AZL ALCO RS3 & RSD5

I just received my UP RS2. It runs great and looks super but with body mounted couplers I have no luck running it on my Rokuhan 195R track, it throws the first car off the rails at every curve. None of my other AZL loco's including the similar GP7's have this body mount design instead of truck mounted couplers so I wonder why it was chosen and if there is a "fix". I do have an MTL loco with body mounted couplers and it is the same, not suitable for the 195R.
I am also having trouble just coupling it with my MTL cars, are the couplers slightly different than my other AZL locos? I had to lift the coupler and drop it in place, pushing them together does not work. I do not have the automatic uncoupling feature on my track so I can't try that.
I'll try with different cars and manufacturers but this is a new problem to me.

Try this. Connect it with a car with a truck mounted coupler versus a car with a body mount coupler. The truck mounted couplers have more swing. Also try putting a heavier car behind the loco. This will help keep that car on the track and sort of act as a buffer for the other cars. As always, the broader the radius the better.

Only the 195R was a problem. My 220R and 245R loops run the same train fine. I have an MTL loco (SD40-2) with body mount couplers and it has the same problem sometimes so I have swapped the first towed car behind it before when it derails them. I know that trick!

Welcome Sergey,

I would send your request via the following link on the AZL website: www.americanzline.com/contact-azl .   Might get a quicker/better response that way for issues like this.

I stand by my suggestion.

Not trying to jack this thread. Nor am I trying to throw shade on AZL. But I have to agree with Rory, here.

I love AZL and own many of their products, But when it comes to coupler parts, they are seriously lacking here.

When I purchased my CZ F3 ABB set, I was told that they would include TWO short couplers and they didn't. When I contacted AZL, they apologized and promised to get me a replacement, ASAP. It never arrived. No word since from them about it. Perhaps they forgot about it?

Also, a couple of years ago, AZL RE-released their 60' Gunderson Hi Cubes with their newer auto latch couplers in short supply. However, if you already had those cars, you had to purchase the newer couplers separately at full price. It might have been a nice gesture to offer the newer couplers at a reduced price. At least they were available.

Then awhile back (sorry I can't find the discussion) there was talk about making the short coupler available as a separate part. Again there has been nothing but the silence of crickets since then.

AZL does great at some things like offering to replace the crumbly GP38 chassis at a reduced cost (thanks AZL), but I feel they do fall short in dealing with couplers.

  

Rob, thanks for your quick reply. That's another thing AZL does very well. Responding promptly to customer concerns.

Sergey might need those parts to replace his broken coupler.

I was refering to the drawbar to use for close coupling A and B units. The CZ ABB set only came with one of them when you need two of them to close couple the 3 locos for ABB.

I mentioned about the Gunderson HiCubes because AZL released the remaining stock of these cars with retro fitted replacement couplers. The original couplers didn't work very well. This was a nice idea, but if you already owned those cars, you had to order the replacement couplers yourself. A small discount similar to the chassis replacement program would have been a nice gesture.

BTW concerning the drawbar. It's such a small little piece of plastic. What are the possibilities of including one with EVERY AZL loco so you can close couple multiple diesel units? And what about using them on rolling stock? I'm trying to imagine a long coal drag of hoppers all close connected. Or even passenger trains. Lot of possibilities here.