Getting hitched up

Entry posted by Kris August 27, 2010

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As I have said in previous entries I have been considering how to couple up coaches. This lead me to look at how coaches were coupled in the past. Coaches were never* coupled with chain, it was not considered safe enough, and using chain means the coaches would consistently crashing into each other, much like loose couples wagons did / do. Most freight does not complain about this sort of ride, but passengers do. To get over this GWR coaching stock used screw link couplings. These allowed the coaches to be coupled at a fixed distance, so removing the shocks and jolts. Screw links have since been replaced with buckeyes and other similar couplings.

In real life buffers compress so that when going round curves the fixed spacing given by the couplings does not matter. Making compressible buffers in 2mm might be feasible, but I am not convinced that I am able to do this (This may be a solution to this in the future). However in real life the hooks are also sprung. Now I think that this is something that I can replicate.

This diagram shows how this could work. I would not want to use a complete spring it would be to strong so cutting one down should work. To from the "hook" I feel that an opened up link from a chain would work if soldered to a piece of brass rod.

Now can I make this work?

*well maybe on the earliest railways

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