Rainbows in the Lehigh Valley Gorge

[tompm]

Todd

I feel your pain. While my layout does not currently have any grades I have experienced many of the problems yo have described. These problems are what lead me on my crusade to check and tune up every piece of rolling stock I have. At the moment I am finished about 98% of the freight cars and I have yet to begin the passenger cars.

The difference in coupler height has been one of the most frustrating to deal with. I have a section of track that bounces a little. If the couplers don't match in height there is a good chance the cars will uncouple. I have a Kadee couple gauge and every car and loco get checked against it. Older cars I can understand them having issues. Many Athearn blue box cars have Kadee washers added to the trucks. What drives me crazy is the number of new cars that have coupler issues. I have to change out the plastic couplers on all Athearn, Roundhouse, and Bowser cars otherwise I run the risk of the coupler breaking under the strain of a long train. I can't tell you how many Rapido and Intermountain cars I have had to tweak the trip pins because they are too low and catch on rails. I purchase about 10 new Intermountain steel reefers and had to change the wheels from 33 inch to 36 inch on all of them so they would pass the coupler gauge.

Since I am starting to collect equipment for TOFC I really appreciate your insights. Looking forward to seeing your progress.