Railcar Ballast Distributing Apparatus

A railcar ballast distributing apparatus, comprising:

• (a) a railcar comprising:
• a first side, a second side, a middle underside, at least one hopper ballast release and a center sill;
• (b) a plow mechanism operatively attaching to a main bracket assembly attaching to the center sill of the middle underside, and being powered by a hydraulic system;
• (c) the ballast railcar traveling in a direction of travel on a pair of railroad rails and containing ballast;
• (d) the plow mechanism comprising:
• a spring box assembly mechanism operating a single plow blade assembly comprising:
• a pair of articulating and independently movable plow blades;
• (e) the pair of plow blades being vertically and independently adaptable during contact against the pair of railroad rails and having a transport mode span and a separate deployed mode span;
• (f) the spring box assembly mechanism vertically deploying and retracting the pair of plow blades, and providing a pair of pivot points allowing the pair of plow blades to swingingly and obliquely orient to the direction of travel of the railcar;
• (g) the pair of plow blades automatically and differentially changing orientation when operatively and frictionally contacting the pair of railroad rails according to the direction of travel of the ballast railcar;
• (h) the pair of plow blades increasing to the deployed mode span during deployment of the pair of plow blades and decreasing to the transport mode span during retraction of the pair of plow blades;
• (i) the spring box assembly mechanism comprising:
• a spring-loaded safety locking latch mechanism automatically engaging a spring box side plate when the plow mechanism is vertically retracted during the ballast railcar relocating along the pair of railroad rails, and a pivot tube subassembly housing a pressure controlling float spring;
• (j) the hydraulic system attaching to the plow mechanism and governing any vertical movement of the spring box assembly mechanism;
• (k) the hydraulic system compressing the float spring, absorbing the vertical movement, and maintaining the pair of plow blades in frictional contact with the pair of railroad rails;
• and
• (l) whereby the railcar ballast distributing apparatus distributes and levels the ballast in front of and between the railroad rails as the ballast railcar moves in the direction of travel along the railroad rails.