Re: New Zealand Couplers: Old and New

Hi Chris,

What is the New Zealand term for what we would call a brakeman who would be the person coupling up? A little over a week ago on the Weka Pass Railway I watched a student brakewoman being trained to make a coupling. It definitely took longer than coupling up with a knuckle coupler and also seemed to involve more time spent between the loco and carriage. This strikes me as being a bit of a safety issue. In the US coupling up the air shouid be the only time spent between cars or a loco and cars. That said, your old couplers are certainly superior to link and pin couplings!

Michael Allen