The Plywood Empire Route is a mostly switching pike where slow-speed switching is the main activity. Unfortunately Lionel “claw” couplers require a lot of force to couple so more like an Olympic sprinter’s speed is needed thus defeating the realism of slow-speed switching. A switch to Kadee couplers would solve the problem BUT the only space available for a return loop/interchange track/fiddle yard requires an O31 circle so truck-mounted couplers must be used and no one yet offers a way to mount Kadees on MTH freight trucks. So I’m stuck with crash-coupling claws. What is needed is brakes on standing cars so I assembled and installed several such devices.
There is a thread where I provide more detail:
