Swiss Aluminium Ltd.

Erich Neumeier

Jurg Zehnder

Very high demands are made on gondola cars which are emptied on rotating/tilting unloading devices. Such cars must provide long service lives even under these very rough conditions, and they should allow simple loading and unloading via a rotating/tilting device. In accordance with the instant disclosure, the high strength of the gondola car body is maintained in a simple manner in that the flooring sheets of the body are set into grooves in the longitudinal center sill, and into a groove in each inside of the lower side sills, and then welded to the said sills. Also the walls of the car may be set in different ways, as by setting them into a groove in the upper side of the lower side sills and into a groove in the lower side of the upper side sill, and then welded to the said side sills.

Gondola car underframe

The stops of a draft gear housing of a rail car central coupler have to meet relatively large tractive and compressive forces in service. Up to now the expense involved in the fastening of such stops has been very great. In many cases, where the stops or bearings were joined to the center or stub sill, cracks formed and/or the sill became deformed. This incurs considerable expense for repairs and means a loss of service while the vehicle is being repaired. In accordance with the instant disclosure, to avoid such problems the center or stub sill of the rail car is now made such that the front stop and the rear stop are integral parts of the sill.

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Zurich, Switzerland

Erich Neumeier