Train Coupler Explained: Scharfenberg/Schaku Coupler

Рет қаралды 78,342

Күн бұрын

This videos is about Train couplers, specifically the Scharfenberg Coupler (also known as Schaku Coupler). After some researching I have consolidated some interesting facts about this coupler, so I hope you enjoy the video.
#railway #rollingstock #scharfenberg #schaku #traincouplers #coupler

Пікірлер: 74

@captainchaos3667 Жыл бұрын

Always exciting when I'm sitting in a stationary train with the doors open and another segment is coupled. It gives quite the jolt. They don't mess about.

@memediatek Жыл бұрын

Here in the UK they close the doors when coupling trains. When trains are coupled the doors will be opened on the incoming train, closed again, trains coupled, and then doors opened one more time before departure

@captainchaos3667 Жыл бұрын

@@memediatek They are probably _supposed_ to do that here as well...

@gerardjagroo Жыл бұрын

I never thought you would actually show an animation of how the coupling worked! 😊 You just earned a new subscriber! 😊

@nintendowii2735 2 жыл бұрын

Great video, learned a lot! If all of your content is like this I bet your channel will grow quickly!

@RailAcademy 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot Liam. It means a lot. I do try to keep them fairly technical but that also then takes more time to research on the topic.

@pacificostudios Жыл бұрын

For those unfamiliar with the North American railroad system, brake air connections are assembled manually, but they disconnect automatically as the rail vehicles physically separate from each other. It's a simple system, but it keeps people out of the space between two railway vehicles until the vehicles have coupled. It may seem primitive, but it was invented in 1873, and mandated by federal law in 1893, when other countries relied on loose-coupling. During the transition period, the Janney coupler was made to also be compatible with the earlier "link-and-pin" coupler, which dictates some of its characteristics to this day.

@allancoelho6905 18 күн бұрын

Janney is also far more viable to freight due to load capacity, and simplicity of use too

@randlofs Жыл бұрын

Great job! Now I know how a Scharfenberg coupler works. It was complicated when I first tried learning it (several years ago) and I just gave up, now I know thanks to your video!

@hannesluts Жыл бұрын

Great work - really well described and illustrated!

@RailAcademy Жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it!

@jonathanlanglois2742 Жыл бұрын

The new REM in Montreal is using a rather similar coupler, but the electrical connection is in a different location, under the cone and cup. Otherwise, I think that it is functionally almost identical.

@aliuyar6365 Жыл бұрын

Smart way of doing things. Bravo

@peterstolp7157 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the explanation. They are also in use in the Netherlands. But check your titles, the pictures for the electric couplings were switched. Peter

@arnomrnym6329 Жыл бұрын

Great explanation 👍🏾😎

@jix177 Жыл бұрын

Good explanation. Thanks!

@hammadali5130 2 жыл бұрын

Your explanation is good! I hope ull grow more, kindly make videos on shunting please.

@mow4ncry Жыл бұрын

That's actually a modern version of the original which was the Tomlinson coupler, which dates to early 20th century used on the Key System in the East Bay area California USA for those not from the States

@nofeardhon Жыл бұрын

Im working in Voith, great explaination.

@kylehagertybanana Жыл бұрын

awesome!

@irishsixtysixfanGbrf66739 Жыл бұрын

In countries like the uk and Ireland where our railway uses mph the coupling speed is 1mph to 2mph for them to couple properly in terms of automatically uncoupling a button is pressed in the drivers cab and the driver will pull fowards a tiny bit about 1ft if the train is to be divided this is quite common in Ireland on siding moves into the station with diesel rail cars 6 or 8 car units will be coupled together at the siding driven out to the mainline switched over to the platform uncoupled and then driven in

@YourLocalHistorian Жыл бұрын

Janney coupler is only one type of knuckle coupler and is not widely used in the US. The AAR (association of American railroads) type E, F, and FR are the most commonly used coupler in the United States. the term Janney coupler came about because it was the first patten for the knuckle type coupler. this information comes from former BNSF foreman and current engineer at the Colorado railroad museum who has his own KZfaq channel where he goes by Hyce. but other than that, this is fantastic educational video.

@roadtrain_ Жыл бұрын

I read this comment, stumbled across 'Colorado railroad museum' and knew EXACTLY who you were talking about XD

@YourLocalHistorian Жыл бұрын

@@roadtrain_ yeah

@hedgehog3180 Жыл бұрын

tbf "Janney coupler" does seem to have become the generic name so it might just have been used because it's more recognizable.

@Bassotronics Жыл бұрын

Thank you! 😘

@crabby7668 Жыл бұрын

These are the couplers used on the channel tunnel shuttle trains. I think that your labels on the videos about the electrical couplers may be swapped over between on top and at the side. Just thought you might like to know. Nice explanation.

@robertgebruers9519 2 жыл бұрын

Super video!

@RailAcademy Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much!

@Bladebars Жыл бұрын

good video, 1 small correction: your simulation video at 7mins in doesn't show a type 10 (two position) mechanism. This is more like type 12 (single position).

@RailAcademy Жыл бұрын

Apologies for the mistake. Allow me to pin your comment so viewers can notice that.

@6ft_2in_b_a_b_y28 Жыл бұрын

What's thst protrusion beneath coupler called?

@robertharmse85 5 ай бұрын

Very good explanation🙏

@RailAcademy 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for liking

@Damien.D Жыл бұрын

Never knew it was *that* old! Allways thought it was a new high tech stuff made for bullet trains.

@Sir_Mike Жыл бұрын

Die gute alte Schafenbergkupplung:) Greetings from Germany ❤️

@danyb6113 Жыл бұрын

Amazing content, the eplanation is easy to understand and the animation is so conclusive. Please work on your audio, and this channel will be perfect!😊

@danieloehler2494 Жыл бұрын

great job. In the EU they are planning to introduce automatic couplers. In Russia and the USA they are using them since over half a century. This is one of the reasons why freight transport is more common in the USA than in Europe.

@hedgehog3180 Жыл бұрын

The US has semi-automatic couplers in the form of Janney couplers that just automatically couple with each other but don't connect anything else nor can be automatically uncoupled. It's also more of the reverse, because rail freight is more common in the US broadly than in the EU there has been more standardization. The fact that it's also a single country has helped a lot as it's been easy politically to standardize. The biggest reason why rail freight is less common in the EU is because the shorter distances have made road freight a lot more viable and at the same times there are more waterways for shipping. A lot of this has also been a result of deliberate EU strategy which prioritized highways for a long time and generally neglected rail apart from passenger rail. All of this is set to change with the EU's new focus on sustainability where rail freight is set to take up a much larger share of freight and as part of that there has been a renewed focus on standardization, though as with all things this stuff takes decades with lots of negotiations.

@damianfitzpatrick3465 7 ай бұрын

If someone could perfect automatic coupling decoupling of tains so they could buggy out onto the track and attach to a moving train without stopping it would be game changer. Probably faster end to end than high speed rail in most cases.

@RailAcademy 4 ай бұрын

What do you think could be the benefits of that?

@rogeriomonteiro760 Жыл бұрын

The future are the full automatic couplers like Scharfenberg or Dellner, that is similar.

@ysesq Жыл бұрын

how does it align vertically before coupling ?

@matsv201 Жыл бұрын

It's a big cone sticking out

@MDCrabTank Жыл бұрын

it seems that you have mixed pictures on connection lines, the one on left is connection lines on sides and on right top.

@dodo1opps Жыл бұрын

What's your thoughts on T20?

@Sacto1654 Жыл бұрын

Isn’t this the coupler used by JR East for certain E2, E3, E5, E6 and soon E8 Shinkansen train sets?

@matsv201 Жыл бұрын

Pretty much all modern emu uses them.

@StevenTsoi Жыл бұрын

Japan uses a slightly different type call Shibata couplers.

@Angelthewolf 6 ай бұрын

Almost all modern multiple units use them (speaking for europe)

@SirHackaL0t. Жыл бұрын

I was on a train that got delayed because a pidgeon got squashed in the electrical connection during a joining procedure. It made a bit of a mess.

@MrJimheeren Жыл бұрын

Fucking flying rats. Always messing things up

@RailAcademy 4 ай бұрын

Ouch. These have a lot of force to crush anything to a blob of meat.

@arthurrytis6010 Жыл бұрын

How about a Delner. I was trained on that . Never got my head round it in million years 😂😂😂

@b43xoit Жыл бұрын

I have seen what looks like this type in subways in the US.

@lorenzoboyd6889 Жыл бұрын

Do these couplers connect trainline air?

@matsv201 Жыл бұрын

It's not part of the standard, but there is adons that can. Annoyingly several that is not intercompatible.

@diedampfbrasse98 Жыл бұрын

the type 10 / 140 standards do connect air ... its the upper and lower opening on the centerline of the contact surface. You can see it in the ICE and TGV clips in this video. These are not addons, but regular standard coupler for trains. The coupler not havin it in the videos are either light rail/tram type or non-european implementations.

@lowercherty Жыл бұрын

What breaks first? Can it be changed in the dark in rain or snow by one or two people with simple tools?

@rogeriomonteiro760 Жыл бұрын

A Scharfenberg coupler break? You must be kidding.

@lowercherty Жыл бұрын

@@rogeriomonteiro760 Put it on a 10,000 tonne train in the mountains and get back to me.

@georgacher7889 Жыл бұрын

@@lowercherty It may surprise you, but outside of the USA trains are actually used to transport also people, not only goods ;) Different use cases require different mechanisms. The Schaku is very well suited for public transport as it allows very quick (and reproducible) train assembly and splitting without any manual intervention. A lot of train schedules rely on that speed. Freight trains are a totally different story.

@rogeriomonteiro760 Жыл бұрын

@@lowercherty The trains in Europe are much shorter, but also faster and swifter than the american freight ones. That are big, but slow and dull. The Scharfenberg for european trains is perfect. It would be also better for passenger trains in the States, like Amtrak. So the idea of an 10000 tons train in Europe does not apply, it is just ridiculous .And in a mountain, even more, there are so many tunnels in Europe, that the maximum incline never surpasses 3%. Besides I am familiar to the Scharfenberg Coupling over more than 50 years and never saw that coupling break. I am sure that the Scharfenberg coupling type 140 or similar will replace the buffers and chain coupling in the european freight trains. So as the another types in the rest of the passanger trains ( the EMU and the DMU allready do). And the reason is simple, it is a complete automatic coupling.

@denzzlinga 10 ай бұрын

Not really, if you break it, it´s fucked up. Need another engine to couple to the rear of the train and get it to the next station. But i never heared of a scharfenberg coupler breaking. 10.000 ton trains should be possible, you just have to obey the maximum allowed pulling force on the coupler, so work with DPUs.

@vsiegel Жыл бұрын

The German high speed trains name ICE is pronounced I C E, not ice like frozen water.

@UnitSe7en Жыл бұрын

_How_ many trains are coupled and uncoupled every day around the world? Hundreds you say? Wow, that's a lot!

@physiocrat7143 Жыл бұрын

They don't work well at Brighton with its curved tracks. Video explains why these couplings do not help with ride stability. The combination of knuckle coupling and gangway plates under compression provides effective inter vehicular damping. The lack of this feature in the Mark 4 stock is one reason for the poor ride quality of this and more recent British trains. The long bellows style gangways also make matters worse. British rolling stock is typically 3 or 4 metres too long for the system which is presumably why pullman type gangways cannot be used. Until 1975 all British trains were fitted with retractable buffers and screw couplings at the outer ends of sets. Knuckle couplings would normally be used but could be swung downwards to reveal the regular hook. Everything could be coupled to everything else. Nowadays every type of rolling stock seems to be different from every other. We were once stuck in a Swedish forest in the middle of nowhere while the staff spent two hours trying to attach a freight diesel locomotive to a failed X2000 train. It is no way to equip a railway.