This is such a minor thing, I don't know why it bothers me, but here it is: on the old link-and-pin couplers, as the cars came together, one would have a link which would slide into the slot on the other, but there had to be instances where neither or both would have links in them. Obviously, the brakemen would have to add or remove links before coupling. My question is where were the extra links stored? Were there bins or hooks on the cars, or were there storage points in the yards? If the brakemen had to carry around more than a few of them, they must have been pretty heavy. I imagine that in order to minimize this problem, the yards must have set up operating conventions such as always uncoupling by removing the pin on a certain side--compass direction or locomotive end, for instance. Does anyone know how this was handled?
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"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
Sadly, there are very few first hand descriptions about this sort of thing. From what I can see on old photographs, extra links and even odd-sized links were carried on locomotive pilots.
Kevin
Not only was there a possibility of not having a link in either coupler, but there was also a wide variety of links, pins, and coupler housings, and they were not all interchangeable. So crews tended to horde the links and pins in a stockpile in the caboose in case they needed them to make couplings with the variety of couplers and their hardware requirements.
It was common for crews setting out a cut of cars to strip all of the links and pins for their stockpile. Then the next crew that came along to pick up the cars would have to go through their stockpile, and refurnish all the cars with proper links and pins.
Everybody has heard the horror stories about link and pin couplers causing loss of fingers and hands. But another big problem with link and pin couplers was their loose hardware. If they were not being horded by train crews, the links and pins were simply stolen for scrap or other uses.
From what I've read about it, in the link-and-pin days, a railroad boss would look for missing fingers to determine if an applicant had any experience, and missing fingers were considered proof.
Thanks,all for your replys.
In my innocence I never considered realities like theft and hoarding. I assumed that the pins were always left in the cars, and the links were left as un-coupled. Making up a train must have been even more inefficient and time-consuming than I thought.
I have read about tool boxes on tenders for carrying extra hardware. Cabooses, too had places for this.
One account said the one of the first duties when taking charge of an engine was to check the supply of links and pins. The writer said it wasn't unusual for storekeepers to strip incoming engines of extra links and pins.
I was fortunate a few years back. My local hobby shop was selling on consignment back issues of various magazines. One large collection was Railroad Magazine from the late 1930s thru the 1950s. Over time I acquired a large amount of them. Many of these carried stories written by guys that had worked on the railroads in their youth. Some first hand accounts going back to the late 1870s. Many interesting stories that are fading away.
Jeff
Paul of Covington Thanks,all for your replys. In my innocence I never considered realities like theft and hoarding. I assumed that the pins were always left in the cars, and the links were left as un-coupled. Making up a train must have been even more inefficient and time-consuming than I thought.
Of course, train lengths were considerably smaller in those days, so you wouldn't be needing that many links even if all were missing. I imagine, now I think about it, that broken links on the road may have been as common as broken knuckles are today. Anybody care to comment?
John
Broken links and pins were much more common than broken knuckles today, even though train lengths were shorter back then. The wrought iron used to make coupler hardware in the link and pin era was variable in terms of quality. In the pre-air brake / link and pin era, freight trains used to break in two, and then the forward half might break in two again before the engineer became aware of the first break. Then the middle section might catch up and run into the first section, and the last section might catch up and run into the middle section. All manner of variations of this occurred in the 1870-1890 era.
Link and pin couplers generally had a lot more slack than today’s automatic couplers, so slack run-ins could be so violent that couplers would override each other and all the cars to telescope together.
Link and pin hardware included straight links, offset links to match differing coupler heights, round shank pins, rectangular shank pins, and pins with notches to allow pre-positioning for automatic dropping upon impact. And all of these came in a variety of sizes.
Most old railroad roadbeds are littered with link and pin coupler hardware buried just below the surface. There must be thousands of tons of links and pins buried across the country.
For some great first-hand stories of old-time railroading find a copy of William Kapkes "The Railroad Caboose." If you do find one keep it and treasure it! Bill Knapke started railroading in the 1880's (the book was written in the 1960's when he was in his 90's!) and it's the closest you'll ever come to having a conversation with a 19th century railroad man. Keep on chuggin'!
Here is something that could occur with link and pin couplers, but not with the automatic coupler, although I suppose it could occur with a tightlock coupler of today.
From the Railroad Gazette:
July 1888
12th, on Lehigh Valley, at Fullerton, Pa., a truck under a car in a freight train was derailed and thrown into the ditch. The car, however, was held up by the link coupling and ran along for several miles.
Bucyrus Here is something that could occur with link and pin couplers, but not with the automatic coupler, although I suppose it could occur with a tightlock coupler of today. From the Railroad Gazette: July 1888 12th, on Lehigh Valley, at Fullerton, Pa., a truck under a car in a freight train was derailed and thrown into the ditch. The car, however, was held up by the link coupling and ran along for several miles.
It has happened with the shelf couplers used on tank cars. There was an article in "News & Editorial Comment" more than a few years ago in which a truck under a tank car broke up and the couplers held up that end of the tank car. It wasn't discovered until the train got to the terminal.
Link and pin couplers were used along with separate air hoses and mu-control jumper cables on wood elevated cars, mostly open platform with gates, on the New York, Brooklyn, and Chicago elevateds well into the 1950's!
Whenever a car was switched out along the line of road, one link was supposed to be left with each car and two pins-one in each coupler. The links could be either iron or wood and iron. The Central Pacific had a machine to make the links, as did many other roads. Theft of links was always a problem. They were most often stolen for use in logging chains. Most railroads also had rules that forbade coupling cars by hand. The rules required the use of a coupling stick to guide the link into the coupler, or the use of a hook if passenger cars were being coupled. Of course, those rules were there to protect the railroad, not the employee.
I have some times wondered how all this affected the roads that used automatic link and pin couplers?
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
richg1998 I have some times wondered how all this affected the roads that used automatic link and pin couplers? Rich
Automatic link and pin couplers?? Surely, you jest!!
CSSHEGEWISCH richg1998: I have some times wondered how all this affected the roads that used automatic link and pin couplers? Rich Automatic link and pin couplers?? Surely, you jest!!
richg1998: I have some times wondered how all this affected the roads that used automatic link and pin couplers? Rich
There were indeed automatic link and pin couplers. Automating the link and pin coupler was the chosen course of action in searching for something better. So, intervening between the link and pin coupler era and the automatic coupler era was an entire phase of automatic link and pin couplers.
With the automated link and pin coupler, the objective was that the links would be guided into the opposing coupler pocket and the pin would automatically drop into position. For uncoupling, the pin could be pulled by means of a lever arrangement that eliminated the need to go between the cars. So the functionality of the automatic link and pin coupler was basically the same as today’s automatic coupler, although the hardware was completely different.
From the modern perspective, we tend to look back and see the common link and pin coupler being replaced by today’s automatic coupler. In actuality, however, there were hundreds of variations of the link and pin coupler with each being considerably different than the others. In addition to the quest for fully automating the link and pin coupler, many of these designs had features to retain the links and pins so they would not be lost or stolen. Some of them had features to lessen the chance of hand injuries.
No, I do not jest. I read about them in a book titled Hard Coal and Coal Country a few years ago. Drawings of some of them also.
I like to post something like this and wait to see what kind of response I get.
There were quite a few Janney type couplers also which tended to cause heartburn to railroads.
Do some Google searches for link & pin, automatice link & pin, Janney couplers types.
cx500 Of course, train lengths were considerably smaller in those days, so you wouldn't be needing that many links even if all were missing. I imagine, now I think about it, that broken links on the road may have been as common as broken knuckles are today. Anybody care to comment? John
Acutally, MUCH more common.
A few years back when Golden Spike National Historic Site was being constructed, thorough archaeology work was conducted along the grade from Promonotry to Corrinne. The most common artifact? Broken links, of course. There were literally hundreds of them dug up, and I'm sure there are still more buried in the dirt. There were also many pieces of broken draft gear and coupler pockets.
The Utah State Railroad Museum in Ogden has quite a few examples of these artifacts stored in their vaults, many of which are stamped "CPRR" with the date, and I've seen one that is actually stamped "1869".
Bucyrus: Here is something that could occur with link and pin couplers, but not with the automatic coupler, although I suppose it could occur with a tightlock coupler of today. From the Railroad Gazette: July 1888 12th, on Lehigh Valley, at Fullerton, Pa., a truck under a car in a freight train was derailed and thrown into the ditch. The car, however, was held up by the link coupling and ran along for several miles.
Had the exact same thing happen last week, it was a tank car and the double shelf coupler held it up, only the crew saw sparks and dust so stopped the train.
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