Railway car body structural arrangement

A railway car body structural arrangement has a bolster fabricated from plates and formed on the upper surface of a bottom closure member of the body of a railway car and rigidly affixed to a bolster post at each side of the car. The lower portions of the bolster posts are affixed to the bolster assembly adjacent to the upper surface of the bottom closure member to enable use of a continuous side sill member on the car. Bearing surfaces which limit the transverse angular movement or roll of the car body with respect to a truck are attached to and project downward from a lower surface of the frame of the truck which is supportingly and pivotally engaged with the center sill substantially directly beneath the bolster.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to bolsters for railway cars. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Bolsters for railway cars are old and well known. Typically, a bolster is 
one of two primary load-bearing crossbeams attached to the center sill of 
a railway car adjacent a point of attachment of the center sill to a truck 
having one or more wheel and axle assemblies for rollingly supporting the 
car body and any lading on the car body. 
Bolsters are normally formed in two sections. Each section has one end 
rigidly affixed in a butted relationship to the side of the center sill 
and the opposite end is extended laterally outwardly from the center sill. 
The two sections are aligned on each of two sides of the center sill to 
form a transverse support beam having upper support surfaces at 
substantially the same height or level as the upper surface of the center 
sill. A floor structure is normally engaged with those upper surfaces to 
provide a support platform for cargo to be transported by the railway car. 
Typically, a vertically upwardly extending bolster post used to support the 
side of the car is attached to each of the bolster sections at the 
laterally outer end of each section. A portion of each bolster post 
normally extends downward below the floor structure to engage and be 
affixed to the outer end of the bolster. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The bolsters of a railway car are positioned above and engage the upper 
surface of the bolster closure or floor structure of a railway car to form 
a continuous primary crossbeam which extends over or bridges over the 
center sill and consequently does not have to be attached to the center 
sill in a butted relationship. Each of the two ends of the bolster are 
laterally outwardly spaced from the center sill and a bolster post is 
attached to each of the two ends at or above the upper surface of the 
floor structure. 
This structure forms a strong, continuous crossbeam which does not need to 
be affixed in a butted end relationship to two opposite sides of the 
center sill. This is particularly advantageous when the center sill and 
the bolster are formed of different metals which cannot be welded to each 
other effectively, much as steel and aluminum. 
Additionally, with this bolster construction, the bolster posts connected 
to each of the ends of the bolster need not extend below the floor 
structure. Therefore, continuous side rails may be used which extend the 
full longitudinal length of the car body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
FIG. 1 shows a side elevation view of a railway car 2 and FIG. 2 shows a 
top plan view of the car 2. Car 2 is an open top high side gondola car of 
the type commonly used to transport bulk cargo such as coal and mining 
ores. This type of car is shown for the purpose of illustrating the 
invention, but the invention disclosed in this specification may be 
applied to a number of different types of railway cars. 
Car 2 is comprised of a light-weight cargo carrying structure formed 
primarily of an aluminum alloy and having bottom closures 3, 4 and 5, a 
pair of side walls 6 and 7 and a pair of end walls 8 and 9. Bottom 
closures 3 and 5 are dual-function members or plates which serve as a 
bottom closure means and also as a force transfer or shear plate means. 
Car 2 has a first stub center sill 10 having a coupling means, such as 
coupler 11, for enabling connection to another car. Similarly, the other 
end of the car has a stub center sill 12 having a coupling means, such as 
coupler 13, for connections to another car. Stub center sills 10 and 12 
are preferably formed of steel and are engaged with bottom closure and 
shear plate members 3 and 5, respectively, by a multiplicity of mechanical 
fasteners as indicated at reference numeral 14. 
A pair of truck assemblies 15 and 16 are pivotally and supportingly engaged 
with the car body to enable the car to rollingly engage a pair of rails. 
Car 2 is provided with a front main cross support or bolster assembly 17 
positioned above truck assembly 15 and a second main cross support or 
bolster assembly 18 which is positioned above truck 16. Each bolster 
assembly 17 and 18 are positioned transverse to the respective center sill 
10 or 12 over which it is positioned and extends from side wall 6 to side 
wall 7 of car 2. 
Car 2 has a lowered or depressed floor portion 4 which lowers the center of 
gravity of the car to increase its stability and to increase the cubic 
capacity of the cargo structure. Consequently, due to a discontinous 
center sill, the longitudinal draft and buff loads placed on the car are 
transferred from one of the stub center sills 10 or 12 to one of the 
bottom closure and shear plate members 3 or 5. 
Members 3 and 5 transfer these force loadings laterally outward to a pair 
of side sill members 19 and 20 which are rigidly engaged, as by welding, 
to each of two sides of the members 3 and 5. 
Side sill members 19 and 20 are each preferably formed of a continuous 
aluminum alloy extrusion which extends from one end of the car to the 
other. 
FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of bolster assembly 17 as shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 
4 is a cut away frontal elevation view of car 2 at bolster assembly 17. 
An aluminum bolster post 21 has a lower portion 22 which is rigidly 
affixed, as by welding, to a portion of side sill 19 and extends 
substantially vertically upwardly to support side wall 6. Similarly, a 
bolster post 23 has a lower portion 24 rigidly affixed to a longitudinally 
intermediate portion of side sill 20 and extends upwardly to support side 
wall 7. 
Bottom closure and shear plate member 3 has a first longitudinally 
extending side portion 25 which is rigidly affixed to side sill 19 and a 
second longitudinally extending side portion 26 which is rigidly affixed 
to side sill 20. Bottom closure member 3 has an upper or upward facing 
surface 27 and a lower or downward facing surface 28. Stub center sill 10 
has bearing plate 29 engaged with the lower surface 28 of member 3 and a 
plurality of mechanical fasteners, such as representative fasteners 14, 
maintain the plate 3 and center sill rigidly engaged to enable transfer of 
substantial force loadings between the two members. 
Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, bolster 17 is comprised of a first bolster 
side plate member 30 and a second bolster side plate member 31. Each of 
the side plate members have a lower edge portion, such as lower edge 
portion 32 of plate 30, which engages and is welded to the upper surface 
of member 3. 
Each of the side plate members 30 and 31 also have an upper edge portion, 
such as upper edge portion 33 of plate 30. A top plate member 34 is welded 
to each of the side plates 30 and 31 adjacent to their upper edge 
portions. All of the welds are substantially continuous to form a strong 
box-like, fabricated bolster using bottom closure and shear plate member 3 
as the lower bolster cover plate. 
Bolster assembly 17 has a first end portion 35 which is rigidly affixed at 
each of the ends of the side plates 30 and 31 and the top plate 34 to a 
laterally inward portion of bolster post 21. Similarly, bolster assembly 
17 has a second end portion 36 which is rigidly affixed to a laterally 
inward portion of bolster post 23. Ends 35 and 36 are preferably attached 
to the bolster posts by welding. 
Bolster side plates 30 and 31 are each provided, intermediate the portion 
over the center sill and an end, with an integral angled portion A which 
forms a laterally outward extending taper to the bolster posts. This 
configuration enables the complete end of the bolster to be welded to a 
bolster post and provides sufficient strength at the center of the bolster 
over the center sill above a conventional filler assembly FA which is 
rigidly engaged with the center sill to enable pivotal attachment to the 
conventional kingpin and center plate of a truck in a well known manner. 
The pivotal attachment allows for pivotal relative movement of the truck 
and the center sill in a substantially horizontal plane. 
As shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 6, a car body tilt limiting means, such as 
bearing pads 40 and 41, are provided beneath the car body. Each of the 
pads 40 and 41 are suspended from the lower surface 28 of plate 3 and 
descend downwardly from plate 3. The pads are arranged to contact, upon 
sufficient tilt of the car body with respect to a portion of the truck 
mounted to the bolster, a preselected area of the frame 60, as shown for 
truck 15 in FIG. 1. This contact of the frame by a bearing pad limits the 
transverse angular movement or roll of the car body with respect to the 
truck. 
Each of the pads is suspended from the plate 3 by a downwardly depending 
mounting means comprising a pair of side plates 42 and a pair of end 
plates 43. 
An upper end portion 44 and 45, resspectively, of each of members or plates 
42 and 43 is welded to surface 28 of plate 3, substantially as shown in 
FIGS. 4 and 6. A lower end portion 46 and 47 of each of the members 42 and 
43, respectively, is preferably welded to a substantially horizontal pad 
attachment plate 48. Threadedly engaged to each of the plates 48 is a 
bearing pad 40 and 41 which are preferably formed of steel and replaceably 
attached to attachment plates 48. 
All of the bearing pad stand-off assemblies, except the steel bearing pads 
40 and 41, are preferably formed of aluminum. 
Appropriate fasteners, such as bolts 50 removably engage a pad 40 or 41 to 
an attachment plate 48, as best shown in FIG. 6. 
A plurality of reinforcement members selectively positioned within the 
bolster assembly, as indicated by the dotted or bolder lines are provided 
to further strengthen and rigidify the bolster assembly. Plates such as 
those indicated by reference numerals 54 and 55 of the bearing pad 
stand-off assemblies and 56 of the bolster assembly are typical of the 
aluminum reinforcement members welded to the interior of these assemblies. 
As shown in the drawings and described in detail above, the bolster 
assembly of this invention provides a strong, durable main cross member 
for a railway car which uses a bottom closure member as the bottom cover 
to form an integral force bearing structure of the bolster and bridges 
over the center sill to preclude the need to attach in a butted end 
relationship, two halves of a bolster to a steel member. Additionally, 
having the bolster above the surface of the bottom closure enables a 
strong engagement with a substantial portion of a bolster post while 
enabling the side sill to be a continuous member not interrupted by one or 
more cross sectional, strength detractive welds. 
The bearing pad assemblies depending from the lower portion of the bottom 
closure and shear plate are also formed to be substantially integral with 
the bolster and preclude the need for additional aluminum to steel 
engagement except for the bearing pad members themselves. 
The bolster construction of this invention, as described in detail above, 
can be used advantageously in many different types and constructions of 
railway cars. 
For example, cars formed substantially all of steel, with either stub 
center sills or a continuous center sill extending from one end of the car 
to the other, can be advantageously built utilizing the bolster 
construction of this invention. 
In cars with continuous center sills, the sill is generally the primary 
draft and buff, or longitudinal tension and compression, force and load 
bearing member and in these constructions the bottom closure serves 
primarily as a cargo support.