I have never had problems with any manufacturer's (Lionel, MTH, Williams, Weaver, Kline, RMT, Atlas & Industrial Rail) cars both freight and passenger, with Gargraves switches (I am also referring to the older slide shoe type, not prewar, of which I beveled the shoes to slide up & over). I also run locomotives made by Lionel (back as far as prewar), MTH, Williams, Kline, Industrial Rail (Trollies) and RMT(modified on older models with jumpers to another RMT because of the short distance between pic-ups).
I am not going to cover the power issues as most folks have done well with that.
Several of the what I call the 2nd generation switches (with the stamped points) have had to be tweaked for several locomotives, but 2 out of 24 switches that gave me further issues were replaced with Ross. Then I relegated the 2 older ones to areas not used much and in close reach (those were guide rail issues only on the 042). I have both of the stamped & cast points production models and both 100 & 042 switches. I run my trains in both directions through straight & curved. All that said, making sure a locomotive length straight section of track before the switch is advisable but not always necessary. I'm happy with their product.
