D500 posted:"mistake they made and will return to their die-cast sprung trucks and couplers with hidden uncoupling tabs"
Oh, great - does this mean that the enormously-long coupler shafts will return so that their freight cars are about 100 yards apart again? Hard to watch; won't do. And the construction was rather delicate. Then there are the air hoses that get in the way of the tabs. (Snip. Snip.)
A tucked-under thumbtack is the proper way to go; short shafts, fixable, more durable and usable than the tab-type. K-Line (as usual) figured that out.
Those long shafts...trains don't look like that.
Sounds like your issue is with the "lobster claw" couplers that have been used for over 50 years in 3-rail. If that is the case, convert to Kadees. Hidden uncoupling tabs were used for many years by Lionel and are now used by both MTH and Atlas. The use of a thumb tack coupler does not increase the overall distance between cars. In fact, precisely the opposite is the case, in my experience. For example, I measured out the distance between Lionel PS-1 boxcars that have die-cast sprung trucks and couplers with hidden uncoupling tabs and it is 1 3/8 inches. I then measured the distance between some older Altas X-29 boxcars that have diecast sprung trucks but have thumb tack couplers, and the distance between those cars is 1 1/2 inches. I cannot speak definitively about the current Lionel partially die-cast trucks with the ugly thumb tack couplers, as I do not own any, but I seriously doubt they decreased the distance between the cars that include them. And you are also off base with your comment about air hoses, as Lionel has never made their freight cars with them. You may be referring to Atlas and MTH, as their freight cars have air hoses. I also disagree with your assessment that the hidden uncoupling tabs are less durable. I have run many freight and passenger cars that have them over the course of approximately 20 years without a single issue.
