TESTS WITH AUTOMATIC COUPLERS. TESTS ON FERRY-BOATS IN 1971 AND 1973 WITH THE AUTOMATIC COUPLER

The report provides information on the tests made by the DSB, in 1971 and 1973, shunting wagons and passenger coaches which were equipped with the automatic coupler on and off ferry-boats. The investigations, which had been made on both older ferry-boats (outer tracks with 120 m curves) and more recent ones (outer tracks with 150 m curves, and larger ones), served to determine whether it was possible to move vehicles equipped with automatic coupler aboard ferry-boats in the same way as vehicles equipped with the screw coupling were currently being moved. The different tests made, which are described in this report, led to the conclusion: that vehicles equipped with the automatic coupler, without side buffers, enabled shunting operations on and off ferry-boats to be performed readily and that, in comparison with the currently used screw coupling, they even facilitated such operations; and that operating vehicles equipped with the automatic coupler and side buffers or the use of the mixed coupling system (vehicles equipped with the screw coupling being coupled with those equipped with the automatic coupler with the aid of mixed coupling devices in the presence of side buffers) required, in addition to the intermediate boards, currently used in certain cases, other aids in the shape of intermediate pieces. The state of development of these expedients, which will be required for a limited transition period, is set forth and recommendations are given for their further development

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Restrictions on the use of this document are contained in the explanatory material.
• Corporate Authors:

  International Union of Railways

  Office of Research and Experiments
  Utrecht,   Netherlands 
• Publication Date: 1975-4

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 24 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Couplers; Ferries; Riding qualities; Stability (Mechanics); Tests; Train track dynamics
• Old TRIS Terms: Automatic couplers; Automatic coupling; Center buffer couplers; Mixed coupling; Question b51; Riding stability
• Subject Areas: Railroads; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00053048
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: International Union of Railways
• Report/Paper Numbers: B51/RP 17/E
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 3 1976 12:00AM