COMBINATION RAILWAY AND PASSENGER AUTOMOBILE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM AND PARTS THEREOF

• US 3,584,584 A
• Filed: 05/08/1968
• Issued: 06/15/1971
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/1968
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Milenkovic Veljko
• Original Assignee: Milenkovic Veljko
• Inventors: MILENKOVIC VELJKO
• Application Number:
  US04/727,602
• Time in Patent Office: 1,133 Days
• US Class Current: 410/1
• CPC Class Codes: B61D 1/04 General arrangements of seats B61D1/06 takes precedence; seats per se B61D33/00
• CPC Class Codes: B61D 3/181 with special accommodation for the motor vehicle driver or passengers B61D1/06 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B61D 47/005 Loading or unloading devices combined with road vehicles carrying wagons, e.g. ramps, turntables, lifting means wagons for carrying road vehicles in general: B61D3/18

Abstract

There is disclosed a combination railway and passenger automobile transportation system comprising a stretch of railway track on which is disposed a train including a railway car having an underframe and a body; the body is double-decked and has a width to carry automobiles thereon disposed longitudinally and is pivotal upon the underframe into a loading position; a loading area is provided including two double-decked platforms along the track having ramps that cooperate with the ends of the decks on the body when in its loading position at a transfer position so that the automobiles may be run thereonto and therefrom; at the transfer position there is provided structure for centering the car and for turning the body; several coupling structures are disclosed to permit the train to be broken into a front unit, intermediate units and a rear unit.

Claims

1. A combination railway and passenger automobile transportation system comprising:

a stretch of railway track;

a railway train adapted to run on said stretch of railway track and including a front car and at least one intermediate car and a tail car, said intermediate car including first and second truck structures carrying first and second frames respectively, said first and second frames extending toward opening other and being detachably interconnected selectively to provide a draft connection therebetween and to permit decoupling thereof, centersills interconnecting the rear of said front car and the adjacent one of said first frames and interconnecting the front of said tail car and the adjacent one of said second frames, a plurality of bodies corresponding in number to the number of said centersills and each shiftably mounted with respect to the associated centersill for movement between a running position and a loading position, each body having a substantially boxlike configuration including a substantially horizontal floor and a generally horizontal roof and a pair of upstanding sidewalls and openings in the opposite ends thereof, whereby a passenger automobile may be driven onto and off of said floor through either opening of said body when said body is in the loading position thereof, a loading area including two platforms respectively disposed on the opposite sides of a section of said railway track and including a number of transfer positions therealong equal in number to the number of said centersills, and means for shifting each of said bodies between the running position thereof and the loading position thereof, the openings in said bodies being respectively disposed toward said platforms and respectively operatively associated therewith when said bodies are in the loading positions thereof, whereby a passenger automobile on either one of said platforms may be driven onto the floor of one of said bodies when it occupies one of the transfer positions at said loading area and is in its loading position, and whereby a passenger automobile occupying a loaded position on the floor of one of said bodies may be driven directly onto either one of said platforms when said body occupies one of the transfer positions at said loading area and is in its loading position.

2. The combination railway and passenger automobile transportation system set forth in claim 1, wherein said means detachably interconnecting said first and second frames fixedly interconnects said first and second frames to maintain said first and second frames in a fixed longitudinal alignment with respect to each other.

3. The combination railway and passenger automobile transportation system set forth in claim 1, wherein a passenger lounge is mounted on said frames.

4. The combination railway and passenger automobile transportation system set forth in claim 3, wherein said lounge includes a body separable into two parts when said first and second frames are decoupled.

5. The combination railway and passenger automobile transportation system set forth in claim 1, and further comprising an auxiliary body pivotally mounted on one of said frames for pivotal movement between a running position and a loading position, said auxiliary body having a substantially boxlike configuration including a substantially horizontal floor and a generally horizontal roof and a pair of upstanding sidewalls and openings in the opposite ends thereof, whereby a passenger automobile may be driven onto and off of the floor of said auxiliary body through either open end thereof when said aUxiliary body is in the loading position thereof adjacent to one of said transfer positions.

6. The combination railway and passenger automobile transportation system set forth in claim 5, wherein said auxiliary body accommodates only one passenger automobile therein.

7. A railway train for the railway transportation of both passenger automobiles and passengers thereof, said railway train comprising:

a front unit and at least one intermediate unit and a rear unit, said front unit including a front car and a first intermediate car and a first support section arranged in tandem relationship, centersills interconnecting the rear of said front car and the front of said first intermediate car and interconnecting the rear of said first intermediate car and said first support section, each of said intermediate units including a second support section and a second intermediate car and a third support section arranged in tandem relationship, centersills interconnecting said second support section and the front of said second intermediate car and interconnecting the rear of said second intermediate car and the said third support section, said rear unit including a tail car, means for coupling said first support section and the adjacent one of said second support section, and means for coupling the front of the tail car to the adjacent one of said third support sections, and a plurality of bodies corresponding in number to said centersills and each shiftably mounted with respect to the associated centersill for movement between a running position and a loading position, each body having a substantially boxlike configuration including a substantially horizontal floor and a generally horizontal roof and a pair of upstanding sidewalls and openings at the opposite ends thereof, whereby a passenger automobile may be driven onto and off of said floor through either open end of said body when said body is in the loading position thereof.

8. A railway train for the railway transportation of body passenger automobiles and the passengers thereof;

said railway train comprising a front unit and at least one intermediate unit and a rear unit, said front unit including a front car and a first support car and a first intermediate car arranged in tandem relationship, centersills interconnecting and supported by the rear of said front car and the front of said first support car and interconnecting and supported by the rear of said first support car and the front of said first intermediate car, said intermediate unit including a second support car and a third support car and a second intermediate car arranged in tandem relationship, centersills detachably interconnecting and supported by the rear of said first intermediate car and the front of said associated one of said second support cars and interconnecting the rear of said second support car and the front of said third support car and interconnecting and supported by the rear of said third support car and the front of said second intermediate car, said rear unit including a fourth support car and a fifth support car and a tail car arranged in tandem relationship, centersills detachably interconnecting the rear of said associated one of said second intermediate car and the front of said fourth support car and interconnecting the rear of said fourth support car and the front of said fifth support car and interconnecting the rear of said fifth support car and the front of said tail car, and a plurality of bodies corresponding in number to said centersills and each shiftably mounted with respect to the associated centersill for movement between a running position and a loading position, each body having a substantially boxlike configuration including a substantially horizontal floor and a generally horizontal roof and a pair of upstanding sidewalls and openings in the opposite ends thereof, whereby a passenger automobile may be driven onto and off of said floor through either open end of said body when said body is in the loading positioN thereof.

9. The railway train set forth in claim 8, wherein the ends of said centersills detachably connected respectively to the rear of said first intermediate car and to the rear of said second intermediate car carry thereon auxiliary wheels for engaging the associated railway track when said centersills are detached respectively from said first intermediate car and second intermediate car.

10. The railway train set forth in claim 8, wherein the adjacent ends of the pair of centersills connected to one of said support cars are pivotally mounted thereon, and bisecting linkage interconnects the adjacent ends of said centersills to maintain the transverse axis of said support car bisecting the angle between said centersills on curved sections of the associated railway track.

11. The railway train set forth in claim 8, wherein each of said bodies is pivotally mounted on the adjacent one of said centersills and in the running position thereof has the longitudinal axis thereof in longitudinal alignment with the associated centersill and in the loading position thereof has the longitudinal axis thereof disposed at an angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the associated centersill.

12. The railway train set forth in claim 8, wherein said front car and said support cars and said intermediate cars and said tail car have support structure thereon cooperating with support structure on said bodies to support the weight of said bodies and the contents thereof when said bodies are in the running positions thereof.