Re: before knuckle couplers

Before the modern knuckle "vertical plane coupler" there were many other attempts to create automatic couplers. The Miller coupler used on passenger cars is probably the best know of these.
The Carson & Colorado applied Miller couplers to its passenger cars. The Boston Reviere Beach & Lynn used Miller couplers until its demise in the late 1930s. We've seen here on this website a photo from the early twenties at Durango showing a passenger car with Miller couplers. The short lived San Gabriel Valley Rapid Transit from Los Angeles to Monrovia built in the late 1880s is documented to have used Miller couplers (Carter Bros. builders photo of a combine).
The C&C (and the associated standard gauge Virigina & Truckee) along with the Crystal River and Florance & Cripple Creek used the Sams automatic coupler on freight cars. This was essentially a link and pin coupler with a fitted pin with a lift bar. Builder's photos of the ACF built cars for the CR and F&CC show Sams couplers. In time this coupler was ruled not to be an acceptable automatic coupler.
But before that ruling happened the Tonopah boom occured and all of the freight cars coming to Nevada from the South Pacific Coast were equiped with Sams couplers. Then in time all the cars on the SPng (former C&C) received the 3/4 size couplers.
Brian Norden