Since he used the term wagon to mean freight car, I figure this is out of Europe. They use a loop and hook system. I would think it is a failure of the loop where the highest stress and wear is.
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
There is a thread on the Trains Magazine forums about some of the ways this can happen.
If these are knuckle couplers, the knuckles can separate for a number of reasons, although they are designed to stay 'locked in' even if their pivot pin junps out or is lost.
If the cars have different ride height loaded-to-empty, there may be enough vertical separation that a bad level issue or shock in the track can cause them to separate vertically -- this is the sort of problem a type F coupler is meant to address. If the drawbar, which is the part of the car the coupler is attached to, falls down in structural failure or improper loading, you can get a knuckle separation as the first 'warning sign' -- or the drawbar can physically come out of the car, which is Not A Good Thing. Note that many of these issues happen with perfectly good couplers.
Are we talking prototype or models?
hi all,
is it possible for wagons to detarch or the couplers might be deffective.
asking because were i work a train was at a stip slope and wagons uncoupled on them selves.
thank you