Thrall Car Manufacturing Company

Joseph W Lam

James P Klag

William H Harris

Eugene T Fehrenbach

A span bolster, for carrying a heavy load of a railroad car body and distributing the load to two four wheel two axle railroad bogies or trucks, is fabricated from steel plate and has top and bottom cover plates, top and bottom reinforcement doubler plates, longitudinal spaced apart webs separating the cover plates, body bolsters at each end and a central truck bolster, all formed of metal plate joined together by welding with all critical welds being full penetration welds, and with the span bolster being stress relieved after fabrication.

Span bolster assembly

A freight carrying railroad car including a body supported at each end by wheel-containing trucks; the body having a vertical center beam extending the length of the car between bulkheads at each end of the car; the center beam having a center sill, a top sill parallel to and spaced above the center sill, and a plurality of vertical spaced apart columns connected at their lower ends to the center sill and at their upper ends to the top sill; a vertical plate at each end of the car extending from the center sill to the top sill, and from the respective bulkhead at that end inwardly along the center sill; each vertical plate being joined to the center sill, top sill, bulkhead and a plurality of said columns such that opposed facing ends of said vertical plates are spaced from each other a distance of at least about 60% of the length of said car between the bulkheads; and between the facing end of each of the vertical plates and the car length center, at least one bracing bar extending diagonally downwardly, toward the car length center, from the top sill to the center sill, so that when the car is subjected to impact loads the bars on one side of the car center are placed in tension and the bars on the other side of the car center are placed in compression.

Lightweight center beam railroad car

A freight carrying railroad car including a body supported at each end by wheel-containing trucks; the body having a vertical center beam extending the length of the car between bulkheads at each end of the car; the center beam having a center sill, a top sill parallel to and spaced above the center sill, and a plurality of vertical spaced apart columns connected at their lower ends to the center sill and at their upper ends to the top sill; a vertical plate at each end of the car extending from the center sill to the top sill, and from the respective bulkhead at that end inwardly along the center sill, each vertical plate being joined to the center sill, top sill, bulkhead and a plurality of said columns such that opposed facing ends of said vertical plates are spaced from each other a distance of at least about 60% of the length of said car between the bulkheads; and between the facing end of each of the vertical plates and the car length center, at least one bracing bar extending diagonally downwardly, toward the car length center, from the top sill to the center sill, so that when the car is subjected to impact loads the bars on one side of the car center are placed in tension and the bars on the other side of the car center are placed in compression.

Growing community of inventors

Chicago, IL, United States of America

Joseph W Lam