Patent ID: 7156603

Claim:
A material handling and transport apparatus for railroad use comprising: a rail car loading assembly comprising: a loading machine having a handling arm; a bridge beam assembly slidably attached to the loading machine such that the bridge beam assembly can be selectively extended forward and rearward of the loading machine; wherein the rail car loading assembly is adapted to be alternately supported on top edges of sidewalls of a gondola car by the loading machine and the bridge beam assembly such that the bridge beam assembly can be extended forward and rearward with respect to the loading machine to move the rail car loading assembly forward and rearward along top edges of sidewalls of a string of gondola cars and across gaps between the gondola cars; a deck vehicle comprising: a deck located at a deck end of the deck vehicle such that the deck vehicle can be maneuvered to position the deck adjacent to an end gondola car of the string of gondola cars; wherein the deck is located at a vertical loading position such that the bridge beam assembly can be extended onto the deck and supported on the deck to move the rail car loading assembly onto the deck and wherein the deck and rail car loading assembly can be lowered to a vehicle transport position; a trailer adapted for attachment to the deck end of the deck vehicle, the trailer comprising a trailer bed configured such that the bridge beam assembly can be extended onto the trailer bed to move the rail car loading assembly from the deck onto the trailer bed and into a trailer transport position that is lower than the vehicle transport position.