Improvement in Freight Cars.
Year: 1888

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvement in Freight Cars.
A communication from PERRY BROWN, of Louisville, Kentucky, United States of
America, Real Estate Agent.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 323 High Holborn, London, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following drawings in which Figure 1 represents, a side elevation of
a car.
Figure 2 is a similar view of a car of modified construction...
Figure 3 is an end view with a portion broken away and parts shown in section.
Figure is a view of the car door from the inside, showing the manner of locking
the same.
Figure 5 is a side. elevation of a portion of a car showing a different form of
door.
Figure 6 is a section on the line az of Fig. 4; and
Figure 7 is a detail on an enlarged scale.
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This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in Freight Cars and
has for its object to so. construct the car that it can be used at pleasure for either stock
or fruit, or grain..
..
I do not claim broadly a convertible car for I am aware that such has been hereto
fore proposed, but in an entirely different way..
It often and in fact most always happens that in the transportation of freight there
is a surplus of one kind, of cars and a scarcity of another, so that there is constantly
a moving of a lot.of empty cars. For example, cars that are adapted, for the trans-
portation of fruit or stock where ventilation is necessary, are not "capable of being
Price 8d.1

page_text: *
used for the transportation of coal, grain, and the like, so that while carrying a load
one way they have to be brought back empty, thus increasing the labor and necessi-
tating a much larger amount of rolling stock of a company.
My improvement aims to economize in this matter by so constructing the car
that it may be used in one direction to carry fruit or stock, and on the return
trip utilzied for the transportation of grain, coal or other like materials.
To the above ends and to such others as the invention may pertain the same consists in
the peculiar combinations and the novel construction, arrangement and adaptation of
parts all as more fully hereinafter described and claimed.
Referring to the details of the drawings, A represents the body of a car, which as
shown in Fig. 1, has closed sides up to the line a, above which point, instead of being
closed, is slatted either by means of longitudinal slats as seen at the right of said
figure, or by lattice work as seen at the left, in either case the picces comprising
the open work being secured to the outer face of the vertical studs of the car, as
shown.
In order to adapt this car for use in carrying grain, coal and like small matters, I
provide the following means:
B is a tight door hinged to the inner wall of the car and adapted to be swung up out of
the way when the car is used, as shown in Fig. 1, and and for this purpose it is provided
near its bottom with an eye-bolt a' designed to engage a hook a² secured to the top of the
car, as shown in Fig. 3. When shut, as shown in Fig. 3, this door closes the slatted side
and forms an air tight joint. The hinge connection of this door is so constructed as to
permit of a slight vertical movement of the door, and at its lower side is provided with a
plate to form a rabbet, which when the door is dropped down as seen in Fig. 3, engages
the upwardly extending flange b' of a plate C secured to the sill of the door, see also
Fig. 6, which, though referring to the main door, is of like construction. To the outer
face of the door is secured an inverted L-shaped hook which, as the door is let
down, hooks over and engages a bar c' secured to the inner face of the vertical studs
of the car.
It will of course be understood that I provide one of these doors for each
of the slatted parts of the car. In Fig. 1 these doors are not seen, as they are
hooked up out of the way.
Instead of having the slatted portions of the car of the form shown in Fig. 1, I
sometimes prefer the manner shown in Fig. 2 in which D indicates slatted castings or
frames secured to the outside of the car over openings therein, which openings are
designed to be closed from the inside by the doors E which fit into sockets formed in
the walls of the car at seen at the right of Fig. 2, or I sometimes prefer to hinge to
the wall of the car a frame E' to which I secure the frame, or casting D, and to this
frame EI binge the door B, as seen at the left of Fig. 2 so that the said door may
be opened by itself, or the door, frame and casting may all be opened together when
occasion may require. Or, in lieu of either of the above constructions I sometimes
prefer the construction seen at the lower right hand corner of Fig. 2, in which O
represents a plate secured to the inner wall of the "car and between which and the
wall of the car in suitable guides works the sliding door 01.
The main door E at the bottom, is constructed like the door B above described and
shown in Fig. 3, and at its sides is provided with lugs d which fit into sockets d¹
secured to the inside of the car, and transversely near the centre of its height is formed
with a chamber e in which work the bolts G which engage sockets in the vertical
timbers of the door frame. These bolts are pivoted at their inner ends to a lever H
secured to the bolt of the seal lock I, in such a manner that the opening of the lock
withdraws the bolts. It is sometimes desirable to not open the whole door, but only a
small portion thereof, and to provide for this I form an opening in the upper part of
said door, and close it by a door J, the bottom of which is provided with a plate j to
form a rabbet like that of the door B, to engage a plate on the sill of the door J. The
opening is a little wider than the door to accommodate the cleat & secured across the
inner face of the top of said door, so that when the door is in the position shown in 5
Fig. 4 said cleat together with the lock formed at the bottom of the door will prevent
its falling out. To lock the door in place I attach to the bolt of the seal lock an arm K

page_text: notched at its free end to engage a pin on the bottom of the door. This arm is
designed to be operated simultaneously with the bolts G, so that a single lock locks
both doors. The main door E to be opened, must first be raised and then lifted
forward, and when opened is supported by means of the chains L suspended from the
rod L' as seen in Fig. 1. This door J may be constructed like the door at the left
of Fig. 2, or be simply a slatted door as shown in Fig. 1 hinged at the top so as to
be swung back when desired. Or I may sometimes prefer to form it in two parts
hinged as shown in Fig. 5 and locked by means of a vortical bolt M, slotted as shown
to engage pins m on one portion of the door and having T-shaped head and bevelled
lip to engage sockets no on the car.
In order to permit of the ready filling of the car with grain or coal I form in the
top of the car an opening in which I secure the gasket or casting and above this
opening I hinge a portion of the top or run-board as shown at i and depending from
this hinged portion is a collar designed when down, as shown in Fig. 7 to fit the
gasket and form a tight joint.
As a protection for the brake-men riding on the top of the car, I secure along the
outer edge of the roof a guard N supported by means of the uprights N¹ or in any
other suitable manner. If the top of the car becomes slippery, as it often does, and
the brakeman in walking along the roof should slip he would be caught by the guard
and his life saved, while if the guard were not there he would probably be dashed to
the ground and seriously injured if not killed outright.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1-In a freight car, the combination of the side wall having the lower half per-
manently closed and the upper half permanently slatted, of a door having a vertically
movable hinged connection at the top and a rabbeted lock at the bottom for tightly
closing said slatted portion, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
2-In a freight car, the combination with the car body having an opening in its
side wall, of a frame E' hinged to said side wall, the slats on said frame, and the door E
and a double hinge connecting said frames and also hinging the frame E¹ to the wall,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
3-In a freight car, a door having a rabetted lock at the bottom, locking means near
its vertical centre, and holding means upon opposite sides of the central lock, substan-
tially as shown and described.
4 In a freight car, a door provided with a supplemental door, and means for
simultaneously locking said supplemental door to the main door, and the main door to
the frame, substantially as described.
In a freight car, a door provided with a supplemental door combined with trans-
verse bolts on the main door, a bolt constructed to lock said supplemental door
to the main door, and means for operating all of said bolts simultaneously, as set
forth.
6 The combination with a car having an opening in its top, and a casting around
said opening, of a hinged portion of the run board, and a depending flange carried
by said hinged portion and constructed to embrace said casting, substantially as shown
and described.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents.