# Kato Amtrak couplers - advise needed



## 4dimad (Dec 17, 2012)

Hello! I need to replace the couplers on my Amtrak 106-0101 set. Could you please help me to identify the part numbers I need to search for? Also, are there better than original options available? Thank you for your expertise and Happy New Year!


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Micro/Trains couplers*



4dimad said:


> Hello! I need to replace the couplers on my Amtrak 106-0101 set. Could you please help me to identify the part numbers I need to search for? Also, are there better than original options available? Thank you for your expertise and Happy New Year!


4dimad;

I'm going to answer your last question first. Yes there are better couplers available. The company that makes them is called Micro-Trains. Their couplers are highly regarded by many modelers, and offer several advantages as far as uncoupling them is concerned. They uncouple magnetically, and once uncoupled, a car can be pushed along a siding, still uncoupled, and spotted anywhere along that siding. Many modelers uncouple their Micro-Trains couplers manually, with a small stick. This can be done anywhere you can reach. 

That said, I can see, from your photos, that you have several issues going on that may determine whether Micro-Trains couplers will be a good option for you, or not. 

First, I need to ask you some questions.

1) How did the Kato couplers you now have get broken?

2) Do young children have access to the train layout?

3) What size (radius) track curves do you have?

4) What is your long term plan for your train set? That is, do you plan to eventually build a full blown model railroad with the track mounted to a base, scenery, more track, etc.?

If you do, then it may be well worth converting to Micro-Trains couplers now, depending on your answers to the first three questions. 

If not, then you might be better off to just contact a good train store in your area (if you are lucky enough to have one.) or check www.modeltrainstuff.com and buy replacement Kato couplers. 

Here are the reasons for my questions.

Micro-Trains makes their couplers in many different configurations, designed to fit different cars and locomotives. They are also expensive. They are probably as strong as most N-scale knuckle couplers, but none of the knuckle couplers, in any brand, will stand up to a child grabbing two cars and twisting or otherwise over stressing the couplers between them. The only coupler that might survive that sort of rough treatment is the now obsolete Rapido coupler, and even it might not. 

The curved track radius matters because you have long passenger cars, and they have the couplers mounted on the "trucks" (the swiveling assemblies at the ends of the car that hold the wheels)
Some couplers are designed to mount directly to the body of the car, rather than to a truck. The body mounted couplers look more realistic, since a real train's couplers are body-mounted. They are also better for pushing cars backwards, as in putting cars onto a siding. Body-mounted couplers do not work well on curves much sharper than 14" radius however. The truck-mounted type couplers work better on tight curves.

Unless Micro-Trains makes a kit specifically designed for the particular brand, and type, of car you have, you would either have to body-mount the new couplers, (and risk the cars derailing often if you have tight curves) or buy Micro-Trains 4-wheel modern passenger car trucks with their couplers already mounted. This would be the easiest way to upgrade to Micro-Trains couplers, but buying trucks for all your cars would not be cheap.
You could buy only one pair of Micro-Trains trucks and install one of the M-T trucks on one end of a car and leave the Kato truck on the other end. This "adapter, or conversion, car" could then couple to a locomotive with M-T couplers at one end, and to the remaining cars with Kato couplers at the other end.

That brings up another issue. Kato couplers couple, and stay coupled, quite well with other Kato couplers. However they don't always work well with other brands of couplers. They may not stay coupled. So if you do convert to Micro-Trains couplers, (except for the adapter car idea) it may be a case of converting all the cars and locomotives, or none.

good luck;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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## 4dimad (Dec 17, 2012)

Thank you very much for the advises.


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