This locomotive knuckle is resting at the bottom of the hill below the Enola Low-Grade near Shenks Ferry. If you don’t mind a little bushwhacking, you can go see it for yourself. Click here for its GPS location.
There is a strong possibility that this coupler is from a train accident that occurred on December 23, 1981. Click here to read more.
Couplers need to be the strongest link in a train, capable of withstanding extreme forces of buff (compression) and draft (expansion). Since the semi-automatic “Janney” knuckle coupler was patented in 1873 it has withstood the test of time with only minor changes.