Richard37

I use the 50200 Command Station. Upon startup one or two locos jump suddenly, forward sometimes and backwards on others. Also one or two cobalt motors activate but without moving. It's possible that those that come to life thus are the first in line electrically from the controller. Does anyone know whether this is typical of this controller?

I did read your thread and the roof venting certainly helped. The livery of the Cu Na Mara was throwing me as I expected it to be in the Galway livery for some reason. Most models seem to attempt the Cu Na Mara coach and you can see why as it is similar to the BR coaches.

I would want to do a standard to as realistic a standard as possible although this will be my first build. Was it you who explained about blanking out a standard coach? This would be the cheapest route although I have absolutely no idea how you would make good the window frame openings which presumably on close inspection will be obvious.

What is the correct prototype/period for the Mark 3 restaurant. I have seen two different versions in photos. There appear to be no correct models available of either of these. What is the best option to modify existing stock?

Some great advice there.

I have a rake of mark 3 coaches which I have yet to run. I expect the same if not a worse problem as they gave the older type coupler which is attached to the bogie.

With Kadees isn't the height of the mounting point even more critical. How can they work on a loco pulling a carriage if they are 3mm off? I have ordered 3 sets of no. 20s to see how they work

'tis funny, in a way, that we take such models for granted that we moan about couplings. In years gone by, we never had the models....[/quote

 

So all these lovely models are good for is looking at? They certainly aren't up to pulling any of my coaches.

All locos seem to have the same problem I'm afraid. 141,181, 71 and 201 although I haven't checked all yet. I'm quite astounded that the same manufacturer of Locos and coaches can get such a fundamental thing wrong. Short of changing couplings ( if even that will work?) is there a fix?

As DiveController says the tension locks are hit and miss,I've had similar problems with cravens and mk2 coaches,some were uncoupling some were fine.I switched the lot to kadees and it seems to have worked,i haven't had any problems since.

Which Kadee did you go for?

The problem seems to be a difference in height between the loco coupler and the coach ( haven't measured but I would say 3-5mm) The gradient is gentle but don't know the slope. When the set hits the slope it's enough to uncouple. But, it also happens on other flat sections. Am I going to have to replace all the couplers? And why would there be a such a big height difference? The stock is all brand new Cravenscsnd Mark iis.

Just finalising my layout and running some train sets. A problem I seem to have with almost every set is uncoupling of the loco and or various carriages. It usually happens at a slight incline. I also find the coupling mechanisms for ( mostly Bachmann) carriages to be particularly difficult to operate. However, no matter how carefully I assemble the set the problem persists. What are the solutions ?