A few weeks ago, I identified a scenario where I should operate a train pulled by 5248 running tender first. The only problem was there was no compatible coupler on the front of the locomotive. Having just repainted the model I did not want to fit a Kadee coupler, so I experimented with an adapter that could link the coupler on the rolling stock with the existing hook coupler on the locomotive. I'm sure this has been done before, but my searching on the internet didn't bring up any suggestions. So it was back to first principles and this post details the outcome of that experimentation.By way of background, about a year ago, I came across a number of Youtube movies showing steam operations on the NSW railways in the 1960s. One of these showing operations in northern NSW is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDVUsaeFKhs&feature=relmfu . While the quality of these videos is well below the standard of current cinematography , they are a great source of contemporary information on the topic.
Recently, in search of information on MHO guards vans, I revisited this video and was surprised by the number of empty coal trains (primarily LCH
and CCH wagons) being hauled by a standard goods locomotive running tender
first. So the hunt was on to find a way to replicate this.
After a couple of tries, I managed to get a piece of copper wire shaped in such a way that it would fit a loop into the hook on the locomotive and drop two prongs over the rear of the Kadee coupler. As expected, the copper wire was too malleable, so I fashioned a similar piece using brass wire. This has proved to be successful and is now awaiting painting to match the locomotive and wagons.
You will note from the photo that a second piece of wire has been soldered to the device. This performs two functions. The first is to provide a way to stop the adaptor lifting off the Kadee if the locomotive pushes the wagons for any distance (which the adaptor still does to some extent). The second function is to provide a lifting points for a pair of tweezers or pliers to remove the adaptor when it is no longer needed.
This is a device developed for a particular function and requires a bit of fiddling to make it work. In addition, the normal Kadee features, such as automatic uncoupling and recoupling, are lost, but as I uncouple manually, this is not a problem. Even with the addition wire to retain the adaptor on the hook, pushing forward is done very cautiously. I have also found that it works better with the old Number 5 Kadee rather than the new prototypical couplers but this is probably a matter of further fine tuning.
Notwithstanding these challenges, the device does what is required and now I can haul empty hoppers to Philip's Creek tender first.
After a couple of tries, I managed to get a piece of copper wire shaped in such a way that it would fit a loop into the hook on the locomotive and drop two prongs over the rear of the Kadee coupler. As expected, the copper wire was too malleable, so I fashioned a similar piece using brass wire. This has proved to be successful and is now awaiting painting to match the locomotive and wagons.You will note from the photo that a second piece of wire has been soldered to the device. This performs two functions. The first is to provide a way to stop the adaptor lifting off the Kadee if the locomotive pushes the wagons for any distance (which the adaptor still does to some extent). The second function is to provide a lifting points for a pair of tweezers or pliers to remove the adaptor when it is no longer needed.
This is a device developed for a particular function and requires a bit of fiddling to make it work. In addition, the normal Kadee features, such as automatic uncoupling and recoupling, are lost, but as I uncouple manually, this is not a problem. Even with the addition wire to retain the adaptor on the hook, pushing forward is done very cautiously. I have also found that it works better with the old Number 5 Kadee rather than the new prototypical couplers but this is probably a matter of further fine tuning.
Notwithstanding these challenges, the device does what is required and now I can haul empty hoppers to Philip's Creek tender first.
As a footnote, I had tried to upload a short piece of video to show the adaptor in operation but the process seemed to freeze, so I had to make do without it. The file may have been too large.
