Resource Type

Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists of "a yielding draw-head having a horizontally-moveable coupling-pin and a pivoted lever connected to said pin, of a rotatable latching-plate connected with said lever by a rod or chain, a spring for acting on the pin-lever, and a spring-catch for engaging the latch-plate, said catch and latch-plate being disengaged by the pressure of the draw-head in the act of coupling, thereby releasing the retracted coupling-pin and allowing it to automatically engage the opposite draw-head" (lines 14-24).
Date: December 7, 1886
Creator: Sessions, Egbert G.
System: The Portal to Texas History