Link & Pin...

[AFGadd]

I've been building a coupling system that will allow my stock to travel freely on my railway.

A view of the back of the Prince quickly reveals the amount of swing from centre. Although the locos freely traverse the 2ft 6in curves & pointwork, keeping the stock following was more of an issue....


The obvious soloution is to use the Link & Pin coupling system that comes with the AnDel kits.


AnDel even supply these Link & Pin couplings separately, with a little planning they fit very well to my own build stock.



However, there's nothing "Off the Shelf" to fit Roundhouse locos so I've built my own.
These are made from a combination of styrene & brass.
I'm reasonably happy with the results, I think I can improve on the looks but the coupling works over my trackwork perfectly.

[Dr. Bond of the DVLR]

An excellent result and it looks great too!

[AFGadd]

An excellent result and it looks great too!

Thanks, the next loco to tackle is a R/H Penrhyn Hunslet.
However, I'm not so sure the chunky feel of these couplings will look so good on the finer lines of a saddle tank?

[Dwayne]

I plan on going L&P with my equipment in time. Rivets make good pins.

[AFGadd]

Rivets make good pins.

I am trying out larger pins (note the huge loop pin in the image), my fingers aren't that small any more (to many years of manual labour) and I can't be fiddling with tweezers just to couple up....

Another thing I've discovered is the large link-loop I've made. This also makes coupling to another vehicle much easier as the link-loop will travel right up into the body of the coupling and allow the pin to simply drop.

[jabsteam]

Andrew, is your longer link soldered closed?
If not, do you think it will pull apart from a train load?

[Adam R]

Andrew, is your longer link soldered closed?
If not, do you think it will pull apart from a train load?

I built some Corris loco couplings, by soldering a brass plate to some bits of chain, it only came loose recently, after a derailment and a very stuck coach it finally gave in after about 3 years of hauling stuff, including Llechfan garden railways biggest train... the chain link has to break the solder then unfold itself, None of my other chain is soldered shut, and I have no problems with it breaking open. there only little really, and tend to roll alright.

[Annie]

If you make links from galvanised steel wire they won't pull apart under load. I use galv steel wire to make coupling links on the Kotanga Tramway using beading pliers to form the links. The other advantage is that galv steel wire is way cheaper than brass.

[/img]

[Spule 4]

If you make links from galvanised steel wire they won't pull apart under load.  I use galv steel wire to make coupling links on the Kotanga Tramway using beading pliers to form the links.  The other advantage is that galv steel wire is way cheaper than brass.

[/img]

Annie, would you mind posting a 3/4 view from slightly above of that coupler, looks like an interesting design!

[AFGadd]

Hi, sorry for not posting sooner I've not been near a PC and I hate posting using my phone and predictive text...

Andrew, is your longer link soldered closed?
If not, do you think it will pull apart from a train load?

I have soft soldered the link (brass) ends together. I didn't do so for reasons of strength but for ascetic reasons.
I had cut the ends of the link with side cutters and the join looked appalling to my eyes. I had the blowtorch in my hand and I thought why not...

I certainly don't envisage any problems with link strength on my line as I'm very unlikely to run long trains.

[Annie]

Annie, would you mind posting a 3/4 view from slightly above of that coupler, looks like an interesting design!

No problem

[Spule 4]

Thanks, reminds me a bit of the Darj type. Well done.