Always exciting when I'm sitting in a stationary train with the doors open and another segment is coupled. It gives quite the jolt. They don't mess about.
Here in the UK they close the doors when coupling trains. When trains are coupled the doors will be opened on the incoming train, closed again, trains coupled, and then doors opened one more time before departure
Great job! Now I know how a Scharfenberg coupler works. It was complicated when I first tried learning it (several years ago) and I just gave up, now I know thanks to your video!
For those unfamiliar with the North American railroad system, brake air connections are assembled manually, but they disconnect automatically as the rail vehicles physically separate from each other. It's a simple system, but it keeps people out of the space between two railway vehicles until the vehicles have coupled. It may seem primitive, but it was invented in 1873, and mandated by federal law in 1893, when other countries relied on loose-coupling. During the transition period, the Janney coupler was made to also be compatible with the earlier "link-and-pin" coupler, which dictates some of its characteristics to this day.
Fantastic video. We have such couplers on the trains I drive. Any idea what the purpose of the ‘guide horn’ is seen on some of these couplers? It can be seen on some of the examples in this video. The Class 707 here in the UK has them (among others).
The new REM in Montreal is using a rather similar coupler, but the electrical connection is in a different location, under the cone and cup. Otherwise, I think that it is functionally almost identical.
Thanks for the explanation. They are also in use in the Netherlands. But check your titles, the pictures for the electric couplings were switched. Peter
There is one thing you left out, the knuckle coupler can handle more force during coupling as look in the US, as the best coupling speed is 5mph. There are also variants in the knuckle that can be only found on tank cars. I suggest watching a video from the channel Hyce on coupler 101 and the knuckles as he explained it well as he volunteers at the Colorado Railroad Museum. The AAR didn't show until the mid to late 1920s so the Sharon and Tower couplers came after the unreliable Janney.
Janney coupler is only one type of knuckle coupler and is not widely used in the US. The AAR (association of American railroads) type E, F, and FR are the most commonly used coupler in the United States. the term Janney coupler came about because it was the first patten for the knuckle type coupler. this information comes from former BNSF foreman and current engineer at the Colorado railroad museum who has his own TH-cam channel where he goes by Hyce. but other than that, this is fantastic educational video.
That's actually a modern version of the original which was the Tomlinson coupler, which dates to early 20th century used on the Key System in the East Bay area California USA for those not from the States
good video, 1 small correction: your simulation video at 7mins in doesn't show a type 10 (two position) mechanism. This is more like type 12 (single position).
These are the couplers used on the channel tunnel shuttle trains. I think that your labels on the videos about the electrical couplers may be swapped over between on top and at the side. Just thought you might like to know. Nice explanation.
Amazing content, the eplanation is easy to understand and the animation is so conclusive. Please work on your audio, and this channel will be perfect!😊
@@lowercherty It may surprise you, but outside of the USA trains are actually used to transport also people, not only goods ;) Different use cases require different mechanisms. The Schaku is very well suited for public transport as it allows very quick (and reproducible) train assembly and splitting without any manual intervention. A lot of train schedules rely on that speed. Freight trains are a totally different story.
@@lowercherty The trains in Europe are much shorter, but also faster and swifter than the american freight ones. That are big, but slow and dull. The Scharfenberg for european trains is perfect. It would be also better for passenger trains in the States, like Amtrak. So the idea of an 10000 tons train in Europe does not apply, it is just ridiculous .And in a mountain, even more, there are so many tunnels in Europe, that the maximum incline never surpasses 3%. Besides I am familiar to the Scharfenberg Coupling over more than 50 years and never saw that coupling break. I am sure that the Scharfenberg coupling type 140 or similar will replace the buffers and chain coupling in the european freight trains. So as the another types in the rest of the passanger trains ( the EMU and the DMU allready do). And the reason is simple, it is a complete automatic coupling.
Not really, if you break it, it´s fucked up. Need another engine to couple to the rear of the train and get it to the next station. But i never heared of a scharfenberg coupler breaking. 10.000 ton trains should be possible, you just have to obey the maximum allowed pulling force on the coupler, so work with DPUs.
If someone could perfect automatic coupling decoupling of tains so they could buggy out onto the track and attach to a moving train without stopping it would be game changer. Probably faster end to end than high speed rail in most cases.
the type 10 / 140 standards do connect air ... its the upper and lower opening on the centerline of the contact surface. You can see it in the ICE and TGV clips in this video. These are not addons, but regular standard coupler for trains. The coupler not havin it in the videos are either light rail/tram type or non-european implementations.
great job. In the EU they are planning to introduce automatic couplers. In Russia and the USA they are using them since over half a century. This is one of the reasons why freight transport is more common in the USA than in Europe.
The US has semi-automatic couplers in the form of Janney couplers that just automatically couple with each other but don't connect anything else nor can be automatically uncoupled. It's also more of the reverse, because rail freight is more common in the US broadly than in the EU there has been more standardization. The fact that it's also a single country has helped a lot as it's been easy politically to standardize. The biggest reason why rail freight is less common in the EU is because the shorter distances have made road freight a lot more viable and at the same times there are more waterways for shipping. A lot of this has also been a result of deliberate EU strategy which prioritized highways for a long time and generally neglected rail apart from passenger rail. All of this is set to change with the EU's new focus on sustainability where rail freight is set to take up a much larger share of freight and as part of that there has been a renewed focus on standardization, though as with all things this stuff takes decades with lots of negotiations.
They don't work well at Brighton with its curved tracks. Video explains why these couplings do not help with ride stability. The combination of knuckle coupling and gangway plates under compression provides effective inter vehicular damping. The lack of this feature in the Mark 4 stock is one reason for the poor ride quality of this and more recent British trains. The long bellows style gangways also make matters worse. British rolling stock is typically 3 or 4 metres too long for the system which is presumably why pullman type gangways cannot be used. Until 1975 all British trains were fitted with retractable buffers and screw couplings at the outer ends of sets. Knuckle couplings would normally be used but could be swung downwards to reveal the regular hook. Everything could be coupled to everything else. Nowadays every type of rolling stock seems to be different from every other. We were once stuck in a Swedish forest in the middle of nowhere while the staff spent two hours trying to attach a freight diesel locomotive to a failed X2000 train. It is no way to equip a railway.
Always exciting when I'm sitting in a stationary train with the doors open and another segment is coupled. It gives quite the jolt. They don't mess about.
Here in the UK they close the doors when coupling trains. When trains are coupled the doors will be opened on the incoming train, closed again, trains coupled, and then doors opened one more time before departure
@@memediatek They are probably _supposed_ to do that here as well...
Great video, learned a lot! If all of your content is like this I bet your channel will grow quickly!
Thanks a lot Liam. It means a lot. I do try to keep them fairly technical but that also then takes more time to research on the topic.
Great job! Now I know how a Scharfenberg coupler works. It was complicated when I first tried learning it (several years ago) and I just gave up, now I know thanks to your video!
I never thought you would actually show an animation of how the coupling worked! 😊
You just earned a new subscriber! 😊
Great work - really well described and illustrated!
Glad you liked it!
For those unfamiliar with the North American railroad system, brake air connections are assembled manually, but they disconnect automatically as the rail vehicles physically separate from each other. It's a simple system, but it keeps people out of the space between two railway vehicles until the vehicles have coupled. It may seem primitive, but it was invented in 1873, and mandated by federal law in 1893, when other countries relied on loose-coupling. During the transition period, the Janney coupler was made to also be compatible with the earlier "link-and-pin" coupler, which dictates some of its characteristics to this day.
Janney is also far more viable to freight due to load capacity, and simplicity of use too
There's a difference between Janney and later knuckles as the Janney only had a rotary pin not a lift/push pin on later versions.
Your explanation is good!
I hope ull grow more, kindly make videos on shunting please.
Fantastic video. We have such couplers on the trains I drive.
Any idea what the purpose of the ‘guide horn’ is seen on some of these couplers? It can be seen on some of the examples in this video.
The Class 707 here in the UK has them (among others).
Smart way of doing things. Bravo
The new REM in Montreal is using a rather similar coupler, but the electrical connection is in a different location, under the cone and cup. Otherwise, I think that it is functionally almost identical.
Thanks for the explanation.
They are also in use in the Netherlands.
But check your titles, the pictures for the electric couplings were switched.
Peter
Good explanation. Thanks!
Thank you! 😘
Great explanation 👍🏾😎
There is one thing you left out, the knuckle coupler can handle more force during coupling as look in the US, as the best coupling speed is 5mph. There are also variants in the knuckle that can be only found on tank cars. I suggest watching a video from the channel Hyce on coupler 101 and the knuckles as he explained it well as he volunteers at the Colorado Railroad Museum. The AAR didn't show until the mid to late 1920s so the Sharon and Tower couplers came after the unreliable Janney.
Janney coupler is only one type of knuckle coupler and is not widely used in the US. The AAR (association of American railroads) type E, F, and FR are the most commonly used coupler in the United States. the term Janney coupler came about because it was the first patten for the knuckle type coupler. this information comes from former BNSF foreman and current engineer at the Colorado railroad museum who has his own TH-cam channel where he goes by Hyce. but other than that, this is fantastic educational video.
I read this comment, stumbled across 'Colorado railroad museum' and knew EXACTLY who you were talking about XD
@@roadtrain_ yeah
tbf "Janney coupler" does seem to have become the generic name so it might just have been used because it's more recognizable.
Im working in Voith, great explaination.
Very good explanation🙏
Thanks for liking
That's actually a modern version of the original which was the Tomlinson coupler, which dates to early 20th century used on the Key System in the East Bay area California USA for those not from the States
good video, 1 small correction: your simulation video at 7mins in doesn't show a type 10 (two position) mechanism. This is more like type 12 (single position).
Apologies for the mistake. Allow me to pin your comment so viewers can notice that.
@@RailAcademyYou didn't pin it tho lol
Super video!
Thank you very much!
These are the couplers used on the channel tunnel shuttle trains.
I think that your labels on the videos about the electrical couplers may be swapped over between on top and at the side. Just thought you might like to know. Nice explanation.
Amazing content, the eplanation is easy to understand and the animation is so conclusive. Please work on your audio, and this channel will be perfect!😊
Never knew it was *that* old!
Allways thought it was a new high tech stuff made for bullet trains.
it seems that you have mixed pictures on connection lines, the one on left is connection lines on sides and on right top.
how does it align vertically before coupling ?
It's a big cone sticking out
What breaks first? Can it be changed in the dark in rain or snow by one or two people with simple tools?
A Scharfenberg coupler break? You must be kidding.
@@rogeriomonteiro760 Put it on a 10,000 tonne train in the mountains and get back to me.
@@lowercherty It may surprise you, but outside of the USA trains are actually used to transport also people, not only goods ;) Different use cases require different mechanisms. The Schaku is very well suited for public transport as it allows very quick (and reproducible) train assembly and splitting without any manual intervention. A lot of train schedules rely on that speed. Freight trains are a totally different story.
@@lowercherty The trains in Europe are much shorter, but also faster and swifter than the american freight ones. That are big, but slow and dull. The Scharfenberg for european trains is perfect. It would be also better for passenger trains in the States, like Amtrak. So the idea of an 10000 tons train in Europe does not apply, it is just ridiculous .And in a mountain, even more, there are so many tunnels in Europe, that the maximum incline never surpasses 3%. Besides I am familiar to the Scharfenberg Coupling over more than 50 years and never saw that coupling break. I am sure that the Scharfenberg coupling type 140 or similar will replace the buffers and chain coupling in the european freight trains. So as the another types in the rest of the passanger trains ( the EMU and the DMU allready do). And the reason is simple, it is a complete automatic coupling.
Not really, if you break it, it´s fucked up. Need another engine to couple to the rear of the train and get it to the next station. But i never heared of a scharfenberg coupler breaking.
10.000 ton trains should be possible, you just have to obey the maximum allowed pulling force on the coupler, so work with DPUs.
Die gute alte Schafenbergkupplung:)
Greetings from Germany ❤️
awesome!
If someone could perfect automatic coupling decoupling of tains so they could buggy out onto the track and attach to a moving train without stopping it would be game changer. Probably faster end to end than high speed rail in most cases.
What do you think could be the benefits of that?
Isn’t this the coupler used by JR East for certain E2, E3, E5, E6 and soon E8 Shinkansen train sets?
Pretty much all modern emu uses them.
Japan uses a slightly different type call Shibata couplers.
Almost all modern multiple units use them (speaking for europe)
The future are the full automatic couplers like Scharfenberg or Dellner, that is similar.
I was on a train that got delayed because a pidgeon got squashed in the electrical connection during a joining procedure. It made a bit of a mess.
Fucking flying rats. Always messing things up
Ouch. These have a lot of force to crush anything to a blob of meat.
What's your thoughts on T20?
What's thst protrusion beneath coupler called?
Do these couplers connect trainline air?
It's not part of the standard, but there is adons that can. Annoyingly several that is not intercompatible.
the type 10 / 140 standards do connect air ... its the upper and lower opening on the centerline of the contact surface. You can see it in the ICE and TGV clips in this video. These are not addons, but regular standard coupler for trains. The coupler not havin it in the videos are either light rail/tram type or non-european implementations.
How about a Delner. I was trained on that . Never got my head round it in million years 😂😂😂
I have seen what looks like this type in subways in the US.
The German high speed trains name ICE is pronounced I C E, not ice like frozen water.
great job.
In the EU they are planning to introduce automatic couplers. In Russia and the USA they are using them since over half a century. This is one of the reasons why freight transport is more common in the USA than in Europe.
The US has semi-automatic couplers in the form of Janney couplers that just automatically couple with each other but don't connect anything else nor can be automatically uncoupled. It's also more of the reverse, because rail freight is more common in the US broadly than in the EU there has been more standardization. The fact that it's also a single country has helped a lot as it's been easy politically to standardize. The biggest reason why rail freight is less common in the EU is because the shorter distances have made road freight a lot more viable and at the same times there are more waterways for shipping. A lot of this has also been a result of deliberate EU strategy which prioritized highways for a long time and generally neglected rail apart from passenger rail. All of this is set to change with the EU's new focus on sustainability where rail freight is set to take up a much larger share of freight and as part of that there has been a renewed focus on standardization, though as with all things this stuff takes decades with lots of negotiations.
Those in Russia and US still need a person to Connect the air system 😂 meamwhile those in the video are used for over 50 years in Europe, like on EN57
_How_ many trains are coupled and uncoupled every day around the world? Hundreds you say? Wow, that's a lot!
3:17 - where is russian system?
Willison / SA3.
They don't work well at Brighton with its curved tracks. Video explains why these couplings do not help with ride stability.
The combination of knuckle coupling and gangway plates under compression provides effective inter vehicular damping. The lack of this feature in the Mark 4 stock is one reason for the poor ride quality of this and more recent British trains. The long bellows style gangways also make matters worse. British rolling stock is typically 3 or 4 metres too long for the system which is presumably why pullman type gangways cannot be used.
Until 1975 all British trains were fitted with retractable buffers and screw couplings at the outer ends of sets. Knuckle couplings would normally be used but could be swung downwards to reveal the regular hook. Everything could be coupled to everything else. Nowadays every type of rolling stock seems to be different from every other. We were once stuck in a Swedish forest in the middle of nowhere while the staff spent two hours trying to attach a freight diesel locomotive to a failed X2000 train. It is no way to equip a railway.
I guess Schaku is short for Scharfenberg Kopplung. So Schaku coupling is double
Shouldn't a rail nerd know how to pronounce ICE?
Rail. Yawn.
Missing some details