US 5,183,369 AGranted

Access and support apparatus for loading and unloading gondola cars

OwnerBobby G. Warren, Jr., James D. Davisinventors

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Abstract

An access and support apparatus for loading and unloading gondola railroad cars using a crane-type crawler, which system includes a trailer-mounted ramp for disposition in close proximity to a gondola railroad car and multiple pallets adapted for spanning the top width of the gondola railroad car and supporting the crane-type crawler. The crane-type crawler is unloaded from the trailer and traverses the ramp to the pallets. In a first preferred embodiment the pallets are characterized by fixed pallets having no adjustable feature. In a second preferred embodiment the pallets are adjustable to accommodate a characteristic bulge in the center of the gondola railroad cars for a higher degree of safety. The pallets are typically sequentially moved from the rear to the front of the crane-type crawler as the crawler loads or unloads the gondola railroad cars and traverses the length of the cars.

Claims6

Dependent claims

In an open top gondola railroad car and a crane-type crawler having parallel tracks and an electromagnet for unloading the open top gondola railroad car, the improvement comprising an adjustable pallet for positioning on the top edges of upwardly-extending sides defining the open top of the gondola railroad car and supporting the crane-type crawler, said adjustable pallet comprising a frame characterized by a pair of spaced spanning members;

at least two-cross members connecting said spanning members in spaced relationship;
a flat top plate spanning said frame substantially equidistant form the ends of said spanning members for supporting the crane-type crawler;
a pair of guides upward-standing from said top plate in spaced relationship for guiding the tracks of the crane-type crawler over said adjustable pallet and a web radius provided in said guides for accommodating said electromagnet;
and adjusting means carried by said frame for adjustably contacting the sides of the gondola railroad car and compensation for irregularities due to bulging of the sides of the gondola railroad car.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.