[?] Can anyone explain how rolling stock is coupled/uncoupled together? Is it an automatic function or is there hand work? thanks.
Very hard to describe without illustrations or a demonstration. Short version: the couplers couple automatically (assuming they’re in line with each other), and are uncoupled manually (with the pin-lifting lever).
Air hoses, on the other hand, are coupled manually and come apart automatically with the separation of the cars.
We who have worked with this stuff for years kind of take these things for granted. I wi***here was a site I could recommend that would show you coupling and uncoupling, but I don’t know of any. Anyone else?
Only Railway Technical’s description at the moment.
The modern knuckle coupler can best be described as semi-automatic since it still requires a fair amount of manual operation. The knuckle must be pulled open manually for coupling if at least one of them aren’t already open, which is usually the situation when cars go over a hump but not necessarily the case in flat switching.
Paul didn’t add, so I will – and someone would be well advised to check that the pin (lock block, whatever you want to call it) is down in place after the couplers couple… it doesn’t always, and it can be soooo embarassing.
Especially when you have made the joint, laced the hoses, got in the cab, made it to the head end, got the air test, then the signal, started to go, and pow…your engineer looks at you with that “your dummy" look they practice all the time!
Ed[:0]
And to think I spent all these years thinking I was the only conductor that experienced that.
Naw, I think we are just the only two silly enough to admit it in public!
Ed
One time a friend of mine was doing a switch move without train air, only the independant. Loco shoved back, “apparently” coupled, he got on the point and away they went. a sec later the conducotr turns around, and realizes THEY LEFT THE TRAIN BEHIND! So he yells to the engineer “TURN AROUND, TURN AROUND!” The hogger doesnt get it, but then it clicks and he turns, yells, and then shoves the independant all the way over. Lucky for my friend he was already off or he may have been “jostled” to say the least.
Engineer is equally at fault…didn’t request the coupling be ‘streached’ to make sure the coupler locks had in fact locked. Ground man is a dummy for not having the engineer streach the coupling and the Engineer is a dummy for not asking about streaching it when the Ground man didn’t.
They spend so much time in the cab alone they have to do something to stop them from going crazy. That’s why some railroads put mirrors on the units.
Since we are talking about coupling. I saw something weird a couple of weeks ago. a hopper car was being moved by a norfolk southern switcher, but the road unit was on a parralel track nxt to the hopper.I thought I was seeing things.H ow did he hook up with it without being in front or behind the car??? Thanks Easter
True, and you only have this experience once, because after all the yelling, and then ribbing you get, you never forget to streach the joint again.
Has anybody ever borken a knuckle from kicking a car to hard?
I had a fifth wheel break one time the comp[any did not believe in grease and the pins on the side snapped off fast way to stop a truck is put the trailer on the drives
Did that re-decorate the back of your cab? Perhaps with a nice refer sized indentation?
There are those silly mirrors again! Next it will be yellow thingies!
Poling
Poling is something that is totally against all Safety Rules that exist today. In years gone by, equipment had ‘poling pockets’ on each corner of the equipment (engines & cars). The poling pocket was a circular object about 4 inches in diameter that was capable of receiving a long wooden pole that was placed between the locomotive on one track and the the car on an adjacent track. The pole was manually placed by a brakemen. Needless to say, placing the pole was dangerous work, shoving the car with the pole presented the opportunity fo the pole to splinter account excessive force being applied.
Current equipment has no provisions for poling.
No it did not give thre reefer dent in the sleeper it made a nice dent to the back crossmember with the trunion plate aka teh fifth wheel plate of teh fifth wheel.