Abstract: A connection between a draft sill and a railway wheel truck is disclosed. The draft sill has a bottom and side walls extending up from the bottom. A center pin extends downward from the bottom to an exterior end surface. A boss encircles the center pin. The boss is attached to the outer surface of the center pin and to the bottom surface of the draft sill. The boss includes a plurality of ribs extending radially outward from the center pin. The total surface area of the horizontal surfaces of the boss and the center pin is less than the surface area of a standard center plate. The horizontal surfaces of the boss and center pin do not bear any vertical load under normal conditions, and no center plate is provided. The center pin and boss can be integral, and can be made to extend upward from the truck bolster to be received in an opening in the draft sill.

Abstract: When slack-free railcar connector assemblies are placed under very high tensile loading, the connector assembly components will stretch and allow a typical "rigid" gravity wedge to descend into a fully seated position between the components and lock-in the tensile loads. The locked-in loads become additive in nature when successively encountered compressive loads are experienced by the connector assembly, thereby increasing the lateral drawbar angling forces, as well as accelerating coupling component wear. The wedge component of the present invention includes a means for vertically supporting and retaining the wedge in a holding position slightly above the normally fully seated position during the tensile loading, thereby eliminating the build up of tensile forces in the connector assembly.

Abstract: The present invention provides a friction shoe for use in a railway freight car truck. The friction shoe is disposed to dampen movements between the truck bolster and the side frames, and consists of a unitarily cast metal body having a generally planar vertical wear plate adapted to frictionally engage a column on the truck side frame. The back surface of the vertical wear plate is augmented to create a thicker cross sectional area at either the upper or lower ends of the plate, depending on the type of shoe being used. The augmented shoe provides a longer wearing friction surface which requires less frequent replacement and lower costs.

Abstract: Friction shoes are immobilized within the pockets of a railcar truck bolster by threaded pins that are inserted through apertures in the pocket walls and friction shoes and guided into the inboard pocket wall apertures by a concentric tapered surface within the pockets on the inboard pocket walls.