John Broadley
Picture by the author, Kadee products courtesy of the manufacturer

As those of you who, like myself, purchased BR Mk1 gangwayed coaches expecting the #746 couplings to be correctly set to couple with existing Kadee-fitted rolling stock or locos using the Kadee manufacturer’s height gauge as a template have discovered, the buckeyes are way too high and consequently the drop arms won’t necessarily uncouple using Kadee’s own uncoupling units.

Ellis Clark chose to set the Kadee couplings on Kadee-fitted rolling stock so that the buckeye sits at the scale height of the BR standard fitting as shown below.

standards is not the same as the American standard. So those who choose to adhere to the Kadee height gauge are wrong by one standard but right by the other. Ellis told me that market research indicated that the former are in the majority.

The ideal solution would be a new variant of the Kadee #746 coupling (as fitted new to Darstaed gangwayed coaches), with a longer drop arm that could be snipped off if automatic uncoupling is not required but capable, if left in place, of using the Kadee uncoupling system. This would suit the British market better and make money for Kadee Inc. in the long run, should a British standard arise.

I favour employing pairs of small neodymium magnets between the rails and razor blade keepers underneath the ballast or sleepers. This modern method is completely non-invasive in terms of cutting baseboard holes.

If you are one of the growing band of orthodox-height Kadee coupler users, Ellis has had a card of spacers produced similar to one of the manufactured components, without the lip. Unfortunately, if the Kadee coupling has more than one of these spacers between the coach underside where the three pairs of interface holes are and the top of the bogie, it will not ride satisfactorily. I found that a much better solution dispenses with these spacers altogether and uses ½in. 8BA screws with hexagonal sockets in their heads, adjusted by Allen key. A #742 type ‘e’ medium overset shank metal coupler is substituted for the #746 supplied and an 8BA nut loosely inserted above the plastic ‘gearbox’.

The replacement operation will probably require removal of the bogie, which is locknutted in place but only just, the bolts used being short! A smear of Loctite, or white wood glue if you haven’t any, on the end of the bogie screw will obviate the need for the second nut to be replaced afterwards.

Finally, the images relating to Kadee products are reproduced with the manufacturer’s kind permission, for which we are grateful. Kadee also say: “We didn’t know about the Ellis Clark spacers. A place called Micro Mark sells spacers for our O scale boxes too.”