Patent ID: 6543368
Filing Date: 2003-04-08
Classification: B61D

Abstract:
A rail car for carrying metal coils, comprising:a pair of end structures each mounted on a rail car truck; a pair of side beams extending between said end structures; said side beams being the main longitudinal structural elements of said rail car for resisting gravitational loads, each of said side beams having a top chord member, a bottom chord member, and a web member extending between said top and bottom chord members; a longitudinally running cradle for metal coils, said cradle being mounted between said side beams; said cradle having sides sloping upwardly and outwardly to either side of a longitudinally extending central structural member; said structural member being a center sill having an upper flange and a lower flange; and at a location between said trucks, the bottom chords of said side beams being entirely lower than said lower flange of said central structural member.