Broken Locomotive Coupler - This Is Ugly! 

For people who think day-to-day railroading is boring & un-eventful...you present 🎁 the true behind-the-scenes reality. Thank You Dave, for your complete explanation of everything. 👍👍

As a factory trained apprentice turned journeyman diesel locomotive mechanic at the Ford Motor Company Rouge Plant Locomotive Shop, we would see this kind of damage on a pretty regular basis. I can't remember how many Company locomotives where we had to replace the pilot beam and steps. along with the coupler pocket and the coupler pin assembly. There was a nice supply of knuckles in the part's crib..We had an array of in shop created cardboard templates we created for the cutting of new pilot beams for this type of damage. It really kept the shop welders busy that's for sure. I loved making new knuckle pin grab handles on the loco dept. machine shop metal lathe. Made them almost as fast as the Louisville factory made baseball bats. Everyday was a new adventure in the Ford Locomotive Shop. Never did the same job day after day. I had fun working there, and learning from the seasoned journeymen.

I had an SD38-2 impact me at 10 mph. The SD38 that hit mine had the draft gear pushed into the number six traction motor and shorted it out. I was in the cab of my unit at the time and and the only damage suffered was the dormant dust in the cab. My coworker C.J. only got 30 days off and he recovered no injury but, just to his pride. Most of us railroaders have at least one incident were we didn't look so poised and polished. But, little did I know that that time that in 2019 we would loose him from covid-19. He was one of the nicest and gentle mannered giants on the property.

Wow I’m glad there wasn’t a derailment. That is an impressive and scary amount of damage.

We had one similar only at lower speed @12 mph. We had one man on the bottom step preparing to couple. Fortunately only the Engine was moving when he hit the parked cut of 12 cars. Engineer was thrown from his seat. A bit bruised, but no serious injuries. The man on the bottom step braced and other than a couple of minor cuts, bruises, and some pulled muscles survived as well. The Engineer shortly thereafter retired, and he did fall asleep!

In the UK we used to call it wagon tramping, wagon stutter or a Newton's Cradle where unfitted wagons literally richochet'd between engine and brake van just like a newtons cradle smashing both loco and brake van coupling ends as the consist dumped its kinetic energy. Old British coal trucks were a positive nightmare for the railways, no brakes and soft buffers and all it took was a shunter to not do the swing bar coupler up to put buffer to buffer and you knew that consist was going to smash itself up or throw itself off the tracks and they were so cheaply made often a driver and guard were blissfully unaware that a wagon had pulled a tooth which was where the coupling pulled the whole hook out of the buffer bar with train now becoming a 2 part serial with driver chugging off into the distance and the guard crapping blue bricks hoping the express due 10 mins behind could be stopped. Another ailment with these coal wagons was "jangling" where a loose wagon bounced itself to become wedged between two other wagons sometimes in parapet or bridge wall destroying positions hehe

I am amazed at how much damage was done at 25 MPH! Thank God that no one was hurt.

Jeeez... anyone who knows how freight trains are built, understands the kinda FORCE it takes for that to happen!

I'm so glad that no one was hurt. Very interesting video. Thanks for sharing. Stay safe and healthy.

Wow, the force required to do that damage is impressive. Glad no one was hurt. I bet that took some time to fix.

Lucky no one was hurt in that. Can’t believe the damage that cow catcher took and how easily that drawbar got destroyed on both sides. Stay safe guys

Thanks for sharing that unit's history and road number... Amazes me how long some of these are still around today, though when I was on a civilian transportation at Ft. Campbell, we were still running three ICG Paducah-rebuilds that were originally built back in the 50's (they were finally replaced five or six years ago). At least nobody got hurt, though that definitely wasn't fun for those in the cab.

OK, that one might not buff right out.

At 9°F, it appears that much of the steel had transitioned from ductile to brittle. All of the bright gray fractures are consistent with brittle fracture.

Hey boise loco works, I live near them... Heard nothing but bad from their workers about how they operate both treatment of employees and safety. Guessing knuckle on the loco broke and caused that mess? Glad everyone was okay though. Thank you and your company again for letting us learn about all of this. This is stuff we would never get to see or know otherwise. Happy 2021 Thanksgiving to you and all your fellow railroad workers!

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Amazing what happens behind the scenes to keep railroads working for American rail service.

That locomotive built in 1966.....incredible!!

A little duct tape and bondo, it'll be fine! Much of our rolling stock at IRM had damage like that when it came on the property. Lots of time with a torch, welder and grinder to make it right. Great video.

Even at 20 mph, with that load the energy in the train of cars is huge

Aw, that is heart breaking. Hope ole #22 can be fixed.

Them Bachmann plastic couplers will get you every time....

I just started watching your videos and very impressed with your knowledge and how you explain everything.

I haven't had a broken knuckle or a train come uncoupled before, but I have had a train go into emergency plenty of times, and I always bail off the air so THIS doesn't happen. My thought process is this: if the train is still coupled and I bail the air off the locomotive, the train brakes will stop it for me. If it's uncoupled, bailing off the air will allow me to keep rolling clear of the train while it's busy stopping behind me. If I'm rolling smoothly I'm still on the rail so can stop a few feet down the road and NOT get rammed by my train. Now, you did mention the rail was slick and that plays a factor here for sure, but even more reason to actuate and keep the engine rolling. Now, don't anyone start screaming at me. I'm not remotely suggesting this engineer did anything wrong. In an emergency stop you're supposed to stop, but I like to make sure my emergency stopping still takes train handling into account for obvious reasons. But, i wasn't there so really I'm just armchair referreeing lol.

Love my EMD's ! Good ole SD40-2. The only thing that would make that ole girl prettier, would her being painted in Chessie colors.👍🇺🇸

Such awesome insider info. Thank you SO MUCH I love it.

These videos have opened my eyes to all the things that can go wrong with trains. I never realized how many variables can happen to trains in motion. Kinda scary, that a lot of tonnage moving down two rails.

amazing footage! love this video!!

Wow that sure took some force to do that much damage, Dave. I would think the engineer would have taken a blow from that.

You ain't railroading if you ain't tearing shit up!

Couple tubes of JB weld, she'll be just fine. LOL

Clip of the repair shop in action would be very interesting. Glad to here the locomotive is back in service.🙂

Great information, You know when an airplane has an accident their on the news, everybody’s talking about what happened but when a train has an accident nobody does any reporting about it you were very thorough thank you.

Incredible....massive power of trains....

I was taught that if PCS is tripped to immediately bail the Indipendent. This allows the locomotives to drift for a time even without power. That is an SD40R. R stands for rewire to -2 electrical systems. I have it’s sister in my fleet in north Texas.

SO MUCH FORCE CAUSE SO MUCH DAMAGE. GLAD THAT NO NO ONE WAS HURT .THANK YOU FOR YOUR VIDEO AND SHARING THIS WITH YOUR SUBSCRIBERS. I APPRECIATE IT AND YOU JIM KAMMERER OF PHILADELPHIA PA

One minor correction about the unit's history. SP 8477 was included in SP's SD40R upgrade program at the Sacramento General Shops, which is where it received its Dash-2 electrical system, and was released as SP 7330 on 10/21/1980. It was retired by UP on 4/30/1999 and acquired by Boise Locomotive that October.

Ouch glad everyone was ok 👍

wow i bet that is a real job to repair!

That must've been one loud BOOM!

OMG Dave you’re talking. All I can say is “Wow that is a lot of damage”.

Ow! I am so glad no one was hurt! The car could be set aside for a bit before it's repaired, but the engine is needed. That will probably go into the shop right away.

I’m glad nobody was hurt!

Wholly Mack I had to go and clean my britches.BOOM.

Ouch! That’s going to take some serious welding.

Wow! That is a lot of damage. You could also show this damage in a training film as why a person should never stand between two couplers; just imagine if a person had been in there.

I know.. I’m three years late but I just want to say I’m glad no one was hurt and I hope the good ol working loco was repaired. On a side note, I did not know about the rubber in the locomotive draft gear box. Sometimes it takes events like this to learn something new. Take care buddy.

Good lord. Got to love those SD40-2

Wow what a mess! Lucky there was no derail or injuries.

SD 40-2s are some tough old girls. My favorite locomotive to use for local service switching industries.

that's the kind of stuff I liked doing in Train Simulator back in the day. Uncouple during trip, cars having no breaks, speed up engine then emergency stop. Then the cars slam from the back and create a mess. But hey at that age...

WOW!

A Real job to repair

Ouch!!!

Hello Dave! I found your channel two weeks ago and I think I’ve watched about half of your videos. You do a great job! I remember you saying the CCRX doesn’t interchange with and railroads. How, then, do cars and locomotives undergo major repairs? How do you get new equipment? Thanks in advance for the reply.

If you have time, perhaps you could describe to us the technique used to keep the damaged loaded car under control as it was brought down to the yard at the harbour, bearing in mind that the downhill-end coupler and draft gear were thoroughly wrecked and therefore there was nothing strong left there to hold onto. I understand chains could be used to pull it but what stopped the car from repeatedly bashing into whatever was in front of it? I really appreciate the insights you provide us in real-roading.

What a story. If the emergency brakes on the locomotive had been less agressive the lost cars would have stopped before plunshing into the loco. Sad story. One of the veteran locos I drive shuts down the engine, some doesn't go into any automatic emergency.

66 to SP. She'd have rolled out of EMD in LaGrange to be handed off to the Indiana Harbor Belt who most likely would have handed her off to the Rock Island for either SP to take delivery or to the Cotton Belt. Would have been a little sprout knee high to a grasshopper but might have seen her on the way west about 3 or 4 towns west of Joliet Illinois.

Speed, 20 mph times mass or weight of a thousand tons equals a lot of force.

I seen this when you posted this Dave. How long did it take to repair? What a mess! 😱😱

So what became of it is it still in use were the repairs major did you guys fix it is the hopper used for parts now

That is just a good fabricating job for a welder who knows how to fix things .

Wow

One of the first things I was taught was to be prepared for an Emergency Brake Application. I was taught to look quickly at the Main Reservoir pressure first. You did this to make certain the locomotive consist did not have a separation. The main reservoir would be at zero and you would have no independent brakes if you automatically actuated the independent brake valve. Next, the independent brake was actuated (bailed) off to prevent flat spots on the wheels. This doesn’t add up. How fast were they traveling (20mph)?What was the ambient temperature (7 F°or C°) ? How long had the DE Locomotive been coupled to the cut of cars? What was the rear brakepipe pressure indicated by the EOT and displayed by the RDU? When was the last Brake Test made as required by the power brake law? What type of test was made (ie ITT, Application and release, Transfer, etc)? What was the trailing tonnage, LDS, MTYS, and totals? Where were they positioned in the cut (ie Train Makeup)? Does the PCS have a built in 20 second delay? How far did the RIP/BO/HR travel while chained? Was it on the 0.5% grade? Ascending or descending? Was the excepted track? “The chain only broke once.” Are you kidding me? My best guess is 130 tons (30 tons for hopper and 100 tones for the lading). How the hell do you break a chain with one car? When was the last time the Locomotive received a 92 or other periodic inspection? When did the covered hopper last receive an inspection? Class 3, 2 or other?

Here in Tillamook Ore.when I was very young there would be 6 locomotives that came by our house nearly every day. They were Southern Pacific locomotives, and we would write down all of the locomotive numbers That would come by. We must have had 40 to 50 different locomotives that came by our house in 2 or 3 years time. Of course that was a long time ago. The line has been shut down for a number of years now, because of severe storm damage to the tracks going thru the mountain pass. This could have been one of those engines that came by many years ago,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Ouch

That really "kissed" something to break that pilot that badly.

thats pretty tame. just be glad thats all the damage. i know where you can get a C30-9 with a broken drive shaft and blown turbo with a hole in a cylinder. they retired that old girl after her last run up to lac megantic

Ohhh, The Indignity!!!

I don't think Flex Tape will work on this repair.

That’s why a good engineer bails off when the train goes into emergency.

That is truly amazing so we just how much damage can happen in suck little time, I assume the locomotive needed a hole rebuild for the rear pilot?

Locomotive Breath

oof size: large

Now how do you guys get that fixed? Do you guys do it? Do you send it out to get fixed? Do you have a company come fix it?

What’s the round cage near the top of the hood next to the light? It can be seen almost at the end of the video…

That’s gunna cost a buck or two. Thank God no one was injured.

Fortunately no one was hurt and no track torn up. I would guess new parts instead of weld for strength?

Will that be a repair job or is the car totaled ? Thanks for sharing

Very interesting. Glad everyone's ok. Can it be fixed? Estimate of hours, and$.

What is that hoop thing up near the class light on that unit?

Damit. That is railroading !! To the first degree. Just show up for work. And accident happens. Later.

i wonder if my dad worked on that locomotive when he was at Boise locomotive

Two questions. Will this locomotive be repaired or replaced? Do you have rail connections to the mail rail lines for bringing in rail equipment?

2500 tons+ don't stop as fast as 170 tons - no matter the rail conditions.

Dave is a f or h coupler ,you draft gear box needes to look out seriously .The damage to end sheet is not that bad .I did FRA inspections on locomotives. I had one one toughest inspections in the usa . Saftey is matters!

Comedians would be saying : to be fair it does say Brake on the locomotive snow plow. 😂

Castings, they should be forgings

If fixing that engine is part of your responsibility you have one helluva job.

And this is why shelf couplers were invited if I remember right. Was the damage repaired, or were the car and the loco junked?

I was under the impression that uncouplers were not to be painted....paint hides cracks

I like train videos on RU-vid 👍

Is that a Mconway & Torley PGH?

Driver would have got some good whiplash

When you break a coupler on the motors and go into penalty application you bail the engine brakes and go full throttle so the doesn’t ram in the locomotive

The engineer should have just pulled off at the first rest stop and let the cars go by. Lol.

That’ll buff out

My Indian motorcycle has ABS, traction control, anti-wheelie etc all thanks to some wheel sensors and an engine control computer. It would be nice if every railcar had some safety automation built into them.....My two cents....

Did you guys do this repair in house?

The origin of the fault is the decoupling… why did that happen? When will transportation sectors stop doing repair on fault or breakage maintenance and go back to preventative maintenance… in the long run it is far less expensive…

How was that locomotive interchanged to you guys, if you are a captive railroad?