Prior to taking a Physical Agility test for employment with the UP, the HR person said this was necessary because the Train Service job required lifting an 84 pound knuckle.
What is a knuckle? When and where is it used? What does it look like?
Thanks for your understanding in asking what must be a very basic question.
a knuckle is the movable part of the coupler that locks into place to couple cars together… its cast steel and weights around 90 lb… and is normaly the first thing to break when you have a run out in the slack or the engineer is to rough while handleing the train…
csx engineer
are you technically allowed to actually lift a knuckle on your own? isnt there some form of liability that would require at least two people to do it?
you have to be able to lift it and put it in on your own…its kinda hard for the engineer to be able to help when hes might be alot of cars away from you…
but the trick is if you have to change one…is not to carry it at all… when the situation premits… you have the engineer toss off the knuncle you need…a hammer and chissle… and then you ride a car up to them… if the car you are riding is the broken one…you change it out right their…and ride the cars back to the other half of your train…make the tie…put the air to it… and start your walk back to the head end…if the car that is broken is the cut that your leaveing to pull up and get the tools… you put the tools and knuckle on the drawhead of the car and shove back to the rest of the train… and change it out…make the hitch…and yet agin…start walking to the head end… doing it this way when you can beats the hell out of haveing to carry it back to the break…
csx engineer
When you get to the point that you can carry the knuckle 5000 or 6000 feet to where the broken knuckle is in your train…you qualify for the Superman ‘S’ on your chest!
Thanks for the great response. csxengineer said: “it is the movable part of the coupler.”
I am still having difficulty visualizing it in my mind.
Is that the hinged portion of the coupler?
Is it then removed and installed with a hammer and chisel?
You shouldn’t need any tools to change out a knuckle.
Yes, you’ve got it–it’s the part of the coupler that opens and closes–when closed, it holds onto the closed knuckle of the car next to it (in the horizontal plane, anyway).
yes you do need tools…you need a hammer and chissle to get the cotter key out of the pin that holds the knuckle in place…
csx engineer