UK trains/coupling methods

glad you asked....often wondered about it too...hopefully someone can supply detailed info...joe

European hook and link couplers do have to be manually coupled, it's true.  The employee uses a long hook to place the link onto the hook, and then goes in between cars to tighten the turnbuckle.

The good feature is that the buffers minimize slack action.  The bad features are that employees can be crushed between buffers if they are inattentive during coupling, and cars cannot be automatically coupled.

European trains are typically shorter and lighter than North American trains, and for decades they did not exceed the component strength of hook and link couplers.  However, in recent decades, some cars, particularly those hauling coal, grain, or other heavy commodities, have been equipped with automatic couplers because of train weight.

Number 90, thank you, that makes sense. I know in the US some railroads still kept with link and pin, some of the narrow gauge roads and things like mine quarry railroads. I guess that they link it using a pole then manually pull slack with the turnbuckle combined with the  buffers made it safer than link and pin. To me the knuckle coupler made sense, but there are also other automatic couplers that actually are better (just my view of it), the ones that couple the air brakes automatically, too, though I don't know if that was more only used on transit systems or if mainline railroads in other places had similar automatic couplers (I do recall seeing UK trains in some of the videos I watched that seemed to have couplers that were similar to transit ones)

Automatic knuckle couplers with air and multiple-unit connections have been available for decades, but, as you pointed out, have only had limited application, mainly on transit/light rail cars, and on other dedicated or captive train sets.

North American railroads have not adopted them because of interchange, and the very large number of freight cars in existence.

Not only would it be a monumental task, physically and financially, to re-equip all cars, but, because of interchange, all cars -- every car owned by any railroad or private owner in Mexico, the United States, and Canada -- would need to use compatible couplers.  The current, time-tested, configuration works well, and the benefit from completely automatic coupling would not be very significant.

Off topic but; Tom - I like the “new look”! 👍😉

Curt

Are there not some newer unit trains in the UK where both the cars and locomotives have American type couplers?

@Dominic Mazoch posted:

Are there not some newer unit trains in the UK where both the cars and locomotives have American type couplers?

The Foster Yeoman rock train consists are ALL "American style" cars & locomotives with U.S. "automatic couplers".

One thing to remember is that most of Europe and the UK use vacuum brakes, thus the trains can not be very long.

Not sure if it affected coupling, but I understand that one reason that air brakes weren't universally required / adopted in the UK was that unlike the US, in the UK the majority of freight cars ("goods wagons") were privately owned, and the private shippers were against the cost of adding air brakes to their cars.

BTW in the days of link-and-pin couplers in the US, a good quick way to tell if someone applying to be a brakeman was experienced or not was to look at his hands. If he had a couple of fingers missing, he had some experience working with link-and-pin couplers.