US2949865A

US2949865A - Systems of freight transportation

Info

Publication number: US2949865A
Application number: US747779A
Authority: US
Inventors: Grandpre Etienne De
Original assignee: General American Transportation Corp
Current assignee: General American Transportation Corp
Priority date: 1954-11-30
Filing date: 1958-07-10
Publication date: 1960-08-23
Anticipated expiration: 1977-08-23
Also published as: NL95903C; FR1114202A; NL197236A; DE1081380B; FR67517E; BE537791A; CH330707A; GB775151A; NL255225A; NL106366C

Description

Aug. 23, 1960 E. DE GRANDPRE SYSTEMS OF' FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION Filed July 1o, 195s Aug. 23, 1960 E. DE GRANDPRE 2,949,865

SYSTEMS OF' FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 10, 1958 Aug. 23, 1960 E. DE GRANDPRE 2,949,865 SYSTEMS oF FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION Filed July 10, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 www? Z1@ lll Mw @m4 v7-ra Aff/s Aug 23, 1950 E. DE GRANDPRE 2,949,865

SYSTEMS OF FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION Filed July l0, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 E. DE GRANDPRE SYSTEMS OF FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION Aug. 23, 1960 Filed July 1o, 195e INVENTOR. QW a, W40 BY /Jm' n, www, 65W Z j arm/P/vfys gli SYSTEMS F FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION Etienne de Grandpre, Paris, France, assignor, by mesne assignments, to General American Transportation Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of New York The present invention relates to systems of freight transportation, and more particularly to an improved railway unit including a railway car and one or more freight containers mounted thereon. This application comprises a continuation-in-part of the copending application `of Etienne `de Grandpre, Serial No. 499,461, iled April 5, 1955, now abandoned.

In the copending application of Etienne de Grandpre, Serial No. 464,535, tiled October 25, 1954, now abandoned, there is described a rail-androad transportation system including railway skeleton cars, which are characterized by the absence of bodies, and having only narrow frames lying wholly between the planes of the inner sides of the wheels of their running gears. The upper side edges of the frames serve as an outwardly facing track of narrow gauge for supporting road vehicles or other rolling freight-carrying bodies' or containers. The road vehicles have, in addition to their road wheels, inwardly facing flanged wheels mounted between the planes of the inner surfaces of their road wheels and supported on the outwardly facing track provided by the frames of the railway cars.

The railway unit of the present invention involves these features of the transportation system of application Serial No. 464,535, and incorporates an improved arrangement for restraining fore-and-aft movements, as well as upand-down movements, of the rolling freight-carrying bodies or containers mounted on the railway cars.

In accordance with the present invention, a road vehicle of the type known as a semi-trailer is held against fore and aft movement by means engaging only a part of its running gear such as its rear axle or axles, while llanged wheels mounted on the so-called landing gear, which normally carries the dolly wheels, are held against upward movement and at the same time are free to move forwardly `and rearwardly on the tracks of the railway car. By this arrangement, the forward and rearward stresses between the road vehicle and the railway car, which occur when the railway car starts, speeds' up, slows down or stops, are received on the running gear of the trailer which is normally of strong construction, while the wheels mounted on the landing gear which is ordinarily of light construction are free from such stresses. This has the advantage of facilitating the use in my rail-and-road transportation `system of ordinary semi-trailers. The flanged wheels required for mounting semi-trailers on the railway cars may be mounted on the ordinary rear axles and landing gears of such trailers, since the trailers are secured in position on a railway car without bringing any undue strains on any of their parts.

To effect these improvements in accordance with my invention, in its most desirable form, the railway car is provided within its narrow frame with longitudinally movable elements each attached to a cushioning device or shock absorber and each provided with a hook or other attachment means capable of engaging the rear axle of a semi-trailer mounted on the car or some part attached to 2,949,855 Patented Ang. 23, 1950 the rear axle; the semi-trailer has on its rear axle an easily att-ached `small truck having four flanged wheels and containing a recess for receiving the hook, and at its front end anged wheels secured on its landing gear which normally carries the dolly wheels; and means for holding down anged wheels on the landing gear of the semi-trailer without restraining lengthwise movements thereof are provided.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a railway car of the character noted, an improved combination tie-down and :shock-absorber mechanism ofthe charact-er described, which mechanism renders the railway car of general util-ity with respect to the transporting thereby all types of freight-carrying containers, including various road vehicles', `as well as less-than-carload type containers, etc.

`Other features and advantages of my present invention will be brought out in connection with a detailed description of a railway unit embodying the invention and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a partial side view of a railway unit embodying my invention showing a part of a railway car and a semi-trailer mounted thereon for rail transportation;

Fig. 2 is an eniarged plan view of the mounting of the rear axles of the trailer on the railway car, sectioned on a horizontal plane below the rear axles of the semi-trailer and indicated by the line 242 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the mounting of the rear axles of the trailer, sectioned on the longitudinal axis of the railway car;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged axial section of one of the cushioning devices or shock absorbers in the frame of the railway car;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section of one of the cushioning devices taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse section of the railway unit taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. l and showing the means for securing the rear axle of the trailer to the railway vehicle;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged partial transverse section of the unJit taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. l and showing the mounting of the front Wheels of the semi-trailer;

Fig. 8 is a partial side view sectioned on the line S-S of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary side View similar to the right-hand portion of Fig. 7 showing the modification of the front wheels and a modified means for holding them down on the track on the railway car;

Fig. l0 is a vertical section on the line 10-10 of Fig. 9;

Fig. ll is a fragmentary horizontal View `showing the holding means of Figs. 9 and l0 in inoperative position;

Figs. l2 `and 13 `are fragmentary transverse sections similar to Fig. 9 showing modifications;

Fig. 14 is a transverse section of the railway unit similar to Fig. 6, `showing modified means for mounting the rear axle of the trailer on the railway car; and

Fig. l5 is an enlarged longitudinal section taken on the line 15-15 of Fig. 14.

Referring now to Figs. l, 2 and 6 of the drawings, the system of freight transportation there illustrated, and embodying the features of the present invention, essentially comprises a railway skeleton car lil and one or more rolling freight carriers 30, each being provided with a freight-carrying body or container, and each being in the form of a road vehicle, and specifically in the form of a semi-trailer. In the arrangement, the railway car 16 Canries two of the freight carriers 3i? on the respective identical ends thereof; whereby in Fig. l only one end of the railway car 16 `and the carried freight carrier Siiy are shown.

The railway car `1G has a long narrow box-shaped frame or beam 11 consisting of two long I-beams 12 secured together by cross-braces -13 in the form of short I-bearns. The ends of the frame of the car are supported on the bolsters 14 of four-wheeled trucks 15 of usual construction. The frame 11 of the car lies wholly inside the planes of the inner surfaces of the wheels of the running gear (Fig. 6) and the upper outer anges 16 of the long l-beams 12 provide the rails of a narrow gauge track for supporting inwardly facing flanged wheels.

The semi-trailer 30 has the usual rear axle or rear axles 31 securely fastened to its body 32 through spring suspensions 33 (Figs. yl, 3). The front end of the trailer has the usual landing gear 34 including two telescoped legs 35 carrying at their lower ends small dolly wheels 36 (Fig. 7). The telescoped legs 3S are operated by manually controlled hydraulic or mechanical mechanism for raising or lowering the dolly wheels 36 so that they may support the front end of the trailer when it is detached from a tractor and may be drawn up out of the way when the semi-trailer is attached to a tractor in operating on a road.

To provide for supporting the rear end of the trailer on the railway car, a small truck 40 with four inwardly facing flanged wheels 41 is secured to each rear axle 31 of the trailer. Each truck 40 has a frame consisting of outer `and

inner side plates

42, 43 secured together by cross-pieces 44. In this frame `are journalled two shafts 45 on which the inwardly facing flanged wheels 41 are mounted (Figs, 2, 3, 6).

The

side plates

42, 43 of the frame of each truck 40 contain recesses 46 for receiving the rear axle 31 of the trailer, and the truck is secured to the axle by a plate 47 bolted to the side plates and extending across the top of the recess 46 (Figs. 3, 6).

It will be seen at once that the flanged wheels 41 may be easily mounted on an existing trailer by merely attaching the side plates of the truck 40 tothe rear axle of the trailer between its road wheels. It should be noted also that, as there are at each side of the vehicle two hanged wheels located respectively in front of and behind the vehicle axle, there are no torsional strains between the side plates of the truck 40 and the axle 31. This involves an important advantage over the use of a single flanged wheel secured in a frame bolted to the rear axle at each side of the vehicle, as shown in Figs. l and 3 of my aforesaid application Serial No. 464,535, as in that case the attachment had to be secured to the trailer axle firmly enough vto resist torque strains which might be very considerable if the wheel were located slightly in front of or behind the axle. It should be noted that by eliminating the portions of the cross-braces 44 and the cross-axles 45 which lie between the inner side plates 43 of the truck 40, two separate two-wheel trucks could be provided each of which could be bolted to the rear axle of the trailer. This arrangement also would avoid any torque strains on the attachment to the axle.

This modified arrangement is shown in Figs. 14 and 15 in which two two-wheel trucks 40 have frames 42 secured to the trailer axle 31 by U-bolts 47 embracing the axle. Each truck 40' has two tracking flanged wheels 41 located respectively in front of and behind the axle 31. The frame of each truck 40 is provided with a bar or latch keeper 49 which may be engaged by one of the hooks or latches 28.

To resist and cushion longitudinal movement of the trailer on the railway car, the railway car is provided with longitudinally movable elements 18 which, in the form shown, consist of longitudinal shafts having sliding bearings 19 in the cross-pieces 13 of the frame of the railway car (Figs. 3, 6).

Each shaft 18 is attached at one or both of its ends to a cushioning device or shock absorber 2t) secured inthe frame of the railway car (Figs. 3, 4, The cushioning devices act to cushion longitudinal movements in both directions. In the form shown, each of them con- -tains a series of rubber annuli 21 mounted on discs 22 in a cylinder 23. When the shaft 18 is urged towards the right in Fig. 4, a metal disc 24 resting against -a nut 25 at the end of the shaft 18 compresses the rubber elements against a disc 26 slidably mounted on the shaft 1S. When the shaft 18 is urged towards the left in Fig. 4, the disc 26 is moved to the left by lengagement with a shoulder 27 on the shaft and compresses the rubber elements against the disc 24 which is held against the end of the cylinder 23 las the -nut 25 moves away from it.

To secure the longitudinally movable shafts to the rear axle of the trailer, each shaft is provided with one or more hooks or latches 28 which, when turned outwardly, pass through recesses 48, the defining margins of which function as latch keepers, said recesses being located in the inner side plates `43 of the truck l40 and engage one of the cross-pieces 44 of the truck (Figs. 3 tand 6).

The hooks 28 may ybe turned between an inner position in which they are free from the truck and their outer position shown in Fig. 6 in which they engage the truck 40, by rotating the longitudinal shaft 18 on which the hooks are mounted. Such turning is secured by means of a transverse actuating shaft 29 journalled in the frame of the railway ear and carrying worms 29a engaging gears 29b (Fig. 6) which are splined on the shafts 18 to avoid interference with longitudinal movement of the shafts, as shown in Fig. 3. Handles 29C for turning the actuating shaft 29 4are most desirably provided at e-ach side of the railway oar.

It will be understood that when the semi-trailer is being moved along the track 16 of the railway car, the hooks 2S are turned inward so that they do not interfere with movements of the trucks 40. When the semitrailer has been positioned for transportation, one or the other of the two recesses 4S in the inner side walls of the trucks 40 are aligned with the hooks 28, and one of the handles 29C is then operated to -turn the 4hooks outwardly so that they engage the truck 40. The hooks then serve to hold the flanged wheels of the truck 40 down against the track 16 on the railway car and serve also -to connect the rear axle of the trailer through the truck 40 -to the longitudinal movable shafts 18 of the railway car so that forward and backward stresses between the trailer and the railway car are passed through the rear axles of the trailer and resisted and cushioned by the cushioning devices 20.

It should be noted that the wheels 41 mounted on the

side plates

42 and 43 are located well above the lower tangents of the road wheels of the 4trailer so that they do not interfere with operation of the trailer on the road.

To provide for supporting the front end of the trailer on the railway car, the landing gear 34 of the trailer is provided with a pair of inwardly facing flanged wheels S0. If lthe trailer is provided with a shaft 51 extending between the legs 35 and carrying the dolly wheels 36, the flanged wheels may be mounted directly on this shaft as shown in Fig. 7. If, on the other hand, the dolly wheels 36 at each side of the trailer are mounted on a separate short shaft journalled in one of the legs 35, these short shafts are removed and replaced by the shaft 51 journalled in both legs 35 and carrying both the dolly wheels 36 and the flanged wheels 50.

The gauge of the pair o-f flanged wheels 50 must, of course, correspond to the gauge of the track 16 on the railway car. If the separation of the legs 35 of the landing gear is not suicient to permit mounting the lianged wheels as shown in Fig. 7, modified arrangements may be used. Thus as Shown in Figs. 9 and 13, the inner oneV of each pair of dolly wheels 36 may be replaced by a enough to serve as a dolly wheel.

t? as stitute an ordinary flanged wheel for one of the dolly` wheels 36 as shown in Fig. 12.

To hold the wheels 50 down against the track 16 while leaving them free to move along the track, a detachable hold-down device having a sliding engagement with the track or with some part of the frame of the railway car is provided. The detachable hold-down -device may take any one of a number of different forms:

In Figs. 7 and 8, the hold-down device includes a slide 54 in a guide or way 55 on the vertical outer face of one of .the I-beams 12 forming part of the frame of the railway car. The shaft 51 is detachably secured to the slide 54 by a link 56 which may be bolted to a collar 57 on :the shaft 51.

In the form shown in Figs. 9, 10-andf1l a slottedy `guide 55 is secured on the upper surface of the upper flange of one of the I-beams 12. A slide ftV in this guide carries a catch 58 which -may be secured yaround the axle 51.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 12`, the slide 54, mounted as in Fig. 7, has its link 56 detachably secured rto `a tab 59 at the lower end of a leg 35 instead of to a collar on the shaft 51.

1n Fig. 13, a guide 55', like that shown in Fig. 9, i s mounted on the vertical part of one of the I-beams and the slide 54' is connected to the axle 51 by a rod 60 having a catch 61 in its outer end.

Recapitulating: in the -railway car 10, the longitudinally extending box-shaped yframe or beam 11, consisting of the two l-beams 12, interconnects the trucks illustrated and comprises .the only draft connection therebetween; and the beam 11 is substantially narrower than the trucks, so that the sides of the beam 11 are disposed well inwardly with respect to the adjacent sides of the trucks, and so lthat the rails 16 of the narrow gauge track, cooperating with the inwardly facing flanged rollers 41 and 5f), are disposed well inwardly with respect to the adjacent outwardly facing flanged rail wheels l15 carried by Ithe trucks illustrated. Of course, a road bed carries the rails of the main railway track that supports the large wheels 1S, so that thesewheels 15 are referred to as the main rail wheels. Now the box-shaped beam 11 of the railway car 111 provides the rails 16 of the track that supports the small wheels 41 and 5f), whereby it is convenient to refer to this track `as the auxiliary track `and to refer to these

wheels

41 and 50 as rollers The main rail wheels 15 are flanged at the inner edges thereof, and are commonly described as being outwardly facing flanged wheels. Since the

rollers

41 and 50 are flanged at the outer edge thereof, it is logical to describe them as being inwardly -facing anged rollers. Accordingly, in the appended claims, the expression inwardly facing flanged rollers simply means that the rollers carry flanges on the `outer edges thereof so that the rollers face inwardly, and thus face oppositely from that of the main rail wheels.

In view of the foregoing, it is apparent that there has been provided an improved system of freight transportation involving both a railway transportation element and a highway transportation element; and furthermore, it will be appreciated Ithat while the freight carriers that have been illustrated and described are of the highway trailer type, such construction is not in any way critical, as these freight carriers may take the form of fully motorized highway trucks, or of pellets or platforms, or of containers or boxes of the less-than-carload type, etc. In any case, the rolling freight carrier, regardless of its type, will be Supported'upon the center sill of the railway car upon the rollers carried by the bottom of the freight carrier, and the freight carrier will be tied-down and restrained in its fore-and-aft rolling movements by the combination tie-down and shock-absorber mechanism. Also, in anyv case, thezhooks carriedA by this combination mechanistn will engage: cooperating structure carried by the bottomf the. freight carrier so as to facilitate the tying-` down of lthe freight carrier for the purposes previously described. Accordingly, the rolling freight carrier may be readily loaded, transported and unloaded with respect to the train of railway skelton cars in a simple and ready manner, lso as to facilitate handling thereof between two or more transportation systems of different types.

While there has been described what is` at present considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, i-t will be-understood that various modifications may be made-therein, and'it isV intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What isclaimed is:

1?. A railway unit comprising a railway car including a; longitudinally extending box-shaped beam supported at the opposite ends thereof by a pair of'trucks each carrying main track wheels, said beam being located between the planes of the inner sides of said main track wheels, a longitudinally extending auxiliary track provided by the upper side edges of said beam, a freight carrier carrying rollers on the bottom thereof and engaging said auxiliary track so as to mount said freight carrier for' fore-and-aft rolling movements upon said beam, a longitudinally movable member carried by said beam, a detachable connection between said member and said freight carrier, and a two-way cushioning element arranged in said beam and connecting said member and said beam so -as to resist and to cushion fore-and-aft rolling movements of said freight carrier upon said beam.

2. A railway unit comprising a railway car including a longitudinally extending box-shaped beam supported at the opposite ends thereof by a pair of trucks each carrying mainV track wheels, said beam being located between the planes of the inner sides of said main track wheels, aA longitudinally extending auxiliary track provided by the upper side edges of said beam, a road vehicle providedv with road wheels, rollers carried on the bottom of saidV road vehicle `and located between the planes of the inner sides of said ro-ad wheels and engaging said auxiliary track so as to mount said road vehicle for fore-andaft rolling movements upon said beam with said road wheels projecting outwardly beyond the opposite sides of said beam, a longitudinally movable member carried by said beam, a detachable connection between said member and said road vehicle, and a two-way cushioning element arranged in said beam and connecting said member and said beam so as to resist `and to cushion foreand-aft rolling movements of said road vehicle upon said beam.

3. A railway unit comprising a railway car including a longitudinally extending box-shaped beam supported at the opposite ends thereof b-y a pair of trucks each carrying main track wheels, said beam being located between the planes of the inner sides of said main track wheels, a freight carrier carrying inwardly facing flanged rollers on the bottom thereof and engaging the opposite top sides of said beam constituting a longitudinally extending and outwardly facing auxiliary track so as to mount said freight carrier for fore-and-aft rolling movements upon said beam, a longitudinally movable member carried by said beam, a detachable connection between said member and said freight carrier, and a twoway cushioning element arranged in said beam and connecting said member and said beam sov as to resist and to cushion fore-and-aft rolling movements of` said freight carrier upon said beam.

4. A railway unit comprising a railway car having a narrow frame providing an outwardly facing track at its upper side edges, a trailer having first and second inwardly facing flanged rollers respectively attached to its rear axle and to the legs of its landing gear and resting on said track, cushioning means connected between the rear axle of said trailer and the frame of said railway car to resist and cushion fore-and-aft movements of saidY trailer on said railway car, and a hold-down means eX- tending from the lower part of the landing gear of said trailer and having a sliding engagement with the frame of said railway car.

5. A railway uni-t comprising a railway car having a frame providing a longitudinally extending track, a semitrailer, a hanged-roller truck secured to the rear axle of said semi-trailer and resting on said track, anged rollers mounted on the legs of the landing gear of said semitrailer and resting on said track, a longitudinal two-way cushioning element in the frame of said railway car, a connection between said cushioning element and said truck, and a hold-down means extending from the lower part of the landing gear of said semi-trailer and having a sliding engagement with the frame of said railway ear, so that forward and rearward forces between said semitrailer and said railway car are applied to said cushioning element without strain on the landing gear of said semi-trailer.

6. A railway unit comprising a railway car having a narrow frame providing an outwardly facing track at its upper side edges, a trailer having pairs of inwardly facing flanged rollers attached to its rear axle and resting on said track, a member mounted on the outer ends of the legs of the landing gear of said trailer, a pair of inwardly facing flanged rollers mounted on said member, a hold-down means extending from the lower part of the landing gear of said trailer and having a sliding engagement with the frame of said railway car, and cushioning means connected between the rear axle of said trailer and the frame of said railway car to resist and to cushion fore-and-af-t movements of said trailer on said railway car.

7. In a railway unit comprising a railway car and a semi-trailer supported thereon, the combination of a frame on said railway car providing a track, a angedroller truck secured to the rear Aaxle of said semitrailer and resting on said track, `a longitudinally movable element on the frame of said railway car, a two-Way cushioning element connecting said longitudinally movable element to the frame of said railway car, and a detachable element connecting said longitudinally movable element on said railway car with the truck on the rear axle of said semi-trailer.

8. In a railway unit comprising a trailer mounted on a railway car, the combination of a frame on said railway car providing a track, a truck Secured to the rear axle of said trailer between its road wheels, rollers on said truck engaging said track both in front of and behind the rear axle of said trailer in order to mount saidI trailer for fore-and-aft rolling movements upon said frame, a longitudinal shaft slidably mounted in the frame of said railway car, a double-acting cushioning device fixed in the frame of said railway car and con. nected to said shaft, a hook on Said shaft, and means forl moving said hook to engage and to disengage it with said truck, whereby said device eiects cushioning of the fore-and-aft rolling movements of said trailer when said hook is in engagement with said truck.

9. In a railway unit comprising a trailer mounted on a railway car, the combination of a frame on said railway car providing a track, a truck secured to the rear axle of said trailer between its road wheels, anged rollers on said truck engaging said track both in front of and behind the rear axle of said trailer, a double-acting cushioning device fixed in the frame of said railway car, -a longitudinal shaft slidably and rotatably mounted in the frame of said railway car and connected to said cushioning device, a hook on said shaft, and means operable from either side of said railway car for rotating `said shaft to engage and to disengage said hook with said truck on the rear axle of said trailer.

l0. In a railway unit comprising a trailer mounted on a railway car, the combination of a frame on said railway car providing a track, a landing gear on said trailer including two extensible and contractible legs, a member mounted in the outer ends of said legs and extending between them, a pair of rollers mounted on said members and resting on said track, hold-down means extending from the lower part of the landing gear of said trailer and slidably engaging the frame of said railway car, means carried by the rear axle of said trailer and engaging the frame of said railway car for accommodating fore-and-aft movements of said trailer mounted upon said railway car, and cushioning means connected between the rear axle of said trailer and the frame of said railway car to resist and to cushion fore-and-aft movements of said trailer on said railway car.

-V 11. A railway car comprising an elongated frame consisting of a longitudinally extending hollow beam, a pair of trucks supporting the opposite ends of said beam and each carrying main track wheels, said beam being substantially narrower than said trucks so that the sides of said beam are disposed well inwardly with respect to said main track wheels, said beam providing a pair of longitudinally extending and laterally spaced-apart rails on the top thereof and disposed respectively adjacent to the opposite sides thereof and constituting an auxiliary track that is adapted to engage and to support cooperating rollers carried by an associated removable freight carrier so as to accommodate mounting thereof upon said beam, a longitudinally movable member carried by said beam and housed therein, a part carried by said member and adapted to be detachably connected to Ithe freight carrier mounted upon said beam, and a two-way cushioning element housed in said beam and connecting said member and said beam so as to resist and to cushion fore-and-aft rolling movements of the freight carrier mounted upon said beam and connected to said part.

12. A railway car comprising an elongated frame consisting of a longitudinally extending hollow composite beam, a pair of trucks supporting the opposite ends of said composite beam and each carrying main track wheels, said composite beam being substantially narrower than said trucks so that the sides of said composite beam are disposed well inwardly with respect to said main track wheels, said composite beam including a pair of longitudinally extending and laterally spaced-apart I-beams and a number of laterally extending and longitudinally spaced-apart cross braces interconnecting said xI-beams, said I-beams being respectively provided with top flanges that constitute the rails of a longitudinally extending 4auxiliary track provided on the top of said composite beam that is adapted to engage and to support cooperating rollers carried by an associated removable freight carrier so as to accommodate mounting thereof upon said composite beam, `a longitudinally movable member carried by said composite beam and housed therein, a part carried by said member and adapted to be detachably connected to the freight carrier mounted upon said composite beam, and a two-way cushioning element housed in said composite beam and connecting said member `and said composite beam so as to resist and ito cushion fore-and-aft rolling movements of the freight carrier mounted upon said composite beam and connected to said part.

13. A railway car for transporting freight carriers and comprising running gears, a frame bridging said running gears and providing at its upper side edges a track for supporting and guiding a series of flanged rollers, a double-acting cushioning device in said frame, a shaft slidably mounted in said frame and connected to said cushioning device, attachment means mounted on said shaft and projecting above the track on said frame, and means for rotating said -attachment means about the axis of said shaft 'to bring it into and out of engagement with a freight carrier supported on the track on said frame.

14. A railway car comprising a longitudinally extending hollow beam, -a pair of trucks supporting the opposite ends of said .beam and each carrying main track wheels, said beam being substantially narrower than said Q, trucks so that the opposite sides thereof are; disposed well inwardly with respect to said main track wheels, said beam providing a pair of longitudinally extending and laterally spaced-apart rails on the top thereof and disposed respectively adjacent to the opposite sides thereof and constituting an auxiliary tracks that is adapted to engage and to support a plurality of cooperating sets of rollers respectively carried by a plurality of removable freight carriers so as to accommodate mounting of the freight carriers upon said beam, a plurality of longitudinally movable members carried by said beam, a plurality of connectors respectively carried by said members and adapted respectively to` cooperate with the freight carriers mounted upon said beam, each of said connectors being selectively operative to engage and to disengage the associated freight lcarrier mounted upon said beam so as selectively to connect thereto and to disconnect therefrom the associated freight carrier, and a plurality of two-way cushioning elements respectively connecting said members and said beam, each one of said cushioning elements resisting and cushioning longitudinal movements of the connected one of said members and thus fore-and-aft rolling movements of the one of the freight carriers mounted upon said beam and connected to said one member.

l5. A railway unit comprising a railway car including a longitudinally extending box-shaped beam supported at the opposite ends thereof by a pair of trucks each carrying main track wheels, said beam being located between the planes of the inner sides of said main track wheels, a longitudinally extending auxiliary track provided by the upper side edges of said beam, a semi-trailer having first rollers mounted on its running gear and second rollers mounted on the legs of its landing gear, all said rollers engaging said auxiliary track to mount said semi-trailer for fore-and-aft rolling movements upon said beam, means connected between the running gear of said semi-trailer and said beam for resisting and for cushioning fore-and-aft rolling movements of said semitrailer upon said beam, and a hold-down means extending from the lower part of the landing gear of said semitrailer to said beam and including a longitudinal sliding connection therebetween so as to relieve the legs of the landing gear of said semi-trailer of substantial fore-andaft forces incident to fore-and-aft rolling movements of said semi-trailer upon said beam.

16. A railway car for transporting freight carriers and comprising longitudinally spaced-apart running gears having wheels, a longitudinally extending hollow beam bridging said running gears and lying between the planes ofthe inner sides of the wheels of said running gears and providing at its upper side edges an outwardly facing track for supporting and guiding a series of inwardly facing flanged rollers, an element mounted for longitudinal sliding movements on said beam and housed therein, a double-acting cushioning device housed in said beam and connecting said element with said beam, and attachment means mounted on said element and projecting above the track on said beam for engagement with a freight carrier supported thereon.

17. A freight carrier adapted to be mounted on the frame of a vehicle for transportation thereon; said freight carrier comprising a rigid base, two pairs of flanged rollers, means rigidly secured to' said base for mounting said pairs of anged rollers thereon in positions depending downwardly from the bottom thereof, said pairs of flanged rollers being arranged in longitudinally spacedapart relation and disposed respectively adjacent to the opposite ends of said base, the flanged rollers of each of said pairs being arranged in laterally spaced-apart relation and disposed respectively adjacent to the opposite sides of said base, the flanges respectively carried by said rollers being respectively disposed on the outer sides thereof adjacent to the associated sides of said base, whereby said two pairs of rollers are inwardly facing and are adapted to straddle. and to. engage the opposite' top sides of the vehicle frameY with the flanges onY said two pairs of rollers guiding upon the outside edges of the vehicle frame when said freight carrier is mounted thereon, and a pair o'f laterally spaced-apart latch keepers rigidly secured to said base and depending downwardly from the bottom thereof and located adjacent to and laterally inwardly of the associated ones of a pair of said rollers and adapted to cooperate with latch structure carried by the vehicle frame upon which said base is adapted to be mounted for latching in place said freightA carrier in its mounted position upon the vehicle frame, the lower surfaces of said latch keepers being disposed abovev the lower surfaces of said rollers so as to prevent interferenceV by such latch keepers with the vehicle frame when said freight carrier is mounted thereon.

18. A combination road and railway vehicle comprising a chassis provided with a laterally extending axle carrying at the opposite ends thereof a pair of road wheels, a pair of trucks, and means rigidly secured to said axle intermediate said. road wheels for mounting saidA trucks on said axle in positions depending downwardly therefrom and. respectively arranged left and right, each of said trucks carrying two spaced-apart ilanged rollers respectively disposed in front of said axle and in rear ofy said axle, said two left rollers being disposed in longitudinal alignment and located inwardly with respect to' the associated left road wheel and said two right rollers being disposed in longitudinal alignment and located inwardly with respect to the associated right road wheel, the two flanges respectively carried by said two left rollers being respectively disposed on the outer sides thereof adjacent to the associated left ro'ad wheel and the two flanges respectively carried by said two right rollers being respectively disposed on the outer sides thereof adjacent to the associated right road wheel, whereby said two pairs of rollers are inwardly facing and are adapted to' straddle and to engage the two rails of a cooperating longitudinally extending track provided by the frame of an associated railway car with the lianges on said two pairs of rollers guiding upon the outside edges of the rails engaged thereby so as to support said axle upon the track independently of said road wheels and with said road wheels projecting outwardly on opposite sides of the track during railway operation of said vehicle, the lower surfaces of said rollers being disposed well above the lower surfaces o'f said road wheels so as to prevent interference by said rollers with a road engaged by said road wheels during road operation of said vehicle.

19. The combination road and railway vehicle set forth in claim 18, and further comprising a pair of laterally spaced-apart latch keepers respectively rigidly secured to said trucks and respectively located laterally inwardly of and adjacent to the associated ones of said rollers and adapted to cooperate with latch structure carried by the frame of the associated railway car upon which said vehicle is mounted for latching in place said vehicle in its mounted positio'n during railway operation thereof, the lower surfaces of said latch keepers being disposed above the lower surfaces of said rollers so as to prevent interference by said latch keepers with the frame of the associated railway car during railway operation of said vehicle.

20. A combination road and railway vehicle comprising a chassis provided with a laterally extending axle carrying at the opposite ends thereof a pair of road wheels, a truck carrying two spaced-apart pair of hanged rollers, and means rigidly secured to said axle intermedi ate said road wheels for mounting said truck upon said axle in a position depending downwardly therefrom, one pair of said rollers being disposed in front of said axle and respectively arranged left and right and the other pair of said rollers being disposed in rear of said axle and respectively arranged left and right, said two left rollers being disposed in longitudinal alignment and located inwardly with respect to the associated left road wheel and said two right rollers being disposed in longitudinal alignment and located inwardly with respect to the associated right road wheel, the two anges respectively carried by said two left rollers being respectively disposed on the outer sides thereof adjacent to' the associated left road wheel and the two flanges respectively carried by said two right rollers being respectively disposed on the outer sides thereof adjacent to the associated right road wheel, whereby said two pairs o'f rollers are inwardly facing and are adapted to straddle and to engage the two rails of a cooperating longitudinally extending track provided by the frame of an associated railway car with the flanges on said two pairs of rollers guiding upon the outside edges of the rails engaged thereby so as to support said aXle upon the track independently of said road wheels and with said road wheels projecting outwardly on opposite sides of the track during railway operation of said vehicle, the lower surfaces of said rollers being disposed well above the lower surfaces of said road wheels so as to prevent interference by said rollers with a road engaged by said road wheels during road operation o'f said vehicle.

21. The combination road and railway vehicle set forth in claim 20, and further comprising a pair of laterally spaced-apart latch keepers rigidly secured to said truck and respectively located laterally inwardly of and adjacent to the associated ones of said rollers and adapted to' cooperate with latch structure carried by the frame of the associated railway car upon which said vehicle is mounted for latching in place said vehicle in its mounted position during railway operation thereof, the lower surfaces of said latch keepers being disposed above the lower surfaces of said rollers so as to prevent interference by said latch keepers with the frame of the associated railway car during railway operation of said Vehicle.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 924,748 Downs June 15, 1909 986,261 Andrew Mar. 7, 1911 1,835,133 Bergen Dec. 8, 1931 1,897,277 Reinhart et al. Feb. 14, 1933 1,994,815 Perrin Mar. 19, 1935 2,021,075 McGinness Nov. 12, 1935 2,072,988 Kellett Mar. 9, 1937 2,652,003 Porte Sept. 15, 1953 2,750,674 Lee June 19, 1956 2,839,012 Gutridge June 17, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 243 Great Britain Ian. 4, 1912 688,088 Great Britain Feb. 25, 1953