Railroad cars for transporting cylindrical objects transversely with multi-piece movable cover for exposing entire cargo area

A railroad car for transporting at least one cylindrical object with its axis horizontal and transverse to the direction of travel of the car, said car comprising:

• A. at least front and rear wheel trucks;
• B. a body comprising a front stub draft sill supported on said front wheel truck, a rear stub draft sill supported on said rear wheel truck, said stub draft sills having upper extremities defining a first horizontal plane, at least one lower longitudinal member running beneath the center of said cargo bed and below the level of said stub draft sills, said lower longitudinal member being disposed in a second horizontal plane below said first horizontal plane for accepting at least a portion of the longitudinal loads between said front stub draft sill and said rear stub draft sill, and a cargo bed between said draft sills;
• and
• C. at least one pair of generally planar, longitudinally spaced, facing front and rear cylindrical object support members, each inclined about a horizontal and transverse axis toward the other, each said pair defining a trough for receiving and supporting a cylindrical object with its axis horizontally and transversely oriented, said trough being adapted to support a cylindrical object so that at least a portion of the object projects below said first horizontal plane when loaded, thereby lowering the center of gravity of said car when loaded,
• D. wherein a first said front cylindrical object support member is adjacent to said front stub draft sill, a last said rear cylindrical object support member is adjacent to said rear stub draft sill, and
• E. wherein each of said first and last cylindrical object support members has an outboard upper edge secured to the adjacent stub draft sill and an inboard lower edge secured to said lower longitudinal member to transmit and receive longitudinal loads obliquely between said draft sills and said lower longitudinal member.

A telescoping cover assembly for a railroad car having left and right transversely spaced edges, front and rear ends, and a cargo bed disposed between the ends and between the edges, the cargo bed comprising a front end portion and a rear end portion, said cover assembly comprising:

• A. left and right longitudinal track means running parallel to the edges of the car;
• B. a front cover segment carried on said track means, said front cover segment being adapted to bridge the cargo bed between the track means and to be movable between an inboard position for covering the front end portion of the cargo bed and an outboard position for exposing the front end portion of the cargo bed;
• and
• C. a rear cover segment carried on said track means and adapted to bridge the cargo bed between the track means and to be movable between an inboard position for covering the rear end portion of the cargo bed and an outboard position for exposing the rear end portion of the cargo bed;
• whereby said cover assembly is adapted to expose substantially the entire cargo bed at once when said front and rear cover segments are in their outboard positions and to cover substantially the entire cargo bed at once when said front and rear cover segments are in their inboard positions.

A telescoping cover assembly for a railroad car having left and right horizontally and transversely spaced edges, front and rear ends, and a cargo bed disposed between the ends and between the edges, the cargo bed comprising a front portion and a rear portion, said cover assembly comprising:

• A. left and right longitudinal track means running parallel to the edges of the car;
• B. a front cover segment carried on said track means, said front cover segment being adapted to bridge the cargo bed between the track means and to be movable between an inboard position for covering the front portion of the cargo bed and an outboard position for exposing the front portion of the cargo bed;
• and
• C. a rear cover segment carried on said track means and adapted to bridge the cargo bed between the track means and to be movable between an inboard position for covering the rear portion of the cargo bed and an outboard position for exposing the rear portion of the cargo bed;
• wherein each of said front and rear cover segments has an upper wall bridging between said left and right track means and having inboard and outboard edges and an outer wall substantially closing the area bounded by each said outboard edge;
• whereby said cover assembly is adapted to expose substantially the entire cargo bed at once when said front and rear cover segments are in their outboard positions and to cover substantially the entire cargo bed at once when said front and rear cover segments are in their inboard positions.

A telescoping cover assembly for a railroad car having left and right transversely spaced edges, front and rear ends, and a cargo bed disposed between the ends and between the edges, the cargo bed comprising a front portion, a rear portion, and a center portion, said cover assembly comprising:

• A. left and right longitudinal track means running parallel to the edges of the car;
• B. a front cover segment carried on said track means, said front cover segment being adapted to bridge the cargo bed between the track means and to be movable between an inboard position for covering the front portion of the cargo bed and an outboard position forward of said inboard position for exposing the front portion of the cargo bed;
• and
• C. a rear cover segment carried on said track means and adapted to bridge the cargo bed between the track means and to be movable between an inboard position for covering the rear portion of the cargo bed and an outboard position behind the inboard position of said rear cover segment for exposing the rear portion of the cargo bed;
• whereby said cover assembly is adapted to expose substantially the entire cargo bed at once when said cover segments are in their outboard positions and to cover substantially the entire cargo bed at once when said cover segments are in their inboard positions.