Cargill Inc.

Structural Composite Industries, Inc.

James V Springrose

Robert T Gordon

Harry A King

Oscar Weingart

Robert W Cuddihy

A filament wound railroad car including an elongated, load bearing body having walls formed of a specified fiber reinforced plastic resin composite of glass reinforcing filaments and a structural organopolymeric resin having particular characteristics.

Filament composite railroad car

A railroad car has an elongated cylindrical car body formed of thin cylindrical longitudinal walls and closed at each end by a respective end wall, a coupler at each end of the car body for coupling the car to other cars, a truck at each end of the car body, and a supporting structure mounted on each of the trucks for supporting the car body on the respective truck for transport on rails. As described, the end walls are conical and truncated, the longitudinal and end walls comprising continuously wound filaments impregnated with resin with the filaments lying in the longitudinal walls at an angle of less than 30.degree. to the longitudinal direction and extending in the end walls to the region of the truncation. Each of the supporting structures connects a coupler to beam columns at a respective end of the cylindrical walls for transmitting forces substantially horizontally from the coupler to the car body, and is connected to the respective end wall for transmitting forces substantially vertically from a truck to the end wall to support the car body, the car body being substantially self-supporting between supporting structures.

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Edina, MN, United States of America

James V Springrose