OK science it’s kind of dead in here…I’l ask a few questions about couplers & connections.
Most North American freight cars have knuckle couplers (of many designs) and one prakepipe hooked together with glad hands. Are there any other kinds of couplers used here? Are there any other hookups used like for air dump cars or EPC brakeing? What kinds of connections are there between commuter & Amtrak cars besides HEP lines (?470V?)? of course push-pull would require the electrical MU line, but are there any air connections too like the ones between deisels?
And what kinds of couplers are used in the rest of the word and how do they work?
I’m thinking that some rapid transit has a different couple that may include all of the connections. Been a long time since I saw that where ever I read it.
Some light rail trainsets like the ones used on Dallas’ DART system, use special couplers that are shaped like giant magnets. There aren’t any air or electrical hoses, so I guess when they’re coupled all of that is in the coupler.
Well a note about air hoses: The DMIR uses what is called straight air. The locomotive has the regular and m.u. hoses on the plow, but the 2 straight air hoses are located on the guardrail.The ore cars and cabooses also had them.
Notice the two air hoses on the guardrail.
On the caboose, notice they also used straight air.
Just a side note, the C-218 was the only bay window caboose the Missabe owned and is now displayed at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum!
Pictures courtesy of Google.com, kudos to the authors.
