Container carrying convertible rail-highway vehicle

Abstract

A container carrying rail-highway vehicle in the form of a semitrailer chassis including an elongated center sill box extending longitudinally of the vehicle, a front box-type transverse sill attached to a forward portion of the center sill and a rear box-type transverse sill attached to a rearward portion of the center sill member. Two side beams are further provided and are attached at each end thereof to the front sill and rear sill, respectively, on either side of the center sill. The side beams are disposed from a generally higher position in the front of the vehicle to a lower level at the rear of the vehicle and are further attached to the center sill by a plurality of transverse outrigger members which extend between the center sill and each of the side beams. The vehicle is further provided with at least a pair of retractable highway wheels on a rearward lower surface of the trailer, a coupling device for coupling the trailer to a next adjacent trailer and a coupling device for coupling the trailer to a separable rail bogie on a rear undersurface of the vehicle. The center sill of the semitrailer body has a gooseneck, fish belly configuration which in combination with the side beams provides high bending stability in the gooseneck area of the center sill so that high compression and tension loads can be taken through the center sill.