My new Southern Pacific Lines Diner couplers are bowing upward and the cars bind against each other in reverse on O-72 track. (See photos)
It was bad enough to have the Southern Pacific Lines Strip coming off my cars, now the couplers are bowing upward and uncoupling themselves without opening after just one hour. (See photo)
The cars with the full Diaphragm are binding against each other when I reverse the train. The new design for the coupler system allows the cars to pull apart going forward, but in reverse mine are colliding with each other on my O-72 curves. (See photo) The binding is so severe that the diaphragm is bending. It is also tilting the car up to one side.
Lionel's new design brought the cars together more, but a the cost of derailing the cars as they bind in reverse. My cars have only one hour of run time and the couplers are pitching upward already. This is a concern for the cars like the NYC Empire State Express, Amtrak and Southern Pacific Lines. Hopefully the new UP and Pennsylvania cars with small traditional diaphragms will clear each other in reverse, but the couplers may still begin tilting upward.
I also included two photos of the name strip coming off my new cars.
