Whether you treated yourself to some of those Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals (I know I did, don’t tell my wife) or you get some new locomotives or rolling stock as Christmas gifts, if you have cars from one of the manufactures who install Kadee® Magne-Matic® couplers from the factory: you’re golden! You can start enjoying your new cars on your layout immediately.

But, if you didn’t... Now you have a very important decision to make. It may even be life changing... (cue dramatic music)

The Question: Do I replace the “clone knuckle couplers”* that came on that my cars with Kadee® Magne-Matic® couplers? Or do I just leave the clone knuckle couplers installed that came with the car?

This decision is not one to be taken lightly. The fate of your layout, and possibly your sanity, may be affected by this life-altering decision... (cue dramatic music)

If you choose to leave the clone knuckle couplers on your cars, you will experience a very basic and limited coupler function that will be filled with equipment failures, cars coming uncoupled, train wrecks, weak performance, and frustration to your wits’ end that will make you question your sanity and make you wonder if model railroading is the hobby for you.

If you choose to replace those clone knuckle couplers with high-quality Kadee® Magne-Matic® couplers, you will be rewarded with decades of trouble-free operation and performance. After all, Kadee® designed and developed the Magne-Matic® knuckle coupler; and it is at the very heart of our company. Couplers represent who we are. One reason companies have attempted to clone our Kadee® Magne-Matic® couplers is because our award-winning design works. One thing clone knuckle couplers don’t (and won’t) have is our 75 years of coupler experience backing our products. We’ve spent decades fine-tuning, testing, and refining coupler designs to produce a high performance, trouble-free, and easy to use coupler that is made from the finest materials; made right here in White City, Oregon USA.

How do I know which Kadee® coupler to use? They have so many to choose from. I’m over whelmed. Take a breath...

Don’t try looking at pictures of couplers from our catalog to see if you think it will work, that is the incorrect way and will only confuse you.

We have done the work for you: It is simple, just look up your locomotive or rolling stock in our coupler conversion guide.

Select your manufacturer, then choose the model you are looking for. Coupler info & How-To Instructions and Diagrams (if available) are listed and linked.