The Westinghouse Friction Draft Gear

Second.—If a locomotive, when attached to a train, be suddenly moved, its draw-bar pull or buffing impact will be enormously increased above its normal effort, depending upon the amount of slack motion between the engine and car or cars. Third.—The draft springs in use upon nearly all of the cars in the United States have each a motion of i inches, and a maximum resistance of 20,000 pounds, which is capable of absorbing less than 10 per cent, of the force frequently exerted in draft or buffing operations. Fourth.—Any force applied to a draw-bar in excess of that absorbed by the draft spring delivers a blow to the draft-^ear attachment and car framing the result of which can best be appreciated by considering the effect which would be produced by replacing draft springs with solid pieces of metal of the length of the draft springs when compressed, creating thereby at each end of a car a lost motion of inches. In such a case a movement of the locomotive in either direction would, through the draw-bars, deliver hammer blows on the draft-gear attachments, which, in many instances, would be only 10 per cent, greater than the blow resulting were the draft springs in operation. Fifth.—To avoid the breakage of couplings and draft-gear attachments and injuries to car bodies ,there should be used, in place of the present draft springs, yielding resistances capable of absorbing and dissipating any force due to coupling, switching, brake applications, or stresses exerted by the locomotive in starting trains; and experience has shown that yielding frictional