Thanks Pete,
I thought about removing the uncoupling pin on a coupler but the pins on rolling stock fowl on the loco pilot. To mount the loco coupler further from the pilot causes problems trying to couple "on the curve" !!
As most short line narrow gauge spurs are curved track it's like being caught between a rock and a hard place trying to decide what to settle for. Fact is, it's this "trying to see future problems" that has so far stopped me building in HOn3.
Another minor problem is, I bought the MDC HOn3 shay and got it to run smoothe as velvet.... but ... it's actually an HO kit with HOn3 trucks!!! It's coupler box is way too high and sitting in front of scale narrow-gauge cars it looks way too big to be realistic. (does anyone have a use for this oversized (for HOn3) Shay??)
As I have a fair amount of HOn3 stuff (and I'm really madly in love with backwoods HOn3) I've decided to go with dioramas in the first instance. Heavens knows when the first one will materialise.
All I have is the MDC 2-8-0 inside frame loco as motive power that looks good. The other two locos are brass (one owned by my better half) and I haven't the courage to paint them (let alone letter them).
The quality of your bashing and Samus's backwoods buildings just makes me drool all the more.
Someday ..... someday ... Oh what the heck, back to the think tank.
Errol