Show NEW COUPLER GUARDI Oregon Short Line Mans Great Invention MAY BE GENERALLY ADOPtED Inspector T P Smyth Has Invented the Guard which will Prevent Couplers from Falling on Track Thereby Creating Great Damage Officials Carefully Investigate it and Stamp it with their Approval Will be a Big Thing iu Railroad Mechanics Bnilroad Notes IJ J I 1 1i i T P Smyth chief inspector of the Oregon Short Line ut Pocatcllo is lie I inventor of a coupler guard designed to prevent couplers from falling on the I track and causing consequent damage I when they pull out of cars whllo the train Is in motion A practical test of IHs I-Hs clllclency was made at Pocatello last l Tuesday and from its success there Is every assurance thai all Oregon Short Line cars will be equipped wltli It Like tho majority of important contrivances con-trivances Mr Smyths device is extremely ex-tremely simple and consists of a bar of iron bent to two right angles one arm being shorter than the other The longer arm Is bolted through the outer side of the coupler and the shorter forming it rest for the knuckle pin When tho cars are coupled the projecting head of each coupler hangs vertically above the guard and in the event of cither coupler pulling out of Its car it falls on the guard of Itsmate coupler and the vertical ver-tical inner faces of each serve to bind it in its position and It cannot full on the track At Tuesdays trial which was had In the presence of Division Master Mechanic Me-chanic J railone General Car Foreman Fore-man J W Blackburn Superintendents E C Manson and L MiUoy and a number of Josser officials the poupler attachments on ono car were so weakened weak-ened that a quick application of tho brakes would pull out the coupler A number of cars with quickaction air brakes were then coupled behind the crippled car and a speed of about twenty twen-ty miles per hour vas attained by the train Suddenly the air was set from the rear car of the train the couplet pulled out with a Jerk but instead of falling on the track and ripping up the trucks of the rear cars as Is Inevitable In every case where the guard Is not In use It was held as firmly to the mate coupler ns If I It had been east a part of IU It was a levelation to the officials who witnessed It some of whom had been rather skeptical owing to the ex tremo simplicity of the arrangement but afl M l the test It was unanimously pronounced a complete suctess Superintendent Super-intendent J Manson expressed the opinion that l It was the solution of one of the most difficult problems operating olll dais have to contend with for as long as cars were run couplers would pullout pull-out und without such a safety appliance I appli-ance wuuld drop on the track In front of the swiftlymoving cars cause plenty of damage frequently derailments and sometimes big wrecks Mr Blackburn is j of the opinion that no tlmo villl bo lost in applying the guard to all Oregon Short Line equipment equip-ment and it Is understood that Superintendent Super-intendent of Motive Power and Machinery Machin-ery 1 F Dunn has given It his approval at Mr Smyth has taken the necessary neces-sary steps to protect his Invention by patent and Inns been the recipient of many hearty congratulations on his development de-velopment of so Important a safety appliance ap-pliance In addition to the use for which It was originally designed the guard will effect an Important saving In tho renewal of couplers As stated the shorter arm acts as a rest to the knuckle pin It has been shown that a considerable percentage of broken couplers cou-plers Is due to the fact that tho knuckle pin has broken and the lower half fallen to the ground thereby throwing the entire pulling strain on I tho lop lug of the coupler which quick ly succumbs With the Smyth guard the broken knuckle pin is held In place and the pulling strain Is consequently maintained equally on the two lugs It Is estimated that the saving in this respect re-spect alone will amount lo a neat sum annually to any road adopting the coupler |