Patent ID: 7607396

Claim:
A side sill for a body of a railroad freight car defining a container well intended for carrying intermodal freight containers, the side sill comprising: (a) a deep, relatively narrow, elongate beam structure including a longitudinally-extending channel member having a vertical web, a laterally extending top flange, and a laterally extending bottom flange, the beam structure having a pair of opposite ends and including a mid-length portion located centrally along a length of the container well; (b) a plate extending parallel with the vertical web of the channel member, the top flange and the bottom flange of the channel member being attached to the plate; and (c) an elongate longitudinally-extending reinforcement extending within the beam structure and through the mid-length portion of the beam structure, the reinforcement including a laterally-extending portion adjacent a respective laterally-extending flange of the channel member and a vertical portion adjacent the web portion of the channel member, the laterally-extending portion of the reinforcement being interconnected with the vertical portion of the reinforcement through a bend portion of the reinforcement, and the reinforcement having a pair of opposite end portions, each of the end portions of the reinforcement being located between the mid-length portion of the beam structure and a respective end of the container well, and the vertical portion of the reinforcement including an extreme end of the reinforcement, the extreme end being fastened to the web of the channel member and extending longitudinally further from the mid-length portion of the beam structure than does any part of the laterally-extending portion of the respective end portion of the reinforcement.