The coupling bar with the flat wagons.

[Sean]

I'm really not a fan of the modern tension locks that come as standard on most stock so I've been thinking about alternatives for a while.

 

What exactly is the purpose of the coupling bars that are included with the flat wagons? Are they there for improved running on poorer trackwork or are they a prototypical thing for more realistic running?

 

Regards

Sean

 

 

 

 

 

[BosKonay]

They are a more typical coupling and the wagons will run better with them installed instead of dreadful tension locks 

[Sean]

sweet ill be giving them a go tomorrow, fixed rakes with tension locks on the ends until i can afford hunts or some other such nicetys.

any chance they might come with the taras also?

 

definitely doesnt help that my trackwork is somthing like this......... 

[BosKonay]

The Tara’s also included close coupling bars. 

[Sean]

Oh damn they DO close couple. I'm sure I tried them a few months ago and they didn't and I was like wtf what are they for so.

 

Now for the fun? Part.... Second radius curves, wagons are pulling around them without issue as the kinematic mechanism creates a little space between the buffers. Unfortunately this gap closes during push operations, such as into a siding and there's just a tiny bit of buffer lock that causes derailment.

I think it's easily fixed if I slide the couplings back about 1mm out of the nem pocket and add a tiny dab of hot glue to secure with easy removal later. Might ruin the close look slightly but my goal here is better running so it's not a problem

That's for tomorrow though.

 

EDIT: that worked perfectly,no glue needed. im sure ill be able to tweak them to give me the best of both worlds tomorrow.

EDIT2: just gave them a push with my hand around the most troublesome corners on the layout and the difference is phenomenol, they are sticking to the rails now!

 

1 hour ago, BosKonay said:

The Tara’s also included close coupling bars. 

They are on my maybe list for before they all vanish so this info helps

 

 

Edited May 15, 2022 by Sean
added fix

[DJ Dangerous]

The close-coupling bars are awesome! I'm pretty sure that they came not only with the Tara's, but the whole Project 42 run.

They couple the wagons more closely, they run more smoothly, and look less obtrusive than TLC's.

[Sean]

That is actually brilliant and greatly reduces the amount of hunt or kadees that I have to buy, 

 

One last thing the Tara's are a bit shorter than the 42's right?

[DJ Dangerous]

4 minutes ago, Sean said:

That is actually brilliant and greatly reduces the amount of hunt or kadees that I have to buy, 

 

One last thing the Tara's are a bit shorter than the 42's right?

 

Yup, the Tara's are shorter, and they go around R1 curves no bother.

[Sean]

Adjusted for second radius, still very close

And no I didn't use the snips

[Sean]

57 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

 

Yup, the Tara's are shorter, and they go around R1 curves no bother.

R1 eh? suddenly i may have more space than i anticipated

[BosKonay]

https://irishrailwaymodels.com/collections/couplers
 

and some cosmetic finishing touches 

[irishthump]

The coupling bars work great on the Tara's. I use the bars to link wagons in pairs as I like to split rakes up sometimes and I have no problems pushing wagons around curves and through points.