Figure 3.4.
Automatic Coupler.
b. The hook-and-link coupler, the kind used on some Army railway cars
to be operated in foreign countries, is equipped with a draw hook and
turnbuckle.
Each car has a hook, a connecting link, and a pair of end
buffers.
Figure 3.5 shows two railway cars with hook-and-link couplers
connected. To couple the cars, they are pushed together and the connecting
link placed over the opposing hook.
Then the links are tightened by the
turnbuckle, and all slack is taken up between the cars. The end buffers are
spring loaded to absorb the shock of coupling and to keep the car bodies
from striking each other.
3.6. DRAFT GEAR
Located at each end of a car is a draft gear that connects the coupler
to the underframe and absorbs the coupling shock and the shock of increases
in train speed or pulling stresses.
Most Army rolling stock is equipped
with a friction draft gear.
Figure 3.6 shows three different types.
Fitting into a pocket in the underframe, the draft gear distributes the
coupling shock over the car underframe.
The location of the draft gear
pocket can be see in figure 3.1. In most theaters of operations, the draft
gear of railway cars is designed
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