Canadian Pacific Coupler Gives Up !
A few of the questions we need answered………..
- Anything to do with distributed power arrangement? Too much stress on the coupler?
- How much stress can a coupler take anyway?
- How do you stop a half of your train?
- What keeps the remaining half from rolling backwards down the hill?
At appx 1:55 in the video, you can hear the “click” of the coupler breaking apart.
Slack action in the coupler is the most likely cause of the knuckle break as well as the draft gear (shock absorber) being overstressed to the point it gives out. Upon starting or stopping a long heavy train, power is distributed to each car successively from the engine to the cars one by one. The draft gear in each coupler takes on the shock of the sudden movement in turn for each car.
In this case, the longer heavier train, along with the longitudinal forces in play with the extra power unit in the middle may have been too much.
Let us know what you think caused the knuckle (coupler) to let go. We would love to hear your opinion!
