50% of the time). The McHenry couples and uncouples smoothly and is a little better (perhaps 75%). The EveModel couples very well, but doesn't uncouple...

Looks wise, the Evemodel edges it due to its compact head. The EZ-mate is visibly much larger, but the length of the McHenry's knuckle makes these about the same in terms of appearance. They are all a little larger than the Microtrains from above, but the Evemodel is more compact from the side - the angle I view my models at most of the time...

So no clear winner and a lot of frustration - also over £60 out of pocket for all these samples... I wondered, would DG work on a North American wagon? 

Visually, I think they're ok, completely unrealistic yes, but they work. You get the same performance (at least if you set them up at the same height) as I get on my British stock and they offer 90%+ coupling and delayed uncoupling. Side on, as above, they just didn't work for me. 

I wondered if there was another option - could I fit magnetic pins (from some Microtrains 1015-10) to the Evemodel couplings?

The answer - yes, without too much effort. You need to ream out the larger, fixed, head of the knuckle to clear the pin, and open the hole up in the sprung knuckle to make fitting it easier. The result looks good and is quite compact - however, the thickness of the coupling means they only really work in the truck mounted coupler boxes (I was achieving 75-80% reliability - so slightly better than the McHenry), however if you put them in the body mount box the pin draws the whole coupling downwards over a magnet and means the two faces don't want to uncouple... fail.

So close, and yet so far...

So on the cusp of another sense of loss, of disappointment, deflated I remembered I had bought, many years ago some Microtrains 1015s with the reverse draft angle (this means the spring is in front of the pivot). These had been bought for my first N scale adventure, the logging railways on British Columbia. I wondered, how would these compare?

I'd say the slinky effect isn't eliminated but is reduced, and coupling reliability is around 90%. They look more like North American couplings (than DG) and they don't need modification to the car...

So I've come full-circle it seems. Back to where I started! In the hunt for a better N scale North American coupling I've returned to the accepted compromises of the Microtrains. Yes it doesn't look much like a real one, but they just work - and when they don't its usually metal axles or weights attracted to the magnet that are causing problems, not the couplers themselves.

In summary? If you want a true scale appearance and don't need to do remote uncoupling then I recommend trying the N-possible, otherwise I'd suggest standardising with Microtrains 1015. Unless any manufacturer wants to combine the best bits of both and come up with a closer to scale coupler that has no slinky effect but still uses a trip pin to allow magnetic delayed action uncoupling? Surely, in the 21st century, this could be possible? Until next time, more soon...

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