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Post by boxcarwilly on Apr 5, 2013 11:54:58 GMT -5
I am not at all happy with the performance of the AZL Auto Latch Couplers, particularly on the bi and tri level autoracks. I have purchased several of these over the last 8 months and these AUTO LATCH COUPLERS don't live up to their hype. Oh they look fancy enough to be sure, but as for being auto latch...forget it. I have tired many different methods to get these cars to latch together from gentle force with engines, to outright severe banging them together and the result is always the same. They will not latch. In order to hook these auto racks to each other or any other AZL car, I have to phsyically lift the end of the car and slide the couplers inside one another. Even with that, there is no gurantee they will stay together. Another problem I have with them is their inherant weekness. They are not strong enough to pull more them 6 without coming apart. I have tried running consists of up to 15 of these autoracks, and while they might get a few inches, that's it before at least half separate from the rest and that is being run on a perfectly flat table top on an 8 ft oval with no excessive curves and no grades. They just will not stay together. Trying to run these autoracks on grades of 2% for any length longer then 18 inches is impossible. I have such a grade that covers a length of just over 18 feet, and on the upgrade, I can manage to get 4 or 5 racks taking the grade but that's it. the rest just come apart. If I manually couple them and continue up the grade, they will separate again. Now these cars are all supposed to be the same weight so I would thing that being so, there would be no problem with the couplers holding on. NOPE! It is extremely disappointing because in purchasing all these autoracks, I was hoping to run trains of up to 20 of them, but no matter what I do, beyond 4 or 5 cars, they just won't keep connected. Now to be fair, I have a mix of the older version racks as well as the new, and the older versions seem to hold together much better, but even with them, I still can't pull more the a few up a 2% grade. I've even tried interspersing my older racks amounst the new one's The results are the same. And this problem isn't limited to just the autoracks, I have found that all of AZL's newer productions of cars with these auto latch couplers are experiencing the same problem. Expecially the 23000 gallon tankers and all the hoppers. They are just too week to manage the weight of a long train of 20 or more cars, even with the heaviest cars up front and the lighter ones in the rear. It's so frustrating. I can take any two AZL cars with these auto latch couplers, put them together and with very little effort, pull them apart with my fingers. There is little or no resistance at all. They just don't hold. One more thing. I bought a brand new AZL 3 bay hopper from my dealer and when I took it out of it's box, took it out of it's plastic coccoon, and tried to connect it with other cars, I discovered that one of the couplers was on backwards. In other words the knuckle was faceing the wrong direction. Instead of being opposite to the one at the other end of the car, it was facing the same way. No wonder it wouldn't connect to the next car. Luckily I had a spare truck/coupler set and I just changed it out, but this should not have left the factory like this. Obviously this car was not inspected before being packaged. Seems like a quality control issue here that needs to be dealt with. To sum up, the AZL auto latch couplers do not live up to their name. These cars should couple with little or no effort and by using engine power only. Having to couple them by physically manipulating them defeats the whole purpose of auto latch couplers. In my opinion, these couplers need to be made stronger and they need to function the way they are supposed to, otherwise the name auto latch coupler should be changed to you latch coupler.
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Post by ztrack on Apr 5, 2013 14:06:08 GMT -5
I would like to troubleshoot this issue with you. I have heard no problems with the autoracks and have seen them run in consists of 12 or more for hours at a time. You can see one video of them in operation during one convention:
Here is another video showing 16 on a test loop:
The grades are 2% correct? Are there curves on the grades? If so, what is the radius? Are their turnouts? What is the track brand?
When the cars disconnect on the grade, is it due to the coupler opening? Or is one coupler flexing and raising above another. I will admit, I don't have experience running these on grades as grades are the scourge of Z scale. The autoracks are extremely heavy cars. The weight of the cars and the grade may be causing the extreme force that may be contributing to the uncoupling. But let's see if we can get this defined.
First, is it all cars or the same cars that are uncoupling?
Is it random, or on the same spot of the layout?
If it is the same car or cars then we can send you replacement trucks to see if it solves the issue.
If it is on the same spot on the layout, then you may be looking at adjusting the track.
I have the same question on the tank cars. Again, this is the first time we have heard of this issue with these cars. They have been on the market for a long time. We have seen very long consists being pulled especially on the west coast modules. But if it is one car that is the culprit, then we will send replacement trucks.
Rob
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Post by boxcarwilly on Apr 5, 2013 21:01:23 GMT -5
Hi Rob. Thanks for helping if you can. I've seen these videos before and I admit they are impressive. But to my woes, let's take it one at a time. Yes the grade is 2& using Woodland Scenics 2% inclines. It is a steady climb over 18 ft. plus a little bit. Yes there are two turnouts but one is at the very bottom before the grade begins and the other is two thirds of the way up the grade near the top. There are one S bend with a 12" transitition piece between the ends, and another 13 degree curve about half way up. There is another 30 degree turn at the top but it is 2 ft from the top of the grade. The couplers just seem to be opening. I've watched these during a climb from track level and the couplers don't flex enough to ride up and out of each other. Yes there is a tiny bit of up and down movement, but I get that everywhere on my layout. All these autoracks, the 23000 gallon tankers, and all of the hoppers are having this problem but let me stress, it is the newer gneration of cars. The older cars I don't have much of a problem with except with the autoracks. As I said before, I have both new and older generation of the autoracks and they do work better, but still anything over 5 cars on the grade, and they come apart. It doesn't which of the cars as I've turned them end for end, placed them in different order, and still they come apart and it doesn't matter where on the grade it is, sometimes within the first foot of the grade, sometimes half way up, sometimes just a quarter of the way. But never will they all make it to the top and beyond. Coming down is no problem because the weight and gravity keeps them together As for the rest of the layout, it is never in the same spot twice. It could be anywhere. Also like I said, I can pull any of these cars apart with my fingers with little effort. It seems all I have to do is touch them and they uncouple. Here is something I have noticed. When I compare the couplers on my older autoracks to the newer versions, looking straight down from the top of them and watching the action as I put them together, then knuckle on the older version closes when it connects to that of another older autorack. Yet when I try to connect a new version to an old, the knuckle on the new version does not close and the knuckle of the olderversion has nothing to grasp. I have looked at these close up under a magnifying glass and the newer auto latch seem to be all one solid piece with no moving parts outside the box. On the other hand the coupler of my older autoracks seems to have a hinged outer piece that flexes and grips another coupler like it. In short, the couplers on the new cars don't close on themselves. This seems to be why I can't coupler them by moving the cars together. They won't latch. They just butt up against one another or push each other out of the way but they do not latch. This is why I have to lift one end of the car and slide the coupler inside that of the next car. Now I just got 6 of the HW passenger cars and have been test running them on my layout as well and low and behold, I had the same problem with two of those cars. On the flat oval, two of these passenger cars uncoupled on the curves. After numerous attempts at a full revolution, these same two cars uncoupled at the same spot on both the curves. As and experiment, I turned both end for end and put them in a different order in my consist and took another revolution. Guess what? They did not come apart. Problem solved by turning the cars around and putting them elsewhere in the consist. But to do this with the others is hopeless. I don't want to bring the competition into this, but I don't have this problem with my Intermountain cars and they seem to have the same desgine coupler as your auto latch. I also don't have this problem with this consistency with the MTL couplers either. I can run a train of 30 mixed weight cars of either MTL, Intermountain, or both up that same grade, and not one will separate from the others. Oh yes and my Full Throttle cars don't give me any problems either. Here is something else I just remembered. I have run a consist of Full Throttle and Intermountain cars together with AZL cars and I almost always have separation problems with the AZL cars when joined with the FY or IM's. More so with the MTL's. You get the idea I'm sure. I think if you take and older autorack and a new one and look at the two of them from the top, or experiemt with coupling and pulling, you'll see what I mean. I have to tell you, I'm thinking of trying to design some kind of clip to put over these couplers to hold them together particularly on this grade which is the very focal point of my entire layout. I have to do something because it's hopeless like it is now.
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Post by ztrack on Apr 5, 2013 21:29:43 GMT -5
Good information. This gives me something to test and take a look at. One note on the InterMountain cars. They use AZL's Roller bearing trucks. These are the exact same trucks that are on the tank cars. This is why it is perplexing. We are talking one and the same! These are all Auto-Latch from the 3rd generation of AZL's design.
Rob
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Post by modelwarships on Apr 5, 2013 22:25:59 GMT -5
I'd be glad to test some of those AZL couplers! I have a pair of GP38's that can run all over my grades (up to 3%) pulling most anything and not uncouple. Yet other brands break away at the slightest change in grade.
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Post by boxcarwilly on Apr 6, 2013 11:56:53 GMT -5
Rob. I didn't realize that Intermountain uses AZL's Roller bearing trucks. But the problem persists when I couple an AZL tanker, to any of the IM's cars. There is still separation. I will say this though. In order to combat this situation with the tankers and IM or FT cars, I experiment by turning the tankers end for end, or placing them in another location in the consist. This sometimes solves the separation problem so long as I don't put more then 4 tankers together in the same spot. Last night after I sent my explanation of what was happening to you, I got to thinking that there may be a simpilar way to explain what is happening here, but I want to do some experimentation with these cars before I put fourth this explanation and it hinges around a left handed handshake if that makes any sense. I'll be back to you once I've completed my experiments
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Post by Rob Albritton on Apr 6, 2013 14:02:46 GMT -5
Rob. I didn't realize that Intermountain uses AZL's Roller bearing trucks. But the problem persists when I couple an AZL tanker, to any of the IM's cars. There is still separation. That is very strange because not only are they the same trucks, but the Intermountain trucks and the tanker trucks were the same production order from the same factory - so they should be completely identical.
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Post by boxcarwilly on Apr 8, 2013 21:28:11 GMT -5
Rob.
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, but I have been doing some experimenting with the cars in question and I've discovered some interesting results. 1. When I coupled all my 23000 gallon tankers together of which I have 16, and ran them as one consist on my flat oval, there were three of them that separated from the rest of the pack. These were at various location in the consist. The first thing I did was to turn all three, end for end and then started again. This time all but one made it around the oval without separation. The tanker that separated, I moved it to another spot in the consist and did another revolution. This tanker separated from the car ahead of it again, so I turned it end for end and did another revolution. Same thing. I examined the coupler and could see nothing visibly wrong with it that would cause it to separate. Oh, and I should mention the separation was never at the same place in the track. So I took a chance and put it right next to my new GP38 and after one revolution, pulling all 16 tankers, it held. I did two more revolutions and on the second time around the same tanker separated from the engine. This time I took this tanker and placed it right at the end of the consits and tried again. This time I went 6 full revolutions without a separation. Now to my way of thinking, if all these couplers are made the same way from the same factory run, they should all react the same way. They shoud either all come apart or all stay together. 2. Now I decided to give the grade a try and after starting the consist with the cars in exactly the same position as they were on the oval from a dead stop, I found that that 7 of the tankers made it only 1/4 of the way up the grade before they separated. So over the course of several hours I turned, switched, and otherwise moved tankers about in the consist to see if I could get them all to make it up the grade. I'm sorry to report that after all of that, I could still only get a maximum of 9 tankers to make it up the grade before the rest separated from the consist. My conclusion is: the couplers are too week to hold that much weight on a 2% grade over that long a distance. They just can't do it. 3. Another interesting discovery I made was, as with the auto racks, the tankers will not couple on their own. When I put two tankers together with the couplers just about to touch, and then while holding one stationary, and nudging the other back with my fingers, the couplers should connect. They do not. I tried many times using different amounts of force, but these damn couplers either push each other out of the way or butt up against each other like two bricks. I have to lift one end of the car and slide one coupler inside the other in order for them to coupler. 4. I found that by exerting even the slightest amount of outward pressure on both cars, the couplers separated with very little effort. If these things are supposed to be the best couplers in the world, should they not offer some resistance to being pulled apart? This would explain why they can't support the total weight of a 16 car consist. Most disappointing.
Now for the hoppers. I have about 12 of AZL's hoppers the rest are a mixture of Intermountain, MTL and Full Throttle. I find I don't have a problem at all with my Full Throttle cars since they are outfitted with the Bowser Bucklers as they are called. Even when I put them in a consist with the Intermountain and/or AZL's I get little or no separation. The separation I do get is always with AZL's cars. Using the same methods as I did with the tankers, I found that by turning them end for end, or placing them in different positions, I get less separation. But again the problem with coupling occurs when I try to connect the newer AZL cars together with each other, or when tring to connect them with Intermountain cars. They do not want to couple on their own. I can manage to get some of the Intermountain to connect to AZL hoppers if I use enough force to push them together but in doing so I have broken a few couplers and have had to replace them with spares. I can connect any of the AZL hoppers together with the Full Throttle with no problem at all, but in doing so and watching the action very carefully from above, it seems the Full Throttles Bowser couplers are giving way enough to allow the AZL couplers to connect successfully. It's the same with the FT and the IM's. I ran a consist of 35 mixed hoppers and to my surprise, they all stayed together except where I had more then 3 of AZL's hoppers together. Separation occured. After turning end for end the results were the same. So I moved them to other parts of the train and again these same cars separated at various points on the oval. Now came time for the grade test and I found that trying to pull all the AZL's up the grade was pointless. I only got maybe halfway up before the hoppers came apart. When I interspersed FT and IM, I was able to pull the entire consist of 35 hoppers almost completely up the grade. The AZL hopper that was in position 30 separated from the rest of the consist. I turned it end for end and this time it barely got started up the grade before separation. So I swapped it out for an IM and placed this AZL hopper at the tail end. It separated even though it was the last car. Now go figure that one. I was now very pissed off so I took this car, and swapped out the trucks and couplers with a pair of Bowsers. Then I placed this car between two FT cars about half way in the consist and gave it another go. The entire consist made it up and beyond the grade. Now from all of this, you can draw your own conslusion but one thing has become cyrstal clear to me. AZL's Auto Latch Couplers have some issues that need to be addressed and one of them is their weekness. It would appear that on a flat surface or oval, they will hold together so long as they are mixed with other hoppers such as FT or IM.s They will even work well with MTL hoppers even though they tend to ride higher. It's on grades that the real problems occur. The same problems occur with AZL hoppers as with the tankers and auto racks in as far as coupling is concerned. I still have to lift one end of the car to slide the coupler inside the other. This should not be. If these couplers are supposed to be so good, then why do they not connect when they are pushed together with even the most gentlest of pressure with one's fingers? Tomorrow I am going back to the autoracks to give them some further study. I suspect by then you will be fed up with hearing about the couplers. Maybe you guys will have to rethink the design of the couplers because frankly, something isn't woking the way it was supposed to.
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Post by boxcarwilly on Apr 11, 2013 20:45:20 GMT -5
After spending several hours over two days working with these autoracks I have come to the conclusion that I am simply waisting my time. When I take two of the older generation autoracks and attempt to connect them, they go together with very little effort. However, when I try to connect the newer generation autoracks, there is no way in hell, I can get them to couple, I have studied this from every angle and the mechanics just don't match. On the older generation of racks, the knuckles of the couplers tend to push each other aside just enough to allow them to fit inside one another much like the fingers of a handshake. However, this does not happen with the new racks. The knuckles are far too rigid and allow no movement of either coupler for them to slide into each other. I have to lift one end of the car, and slide the coupler down inside that of the next car. So much for auto latch. However, when I attempt to connect the older racks with the new ones, they will connect, but in examining the mechanics under a magnifying glass, it's the knuckles of the older racks that are giving way enough for the new rack knuckles to slide into place and coupler. I am extremely disappointed. I expected something much better from AZL after all the hype about the new and improved Auto Latch Coupler. I'm not even going to get into the weekness of these couplers and their performance on grades. I've already gone through that earlier in this thread. I'm going to be spending a great deal of money over the coming months to change out AZL couplers on the tankers and hoppers to those used by Full Throttle which from my testing, hold together much better on grades and function more prototypically then AZL. I may even change a few to MTL couplers although they are not the greatest either. But I don't know what to do with these autoracks. I guess I just use the origianl 8 I bought when AZL first brought them out, and these newer ones I will either not use, or just put on a siding somewhere strictly for show. It's a forgone conclusion that trying to run them in a consist much less couple them is just two frustrating. AZL, you guys have to do more research and come up with a better coupler.
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Post by Rob Albritton on Apr 12, 2013 14:12:45 GMT -5
On the older generation of racks, the knuckles of the couplers tend to push each other aside just enough to allow them to fit inside one another much like the fingers of a handshake. However, this does not happen with the new racks. ... AZL, you guys have to do more research and come up with a better coupler. Sorry you're not happy with them. I don't know how we can make them better because there is no such thing a a "New" AutoLatch or "Old" AutoLatch - we have not made any changes to the design of the AutoLatch since it was first produced. They have all been made by the same tooling at the same factory (Although granted in separate batches - although I am puzzled that the IM trucks work fine because they *were* made in the same batch as the hoppers and tanks.) Honestly, this is the first time I've heard about a mass problem with the AutoLatch (sure we get an occasional bad coupler - happens with everybody) but most folks seem very satisfied with the coupler for strength and not uncoupling. I suppose it is possible that you got a lot that were assembled very late on a Friday. If you would contact Rob Kluz ztrack@aol.com I'm sure he will be happy to swap trucks with you. Best, -Rob(A) AZL UPDATE: I tested 50 trucks from the latest Autorack production run and I could not duplicate your problems. They all coupled with less than 2.5 oz of pressure. We take these issues very seriously, so I completed destructive testing of 10 couplers - they all held over 3 lbs, and 8 of them held to 5 lbs. NOTE: Once the couplers are yanked apart (normally over 5 lbs of force) they can deform and should be replaced. Like all mechanical devices that have been abused, it is not reasonable to expect them to function properly after damage has occurred. We do sell replacement trucks for a reasonable price because we do understand that accidents happen. On the other hand, our couplers are designed to handle much more stress than any other Z scale design.
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Post by boxcarwilly on Apr 13, 2013 9:45:59 GMT -5
Hi Rob. I have examined these couplers from tack level and from looking straight down and they may be the same design or batch as on my older auto racks, but the just do not work the same. I don't know what the problem is except that perhaps they are too rigid or too tightly made. I can very easily separate two newer autoracks with very little effort using just my fingers yet I can't couple those same two racks my gently pushing them together. Yet I can couple my older racks with gentle pressure and it takes slightly more effort to separate them with my fingers. Looking at them from above, comparing the two, the couplers on the older auto racks seem to have more give or flexibility to allow for ease of coupling. The couplers on the newer generation of auto racks don't appear to have this flexibility thus making it impossible for one coupler to join with another. I don't know any other way to explain it. You guys will have to tray this yourselves and see what you come up with. As for the tankers and hoppers, I am going to swap out the coupler/trucks with Full Throttles and run with them. I've done that now with a few cars, and they seem wot work infinitely better. So this is were I'm at right now.
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Post by mrja on Apr 13, 2013 12:47:42 GMT -5
Interesting reports... but, I'm a bit confused about some points. I'm not doubting your results, but these are not my experiances.
From my poor memory... the first AZL couplers were just couplers... nothing to do with coupling or uncoupling. You had to lift the cars to couple with each other. Then came the "Auto-Latch" couplers. These you can push together without lifting. They are not designed to uncouple in any way. You must lift the cars apart. They are auto-latch, not auto-unlatch.
I have had only one or two of the AZL couplers not work for me... as in, they were defective from the factory. This is a better ratio than MTL or Bowser.
Personally, I prefer the Bowser couplers. But, they do not function any different than the AZL Auto-Latch couplers. Again, push together and lift to seperate. If you want completely hands-free operations of coupling and un-coupling... then, you only current option is MTL Magne-Matics. I'm not a big fan of the MTL couplers, because of the "slinky effect".
Also, I think you are going to have a problem trying to change the couplers on the auto-racks with anything different. If I remember correctly, the auto-racks have a longer shank. Bowser doesn't make a long shank coupler/truck. I'm not sure about MTL.
Interesting reading about your results. Good luck!
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Post by boxcarwilly on Apr 14, 2013 9:43:30 GMT -5
mrja:
I think if reread my info, the points you are confused about will come to light, however, in the interests of time let me give a brief summary and I'm going to refer only to the auto racks only. First, I have no knowledge of AZL's first couplers, so I have no frame of refernece on that point. My first experience with auto latch couplers was with the first two sets of autoracks that I purchased over two years ago. These 8 cars are all easy enough to couple as designed by using very little effort either by hand or by power. And they stay coupled on flat surfaces and curves with no problems. However, I was never able to pull all 8 of these cars up a 2% grade for more then 2 feet max, before they came apart. Too much weight for the couplers to hold so they separated. As for uncoupling, yes it true you have to lift one car up to uncouple it from the next. Second, as for the newer generation of autoracks, I also have 8 and these are the cars that constantly give me difficulties. As I've stated above, on flat surfaces and on curves, they do not stay coupled to each other. If I intersperse my older auto racks amoung the new ones, this problem is reduced significantly but there is still separation. Now to coupler the new autoracks together, I should be able to do the same with them as with the older racks. By holding one stationary, I should be able to couple another rack to the first one with just my fingers and using very little effort to do so. This doesn't happen. I can push and push and push exerting more and more pressure all the time but still these autolatch couplers on the newer racks, will not coupler. Even banging them together with enough force to break them doesn't work. So I have to lift one end and slide that coupler into the other. Three, separation or uncoupling is as easy as just pulling the cars apart with almost no effort at all. There is no resistance as with the older autoracks. and on grades, well forget trying to haul 8 of these new rack up a 2% grade. I'd be very lucky if I could get 2 to 3 of them started up the grade before the rest separated. And in this case, interspersing my older racks with the new ones, has limited results. I still can't pull all 16 racks up that grade. Four, as I stated above, after examining these couplers from both track level and directly above I have determined that the auto latch couplers on the newer auto racks, and indeed on the tankers and hoppers, appear to be too rigid The knuckles do not offer any sideway motion even very slight to allow another coupler to slide into it. Just comparing the couplers on the old and new racks, the couplers on the older racks appear to have more flexibility. and can be observed by manipulating both with just your fingers. This was supposed to be a brief summary, but it isn't turning out that way. Suffice to say, that at least on the tankers and hoppers, I am in the process of changing out AZL couplers and trucks with the Bowers Bucklers. You say you have no better luck with them then MTL I on the other hand, have and am having much better success with keeping tankers and hoppers coupled with themselves and other cars. Indeed, even using MTL couplers gives me a higher success rate of staying coupled then these Auto Latch couplers do. My Intermountain cars will also be changed to the Bowser's. I think the one big thing to remember in all of what I have explained above, regardless of how any of these cars couple, is the inherant weakness in these couplers. Oh it is true you might be able to pull up to 50 cars on a straight flat surface at a constant speed, but there is absolutely no way those same 50 cars can be pulled up a 2% grade without constant separation from anywhere in the consist. It just can't be done. It matter little which couplers you use and how you build your consist. Even with the heavy cars in the front and light one's in the rear, the strain of all that weight is far too much for any of these couplers to handle. AZL, MTL, IM yes and even FT, they will all separate because there is just not enough strength built into these couplers. I confess that I don't have an answer to this problem except to run shorter trains. But the 2% grade over 18 ft, is the entire focal point of my layout and running a 40+ consist of this grade from top to bottom with no separation, would have WOWED anyone who saw it happen. Obviously coming down isn't a problem. As for changing out the couplers on the autoracks is concerned, yes you are right. I'm sort of screwed there. However, I have fired off a letter to Bowser explaining my dilema and asking them if they might make a longer shank coupler in the future. I have yet to hear back from them.
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Post by boxcarwilly on Apr 14, 2013 9:48:09 GMT -5
As a post script to this thread, I have asked a friend of mine who happens to be an engineering professor at a local technical institute to examine my problem with a view to coming up with some kind of pigtailed clip to fit securly over these couplers on the autoracks. The idea being to give the security I need to grade pulling and yet be easy enough to slide on and off for coupling and uncoupling. Yes I know it's not prototypical and it may not look all that graet either, but to get the results I want, I have to result to extrodinary measures. I can see no other alternative short of AZL doing more reserch and coming up with a stronger and more functional coupler. Is that possible? That remains to be seen.
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Post by boxcarwilly on Jun 30, 2013 8:23:02 GMT -5
After considerable thought and design attempts and prototypes, I regret that my engineering friend has yet to come up with a viable solution to my coupler dilemma. We are still considering the pigtail clip but so far everything he has come up with has either been too big or bulky, or no strong enough. With engineering students off until September he now has more time to spend on the problem. So far a two pronged pitchfork approach seems to be the best option but we are also exploring other scenarios. Unfortunately during the experimental stage we have broken 2 sets of couplers so now I must fine more. The whole problem stems from two issues, strength and ability to couple easily. None of the couplers on the newer autoracks and most of the hoppers have either of these properties. As I've stated above, the couplers on my autoracks do not couple automatically when cars are put together. They bounce off regardless of how hard or soft they are pushed together. I have to pick up one end of the rack and insert the coupler into that of the next car. Likewise when pulling many cars of equal or mixed weight, they simply pull apart or let go. The research continues and I hope we can come up with something soon as my frustration level has gone over the top.
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