RAILROAD CAR HAVING MULTIPLE PENETRATION RESISTANT AND PROTECTIVE STRUCTURES
A railroad car including a plurality of penetration resistant and protective structures including a penetration resistant and protective underframe, penetration resistant and protective first end, second end, and center bulkheads, penetration resistant and protective first, second, third, and fourth side walls, and protective first and second roof hatches, all configured to protect internal cylinder assemblies, the pipes that communicate the gas from the cylinders of the cylinder assemblies, and the safety critical valves, regulators, and other equipment connected to such cylinders and pipes of the railroad car in an accident (such as a derailment, crash and/or roll-over).
1 . A railroad car comprising:
a first truck;
a second truck; and
an underframe supported by the first truck and the second truck, the underframe including:
a penetration resistant bottom wall including an I-beam,
a penetration resistant first side wall connected to the bottom wall,
a penetration resistant second side wall connected to the bottom wall,
a first end section including a first anti-climber and a first deflector, and
a second end section including a second anti-climber and a second deflector.
2 . The railroad car of claim 1 , wherein the first side wall includes a first bumper and a first stiffener, and wherein the second side wall includes a second bumper and a second stiffener.
3 . The railroad car of claim 1 , wherein the first side wall and the second side wall each include a plurality of longitudinally extending elongated bumpers and a plurality of vertically extending stiffeners.
4 . The railroad car of claim 1 , which includes spaced-apart first and second bulkheads connected to the underframe, and a cylinder assembly connected between and to the first and second bulkheads.
5 . The railroad car of claim 4 , where the first bulkhead is a penetration resistant end bulkhead connected to the underframe and the second bulkhead is a penetration resistant center bulkhead connected to the underframe.
6 . The railroad car of claim 4 , which includes a roof hatch connected to the first and second bulkheads.
7 . The railroad car of claim 6 , wherein the roof hatch includes a burst panel.
8 . The railroad car of claim 4 , wherein the first bulkhead and the second bulkhead each include a first cylinder rack receiver.
9 . The railroad car of claim 4 , wherein the second bulkhead is a center bulkhead that includes two spaced-apart second cylinder rack receivers.
10 . A railroad car comprising:
a first truck;
a second truck;
an underframe supported by the first truck and the second truck, the underframe including:
a penetration resistant bottom wall including an I-beam,
a penetration resistant first side wall connected to the bottom wall, the first side wall including a first plurality of longitudinally extending elongated bumpers and a first plurality of vertically extending stiffeners,
a penetration resistant second side wall connected to the bottom wall, the second side wall including a second plurality of longitudinally extending elongated bumpers and a second plurality of vertically extending stiffeners,
a first end section including a first anti-climber and a first deflector, and
a second end section including a second anti-climber and a second deflector;
a penetration resistant first bulkhead connected to the underframe;
a penetration resistant second bulkhead connected to the underframe;
a cylinder assembly connected between and to the first and second bulkheads; and
a roof hatch connected to the first and second bulkheads, the roof hatch including a burst panel.