Gate operating mechanism for a hopper car

For a railway car including a hopper having a bottom bulk discharge opening and sides having inwardly sloping bottom walls, a door assembly operatively associable with a rising trackside camming ramp, including:

• a door movable between a closed position covering said opening and an open position to one side of the opening,
• hinge means supporting the door on the hopper for pendulous movement between said open and closed positions on an axis gravitationally biasing the door to the closed position,
• a rigid arm on the door cantilevered outwardly therefrom and arresting means on upper portion of said arm, and
• a locking mechanism for locking the door in the closed position comprising a locking lever including locking means, said lever being movably connected to said arm for vertical swinging movement with respect thereto, catch means on the car engageable by said locking means for restraining the arm against dooropening swinging movement, a cam follower mounted on said locking lever engageable with the camming ramp for serially lifting the lever to a position releasing said locking means from sai catch means and thereafter liftingly engaging the said arresting means on the upper portion of said arm for raising the arm and thereby moving the door to its open position as the cam follower moves along the ramp.