Railcar brake structure

An articulated railcar has several well car units for carrying shipping containers, highways trailers, or a combination of the two. The well car units permit the nose of a highway trailer to overhang the articulated connection between two adjacent cars. A brake valve is located in a relief formed in the main bolster of one of the articulated units, out of the way of the overhanging trailer. Each well car unit has a side beam having a roll formed top chord reinforced by a top chord plate, a downwardly extending web, and a lower sill formed of a thick angle. The service, or auxiliary, and emergency brake reservoirs are mounted in a saddle bag configuration to the outside face of the webs of the opposite side beams of the articulated unit, tucked underneath the reinforced roll formed top chord.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The description of the invention is best understood by reference to the Figures, in which some proportions have been exaggerated for the purposes of conceptual illustration. Referring to FIGS. 1 a and 1 b, an articulated rail car is shown generally as 20 . It is made up of three articulated well car units, a first end unit 22 , an intermediate unit 24 and a second end unit 26 supported on a pair of standard end trucks 28 and 30 , and a pair of articulated trucks 32 and 34 located between units 22 and 24 , and between units 24 and 26 respectively. End unit 22 has a connector end structure, indicated generally as 36 , an articulation end structure indicated generally as 38 , and a well structure, indicated as 40 , extending between them. Well structure 40 has a pair of opposed side members in the nature of left and right hand beam assemblies 42 and 44 , held apart by a floor assembly 50 . Floor assembly 50 includes a central cross beam such as cross beam 52 of floor assembly 50 . Other cross beams include a pair of medial cross beams are shown as 54 and 56 and a pair of end cross beams 58 and 60 . Between pairs of cross beams floor assembly 50 has H-shaped force resolvers 62 and 64 each having a force resolver cross member 70 connected to side beam assemblies 42 and 44 respectively. For the purposes of the present disclosure the floor assemblies shown are all the same, whether considering the multiple unit articulated railcar of FIGS. 1 a and 1 b, or the single unit well car of FIGS. 1 c and 1 d. Referring to floor assembly 50 of unit 22 , the spacing between main cross beam 52 and 28′ medial cross beams 54 and 56 is unequal to the spacing between 28′ medial cross beams 54 and 56 and 40′ end cross beams 58 and 60 . Four ISO 40′ container cones located on 40′ cross beams 58 and 60 are indicated as 72 . The unequal pitch of the cross members is such that the well structure 40 can accommodate either two ISO 20′ containers, each with one end located on cones 72 , a single 40′ ISO container, also located on cones 72 , a single 45′ domestic container or a single 48′ domestic container. Depending on the configuration of container carried in well structure 40 , unit 22 is designed also to support an upper, stacked 40′ ISO container, or single stacked 45′, 48′ or 53′ domestic containers. Force resolver cross members 70 , 74 , 76 , and 78 are located midway between each successive pair of cross beams. They have either short floor panels, left handed ones designated as 80 and right handed ones as 82 , or long floor panels, left and right handed ones designated as 84 and 86 , respectively, welded to them. Four floor panels are generously welded to each cross member to form the H-shape shown. At each end of floor assembly 50 there is a pair of load spreading struts 88 and 90 . They transfer longitudinal loads between end structures 36 and 38 and side beam assemblies 42 and 44 through end cross beams 58 and 60 . Left and right hand cross beam socket fittings 92 and 94 receive the ends of struts 88 and 90 . Finally, at either end of floor assembly 50 left and right hand floor panel extensions 96 and 98 are located between socket fittings 92 and 94 and side sill assemblies 42 and 44 . Floor panel extensions 96 and 98 permit a 53′ trailer to be carried in well structure 40 . Side beam assembly 42 , identical to side beam assembly 44 , has a top chord member 106 in the form of a hollow sectioned, square steel tube 108 surmounted by a 1 inch thick top chord plate 110 , with fillet welds all along the seams. At each section X′ shown in FIG. 1 c plate 110 is supplanted by a thinner, ½ inch thick plate 112 . Returning to FIG. 2, a web 114 is mounted to, and extends downwardly from, a lap joint against the inner face of square steel tube 108 to meet lower side sill 116 in the form of a ½ inch thick angle iron 118 having a 7 &frac38; inch vertical leg and a 7 inch inwardly extending toe. A ½ inch thick reinforcement 120 is welded to the lower face of the toe of angle iron 118 . Stiffeners 122 in the form of steel channel sections, shown in FIG. 1 d, are welded, toes inward, intermittently along the outside face of side beam assembly 42 at locations corresponding to the junctions of cross beams, such as cross beam 52 , and spines such as cross member 70 . At each end of railcar unit 22 loads carried in the floor and in the side beam assemblies 42 and 44 are transferred to and from either a railcar end connector 130 or an articulation end connector 131 . There are two primary load paths. The first load path is from the connector into a stub sill 132 , into a bolster 134 and a shear plate 136 and thence to beam assembly 42 or beam assembly 44 . The second load path is from connector 130 or 131 , through stub sill 132 , along a downwardly curving and spreading stub sill neck 138 into a spreader plate 140 and thence through left and right hand struts 88 and 90 into floor assembly 50 . Care has been taken on each of these paths to reduce stress concentrations that had formerly been found disadvantageous. Considering FIG. 10 a, which is typical, on the first path, lower side sill 116 and web 114 end at a smoothly curved transition flange 142 which extends to the longitudinal location of main body bolster 134 , Similarly, welded to the top of each of side beam assemblies 40 and 42 is a tapered superior transition member 144 which extends from well beyond the transition of web 114 into beam assembly 40 or 42 , to the end of beam assembly 40 or 42 . This permits a deeper transition section over the wheel well allowance, and a correspondingly better stress distribution. Further, it permits, a deeper main bolster 134 , and a deeper transition from side sill assemblies 40 and 42 to bolster 134 , with lower stress levels generally, permitting a heavier loading generally. Superior transition member 144 carries loads to bolster 134 and into a reinforcing cross member 146 at the same level as male or female side bearing arms 148 or 150 and allows those sliders to be at a greater elevation from the rails, in turn permitting a heavier duty articulated truck with greater load bearing capacity. Examining FIG. 6 more closely, the skeleton members of articulated truck end structure 38 include main bolster 134 , which extends laterally of stub sill 132 . Stub sill 132 has a rectangular cross section formed by a pair of stub sill sides, 154 and 156 , a bottom flange 158 which extends laterally beyond both stub sill sides, and a false flange 160 welded between sides 154 and 156 to form a socket for receiving the root of articulated connector 131 . Sides 154 and 156 extend rearwardly to form the sides of neck 138 . Bottom flange 158 also extends in a downwardly bent leg along the lower edges of sides 154 and 156 to form the forward face of neck 138 . Shear plate 138 is welded across the top edges of stub sill sides 154 and 156 and the top of main bolster 134 . The rearward edge of shear plate 138 is bent downwardly to form forward bulkhead 166 of the well of railcar first end unit 22 . In the particular end structure shown, a pair of female side bearing arms are shown. Male sliders could have been shown instead without altering the principles of the invention provided that clearance for the corresponding female bearing arms of the adjacent railcar unit is maintained outboard of the male side bearing arms. Lateral reinforcing member 146 is mounted to shear plate 164 above bolster 134 . Both lateral cross member 146 and bolster 136 have a longitudinal rake angle yielding a tapered outboard extremity. This gives, in effect, a relief, indicated generally as 170 . The male bolster and bolster reinforcement of the adjacent railcar unit also have an outboard relief, such that a brake valve 172 can be mounted in the space of the relief, at a height such that the uppermost extremity of brake valve 172 lies at a low enough level not to interfere with the bottom side of a highway trailer nose clearance envelope, whether that highway trailer nose is overhanging the end structure from the well of the same railcar unit or from the adjacent unit. The brake system of the railcar unit are shown in FIGS. 3 a, 3 b, 4 a and 4 b, these drawings showing both the handbrake and pnuematic systems in dark lines. A 1-¼″ trainline is indicated as 174 . It extends from a railcar end coupling 176 along the outside of side beam 42 to an articulation coupling 178 , whence it is joined by a flexible hose 180 that is coupled to the adjoining trainline of the next articulated car unit. Brake valve 172 is mounted in relief 170 of bolster 134 , one corner being fixed directly thereto, and another corner being mounted to a bracket 184 welded to female side arm 186 . Bracket 184 is a chain hack. Each of the articulated ends of the car has a pair of chain hack to permit the articulated truck to be chained to the bodies of the adjacent well car units. This allows the truck to be picked up with the car clear of the wheels. This is convenient for changing out wheels. A ¾″ service reservoir brake line 188 joins, and permits communication between, brake valve 172 and auxiliary, or service reservoir 190 . Service reservoir 190 is a 3500 cu. in. cylindrical canister mounted in service reservoir brackets 192 to the outer face of web 114 of side beam 42 , falling at least partially within the profile of top chord member 108 . Similarly, a ¾″ emergency reservoir brake line 194 joins, and permits communication between, brake valve 172 and emergency reservoir 198 , similarly mounted in emergency reservoir mounting brackets 200 in the shadow of top chord member 108 of side beam 44 . As noted above, the well car units each have well structures, like end unit well structure 40 , that are suitable for carrying shipping containers or highway trailers, or a combination load. Each end of the unit is equipped with a trailer hitch 206 or 208 for receiving the king pin of a highway trailer. The decking adjacent to hitches 206 and 208 is kept clear of obstructions that could interfere with carriage of highway trailers. The overall length of the three car unit articulated railcar of FIG. 1 between coupler centres is 191′-0 ½″, and 188′-5″ over the striker faces. A standard compound brake reservoir 210 is shown mounted on the connector end of unit 26 . The saddle bag placement of service and emergency brake reservoirs 190 and 198 , as described above, on the outside faces of side beams 42 and 44 does not impinge upon the space envelope required to permit overlength highway trailers to be loaded in well 40 . Similarly, the placement of brake valve 172 , as shown, is such that its uppermost extremities lie clear of the highway trailer loading envelope, in rebate 170 . Rebate 170 is sufficiently large that brake valve 172 does not impede the motion of the car units during turns on a 180′ turn radius. The location of the brake reservoirs and brake valves in relatively close proximity to each other is convenient. Top chord member 108 could also be formed as a three sided roll formed channel, or other shaped hollow or open section channel, surmounted with a reinforcing plate such as plate 110 . An upwardly opening U-shaped channel with a with a thick plate welded across the toes to form a closed section is one such alternative embodiment. The use of a steel tube is considered advantageous since such tube are readily available, and require less fabrication effort on assembly. Although the saddle bag reservoir configuration described is preferred, other configurations of brake reservoirs can be employed. For example, a larger number of reservoirs of smaller diameter could be mounted to shear plate 138 , provided always that they do not interfere with clearance for the noses of the highway trailer types the railcar unit is designed to carry. Similarly, a single, long reservoir of the same, or similar, diameter to those shown (roughly 10 ½ inches) with an internal bulkhead, or partition, could be mounted to one or the other of side beams 40 or 42 . Alternatively, two separate reservoirs, as shown, could be mounted to the same side of railcar unit 22 . It would also be possible, depending on space restrictions, to mount the reservoirs inside the webs of the side beams, rather than outside, provided they could be adequately protected from clumsy loading of cargo into well 40 . It is not necessary that reservoirs 190 and 198 be mounted on the same railcar unit. They could, for example be mounted on unit 24 and brake valve 172 mounted on unit 22 . However, notwithstanding the existence of numerous other possible configurations, the more or less symmetrical saddle bag configuration, on the outside face of the side beam webs, with the top chords at least partially overhanging the reservoirs and with the reservoirs mounted to the same unit as the brake valve, is preferred for its simplicity, ease of installation, and access for servicing and maintenance. Although the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 c and described above is preferred, the principles of the present invention are not limited to this specific example which is given by way of illustration. It is possible to make other embodiments that employ the principles of the invention and that fall within its spirit and scope as defined by the following claims and their equivalents.