A railcar energy absorption/coupling system including a cushioning assembly arranged in operable combination with a coupler and a yoke. The cushioning assembly is positioned in a draft pocket defined by a draft sill on a railcar between the front and rear stops. The yoke consists of a back wall along with top and bottom walls which are joined to and axially extending from the back wall toward a forward end of the cushioning assembly. The back wall of the yoke is disposed to contact the rear end of the cushioning assembly. The top and bottom walls of the yoke are operably coupled to a shank portion of the coupler toward a forward end of the yoke. The top and bottom walls of the yoke each include stop members which extend in opposed lateral directions from each other and limit draft travel while maximizing buff travel and limit total combined travel of the energy absorption/coupling system. The energy absorption/coupling system has a neutral position, a full buff position disposed a first predetermined distance from the neutral position, and a full draft position disposed a second predetermined distance from the neutral position, with the full buff and full draft positions for the energy absorption coupling system being disposed in opposite directions from the neutral position.