What we have here is bypassed couplers - the other car might not be in any better condition.
Bypassed drawbars could indeed have caused this.
It could also be from a minor sideswipe, I say minor because it is not derailed.
I’ve also seen similar damage from customers using heavy equipment to switch cars, a front-end loader is capable of doing a lot of damage if you push on the wrong spot.
That’s a little more severe than most bypassed drawbars I’ve seen. Someone smacked the heck out of it.
I remember us kicking one at substantial speed, only for the drawbars to bypass and cause enough damage that we couldn’t couple onto the receiving car from that end (it still wasn’t nearly as bad as this one).
It was easier to chain it up instead of running around and pulling the whole track out from the other end of the yard, so I headed over to get us lined up while the brakeman and engineer dealt with the car. The brakeman, having never used a chain before, decided to wrap it around the operating lever on the unit, so when they pulled away it just ripped the lever off.
This could also have been caused by a broken knuckle or pulled drawbar, if the trailing portion of the separated train runs into the front with enough speed there is the potential for severe damage.
This is the original picture I wanted to post. Had a few issues moving it around. So… Here’s problem number two…
Rotary drawbar is upside down. The SBU only looks like it is on the wrong side of the drawbar, it is actually on the correct side but once the drawbar is spun back around it will be upside down.
Sidenote about car damage, the dents and scrapes on the CN car in the background were probably caused from it being loaded/unloaded with junk ties or scrap, or possibly from the coal unloader at Grande Cache, Alberta (they used a couple large excavators to scoop the coal out).
I don’t see a problem with #2 because I don’t see #2’s picture. From SD70Dude’s post, I can imagine what it looks like.
On the other one, I’m leaning for the pulled out drawbar.
Jeff
Now that’s interesting, I can see the photo in both your post’s quoted section and 9500’s earlier post.
I remember seeing the SBU photo on a railroader Facebook group the other day as well.
I see a grey circle with a white rectangular shape in the center. Kind of like an international “Do not Enter” sign.
The other picture comes through fine.
Jeff
Jeff try this link I uploaded it to flickr.
Saw the picture earlier - now it has been replace by the forbidden emoji
Could see the original picture earlier on a Mac, but not on a phone – don’t know about now. The link to Flickr works on a phone.
Does bypassed drawbars usually happen on a curve or switch?
That’s where I copied it from If You Work(ed) for the railroad Facebook group.
I’m using Google Chrome as my browser. That may be the problem using another browser?
It can happen anywhere - especially with long drawbar cars.
I’m using chrome, under Linux and your second picture was replaced by the “broken link” image when I first tried to view it while not logged onto Google. And then after I logged onto Google it was replaced by the white rectangle thing Jeff is talking about.
Looks like the image is sitting in a google user account, perhaps hot linking is blocked at the host? Can see the image just fine at Flickr
Looking at the first photo some more - I’m thinking the car may have been cornered instead of a bypassed drawbar.
What does “cornered” mean?
“When a car, not in the clear on a track, is struck by a train, engine or car on another track.”