Couplings (009 Soc News Aug. 2014 cover photo)

[Graeme Dunbar]

The title is a mouthful, but is fairly unambiguous!

I am intrigued by the photo on the cover that shows Martin Collins' 'Myfanwy'. Can anyone say what type it is please?

It's not (as far as I can tell):

Peco
Bemo
Greenwich
DG
Paul Windle

so I'm stumped!

[Elmgate]

B&B couplings - 3mm scale type. These are used by the Sussex Downs Group (of which Martin and I are members - although I use DG for my own stock!).

I believe this is the correct, latest contact:

B & B Couplings
24 Layston Park
Royston
Herts
SG8 9DS

A description (N gauge) here: http://modelrailmusings.weebly.com/bb-couplings.html.

[Graeme Dunbar]

Many thanks. I've heard the name before but the 009 News cover is the first time I've seen one. Knowing what they are, I found this too:

http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/MGalleryItem.php?id=1657

[Martin Collins]

As owner of "Myfanwy" I can add a few comments regarding B&B couplings.  Graham's link to the ngforum is interesting -

http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/MGalleryItem.php?id=1657

I've not come across this before, but having been using these couplings for many years now, I must say I've never found a need to score the fold lines.  I do however, have a special pair of pliers!  Basically flat nosed, approx. 5mm wide, but with the heads filed down to a 45 degree taper, so that you can bend a good sharp right angle with them.  Yes the couplings are fiddly to make, and you have to be accurate with them.  My method is to separate the main body from the fret, and using a very fine nosed pair of pliers, bend the hook shank down from as far back as you sensibly can, but it has to be kept straight.  Nice romantic curves don't work!  Then using my special pliers, bend the buffing plate and hook vertical, and then bend the hook itself quite sharply back on itself, before bending the ears of the buffing plate slightly backwards.  Bending the side plates down is straightforward, but don't make them too tight or the loops won't pivot freely.  Then slightly open out the ears with the holes in so that the loop and latch can be inserted.
When it comes to the loops they are very fragile, and I've found it best to add the iron wire in batches, by cutting the fret in half and holding it in a vice with just the top of the tails protruding.  Then twizzle the wire around the tail, and for 009 bend the tail cross piece up the shaft by about its own width.  Inserting the loops and latches is straightforward, if fiddly, bending the ears back to parallel when happy with the free movement.
I agree with the comments regarding bending up the front of the loops very slightly, but an alternative is to gently file and polish the point at which the hook rises from the buffing plate, as it is reinforced at this point, and when the hook is bent, it tends to leave a vertical surface which the loop can hit, and doesn't always rise automatically.  Just putting a slight curve on this makes a world of difference.
As with any etched coupling, these things can be a bit fragile, and the Sussex Downs group (and me!) have put a lot of effort into secure and safe storage of stock, so that they don't get damaged.  As I described in my article in the August "News", checking couplings can take an awful lot of pre-exhibition time, so they need to be treated with care, but provided they are, they work quite satisfactorily.


Martin

[Graeme Dunbar]

Many thanks Martin. The couplings look very neat so I can appreciate that they are fiddly. What struck me and appealed was that the coupling on the cover looks 'industrial' and business-like and not like a piece of bent brass, though from what you write a good part of that could be careful assembly.