On some locomotives, predominantly in the US in the late steam/early diesel era, the front coupler often had the ability to retract into the pilot when not in use. These go by many names such as "drop coupler" or "swing coupler" depending on how the coupler is extended or retracted when needed. The thought behind that was not so much for appearances sake (such as on streamlined passenger locomotives) as much as it was to allow obstructions on the track to be deflected by the pilot rather than impaled on the coupler. Thus the front coupler can be extended only when needed (such as when double-heading) and retracted into the pilot at all other times
I have some thoughts on how this could be incorporated into OR:
- Assign a key command to allow the player to extend or retract the front coupler during the game
- Create provisions to animate the front coupler on the shape file by specifying part names for the coupler and (when applicable) the doors that conceal it, when the key command is pressed
- The front coupler can only be coupled to when the front coupler is in its extended position. If the player attempts to couple to the front coupler when it's still in its retracted position, the loco and the car(s) in question will not couple
- Likewise, the coupler cannot be retracted until all cars associated with teh front coupler are uncoupled, and
- If a retractable-coupler equipped locomotive is not the first vehicle in a consist, the front coupler will be in its extended position by default, but if it is the first vehicle, the coupler is retracted by default
Is this an idea worth implementing eventually?