Other

Edwin deS Snead

William B Snead

An apparatus for switching a railroad car wheel from a first rail to a second rail including a base and a ramp member. The ramp member is hingedly connected to the base. The ramp member extends from the first rail to the second rail. The ramp member has a first angled portion at one end and a second angled portion at another end. The ramp member has a generally flat surface between the angled portions and has a thickness of greater than one and one-half inches. A frame extends upwardly from the base so as to support a hinge. The hinge extends in parallel relation to the base and to the ramp member. The ramp member is connected to the hinge by a plurality of struts. A lever-receiving receptacle is fastened to one of the struts so as to move in relation to the movement of the ramp member.

Railway frog system

A gondola car for use with a train of like gondola cars that comprises a body having a floor and two sidewalls, a bridge extension connected to the floor and extending outwardly beyond the two sidewalls, a wall transition member of arcuate shape extending beyond the end of one of the sidewalls, and a pivotal connector positioned adjacent the bridge extension for enabling pivotal movement between the gondola car and an adjacent gondola car. The wall transition member is fastened to one of the sidewalls and is in sliding rotational relation to a arcuate-shaped guide section on an adjacent gondola car. The bridge extension has a curved edge affixed to the bottom edge of the wall transition member. The curved edge has a radius of curvature generally equal to the radius of curvature of the arcuate-shaped of the wall transition member. The floor has a plurality of apertures for receiving a fixed cleat from a tractor/shovel. The bridge extension has a configuration so as to overlap the floor of an adjacent gondola car.

Continuous gondola car

A hopper for a railroad car having a pair of side hopper walls, a pair of end hopper walls, a gate system positioned at a hopper discharge opening, and a crossmember affixed at one end to one of the side hopper walls and affixed at another end to another of the side hopper walls. This crossmember is positioned generally halfway between the end hopper walls. A first support bar is affixed to the side walls in an area between the crossmember and one of the end walls. A second support bar is affixed to the side walls in an area between the crossmember and the other of the end walls. The gate system is a pair of clamshell-type gates that are pivotable about axes parallel to the longitudinal axis of the hopper car. A strut is pivotally mounted to the crossmember and extends downwardly therefrom. This first strut is affixed at one end to one of the clamshell-type gates. A second strut is also pivotally mounted to the crossmember and extends downwardly so as to be affixed to the second clamshell-type gate. The first and second struts extend outwardly above the pivotal connection with the crossmember. The first and second struts define an acute angle therebetween. Another support bar is affixed to the hopper side walls directly beneath the crossmember and adjacent to the hopper discharge opening.

Hopper construction

A material transport system having a material container for receiving material to be transported, motive members connected to the material container for allowing the material container to move from one place to another, and an unloader device positioned within the material container for unloading material therefrom. The material container has a generally flat floor extending between a pair of sidewalls. The unloader includes a tractor extending between the sidewalls of the material container and a shovel articulated to the tractor. The shovel has a size suitable for fitting between the sidewalls of the material container. The material container comprises a plurality of railroad cars having a generally flat roadway extending throughout the plurality of railroad cars. Each of the railroad cars is articulated to an adjacent car. The floor comprises a series of floor segments overlapping each other in the same direction. The sidewalls include an overlapping portion held in torsional engagement against an adjacent sidewall. The motive members include railroad trucks attached at the articulated connection of adjacent pairs of railroad cars. A plurality of slots are formed transversely in the floor for engaging the grousers of the tractor.

System for the transport of bulk commodities

The helicopter pad for use on trains comprising a flat surface having an area suitable for the receipt of helicopter skids, a plurality of structural members connected to the flat surface and to the frame of a railroad car, and a ladder extending from the flat surface to the frame of the railroad car. The ladder serves to provide access to the flat surface. The flat surface has a strength suitable for supporting the weight of the helicopter. The flat surface is of high friction material. The railroad car is a transfer car for a unit train having an underlying conveyor system. The flat surface is positioned above a lift portion of the conveyor system on the transfer car. An extensible portion of this flat surface increases the area of the flat surface. This extensible portion is selectively actuable. The flat surface is free of protrusions extending thereabove.

Helicopter pad for trains

A unit train consists of a plurality of hopper cars and a multi-purpose trailer car. The hopper cars have one or more hoppers each having a bottom discharge opening and a controller gate. The hopper cars are constructed with load bearing side sills to provide an unobstructed longitudinal channel immediately above the wheel axles and between the wheels. An endless belt conveyor traverses the length of the train including a portion of the trailer car within those car channels, and underlies the hopper discharge gates so that the hoppers may be emptied sequentially onto the train conveyor to unload the entire train. The trailer car includes a lift portion of the train conveyor to elevate the material for discharge onto a transfer conveyor carried on the trailer car. The elongated transfer conveyor is pivotally mounted at the receiving end to be swung laterally to discharge the material received from the train conveyor at some selected point relative to the trailer car. The trailer car may include the power system and control systems for operating the conveyors and the hopper gates. The train is self-unloading by depositing the train load in a windrow alongside the track while the train is moving slowly. For unloading the train in a stationary position, the transfer conveyor may deposit the material onto a portable stacking conveyor which may then deposit the entire train load in one or more stockpiles located some distance from the track.

Low-center-of-gravity self-unloading train for bulk commodities

A loader includes a lift arm assembly, raised by hydraulic lift cylinders and carrying a load bucket. Alignment members mounted respectively on the loader frame and lift arm assembly, and visible to the loader operator, identify the weigh position of the lift arm assembly. A pressure to voltage transducer is mounted on one lift cylinder, and is connected in a bridge circuit producing a DC voltage output. The bridge circuit output signal, proportional to the bucket load, is fed to an amplifier, whose output is passed to an analog-to-frequency converter producing pulses at a frequency proportional to the bucket load. An electronic clock allows the converter output pulses to pass through an AND gate to a bucket counter which displays the bucket load, and is automatically reset to zero. The converter pulses are passed to an accumulator counter through a second AND gate. The accumulator counter accumulates the weight of several bucket loads which are loaded onto a transport vehicle; and is reset manually after the vehicle is loaded. The method includes the steps: detecting the instantaneous pressure in the hydraulic lift cylinder; converting that instantaneous pressure into an electric analog signal proportional to the instantaneous pressure; adjusting that analog signal to eliminate the component which represents the weight of the empty bucket; amplifying the adjusted analog signal; converting the adjusted analog signal to a frequency signal comprising pulses generated at a frequency proportional to the adjusted analog signal; and passing the frequency signal to a pulse counter, through controlled gate means for counting and displaying pulses representing the instantaneous bucket load. The same pulses are passed to a second counter through the same control gate and through an additional control gate to accumulate pulses representative of successive bucket loads.

Load weighing and accumulating system and method

For measuring the load output of a lifting conveyor powered by a three-phase motor, electric measuring apparatus is coupled to the motor power supply conductors by voltage take-off leads and current transformers. Voltage and current, proportional respectively to motor supply voltage and current, are fed to a solid state watt transducer, which produces a millivolt output proportional to the total power consumption of the motor. The transducer output signal is fed to a solid state transmitter, which amplifies the signal, and which includes a zero output adjustment for producing a zero output for a selected input proportional to the motor load driving an unloaded conveyor. The transmitter output is fed to a solid state integrator through an intervening potentiometer which is adjusted to calibrate the apparatus to the length and lift of the conveyor. The integrator produces voltage pulses representative of a selected ton fraction, and it triggers a counter which records cumulative tonnage conveyed. In alternative form the apparatus includes a nonlinear amplifier which modifies the transducer output signal to compensate for the nonlinear relationship between mechanical power output and electrical power input of the motor.

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Georgetown, TX, United States of America

Edwin deS Snead