Patent ID: 8051779

Claim:
A railcar system, comprising: a railcar having a longitudinal axis; and a movable cover including: a plurality of linear bearing devices; and at least one slidable hatch connected to said plurality of linear bearing devices, said slidable hatch being movable substantially normal to said longitudinal axis, said at least one slidable hatch includes a first slidable hatch and a second slidable hatch that are configured to slide away from each other to reveal an opening in said cover and toward each other to close the opening in said cover, said first slidable hatch and said second slidable hatch each have an upwardly extending protrusion; an opening device configured to be positioned between said protrusions to open said first slidable hatch and said second slidable hatch as said railcar system moves relative to said opening device; and a closing device configured to contact said protrusions to close said first slidable hatch and said second slidable hatch as said railcar system moves relative to said closing device.