History Behind Broken Type-F Coupler Found Along Rail Line

I am new to this forum and I hope this is the right place to post this question.

Last year I found an old Type-F coupler nearly completely buried in the dirt about 10 feet from the bike trail here in Edwardsville Illinois. The casting is broken in two places. The hole at the end of the tongue where the coupler connects to the car is torn out, and a couple of the lugs are cracked off. The date is not really readable but I am trying to find out roughly when it got there. Some folks have said that for the damage to be that severe there would have been a derailment, but others say that improper technique for taking out the slack could have been the cause. I noticed in research online that Type-F couplers were introduced in 1954, so I am guessing that any sort of failure would have been a few years after that. I have tried to locate train derailment events but have not found anything in Edwardsville in the timeframe after 1954. If anyone out there has ideas on how to figure out how it got there or how long it has been there, please let me know.


Thank you.

John

It could have been a derailment, but also maybe there was a defect in the casting. A pulled drawbar is not a sign of bad train handling. The actual knuckle is designed to be the weak ling in a coupler. This is because it is much easier to replace a knuckle, than replace a whole drawbar.

Thank you Engineer Spike. If it were simply a casting defect would you expect that one of the lugs would get broken off as well as the pulled drawbar? Also, is it typical in a situation like that for them to throw the coupler off to the side of the tracks?

Thank you.

John

Lots of broken parts got tossed on the ROW way back when, including busted tie plates, brake shoes and bent spikes. Not really repairable and not hazardous, so no compelling reason to bring it back to a shop to dispose of..

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This is ironic I took this picture March 20 on the former New Haven Framingham and Lowell line in Acton, Mass ,( present day Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. I actually saw it originally Nov 2019) .
About 15 feet off trail, no other signs of derailment so I agree it was probably a field repair that was cast to the side.

Thank you for your reply eolesen - I never really thought it could have been just a normal repair. That makes sense though.

neman2 - amazing find. I guess this is more common than I would have thought. I would have trouble walking by that without stopping to try to retrieve it. For some reason I thought the knuckle was supposed to break first, but maybe after many fatigue cycles the drawbar just pulls out at some point. Thanks for sharing the photo!

A while back I made a video on how I took the coupler apart to see the internal parts. If you're interested you can click the link below:




John

That's a great video John. Thanks for sharing .