coupler question..

[Jamesp]

regarding sizes..
I am thinking of using EZ mate or McHenry..

But not sure of sizes..
Passenger cars ? ( Athearn etc..)
Freight cars ?
Diesel Engines (ex: Athearn) ?

if you could point me to a link that would be great

or I'll just buy a few of each and figure it out i suppose
thanks
james

 

[Pete]

No doubt some one will bring up Kadee for their variety of lengths and offsets, not to mention the strength of an all-metal coupler versus the plastic knock-offs.
They have a comprehensive online conversion chart that can be found at http://kadee.com/conv/list.htm

 

[jim currie]

will agree with Pete as to the wide range of Kadee's also i tried both EZ mate and McHenry
and found them inferior to Kadee's for my use.

 

[GeorgeHO]

I think E-Z mate couplers are McHenry's under liscense to Bachmann. When KaDee had the sole patent they would not liscense them to loco manufacturers, or the manufacturers would not pay the KaDee price. Now with competition the prices are coming down.

I am converting my couplers to McHenry because they are simple to install and cheap enough in bulk. It costs me about $1.50 per freight car to put on the couplers and metal wheels. I buy a lot of freight cars at shows (old and cheap), because much of what I want (1950's) is not available as new, and figure the $1.50 per car into my final operational cost.