Couplers
New Sergent Scale Couplers - First Look
On April 7, 2005, I was sent from Andy at the Proto:87 stores, a pre-production
sample of the new Sergent Engineering EC87 couplers. All I can say is "Wow!".
I'll have an evaluation of them online as soon as I can. Stay tuned! Until
then, here are some photos.
Please keep in mind that these are photos of pre-production EC87 couplers. When
I get the full production versions, I will post shots here.
 Sergent Coupler Shown are all the parts but the springs and ball bearings. Pete Brown Photo - April 7, 2005 |
 Sergent Coupler The ball bearing is in place. The ball bearing is what makes the coupler lock and unlock. Pete Brown Photo - April 7, 2005 |
 Sergent Coupler You can see a slight registration issue with the knuckle casting. Frank inspected his other stock and it was fine, so this was an anomoly.Pete Brown Photo - April 7, 2005 |
 Sergent Coupler I sanded the top a bit to see what was underneath. The color is only skin deep, and can be painted. Pete Brown Photo - April 7, 2005 |
Older Sergent Scale Couplers
In 2003, I experimented with some new couplers. These couplers are by
Sergent Engineering and were purchased through Andy Reichert's
Proto:87 Store
When looking at photos in model railroading magazines, one of the first
things that gives away a well-let, well-detailed, well-photographed model as a
model, is the telltale magnetic knuckle coupler with its trip wire.
I came across these via a recommendation on the Proto:87 list. I was looking for
couplers with a much more scale appearance like dummy couplers, but that
allowed for normal day-to-day operation on my layout like normal knuckle
couplers.
So far, I have assembled one of these couplers, and I can tell you that it was
not anywhere near as difficult as it first sounded. Now that I have the hang of
it, I fully expect my next one to come out better, with even better detail
fidelity.
For comparsion, here are three shots. The first is the normal as-delivered
knuckle coupler, like a Kadee #5. The second is the Kadee #58 "scale" coupler.
The third is a Sergent Engineer scale coupler. All three were taken with
my digital camera with a 7x and 10x stacked pair of close-up lenses. The
photos are all approximately the same scale.
  
As you can see, the most obvious difference is the lack of unsightly magnetic
trip pin and outside spring. However, on closer inspection, you will
notice that the knuckle is also quite different both in shape and in the way it
pivots. Because of this, a pair of Sergent couplers will couple very
tightly just as on the prototype. The kadee "scale" #58 isn't a bad
compromise, however, if you still want automatic knuckle coupling via in-track
magnets.
Here is a closeup of the coupler mounted on my Stewart Baldwin VO-1000 (see
Roster page). The coupler was blackened using "Blacken It" and
then given a dry brush of grimy black and rust. The "grass" was
completely accidental. Those are fibers from a paper towel I used to wipe
the coupler off, heh. From this angle, with the lighting as it
is and with this close of a closeup, you can see the tiny ball bearing
inside the coupler. The ball bearing is what makes this little guy work.
You wave a magnet "magic wand" over the coupler to lift the ball bearing up out
of the socket and thereby release the knuckle for uncoupling.
Now if I can only get the cut lever to connect with the coupler :-)
(note: I did not replace the hose or cut bar in the photo above. They have since
been replaced with more scale equivalents)
For reference, here are two prototype couplers. Both were photographed on
Western Maryland equipment at WM Day 2002
at the B&O Museum in Baltimore. I can see that I have a little bit
more rusting to do to the Sergent coupler :-)
 
If you found the above useful, or just like trains, be sure to drop me a note in
my guestbook.
I am just a fellow model railroader and happy customer. I receive no
compensation whatsoever from Sergent Engineering.
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