The new couplers do not mate well with the older design. As shown in the milk car review and I have confirmed with my own rolling stock. Trying to mate old and new couplers, one coupler never closes. The new couplers tend to droop more and hang a bit lower than the older design. The hidden tab has a lot of slop. It can move up and down quite a bit as well as back and forth to operate the coupler. The sprung trucks really do not do anything so I understand Lionel switching to design where its ornamental. The lost of the swivel i think is important because it helps with curves. Yes - many Lionel trucks had fixed couplers but when Lionel came out with the swivel design it clearly was a winning feature. I do like the ability to take the truck completely apart. That is a nice feature. Overall I still think the older design was functionally better.
|