Most of the couplings are mounted on my brass top-plates that were etched for whitemetal bogie sideframes. They would be unscrewed of course, so the answer is yes, they could be removed and put back if the coaches are put up for sale. Having tension locks enabled me to test every coach on points and curves and the give me an idea of what gaps to aim for when or if I make fine wire replacements.
On the real things brown fan is a fairly bland, unattractive moquette. Thankfully it hides the dirt well and still holds its colour when it starts to fade. The green shell or blue/ red fruitbowl was far better in compartments.
Cost, I believe - as I understand it, development & tooling costs for a coach aren't all that much less than for a loco, which sells for at least twice the price. Plus you can't usually make one coach, you've go to make several (brake third, compo, all third, etc) - which does help to spread some of the costs, but not all of it. That's why 'one off' coaches are often a lot more expensive (e.g. the Bachmann Autocoach), as there's only one type to amortise the development cost.
