From: wes@uf.msc.edu (Wes Barris)
Subject: All about Kadees
Reply-To: wes@msc.edu
Organization: AHPCRC, Minnesota Supercomputer Center
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 14:54:19 GMT

Have you ever wondered which Kadee coupler was the "correct" one for your
application?  Are you confused by the many Kadee coupler model numbers?
Well, I'm going to try to help sort this out a little for you.

Let me start by saying that on my HO rolling stock, I have never used
anything but a Kadee #5 coupler.  This is mainly because of philosophy
-- I prefer to file, shim, cut, drill, or tap to make a #5 work.  However,
I also have had the opportunity to work with those who prefer to have one
of each type of Kadee coupler and find the "best" one for the job. 

It is with this background that I am going to try to sort out some of the
mystery behind the various types of Kadee couplers.

Kadee couplers can be grouped into three different categories depending
on their shank type.  I am going to name these categories "#5", "round",
and "rectangular".  It is difficult to describe each without pictures, but
I will try.

"#5" shank:     This style is easiest to describe because most everyone knows
                what a #5 coupler looks like.  It has a round hole, flat sides,
                and a centering spring that presses against the flat sides.
		The draft gear is rectangular.

"round" shank:  This style has a round hole with a slot to the front of the
                hole which accepts a coil centering spring.  The base of the
                shank is also round as opposed to flat like the #5.  The
		rear of the assembled draft gear is also round to minimize
		clearance problems.

"rectangular":  This shank has no hole (for a screw to pass through).
                Instead there is a slot in the shank which accepts a
                coil centering spring.  The end of the shank is rectangular.
		There are only two of this type.  The assembled draft gear
		for both are "identical" to a #5 except without the center
		hole.

Within each of these categories, there are a various shaft lengths and
vertical knuckle offsets.  Let me start out by listing the Kadee model
numbers in a table.  This table will do two things.  First it will group
the coupler types into the groups described above.  Second, it will list
the couplers in order of their shaft length (distance from center of post
to end of shank.  Even though some may be reduced, lengths will be shown
as a fraction with a denominator of 64.  This makes comparisons somewhat
easier.


	     Shank/Draft gear
	#5	Round	Rectangular		Length	Offset?
	--	-----	-----------	|	------	-------
	27	7			|	16/64	yes
	38				|	17/64	no
	3,5,9,28	4,15		|	18/64	no
	32,37				|	18/64	yes
		8			|	20/64	no
	31				|	25/64	yes
	36				|	25/64	no
	26	6,16			|	26/64	no

NOTES:	- "Offset" means the shank is attached to the bottom of the coupler
	  like this: ___[] as opposed to this: ---[]
	- #3 is simply an assembled #5
	- #4 has a metal draft gear box with no hole in center
	- #9 is a #5 with a smaller hole in draft gear box
	- #15 is an insulated #4
	- #16 is a #6 with #7 (short) draft gear
	- #17(short), 18(medium), 19(long), 20(x-long) are for Roco applications
	- #26,27,28 have additional hardware for Talgo applications
	- #31,32,36,37,38 are designed to have the shortest distance between the
	  post hole and rear of draft gear

I have not seen a 31,32,36,37,38.  Any additional information on these such
as the difference between a 32 and 37 would be helpful.  I am also not sure
what their draft gear (shank) looks like -- their numbers may have to be
moved in the table above.

I think it would be beneficial to others if a list could be put together
showing example applications of each of the various couplers.  The Walthers
catalog shows something like this, however, I would be interested to hear
your experiences.  I will start by adding some obvious applications to this
table.

#5:	Athearn rolling stock
	Roundhouse (MDC) rolling stock
#6:
#7:
#8:
#9:
#15:
#16:
#26:
#27:	Lifelike truck mount
#28:
#31:
#32:
#36:
#37:
#38:

-- 
                                       o O O O O o o o o o o o o . . . . . . .
 __________    ___           ___      __                _
/_______|--`--|_ _|--=-==---|_ _|--,_|__|_             |-+-------`____________,
| ||_| /        -  |        / - \  |      || ________  |                      |
|_|___/------------|----__---------|------|||__|__|__| |Southern Pacific Lines|
|_|____________/-------{__}---------------{__}_______|=|_________     ________|
/_(o)=(o) ( )( )( )( ) [__]  ( )( )( )( ) [__]--(o)     (o)(o)(o)-----(o)(o)(o)
===============================================================================
Wes Barris                                                   PH: (612) 626-8090
Minnesota Supercomputer Center, Inc.                         Email: wes@msc.edu