A manual coupling mechanism used primarily on narrow-gauge railways. It combines the buffer and drawgear into a single central unit. One car has a U-shaped slot in its buffer face, and the opposing car has a heavy iron hook that drops down into a pin passing through that slot. It is robust and handles the sharp curves of narrow-gauge lines well, but requires a switchman to step between the cars to manually lift the hook.
Heard on the job
Watch your fingers when you drop the pin on that Norwegian coupling.
Also heard as
- chopper coupling