German and or Continental Coupling

[TheEdge]

I'm gradually growing a collection of N gauge models and was hoping sooner rather than later to replace the rather ugly rapido couplers with a more realistic offering from KATO, basically a buckeye or autocoupler that looks fairly close to a scharfenberg coupler.

So I made a trip to the internet to look at some pictures, units all seem to have some sort of autocoupler (presumably scharfenberg) so that is nice and easy. But locos and hauled coaching stock only seems to have chainlink. In all the images I've seen, can't see any hint of a buckeye, dropped or raised or anything else.

Do they honestly still use chainlink couplings, even on high speed services?

 

[Billy A]

Don't know about high speed, but otherwise in daily use.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Do they honestly still use chainlink couplings, even on high speed services?

All the LHCS is screw and buffers, yes. Don't know about internal couplings on ICEs and the likes.

 

[ac6000cw]

There is a list of which countries use which couplers (and on what types of train) here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_coupling_by_country (note that it refers to side buffers and hooks as 'English couplers', so you know who to blame...)

I don't know, but I'd imagine that internal couplings between cars on ICEs and lesser EMUs would either be semi-permanent bar couplers or Scharfenberg.

Our LHCS 'Buckeye' couplers are basically 2/3 scale versions of AAR style automatic couplers.

 

[JonasB]

I'm gradually growing a collection of N gauge models and was hoping sooner rather than later to replace the rather ugly rapido couplers with a more realistic offering from KATO, basically a buckeye or autocoupler that looks fairly close to a scharfenberg coupler.

So I made a trip to the internet to look at some pictures, units all seem to have some sort of autocoupler (presumably scharfenberg) so that is nice and easy. But locos and hauled coaching stock only seems to have chainlink. In all the images I've seen, can't see any hint of a buckeye, dropped or raised or anything else.

Do they honestly still use chainlink couplings, even on high speed services?

Most German EMUs and DMUs, including the ICE, use Scharfenberg couplers.

 

[TheEdge]

Fair enough, that kind of surprises me. I thought chain link was long gone on passenger stock.

 

[43096]

Fair enough, that kind of surprises me. I thought chain link was long gone on passenger stock.

Chain link is the wrong term, screw coupled is probably better.

At least some TGV sets have the power cars screw coupled to the trailers, somewhat unbelievably.

 

[NicholasNCE]

At least some TGV sets have the power cars screw coupled to the trailers, somewhat unbelievably.

They all do, even the most recent series, as this picture taken only last week proves: https://twitter.com/QBareille/status/824305647651065856 (brand new trailers awaiting delivery)

The standard coupling comes is useful during the assembly process as the trailers are built in Aytré (near La Rochelle, on the Atlantic coast) then transferred by rail to Belfort (near Switzerland) where they are coupled to the powercars and the complete set is delivered to SNCF, here is a picture of such a transfer: http://img.xooimage.com/files90/2/d/d/img_2471_1-3d541bb.jpg (not mine, via Google Search)

Obviously, in service, TGVs couple up using their Scharfenberg coupler and French HSL "Thunderbirds" are equipped with such a coupler.


The C-AKv coupler (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-AKv_coupler) is meant to be the successor to the standard chain & buffer coupler, but progess has stalled... It's only used by DB on some very heavy freight flows AFAIK

 

[Gordon]

There was a push in the 1970s in Europe to move towards auto couplings, for example the Swiss 'Swiss Express' Re4/4II locos were famously modified to cater for a proposed fitting of automatic couplings but the idea was dropped (but 40 years on the locos in question still have a visible difference in buffer beam shape to 'normal' Re4/4II)

To a certain extent the will just wasn't there to spend millions replacing a perfectly workable existing method, especially when it required the agreement of different railway administrations.

The following post I found on the US Trains site kind of sums it up:

"European railways have had a standing committee tasked with developing an automatic couping/uncoupling system for more than 100 years. It might be the oldest standing committee on earth. So far no product has emerged that everyone will agree too. "

The quote comes from a thread.

http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/122074.aspx

It's quite a dated thread but still pertinent today. Other comments in the discussion give some idea as to the issue.




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