Mahlon Pitney

“ Indeed, it is not seriously disputed that there exists as much reason for having the drawbars of the locomotive adjusted to a standard of height as exists in the case of freight cars.
The experience of the Interstate Commerce Commission, in seeing to the enforcement of the act of 1893, tended to emphasize the importance of interchangeable equipment upon the rolling stock of railroads engaged in interstate commerce, so that cars used in such commerce would readily couple with cars not so used, and that locomotives could be readily coupled with cars of either sort. ”

“ That any such common carrier using any locomotive engine, running any train, or hauling or permitting to be hauled or used on its line any car in violation of any of the provisions of this act, shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars for each and every such violation . . . Provided, that nothing in this act contained shall apply to trains composed of four-wheel cars, or to locomotives used in hauling such trains. ”

“ There was abundant reason for applying the standard to locomotives. The drawbar-sometimes called the 'drawhead'-carries at its outer end the device or mechanism for coupling the cars. The height of the drawbar determines the height of the coupler, and has an intimate relation not only to the safety of the coupling operation, but to the security of the coupling when made. ”