Renseignements généraux

Nº de série

S/O

Nº de partie

2

Nombre total de parties

2

Ou

S/O

Brevets

S/O

Description générale

wood base/ non-ferrous metal coupler

Dimensions

Remarque : Cette information reflète la taille générale pour l’entreposage et ne représente pas nécessairement les véritables dimensions de l’objet.

Longueur

45,5 cm

Largeur

13,5 cm

Hauteur

23,6 cm

Épaisseur

S/O

Poids

S/O

Diamètre

S/O

Volume

S/O

Lexique

Groupe

Transports ferroviaires

Catégorie

Maquettes

Sous-catégorie

S/O

Fabricant

Ou

Inconnu

Pays

Inconnu

État/province

Inconnu

Ville

Inconnu

Contexte

Pays

Canada

État/province

Inconnu

Période

Inconnu

Canada

An item from the collection of Mr Andrew Merrilees acquired between the 1950’s and his death in 1979. Mr. Merrilees was a noted collector of early railway and transportation material and was particularly interested in pre-1920 photography. The majority of Mr.Merrilees’ collection was sent to the National Archives circa 1980, his printed material to the National Library and the Ontario Archives. The material in this donation was retained by Andrew Merrilees Ltd., currently owned by Dr. Robert Stewart (Acquisition proposal for AK0114 archival material by D.Monaghan, in Supp. Info.).

Fonction

A model of a device for automatically connecting railway cars together in a train: the ends of the cars are pushed against each other and the impact causes the couplers to connect.

Technique

A model demonstrating the function of a rail car coupler; it appears to be a version of the Janney type of automatic coupler. This type of coupler automatically connects rail cars together by the force of impact without the necessity of a person going in between the cars to manually link or disengage them (Ref. 1). Until the late 1800's, most railroads used the link and pin coupler. This consisted of a large metal link which looped around a removable pin. Although the coupler was easy to manufacture, it was often responsible for train wrecks when one would break. The coupler was also very dangerous to operate. When dropping the pin in place, there was the danger of catching a finger in the connecting slot, or simply being crushed by the approaching car. A number of new couplers were designed to replace the link and pin system. In 1887, the Master Car Builders Association selected the Janney Automatic Coupler, invented by Eli H. Janney in 1873, over 40 other designs as a standard design for the railroad industry. On March 3, 1893, President Benjamin Harrison signed the Safety Appliance Act, which made automatic couplers and air brakes mandatory on all trains (Ref. 2). This coupler model is marked ARA and may have been made by or for the American Railway Association. The ARA was an industry trade group representing railroads in the United States. The organization had its inception in meetings of General Managers and ranking railroad operating officials known as Time Table Conventions, the first of which was held on October 1, 1872, at Louisville, Kentucky. In 1875 the group changed its name to General Time Convention and in October 1892, to American Railway Association. In January 1919, ten separate groups of operating officers were amalgamated with the association and carried on their activities as divisions, sections or committees of the larger group. On October 12, 1934, the ARA ceased to exist, having joined with several other railroad industry trade groups to merge into the Association of American Railroads (Ref. 4).

Notes sur la région

Inconnu

Détails

Marques

cast lettering reading "ARA' on coupler

Manque

appears complete

Fini

unfinished? grey coupler/ base painted light green

Décoration

S/O