I continued working on my new Lionel 86' Boxcars that kept uncoupling and jumping the track. After re-oiling wheel axles, kinematic glides, coupler knuckles and pins, I was able to shoot this brief video. … And then the cars uncoupled again.
The new long arm couplers pull up and down on each other as a friction pulling force locks the knuckles together. As a coupler is pulled upward, the pin sometimes dropped enough to uncouple the 86' Boxcar. The uncoupling occurred only between 86' boxcars, not the engine or passenger cars. I completely coated the knuckles with Labelle 107 oil to help the knuckles slide against each other.
The 86' boxcars can not go backwards, even without the weight of the passenger cars. The five 86' boxcars derailed every time I went in reverse on O-72 curves with just five boxcars. The kinematic swing pattern pushes the car's coupler arms side-ways and off the rails when moving in reverse. A helper engine will be necessary to pull the cars from the rear of the train when they are disconnected.
Sincerely, John Rowlen
