Lionel plug door reefer coupler issue

Yes, you did post it before. Two days earlier. No one replied.
https://ogrforum.com/...reefer-coupler-issue

You don’t need to guess whether you posted before. All your past posts are listed on your profile page under “posts.”

Not every post gets a reply.

Thank you for the information, Jim. I did not know how to view my previous posts, but now I do. I deleted the redundant post.  I had not expected a lot of replies since the plug door reefers are just being delivered. They are being manufactured in Vietnam instead of China - perhaps that has some effect on compatibility.

Are these the yellow BAR ones by chance?

No - these are the orange PFE ones. Do you have the BAR ones?

No but I saw someone complaining about the couplers on those as well.

OK...I looked into what happened to your first post and it was posted in this same forum which is not correct thus it had been deleted.  This topic should be in one of the Lionel discussion categories since it concerns a modern piece of production (after 1985).  I will move it there.

Thank you for the information - guess I'm still learning.

This latest coupler/truck design is the pits! I just received a Hercules 8K tank car - it will only work with certain other Lionel cars. It’s almost as if the coupler is not deep enough. I have a Therm-Ice reefer due any day and I expect the same issue to occur.

I guess the newly designed couplers were not tested with the former ones?

                                                    Pricey cars to have this problem.

I don't understand how you go from the having best trucks and couplers, to the worst.

"If it ain't broke,don't fix it".

I'm waiting to see how bad the latest runs of VL refers turn out.

Thank you for the pictures. I put the reefer on the track with a Lionel box car, got a magnifier, and watched as I pushed the two together gently trying to get them to couple. There seems to be enough difference in the geometry of the new couplers to prevent the couplers from closing.

I have an RA number from Lionel, so I'll see if they have a solution - right now it seems (to me) the fix will be replacing the truck with the older couplers.

I just received my Therm-Ice reefer today.  These new truck/couplers stink.  First issue is the coupler pocket is not deep enough to couple with older rolling stock. I tried to couple this car to a CNJ PS-1 boxcar - the coupler from the boxcar won’t fit into the reefer coupler. Second, and very significant issue is there is no articulation between the coupler shaft and truck. These cars can’t seem negotiate curves smaller that 036.

I don’t know why the original tack-less design was abandoned- those actually tracked better and had a spring suspension.

"I don't understand how you go from the having best trucks and couplers, to the worst."

"I don’t know why the original tack-less design was abandoned- those actually tracked better and had a spring suspension."

It's very simple:

Old design = all metal, spring suspension (more difficult to assemble) = expensive

New design = lots of plastic, no spring suspension (easy to assemble) = cheaper

Lionel's goal is to make money and providing cheaper trucks accomplishes this.  Very few of their customers couple and uncouple cars.  Most run the same train of cars on their loops or sit the cars on shelves to look at (or keep them in boxes in closets).

Maybe they will modify the new design to be compatible with the old one.  We'll see.

I enjoy operating like a real transportation system: a mainline train brings cars to a yard, drops them off, picks up another string of cars and departs. Meanwhile the switcher works the local industries picking up and dropping off cars as appropriate.

I've only been in O for 3 years, and planned the layout with this concept in mind (yard tracks with multiple uncoupling tracks, spurs leading to on-line industries, etc). Most of the curves and switches are O-36 and while there is a way to configure the loop to loop plan for continuous running, that was not my goal.

Until now I have not had any problem with Lionel cars and locos coupling and working together. These reefers completed the fresh produce supply for a couple of small towns.

I'm hoping Lionel does find a way to make the new couplers compatible with the existing ones (and wants to) so people like me who want to do switching as part of their operations will be able to. If not, the solution might be buying older style replacement trucks for the new cars, or just buying older rolling stock off of eBay.

At $60-$70 for a ‘basic’ freight car there should be consideration for compatibility. I can deal accept the lack of coupler articulation, but I should be able to push or pull a car without it jumping track or pulling another off track because of poor coupler pocket geometry.

@Bob posted:

"I don't understand how you go from the having best trucks and couplers, to the worst."

"I don’t know why the original tack-less design was abandoned- those actually tracked better and had a spring suspension."

It's very simple:

Old design = all metal, spring suspension (more difficult to assemble) = expensive

New design = lots of plastic, no spring suspension (easy to assemble) = cheaper

Lionel's goal is to make money and providing cheaper trucks accomplishes this.

Best of luck to Lionel.

It's cheaper for me too ,as I won't be buying any of the new rolling stock.

I just got the two reefers back from Lionel NC. They replaced the trucks with P/N 48-2026260-050. Although their report said they "tested good" they still will not couple with the electrocouplers on my B6sb nor on an earlier Lionel boxcar. Needless to say I'm really disappointed that Lionel thinks not coupling with other equipment is "testing good".

My thought is that I need to replace the trucks on these reefers with trucks made for earlier freight cars: ones from right after the move away from thumbtacks but before the newest stuff from Vietnam. Is there a part number on trucks so I'll know which ones to order?

Meantime, no new rolling stock from Lionel until they resolve the compatibility with existing rolling stock.

Received another new Lionel item. Turns out these new couplers will work with Atlas, MTH Weaver but not with the original Lionel PS design. Again, photos of the I-12s together as an example.

So, the new I-12 caboose is a cheap version from the others. We know there wasn’t any smoke unit, but I discovered the marker lanterns don’t have separate lights as the former cabooses did. No 3-position switch, just on/off for the newly florescent looking LED’s.

Also had to paint the lower end grab irons yellow as they forgot to do so.

Happy to complete the collection but I have to wonder what Lionel plans to do about the coupler oversite? The C of G clay car is the only Lionel item I have on order.

                                 They don't couple to the former Lionel PS design.