why are the coaches of a train loosely coupled ?

Question

Read somewhere that its an interesting concept, but I dont have the answers.

Answer 1

If train cars were very tightly coupled, and bump and sway that a car went trough because of uneveness in the track would have to be taken by the coupler. Firstly, this means the little bump under car one would be felt also in car 2, and car 2 would expereince that bump itself when it get to that point. And the coupler would have to transmit vertical and lateral motions as well as the intended logitudinal (the pulling).

And it would get a lot trickier in curves, as a tight coupling would try to force trailing car out.

For the comfort of passengers, durability of the cars, lightness in the coupler itself, it is best to leave a little play.

Or did I totally missunderstand your question?

Answer 2

Loose couplers act like universal joints connecting the cars. This allows the train to go around curves, and to go up and down small grades in the track.

Answer 3

if they were not, it would be too stiff and each and very vibration would be transmiited along the length of the train and bfore you know it they will literalyy fall part due to resonant frequency effects, consider the loose likes and shock absorbers:

Answer 4

Because the traintrack has turns in it and the loose couple acts as a joint to turn on.

Answer 5

to absorb shock