Couplers are a feature of every scale and there are the standard ones that the manufacturer presents us with and then there are the alternatives. For things to operate like a toy use the cars and engines as they are delivered. Go prototypical choose a coupler system and build your track to match that choice. I use Body mounted couplers on all my engines MTL, AZL, Marklin, Tenshodo, Crown etc. all my cars all have body mounted couplers if they are under 50 scale feet in length. My track work reflects this choice even thou I am using snap together road bed track on one layout and flex on the other. On the layout with flex track my minimum radius is larger and I can run passenger cars with body mounted couplers. I came from N scale and HO( but I left HO when Horn hook couplers were the standard) and it was no different in N-scale. I saw the same teething issues in early days of N when the standard was the Rapido coupler. Decide what you want a toy that all can play with on snap together road bed track or a scale model with all the attention to detail on your track& cars of the prototype on track work laid using flex. so there are choices in any model railroad stuff you purchase just like there are choices in the car you buy for personal use versus what you buy for you job. If you want auto racks to run on snap together road bed track and go through S curves then you need trucks with couplers mounted on the truck and they have to swing to where the stirrups are located at the card ends. This is a compromise over the prototype of this car. Matching speed of engines that is what DCC does for you.nothing is matched across the whole range in other scales unless they are all from the same manufacturer and he decided to match everything. So nothing new here. Model Railroad layout building requires a learning curve no matter what scale you are in and not all rules work in every scale but many do. Start small and make the beginner mistakes and then rebuild as your learn from each one and then you will get to the final result on version 3 or ,4 maybe. I am appraoching 70 now and I am still learning about what works in Z and I have been playing with it since 2002 and the same for Nn3 which I have been playing witheven longer ( since 1978) (Nn3 is my other passion but they both run on 6.5mm track)With the new larger radius curves coming from Rokuhan it should be easier to over come some of these problems with off the shelf components but not always. be thankful that there is no standard horn hook or rapido coupler on you Z stuff as I think you would have even bigger problems. At least thre are several reasonably compatible couplers from each manufacturer at present. Yes we still need a McHenry in Z but I am sure it will come in time and maybe from not from McHenry but from a new player investing in thr future of Z. cheerz Garth
The RDCs have by far the longest wheelbase of all Z diesels around. So that's the nature of the beast. If they would have truck mounted coupler everyone would complain where are the steps und the detailed pilot, because they had to go.... Maybe AZL and MTL should consider big large warning on the box...not be be used with industrial radius, not to be used on S curves, not be used with....seems to be quiet common in our days... As so many oyher guys already mentioned: it's about compromises, and not only in Z....
