Patent ID: 7410037

Claim:
A spare brake beam for linking a pair of brake head subassemblies, the spare brake beam for installation in a boogie of a railway car having pocket guides for slidably receiving end extensions of a brake beam and opposed end extensions, said spare brake beam comprising: an elongated main body with a first end and a second end, at least one interlocking member coupled at an end of the main body, each interlocking member comprising a solid planar metal piece, a brake beam coupling section, and an end extension coupling section, the end extension coupling section being located opposite to the brake beam coupling section, the end extension coupling section including i) a coupling edge having an irregular shape, ii) a bore in a central portion thereof, and iii) a lesser width than a width of the brake beam coupling section; and at least one end extension having a pocket guide coupling member opposite an interlocking member coupling section, each interlocking member coupling section comprising a clasp formed by two quadrangular planar metallic pieces and an interlocking member coupling edge receiving section located between the two quadrangular planar metallic pieces, each quadrangular planar metallic piece including a bore in a central portion thereof, the interlocking member coupling edge receiving section having an opposed shape of the irregular shape of the coupling edge receiving section, wherein, each interlocking member is received and retained between the two quadrangular planar metallic pieces of a corresponding end extension with the coupling edge of the interlocking member engaged with the interlocking member coupling edge receiving section of the interlocking member coupling section of the corresponding end extension.