# Opinion re knuckle or Link couplers



## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

I am looking for opinions concerning the operational differences and/or preferences between knuckle and link couplers. Thanks!


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Opinions we have in abundance. I have always been a fan of link couplers and prioritized collecting link coupler equipment. I do have a lot of knuckle coupler equipment in my collection.
Why do I prefer link couplers?
1. Easy to maintain
2. Offer complete flexibility of adjustment but do require care in adjusting
3. Will couple at any speed regardless of how slow, important when running with Legacy. Knuckles require a more forceful "bang" to close.
4. Will couple on any curve. Knuckle couplers are out of alignment frequently on curves and do not mate.
5. Cars couple closer together with link couplers, very noticeable on longer freights.

The two main downsides to links are appearance and reliability. Link coupler equipped cars have a tendency to uncouple at the most inconvenient times. The two reasons for this are uneven trackwork and misadjusted couplers. I run 15 car link coupler freights on my permanent layout and have not had a spontaneous uncoupling is over a year. But this layout has wide radius curves and vertical as well as horizontal easements. The trackwork is perfect. I made sure every coupler was correctly adjusted and the wheels properly gauged before putting the car on the layout.
My personal opinion is the knuckle couplers are so large that they do not improve the appearance. I have a lot of transition cars since all my engines have knuckle couplers and many of the correct road name cabooses are knuckle couplers.
I bought a lot of American Models boxcars and generally run them in a dedicated train.


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## Chuck7612 (Jul 2, 2017)

If you want to reinforce your link couplers or have a way to connect link to knuckle, I recommend these products:
http://www.adaptercoupler.com


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## yd328 (Dec 19, 2017)

I don't have much experience either way but I prefer the links. It seems to date the trains.

Gary


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I had both as a little boy, and have both now as a big boy. No preference. AmFlyer said it all....


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

For me, preference has nothing to do with it. About half of my tenders have a link coupler,
they pull link coupler cars. The other tenders have knuckle couplers, and they pull knuckle coupler cars. I do have one car with link on one end and knuckle on the other end. I don't use it. I could. I do not want to get into converting cars from one to the other.
Once the cars are hooked together I don't even notice the couplers. Neither couplers look
all that real. Link looks more like a toy. Knuckles are out of scale, too big. They are what
they are. I had to have a different attitude for S scale than my HO scale.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

Thanks all! My question was because of the many problems that I had on my N Scale layout. I finally converted everything to Micro Train couplers with the exception of a few Kato on some F3 locos. I have a great difficulty with N now because of vision and dexterity problems. That was the main reason I migrated to AF. 
I have found that knuckle couplers need, as Amflyer said, a hard slamming movement to connect. And even then, they don’t always connect. I think that I will curtail converting to knuckles. Also, I have found, in my latest bunch of knuckle conversion couplers, some of poor quality. Apparently not all reproductions are equal.:thumbsdown:


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

Having knuckle couplers as a boy that's what I started to collect when my interest in Flyer was rekindled in the 80's. A gift from my wife of olive green bakelite heavyweights on my birthday changed my thinking on those "harpoon" couplers. AmFlyer covered all the pros and cons of each type. I now enjoy both kinds and have a few transition cars but try to buy unaltered cars with their correct couplers.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

First time I saw them called harpoon couplers! I agree with keeping everything Gilbert original. I use very common cars as transition cars.


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

AmFlyer said:


> First time I saw them called harpoon couplers! I agree with keeping everything Gilbert original. I use very common cars as transition cars.


I'm probably the only one who calls them by that name. They just always looked like a harpoon when I got back into Flyer. My transition cars are likewise except for a few that are part of sets that have been upgraded at some point. So far, I've left them alone. I try to keep things the way I found them and it doesn't bother me enough to change them back.


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## Chuck7612 (Jul 2, 2017)

Since I saw conversion cars referenced a few times I thought I'd re-mention the product/website I posted above. These coupler adapters work very well and eliminate the need for modifications or conversion cars to run link and knuckle together...
http://www.adaptercoupler.com

Also the link coupler latch he sells will get rid of any uncoupling problems you may encounter with link couplers.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I saw these products demonstrated at a train show. They work as advertised. The link coupler latch does prevent the uncoupler from working.


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