improvement's in railway cars and in railway freight cars.
Year: 1899

page_text: I, FERDINAND EUGENE CANDA, of No. 11, Pine Street, in the Borough of Manhattan,
City of New York and State of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
This invention relates to improvement's in railway cars, and particularly in railway
freight cars.
may
One of the chief objects of my invention is to produce a very light car of great
carrying capacity, constructed principally of timber, so that any necessary repairs
be readily effected; and containing no load-carryng members which, by shrinking
or being crushed by the application of pressure across the grain, may disturb the
distribution of load through the frame. Another object of my invention is to provide
a lighter axle-truck or under carriage than has heretofore been constructed while
obtaining the same or greater stiffness and strength in said truck.
Heretofore the end sills of car frames have ordinarily been constructed entirely of
wood, and have been connected to the longitudinal sills by mortise and tenon joints.
With such construction of end sills and such means of connecting thereto the longi-
tudinal sills, it is impossible to construct extremely light cars of great carrying
capacity which will retain their shape in use, because in such cars the stress upon the
longitudinal truss rods is very great, and it is found that when the car is heavily
loaded the end washers or heads of these truss rods sink into the wood of the end
sills, thus permitting the frame of the car to sag and throwing a greater stress upon
other members of the car frame than such other members are intended to carry.
To avoid the sinking of the end washers of the truss rods into the end sills, these sills
have sometimes been made of metal; but it is impracticable to make a inetal end sill
that will be sufficiently stiff and yet have as little weight as is desirable for light
cars.
The mortises in the end sills which receive the tenons of the longitudinal sills,
weaken the end sills considerably and render it necessary to construct them of heavier
timbers than would otherwise be required, thus adding dead weight to the car frame;
whereas, in order that light cars may be produced, it is necessary to save weight
wherever possible.
Further, in car frames as heretofore ordinarily constructed, the vertical truss rods
connecting the side plates or upper truss members and the outer sills pass directly
through holes in the side plates and sills, and have washers at their ends, between
their heads and nuts, and the sills and side plates, which washers distribute the strain
of said rods to the sills and side plates. When a car so constructed is heavily loaded,
these washers also sink into the wood in the same manner as do the washers on the
ends of the longitudinal truss rods, thus slackening the truss rods and causing false
distribution of the load through the side trusses, by which an excessive proportion of
the load is thrown upon certain members of the truss, while other members receive
only a fraction of their due proportion of the load. Owing to this weakness in car
trusses, it has been customary to design the various members of the trusses so that

page_text: each may carry inuch more than its due proportion of the load; notwithstanding
which fact cars thus constructed get out of shape, and require continual and extensive
repairs to keep them in condition for use.
Now according to my invention I avoid transmitting stresses from truss rods to
timbers by washers bearing against the sides of the timber, and so arrange it that all
of the stresses are transmitted in the direction of the grain of the timbers, in which
direction timber is practically incompressible within the limits of its strength. Where,
in former car frames, the heads of truss rods have pressed against the sides of timbers,
I provide metal compression or spacing pieces extending to a metal shoe or timber-
pocket on the end of a brace or sill.
In car frames as heretofore constructed, the side trusses have not been utilized
efficiently for the stiffening of all of the sills of the car, but practically have been
effective in stiffening merely the side sills. This has necessitated making the inter-
mediate sills much heavier than would be necessary were they supported and stiffened
efficiently by the side trusses.
. According to my-invention I transfer as much as possible of the load on the inter-
mediate floor sills to the outer. floor sills, and therefore to the side trusses, by pro-
viding transverse truss rods extending from one side of the car to the other beneath
the centre sills. By this means the side trusses are rendered much more effective.
In car frames as ordinarily constructed, also, the sills of the car are required not
only to carry the load on the car, but also to, withstand and transmit the severe buffing
-stresses due to the sudden stopping of the car. In order to enable the sills to with-
stand these buffing stresses, it has been customary to make all of the longitudinal
sills much heavier than would be necessary simply to enable them to support the load-
on the car.
1.
Now, according to my invention, I provide special sub-sills beneath the centre sills,
and directly in-line-with-the draft, timbers or members receiving the buffing stresses,
and adapted to transmit the buffing stresses from the said members-at-one end of the
car to those members at the other end of the car.
In carrying out my invention I may employ end sills composed of alternate layers
of wood and of metal, such as steel, the said layers of wood and metal being bolted
together. The inetal plates are horizontal, and are placed at such a distance apart
that the longitudinal truss rods may pass between them, and that the end washers
upon those truss rods may bear against the edges of such plates. The pressure
produced by the stress upon the longitudinal truss rods is therefore transferred to
these plates, which, being horizontal and therefore substantially parallel with the
direction in which the stress is applied, are in the best possible position for receiving
such stress. The layers of-wood-provide the stiffness necessary to enable the sill to
resist flexure and other stresses, and to prevent buckling of the metal plates..
Instead of mortising the end sills for the tenons of the longitudinal or floor sills, I
prefer to provide timber pockets of metal, corresponding in number and position to the
longitudinal sills, into which pockets the ends of said sills fit. The metal plates of
the end sills bear against these pockets, and thus the strain upon the longitudinal
truss rods is transmitted to the longitudinal sills through metal parts only and with-
out the interposition of wood or any other similar substance which is likely to be
crushed. By this method of connecting the end sills and longitudinal sills, deep
mortising of the end sills is not required, and weakening of such sills by the mortises
is consequently avoided.
The said timber pockets are provided with a recess into which the end of a longi-
tudinal sill may fit, and in this recess is a tenon adapted to enter a groove in the end
of the corresponding longitudinal sill, so as to hold such sill firmly in place, should it
shrink away from the sides of the recess in the timber pockets. Each pocket is also
provided on its opposite face with a tenon adapted to enter a shallow mortise in the
end sill and occupy the entire space between two of the metal plates thereof. Such
mortise is too shallow to sensibly weaken the end sill, but serves to fix and preserve
the proper position of the pockets with respect thereto. Each timber pocket is also
provided with a top flange extending over the top of the end sill and between such

page_text: sill and the floor of the car.
Suitable bolts passing through this top flange and the
sill secure the flange to said sill.
In order to insure that each member of the side trusses of the car shall carry
its due and intended proportion of the load of the car, and to avoid deformation of
the trusses due to shrinkage or compression of the timbers, I place on the ends
of all the braces and posts of the car, and between such posts and braces and the
sills and side and end plates, metal shoes through which the vertical truss rods pass.
These vertical truss rods are provided with metal bushings between the heads and
nuts of such rods and said shoes, which bushings pass through the sills and side
plates. The strain of the truss rods is thus transmitted directly through metal to
the braces, in substantially the direction of the grain of the timber of said braces;
and consequently, when the truss rods are properly drawn up, the load must be
properly transmitted through the members of the truss, and each member of the
truss must bear its due and intended proportion of the load. Such a truss is also
entirely free from members which, through being compressed when a load is applied
to the car, may throw the truss out of shape.
The shoes are provided with dowels which fit into corresponding dowel holes in the
sills and side and end plates. The shoes employed in different portions of the car
differ slightly in form, those over the body bolsters, for instance, having recesses
for two diagonal braces; but in general construction they are similar. The shoes
located at points where both posts and braces terminate, are provided with pockets
for both braces and posts; but where no diagonal brace terminates near a post, such
post may also be provided with a shoe.
The posts of the car do not carry any portion of the load, their function being..
to support the sheathing and to resist pressure from the interior of the car outward.
In order to enable these posts to resist such stresses the better, I so arrange the
vertical truss rods that they serve not only to distribute the load of the car through
the truss, but also to stiffen the posts. For this purpose I employ two truss rods
for each post, one arranged on either side thereof; and the posts are provided with
gains or grooves to receive the truss rods which extend from the inner sides. of each
post, at the ends thereof, to the outer sides of the posts, near the centres thereof..
The truss rods are sprung into these grooves when put in place, and when drawn
up they stiffen the posts greatly. I am thus enabled to use very much smaller and
lighter posts than have been used heretofore. Instead of gaining or grooving the
posts, as described above, they may be provided with breast pieces, at the centre,
which breast pieces perform the same function of setting out the truss rods at the
centre.
I prefer to provide each of the shoes for the braces and posts with four holes for
the passage of truss rods, so that both right hand and left band shoes may be cast
from the same pattern. Only one set of holes of each shoe need be used, however,
The ends of the aforesaid transverse truss rods extending from side to side of the
car, are provided with heads bearing against shoes upon the side sills. In the
central portion of the car the said truss rods bear against struts secured to the centre
sills. I arrange a compression member which may be of timber between each pair
of shoes. This member receives the compression due to the stress upon the truss
rods, and so completes the truss,
The use of these transverse trusses is of particular importance in hopper cars,
used for carrying coal and ore, it being impossible to employ in such cars as many
longitudinal sills as in box cars, because the sills, if numerous and evenly distributed
across the width of the car, would block the outlets of the hoppers. For this reason
hopper cars can be provided only with side sills and centre sills.
In such cars as
ordinarily constructed, the side trusses serve in effect merely to support and stiffen
the side sills; and in order to secure the necessary strength and stiffness on the
centre line of the car, the centre sills must be made very strong and very deep. But
when cross trusses are employed a great portion of the load on these centre sills is
transferred to the side sills and side, trusses, and the centre sills may be made
correspondingly smaller and lighter.

page_text: In' box cars the compression members of the transverse trusses may be floor planks
of somewhat greater thickness than the other floor planks of the 'car, gained or grooved
to receive the longitudinal sills..
The special sub-sills that I employ in order to avoid making all of the longitudinal
sills of the car of a strength sufficient to enable them to resist buffing stresses, fit into
pockets in the body bolsters as do the draft timbers or other members receiving the
buffing stresses; and hence the said stresses are transmitted from the said meinbers
at one end of the car through the body bolsters and sub-sills to the said members at
the other end of the car, without any portion of the stress being transferred to the
main floor sills of the car. The floor sills being thus freed from buffing stresses inay
be made much lighter than heretofore, and the frame is saved from the racking due
to the buffing stresses which car frames as ordinarily constructed receive. The sub
sills. may be keyed to the centre floor sills.
In order to avoid cutting of the sub-sills for the needle beams such beams are placed
beneath the sub-sills and are connected to the floor sills of the car 'by malleable iron
spacing pieces. The effect of so connecting the needle beams to the floor sills is the
same as though the sills were directly connected to the needle beams, and cutting of
either the needle beams or the sub-sills is avoided.
I construct my improved car axle trucks or under carriages, which may be of the
diamond type, with channel.section arch bars and inverted bars. The flanges of the
--arch-bars_project upward and the flanges of the inverted bars project downward,
the two bars being thus placed-back-to-back so that the adjacent surfaces of said bars,
where they come together over the oil boxes, and the surfaces-presented by the
inverted bars to the end transoms of the truck, are flat. These bars are much lighter
than the bars of rectangular section commonly employed. The holes for the column
bolts and-for-the.oil box bolts are situated in the webs of the bars, and hence absorb
only a very small portion of their section:-
The yoke bars are U-shaped at their ends, and thus interlock with-the-inverted.
bars. This makes a very firm connection between the yoke bars and side frames of
the trucks.
The yoke bars of car trucks are subjected to tensile and to compressive stresses.
Heretofore such bars have been made flat, and have been made much thicker and
heavier than would be necessary to enable them to resist the compressive and tensile
stresses to which they are subjected, in order to resist the tendency to buckle under
compressive stresses. I avoid the use of such unnecessarily heavy yoke bars by dishing
the bars between their points of connection to the side frames and their points of
crossing. By this means. a comparatively light yoke is made as stiff as, or stiffer
than; the much heavier bars commonly employed, and the strength of the bar need be
only that required to enable it to resist the tensile and compressive stresses to which
it is exposed, so that I am enabled to materially decrease the weight of the
truck.
In order to balance the tendency of the ends of the arch bars to spread, under the
load of the car, by the corresponding tendency of the ends of the inverted bars to draw
together, I provide gibs embracing the adjacent ends of each pair of arch and inverted
bars. Each gib consists of a U-shaped piece of metal adapted to embrace the ends of
the arch and inverted bars and to lie within the channels of said bars. The thickness
of the metal of which said gibs are composed is such that the upper surfaces of the
gibs are not quite level with the tops of the flanges of the arch bars, and the width of
the channels of the arch bars is such that the heads of the oil box bolts and column
bolts are unable to revolve within the channels, so that these bolts are locked against
turning. Each gib is provided on its under side with a downwardly turned flange
extending to the level of the flanges of the inverted bar, which flange serves to support
the gib.

page_text: Improvements in Kallway Cars.
I, FERDINAND EUGENE CANDA, of No. 11, Pine Street, in the Borough of Manhattan,
City of New York and State of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement
This invention relates to railway cars, and particularly to railway freight cars.
One of the chief objects of my invention is to obtain a very light. car of great
carrying capacity, constructed principally of timber, so that any necessary repairs
may be readily effected; and containing no load-carrying members which, by
shrinking or being crushed by the application of pressure across the grain, inay
disturb the distribution of load through the frame. Another object of my invention
is to provide a lighter axle-truck or under carriage than has heretofore been
constructed, while obtaining the same or greater stiffness and strength in said truck.
Heretofore the end sills of car frames have usually been constructed entirely of
wood, and have been connected to the longitudinal sills by mortise and tenon joints.
With such construction of end sills and such means of connecting thereto the
longitudinal sills, it is impossible to construct extremely light cars of great carrying
capacity which will retain their shape in use, because in such cars the stress upon the
longitudinal truss rods is very great, and it is found that when the car is heavily
loaded the end washers or heads of these truss rods sink into the wood of the end
sills, thus permitting the frame of the car to sag and consequently throwing a greater
stress upon other members of the car frame than such other members are intended
to carry. To avoid this disadvantage the end sills have sometimes been made of
metal; but it is impracticable to make a metal end sill that will be sufficiently stiff
and yet have as little weight as is desirable for light cars.
The mortises in the end sills which receive the tenons of the longitudinal sills,
weaken the end sills considerably and render it necessary to construct them of
heavier timbers than would otherwise be required, thus adding dead weight to the
car frame; whereas, in order that light cars may be produced, it is necessary, to save
weight wherever possible.
Further, in the ordinary construction of car frames, the vertical truss rods
connecting the side plates or upper truss members with the outer sills, pass directly
through holes in the side plates and sills, and have washers at their ends, between
their heads and nuts, and the sills and side plates, which washers distribute the
strain of said rods to the sills and side plates. When a car so constructed is
heavily loaded, these washers also sink into the wood in the same manner as do the
washers on the ends of the longitudinal truss rods, thus slackening the truss rods
and causing false distribution of the load through the side trusses, by which an
excessive proportion of the load is thrown upon certain members of the truss, while
other members receive only a fraction of their due proportion of the load. Owing to
this weakness in car trusses, it has been customary to design the various members of
the trusses so that each may carry much more than its due proportion of the load;
notwithstanding which fact cars thus constructed get out of shape, and require
continual and extensive repairs to keep them in condition for use.
Moreover, in car frames as heretofore constructed, the side trusses have not been
utilized efficiently for the stiffening of all the sills of the car, but have practically
been effective only in stiffening the side sills. This has necessitated making the
intermediate sills much heavier than would be necessary were they supported and
stiffened sufficiently by the side trusses.
In car frames as ordinarily constructed, also, the sills of the car are required not.

page_text: only to carry the load on the car, but also to withstand and transmit the severe
buffing stresses due to the sudden stopping of the car. In order to enable the sills
to withstand these buffing stresses, it has been customary to make all of the longi-
tudinal sills much heavier than would be necessary simply to enable them to support
the load on the car.
Now according to my invention I avoid transmitting stresses from truss rods to
timbers by washers bearing against the sides of the timber, and so arrange that all
of the stresses are transmitted in the direction of the grain of the timbers, in which
direction timber is practically incompressible within the limits of its strength.
Where, in former car frames, the heads of-truss rods have pressed against the sides of
timbers, I provide metal compression or spacing pieces extending to a metal shoe or
timber-pocket on the end of a brace or sill.
I transfer as much as possible of the load on the intermediate floor sills to the outer
floor sills, and therefore to the side trusses, by providing transverse truss rods
extending from one side of the car to the other beneath the centre sills. By this
means the side trusses are rendered much more effective.
I further provide special sub-sills beneath the centre sills, and directly in line with
the draft timbers or members receiving the buffing stresses, and adapted to transmit
the buffing stresses from the said members at one end of the car to those members
at the other end of the car.
In constructing an axle truck or under carriage according to my invention, I employ
for the side-frames-arch-and inverted bars of channel shape in cross section, and I
provide the transverse connecting or yoke-bars-with-ends shaped to interlock in the
said channeled bars. These yoke bars are dished intermediate of their ends.-By-
these means the said parts can be made lighter than heretofore while being equally
-efficient in resisting the stresses to which they are subjected. I provide means for.
securing the ends of the arch and inverted bars together for the purpose of counter...
acting the tendency of the arch bars to spread by utilizing the tendency of the
inverted bars to contract.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into
effect I will proceed to describe the same more fully with reference to the accom
panying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is an elevation and half longitudinal section, and Figure 2 is a transverse
section, of a box car constructed in accordance with my invention.
...
Figure 3 is an elevation and half longitudinal section, and Figure 4 is a transverse
section, of a hopper car such as is used for carrying coal and ore, constructed in
accordance with my invention.
Figure 5 is a detail plan view of an end sill and the end portion of the longitudinal
sille connected therewith.
Figure 6 is a detail elevation of the said sill, with the timber pockets for the
longitudinal sills attached thereto; and
Figure 7 is a detail section of the end sill, timber pocket, and longitudinal sill.
Figure 8 is an end view, and Figure 9 a central sectional elevation, of one of the
timber pockets employed for connecting together the end and longitudinal sills.
Figure 10 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 11 a top view, of the shoes inter-
posed between the posts and braces, and the sills and side plates, of the side trusses
of the car.
Figure 12 is a side view, and Figure 13 a cross section, of one of the timber keys
employed in the construction of the car.
Figure 14 is a detail view showing a modified arrangement of the vertical truss rods
with respect to the side posts.
Figure 15 is a detail section, drawn to a larger scale than the general figures, of a
side plate, showing a vertical truss rod and bushing therein.
Figure 16 is a detail cross section of a side post, showing vertical truss rods in
grooves in the sides thereof.
.
Figure 17 is a side elevation of a car axle-truck or under carriage constructed in.
accordance with my invention;

page_text: Figure 18 is a detail view of the inverted bars and cross yoke of the truck;
Figure 19 is a detail view showing how the yoke bars are interlocked with the
inverted bars of the truck;
Figure 20 is a detail transverse section of one of the yoke bars;
Figure 21 is a detail section of one side frame of the truck, showing a gib in place
therein;
Figure 22 is a detail plan view showing how the column and oil box bolts of the
truck are held against turning by the arch bars of channel section; and
Figure 23 is a detail view of a gib, such as is employed in the truck.
1,1 are the longitudinal sills of the car frame; 2, 2, are the end sills; 3, 3, are
the side plates or upper truss members; 4, 4 are the end plates; 5, 5 are the side
and end posts; 6, 6 are diagonal braces; 7, 7 (Figures 3 and 4) are hoppers; 8, 8
are body bolsters ;. 9, 9 are longitudinal truss rods beneath the car body; 10, 10 are
vertical truss rods beside the side and end posts; 11,11 are transverse truss rods beneath
the car body; 12, 12 are timber pockets connecting the end sills and longitudinal
sills; 13, 13 are metal shoes interposed between the sills and side and end plates,
respectively, and the posts and diagonal braces; 14, 14 are needle beams 15, 15
are struts thereon; 16, 16 are the draw bars; 17, 17 are draft timbers; and 18, 18
are sub-sills, in line with the draft timbers, and serving to transmit buffing stresses
from the draft timbers at one end of the car to the draft timbers at the opposite end
of the car.
The end sills 2, 2 differ from the end sills heretofore employed in that they are of
composite construction, being composed each of alternate layers 21 of wood and 21 of
metal, such as steel, the said layers of wood and metal being bolted together. The
metal plates 21 are horizontal, and are placed at such a distance apart that the
longitudinal truss rods 9 may pass between them, and that the end washers upon
those truss rods may bear against the edges of such plates. The pressure produced
by the stress upon the longitudinal truss rods is therefore transferred to these
plates 21, which, being horizontal and therefore substantially parallel with the
direction in which the stress is applied, are in the best possible position for receiving
such stress. The layers of wood 21 surrounding these plates 211 provide the stiffness
necessary to enable the sill to resist flexure and other stresses, and to prevent
buckling of the metal plates.
An end sill so constructed contains practically no dead weight, and is extremely
light and stiff, and, by reason of the power of the metal plates 211 to resist crushing,
absolutely prevents the sinking of the end washers or heads of the truss rods into it.
At the same time it may be made very cheaply.
Instead of mortising the end sills for the tenons of the longitudinal or floor sills, I
prefer to provide timber pockets 12 of metal, corresponding in number and position
to the longitudinal sills, into which pockets the end of said sills fit. The metal
plates 21 of the end sills bear against these pockets 12 and thus the strain upon the
longitudinal truss rods is transmitted to the longitudinal sills through metal parts
only and without the interposition, of wood or any other similar substance which is
likely to be crushed. Since timber does not shrink, and is practically incompressible,
in the direction of its length, the length of the longitudinal sills will not vary what-
ever may be the load on the cars and therefore, when the longitudinal truss rods are
once drawn tight, they must carry their due proportion of the load and perform their
intended function of keeping the frame of the car from sagging, and they cannot
become loose
By this method of connecting the end sills and longitudinal sills, deep mortising
of the end sills is unnecessary, and weakening of such sills by the mortises is
consequently avoided.
The construction of the timber pockets 12 by which the end sills and longitudinal
sills are connected, is shown particularly in the detail views, Figures 7, 8, and 9.
Each pocket is provided with a recess into which the end of a longitudinal sill may
fit, and in this recess is a tenon 121 adapted to enter a groove in the end of the
corresponding longitudinal sill, so as to hold such sill firmly in place should it

page_text: shrink away from the sides of the recess in the timber pockets.
Each pocket 12
is also provided on its opposite face with a tenon 1211 adapted to enter a shallow
mortise in the end sill and occupy the entire space between two of the metal plates
thereof. This mortise is too shallow to sensibly weaken the end sill, but serves to
fix and preserve the proper position of the pockets with respect thereto.
timber pocket is also provided with a top flange 12 extending over the top of the
end sill and between such sill and the floor of the car.. Suitable bolts passing
through this top flange and the sill secure the flange to said sill.
Each
The
In order to insure that each member of the side trusses of the car sball carry its
.due and intended proportion of the load of the car, and to avoid deformation of the
trusses in consequence of shrinkage or compression of the timbers, I place on the
ends of all the braces and posts of the car, and between such posts and braces and
the sills and side and end plates, metal shoes 13 (preferably formed of malleable
iron) through which the vertical truss rods 10 pass. These vertical truss rods are
provided with metal bushings 10¹ (Figure 15) between the heads and nuts of such
rods and said shoes 13, which bushings pass through the sills and side plates.
strain of the truss rods is thus transmitted directly through metal to the braces, in
substantially the direction of the grain of the timber of said braces; and consequently,
when the truss rods are properly drawn up, the load must be properly transmitted
through the members of the truss, and each member of the truss must bear its due
and intended proportion of the load. Such a truss is also entirely free from members
which, through being compressed when a load is applied to the ear, may throw the
truss out of shape
The shoes 13 are provided with dowels, as shown in the detail views, Figures 10
and 11, which fit into corresponding dowel holes in the sills and side and end-plates.
The shoes employed in different portions of the car are similar in general construction,
but differ slightly in form, those over the body bolsters -8, for instance, having
recesses for two diagonal braces.-The_shoes located at points where both posts and
braces terminate, are provided with pockets for both braces-and_posts; but where
no diagonal braces terminate near a post, such post may also be provided with a shoe.
The posts of the car do not carry any portion of the load, their function being to
support the sheathing and to resist pressure from the interior of the car outward.
In order to enable these posts to the better resist such stresses, I so arrange the
vertical truss rods that they serve not only to distribute the load of the car through
the truss, but also to stiffen the posts. For this purpose I employ two truss rods
for each post, one arranged on either side thereof; and the posts are provided with
gains or grooves to receive the truss rods (as shown particularly in Figure 16) which
extend from the inner sides of each post, at the ends thereof, to the outer sides of
the posts near the centres thereof. The truss rods are sprung into these grooves
when they are put in place, and when drawn up they stiffen the posts greatly. I
am thus enabled to use very much smaller and lighter posts than have been used
heretofore. Instead of gaining or grooving the posts, as described above, I may
provide them with breast pieces 5 at the centre, as shown in Figure 14, which
breast pieces perform the same function of setting out the truss rods at the centre.
As shown in Figure 11, I provide each of the shoes for the braces with four holes
for the passage of truss rods, so that both right hand and left hand shoes may be cast
from the same pattern. Only one set of holes of each shoe need be used, however.
I employ transverse truss rods 11 extending from one side of the car to the other
beneath the centre sills. At their ends they are provided with heads bearing against
shoes 19 upon the side sills. In the central portion of the car the said truss rods bear
against struts 20 secured to the centre sills. I arrange a compression member 21,
which may
be of timber, between each pair of the shoes 19. This member receives
the compression due to the stress upon the truss rods, and so completes the truss. By
means of these trusses, a great proportion of the loid on the intermediate sills is
transferred to the side sills and thus to the side truss ro.ls, which trusses therefore
become much more effective.

page_text: The use of these transverse trusses is of particular importance in hopper cars, such
as are illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. In these hopper cars, it is impossible to employ
as many longitudinal sills as in box cars because the sills, if numerous and evenly dis-
tributed across the width of the car, would block the outlets of the hoppers. For this
reason hopper cars can be provided only with side sills and centre sills. In such cars
as ordinarily constructed, the side trusses serve in effect merely to support and stiffen
the side sills; and in order to secure the necessary strength and stiffness on the centre
line of the car, the centre sills must be made very strong and very deep. But when
cross trusses are employed, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, a great portion of the load
on these centre sills is transferred to the side sills and side trusses, and the centre sills
may be made correspondingly smaller and lighter.
In box cars the compression members 21 of the transverse trusses may be floor
planks of somewhat greater thickness than the other floor planks of the car, gained or
grooved to receive the longitudinal sills, as shown in Figure 2.
18, 18 are the special sub-sills that I employ in order to avoid making all of the
longitudinal sills of the car of a strength sufficient to enable them to resist buffing
stresses. They fit into pockets in the body bolsters 8 as do the draft timbers 17 (to
which the draw bars 16, 16, are connected) or other members receiving the buffing
stresses; and hence the said stresses are transmitted from the said members at one
end of the car through the body bolsters and sub-sills 18 to the said members at the
other end of the car, without any portion of the stress being transferred to the main
floor sills of the car. "The floor sills being thus freed from buffing stresses may be
made much lighter than heretofore, and the frame is saved from the racking, due to the
buffing stresses, which car frames as ordinarily constructed receive. The sub-sills may
be keyed to the centre floor sills by keys 18' such as are shown in Figures 12 and 13.
The centre sills are thereby greatly strengthened for resisting the load upon them,
but since the sub-sills are practically incompressible in the direction of their length,
none of the buffing stress to which the sub-sills are subjected is transmitted through the
keys to the centre floor sills.
. In order to avoid cutting the sub-sills for the needle beams 14,, 14, such beams
are placed beneath the sub-sills and are connected to the .floor sills of the car
by malleable iron spacing pieces 22. The effect of so connecting the needle.
beams to the floor sills is the same as though the sills were directly connected to
the needle beans, and the cutting of either the needle beams or of the sub-sills is
avoided.
I construct my improved car axle truck or under carriages, which are preferably of
the diamond type, with arch bars 23 and inverted bars 24, of customary form, except
as to section which is of channel shape, as shown particularly in Figures 19, 21
and 22. The flanges of the arch bars project upward and the flanges of the inverted
bars project downward, the two bars being thus placed back to back, so that the
adjacent surfaces of said bars, where they come together over the oil boxes, and the
surfaces presented by the inverted bars to the end transom of the truck, are flat.
These bars are much lighter than the bars of rectangular section commonly
employed. The holes for the column bolts and for the oil box bolts are situated
in the webs of the bars, and hence absorb only a very small portion of their
section.
The yoke bars 25 are U-shaped at their ends, as shown particularly in Figure 19,
and thus interlock with the inverted bars. This makes a very firm connection between
the yoke bars and side frames of the trucks.
The yoke bars of car trucks are subjected to tensile and to compressive stresses.
Heretofore such bars have been made flat; and have been made much thicker and
heavier than would be necessary to enable them to resist the compressive and tensile
stresses to which they are subjected, in order to give them the stiffness required to
enable them to resist the tendency to buckle under compressive stresses. _ I
avoid the use of such unnecessarily heavy yoke bars by dishing the bars between their
points of connection to the side frames and their points of crossing, as shown in

page_text: 10. A railway car having its parts constructed,, arranged and combined substantially
as described with reference to any of the constructions illustrated in the accompanying
drawings for the purposes specified.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.