Preview of upcoming MTL True-Scale Coupler system

[JoeD]

Pretty much rolling manufacturing with these.     Rusty brown on the way

Joe

They probably underestimate demand and sent out a set amount to dealers. I am sure MBK will re-stock.

Mark

[learmoia]

Pretty much rolling manufacturing with these.     Rusty brown on the way

Joe

Must be a fufilling rollout of a new product.   

Good job...   ~Ian

[Cajonpassfan]

Following this and the other related thread with much interest. But for the moderators, wouldn't it make sense now to combine these two threads into one and call it more generically "MTL True-Scale Couplers"? Just sayin'
Otto K.

[jagged ben]

The way the Kato and MTL couplers engage causes them to connect at an angle. Just like the photo shows. They don't couple straight on. But even though that seems to be the case jagged ben confirmed that they work together.

To be clear, I was talking about regular N scale MT couplers, not True-Scale couplers.  You're photo doesn't look like something that would work well in practice.

[peteski]

To be clear, I was talking about regular N scale MT couplers, not True-Scale couplers.  You're photo doesn't look like something that would work well in practice.

Why in the thread about the MTL Scale Coupler would you out-fo-the-blue mention that Kato knuckle coupler works with the standard N scale MTL coupler?  That has been a common knowledge since the Kato couplers were introduced.  But thanks for clarification.

And you're right that while the Kato and MTL scale coupler do mate, I don't think it'll be a good combination.

[nkalanaga]

Peteski:  Thank you.  If it's the nature of the beasts, and not just a misaligned coupler mount, I suspect that they won't work WELL together.

Not an issue for me, as I'm going to keep my existing couplers, but still good to know.

[jagged ben]

Why in the thread about the MTL Scale Coupler would you out-fo-the-blue mention that Kato knuckle coupler works with the standard N scale MTL coupler?  That has been a common knowledge since the Kato couplers were introduced.  But thanks for clarification.
...

It wasn't out of the blue, dude.  It was two posts after this:

My first experience with those Kato couplers was on their SDP40Fs.  After finding that 1015 couplers aren't a drop-in replacement, because the retaining clip won't hold them, I screwed one 1015 on the front of one unit, and left the Katos on the other end, and other unit.  To me, they look very nice, but don't work well with standard MT couplers.
...

(Emphasis added.)  Sorry if I caused confusion.

[peteski]

It wasn't out of the blue, dude.  It was two posts after this:

(Emphasis added.)  Sorry if I caused confusion.

No harm done. As usual in lengthy threads on TRW, we branch of in all sorts of directions - keeping track of the OT excursions is sometimes tough (I'm speaking about myself here).

[learmoia]

Just got my hands on some.. and HOLY CRAP!!! These things are tiny

So the thickness of the shank is slightly thicker (.005 for each half) than the normal MT coupler.. so use of existing boxes may be out of the question.

I'll report more soon.

~Ian

[robert3985]

YAY!!  I just picked up two ten packs from my train buddy Nate ( @Nato ) who got down to my "local" LHS in time before they sold out. (Thanks Nate!) and yup, they ARE small.  I sanded a couple of thousandths off the whiskers with a diamond wheel on my Dremel...which was very easy to do...before assembling it.

Assembly is easy easy, but even after being assembled they are very small and it takes extra care handling them.

I hoped these would plug into the pilot in my Kato F-3's, but it's going to take quite a bit of coupler/pilot modifications to get them to the correct height and appearance, including filing the thankfully small Kato coupler opening to one of several prototype U.P. F-unit pilot coupler opening shapes and styles.

First train equipped with these will by my Park City Local, which consists of nine MTL and Trainworx drop-bottom gons, a combine for mail and passengers, a CA-1 wooden caboose and from one to four other freight cars bound for the huge Ideal Concrete complex, the mines past Echo Junction and the small towns between Ogden and Park City...all pulled by a Mike or a couple of GP7's.  All the talgo couplers get snipped off of course and the True Scale MT's get body mounted.  At the same time, I'll be installing Fox Valley 33" low-pro/narrow tread wheelsets, and weathering the gons pretty heavily, repainting some to Utah Coal Route ( UCR ) black, with white lettering.

I've been waiting years to do this, so I'm pretty happy   

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

 

[learmoia]

Initial impressions:

The Pros:
Size and look are GREAT!
Assembly and instilation are GREAT
Coupling force is acceptable.. I did thin the wiskers

The Cons:
There is NO Swing in the coupler.. the box swings before the Coupler swings.
I would say Min- Radius is 12-15"
-- I would be willing to sacrifice coupler centering for coupler swing.
You can't couple on a curve... at least not less than 12"R
But.. Both of these 'Cons' are more or less prototypical.

I'm still on board with the idea but I'd like to wait and see on coupler boxes,..
Suggestions..
Somehow revise the internal design slightly to get 'some' swing in the coupler.
-- I have an idea which I'll send to Joe
Freight car oriented coupler boxes.. similar to the classic designs.
-- The 1015 box had always been designed around locomotives so I see these two products around locomotive instillation.

I like what I see so far.

~Ian

[wmcbride]

Initial impressions:

The Pros:
Size and look are GREAT!
Assembly and instilation are GREAT
Coupling force is acceptable.. I did thin the wiskers

The Cons:
There is NO Swing in the coupler.. the box swings before the Coupler swings.
I would say Min- Radius is 12-15"
-- I would be willing to sacrifice coupler centering for coupler swing.
You can't couple on a curve... at least not less than 12"R
But.. Both of these 'Cons' are more or less prototypical.

I'm still on board with the idea but I'd like to wait and see on coupler boxes,..
Suggestions..
Somehow revise the internal design slightly to get 'some' swing in the coupler.
-- I have an idea which I'll send to Joe
Freight car oriented coupler boxes.. similar to the classic designs.
-- The 1015 box had always been designed around locomotives so I see these two products around locomotive instillation.

I like what I see so far.

~Ian

I agree. They are a great size but I was surprised at how little swing there is.

[chicken45]

So, do you guys think this would be a better choice than unimates for my semi perm coupled centipedes?

[garethashenden]

Initial impressions:

The Pros:
Size and look are GREAT!
Assembly and instilation are GREAT
Coupling force is acceptable.. I did thin the wiskers

The Cons:
There is NO Swing in the coupler.. the box swings before the Coupler swings.
I would say Min- Radius is 12-15"
-- I would be willing to sacrifice coupler centering for coupler swing.
You can't couple on a curve... at least not less than 12"R
But.. Both of these 'Cons' are more or less prototypical.

I'm still on board with the idea but I'd like to wait and see on coupler boxes,..
Suggestions..
Somehow revise the internal design slightly to get 'some' swing in the coupler.
-- I have an idea which I'll send to Joe
Freight car oriented coupler boxes.. similar to the classic designs.
-- The 1015 box had always been designed around locomotives so I see these two products around locomotive instillation.

I like what I see so far.

~Ian

What I noticed and what really surprised me was that there is no swing on the short shanks, but a good amount on the long shanks. I haven't experimented with trying to increase the swing of the short shanks, but it may be possible.

[Cajonpassfan]

Initial impressions:

The Pros:
Size and look are GREAT!
Assembly and instilation are GREAT
Coupling force is acceptable.. I did thin the wiskers

The Cons:
There is NO Swing in the coupler.. the box swings before the Coupler swings.
I would say Min- Radius is 12-15"
-- I would be willing to sacrifice coupler centering for coupler swing.
You can't couple on a curve... at least not less than 12"R
But.. Both of these 'Cons' are more or less prototypical.

I'm still on board with the idea but I'd like to wait and see on coupler boxes,..
Suggestions..
Somehow revise the internal design slightly to get 'some' swing in the coupler.
-- I have an idea which I'll send to Joe
Freight car oriented coupler boxes.. similar to the classic designs.
-- The 1015 box had always been designed around locomotives so I see these two products around locomotive instillation.

I like what I see so far.

~Ian

Ian, thanks for the writeup. Personally, the minimum radius doesn't bother me, I have larger curves, but I'd be concerned about crossover S curves, especially on longer cars. That's where the lack of swing could be an issue. Can you, or anyone, comment on this?
Thank you,
Otto K.