How TO Couple and Uncouple Rail Cars - Explained in Simple Steps!

Lets watch a video on how to uncouple and couple railcars. ALL conductor trainees will be doing this at school rather it be for a class 1 or a short line railroad. Dusty from TSS does a great job in my opinion on how to couple and uncouple railcars. I will share my thoughts on his process and share some stories along the way.

Join this channel to get access to perks:

[sharp]

Just hired on for cp as a conductor and start school on Jan 15th. I just wanted to say thank you for your channel! I've been reading all I can find but it all makes much more sense watching your videos. Binging every minute I have 💯 and gaining confidence 👍

[wes.]

Keep in mind that things sometimes go wrong. Think about your escape if that track started to move unexpectantly. Sometimes guys tie onto the wrong track and START PULLING. One crew took an entire train out of the terminal intended for the Union Pacific Railroad but they took it to the Southern Pacific Railroad. Sometimes someone might 'Kick Cars' into the wrong track. Stay alert anytime you are 'In Between' railcars and listen for the 'Slack' to suddenly move in or move out. In my 37 years two separate guys got 'Coupled Up' while 'Adjusting' drawbars. They both were standing in front of the coupler to move the drawbar. Do like he tells you in this video....STAND WITH YOUR BACK AGAINST THE SIDE OF THE DRAWBAR and USE YOUR LEGS. DON'T EXCEED YOUR CAPABILITY. GET HELP OR A 'DRAWBAR ALIGHNMENT DEVICE'. "At ANY TIME, On ANY TRACK, In EITHER DIRECTION!" Go to my page and click on 'About' for a list of the 15 guys that got killed in my career. Knew them all, worked with them all, knew some of the wives and kids. Here's another thing, DON'T EVER ALLOW A SUPERVISOR RUSH or HURRY or INTIMITATE YOU! You'll screw up and somebody could get injured or killed and they won't blame your supervisor. ALWAYS AWARE of YOUR SURROUNDINGS! ALWAYS! Look out for each other too.

[tracksidemike]

Great share for new workers to the railroad industry 👍

[mfd]

good vid... a PAN-AM condr with 42 years of seniority got coupled up during his switching move back in may 2021... so while coupling/uncoupling is railroading 101, it can still go sideways IF you don't work safe and/or get complacent

[gregoryking]

I am thankful you are, the more knowledge I gain prior to the training the better I feel. not sure when they will send me an Email but while I am waiting I am trying to learn as much as possible. found a little more info on the Hang test and definitely plan to use the provided gloves. Not sure if it's correct but they are not as concerned about what hand signals you use or get correct and it's more of can you properly hold on and ride for the required length of time. Found my 10lb dumbbells and thanks to the link you provided I will have what I need to work on my grip prior to going.

[justjeepin]

It’s a great video, just finished conductor school

[wes.]

I saw this video on You Tube titled "Railroad Safety Training Film "Bottling The Air" Union Pacific".
It gave me a shot of adrenaline because of the DANGEROUS RESULTS that happen if you 'Unknowingly' or not instructed on 'Cutting Away' from other engines or railcars.
If you're already familiar on the subject you can disregard. To those that don't understand it allows the locomotives or railcars you 'Cut Away' from to start rolling away 'Downhill' on even the slightest grade. It's happened a few times in my career to other trainmen and those locomotives and railcars can get up to some scary speeds on their own. In the yard years back I've 'Chassed' with a 'Light Engine' railcars that someone else let roll out. And THAT IS AN EXPERIENCE YOU WILL NEVER FORGET. And, if you can catch up to them and try coupling but the knuckles 'Bullhead' you're gonna lose time, and the runaway engines or railcars are going to be traveling even FASTER making it even more challenging trying to catch them. I've seen entire tracks roll out of the yard, go thru a red signal and then come to a rest a half mile away in a curve. EVER 'BOTTLE THE AIR' ! another thing....Always be aware of your surroundings, ALWAYS. Don't be another fatality caused from "Struck by Movement on Adjacent Track" !

[NWFProductions]

I'm 17 turning 18 in February, I have wanted to be a locomotive engineer since I was very young, so after I turn 18 I'm going to try to get on BNSF as a conductor out of northwest Montana. I've always wondered whether the air hoses are stiffer in the cold (like winter). Also great video.

[davejustice]

They need to show the difference between E knuckle and F knuckle you go in the yard and there's always F knuckles they brought the wrong one Tripping hazard

[mr.sir.]

Thanks for your insight. I'm entering a job in MT as a conductor soon so thanks for some tips

[Xaul]

just got offer with CP, going through background check right now, love your vids

[raysmith]

Working RCO trim in the hump yard you'll have to adjust many drawbars on autoracks that aren't coupled. It gets old quick when its cold and raining.

[jimg]

As veteran railroader with 53 years of service this was a well done video. I don't like the idea that the methods are shown to the public especially in the days of giant long PSR trains. It's going to cause massive delays when someone pulls a pin.

[toospeed]

NS is doing the dirty shirt rule if you can do it and not have to lean against the coupler. Who knows how long that rule will last. In week 2 of training, really enjoying the time there.

[SirRommy]

Yes CSX calls it 3 step. Of course when Hunter Harrison came on board he thought it was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard so for awhile it went away for a "far superior" phrase. Well, it came back to 3 step.

[coffee]

the space the coupler goes into is called a pocket

[shawnkelsea]

The end of the car you were pointing to is called the end sill. It holds the cushioning device, coupler, cross key...

[igorzherebiatev]

Hi. Just have a question about Janney couplers. Do you need to manually open the couplers before connection, or does it always stay open after previous decoupling?

[markpolidoro]

Every good couple deserves a good stretch...also csx uses 3 step

[nmpxxx]

Hey Railroad Talk just saw that Cindy Sanborn Resign as Operating Chief for NS