Yesterday when I was taking pics of this B30-7 I noticed something that I never had before.
If you see in this pic there are 2 spare knuckles on the back of this loco and also on the SD20-2 next to it.
Actually I didn't even notice it until I was cleaning up the pics.
How common is this? I haven't seen this on any model Loco's I have.
Springfield PA
Spare knuckles are routine, especially on switchers, you just have to look.
I'd guess just about all road units have a place for extra knuckles at the rear end. Only exceptions might be those that have plows on both ends. It seems like I've seen a few with provisions for extra knuckles along the frame instead of on the ends.
The positions are usually marked "E knuckle" and "F knuckle" for the two types in use. (When getting a knuckle, you still want to examine it to make sure you have the right type. Don't go by the markings on the end.) It looks like the stenciling is there on the picture, partially blocked by the knuckle.
Jeff
PS, Looks like that engine needs a new ditch light, too.
BNSF puts the knuckle jolder on the truck side frame.
Phil
Timber Head Eastern Railroad "THE Railroad Through the Sierras"
As an aside, custom on some railroads was to paint or chalk the name of the engineman responsible. for the break on the broken knuckle so everyone could see it along side the track. This was crew, not officail, action.
In all my years of railroading I never saw a broken knuckle or drawbar that wasn't an "Old break".
Of course some breaks were only two or three minutes old.
Besides the E and F knuckles there is a H type which is used primarily on unit coal trains. It is interchangeable with the F but has far greater tensile strength.
I'm not sure if it is customary to label the spare knuckles, or it was done in this case as it was a "heritage" unit:
We have seen knuckles break on the hill outside the Jackson Street Roundhouse in St. Paul. Because of the steep grade on the Midway Subdivision (old GN), they try to route the heavy coal trains up the parallel St. Paul Subdivision (old NP). If that is not possible they pull and push heavy coal trains up the hill next to the roundhouse. A few years back the 5th knuckle back from the lead units broke on a coal train headed for the CN. The train stopped in about 30 feet, but the locomotives pulled up the hill for about 100' before they came to a halt.
The crew had a spare knuckle on the locomotive but no pliers to take the cotter key off the old one. We trudged through the 2' of snow with a visegrip and got them going again. The knuckle broke and indicated rust inside of a large crack along the face of the knuckle. I guess that knuckles are not X rayed on coal cars and they are tested by just letting them break when they end up at the front of the train.
There was a time when knuckles were just thrown in a bin on the fireman's side of the unit or in the long hood end in front of the air compressor. Used to be railroaders took enough interest in their job that labeling wasn't needed. Now a days you are lucky if the conductor/brakeman even know how to change a knuckle, much less which type to put in. There is a distinct difference between the shape of E & F knuckles. The E being the more common, where F's were only used in auto racks a TOFC type flat cars. You can't replace an E with a F. They just won't work.
.
Whoever in the AAR and the carriers decided to allow 2 types of knuckles to be used should be taken out behind the wood shed, thrashed and required to inspect a train in 2 feet of snow and 30 MPH breezes only to find they don't have the right replacement knuckle available. Murphy wins!
BigJim I'm not sure if it is customary to label the spare knuckles, or it was done in this case as it was a "heritage" unit: There was a time when knuckles were just thrown in a bin on the fireman's side of the unit or in the long hood end in front of the air compressor. Used to be railroaders took enough interest in their job that labeling wasn't needed. Now a days you are lucky if the conductor/brakeman even know how to change a knuckle, much less which type to put in. There is a distinct difference between the shape of E & F knuckles. The E being the more common, where F's were only used in auto racks a TOFC type flat cars. You can't replace an E with a F. They just won't work.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACD Whoever in the AAR and the carriers decided to allow 2 types of knuckles to be used should be taken out behind the wood shed, thrashed and required to inspect a train in 2 feet of snow and 30 MPH breezes only to find they don't have the right replacement knuckle available. Murphy wins!
Never did understand this myself. I'm sure someone could come up with a reason, no matter how lame it may be.
The "F" top shelf or tightlock drawbars are expensive. they are required on tankcars and are handy on rotary cars but I wouldn't want the expense of putting them on boxcars and other cars that aren't going to explode if they get punctured.
They are also used exclusively (or were) on passenger cars to keep everything together on rough track or in a derailment.
Some of our locomotives have them so that they don't uncouple on rough track when they get bouncing, ruins my MU jumpers...
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.