RAILWAY TANK CARS SERIALLY CONNECTED BY FLEXIBLE CONDUITS

摘要

A railway train including a plurality of interconnected tank cars, each car comprising a tank provided with two lading conduits in the top thereof extending thereinto for communication with the interior thereof and each having an outer end extending above the tank and toward the adjacent end thereof, the lading conduits of adjacent cars being interconnected by flexible connecting conduits; valve assemblies may be connected in each lading conduit inside or outside the tank and are preferably all pneumatically operable from a single location, with external valves being disposed in protective housings; one lading conduit may terminate near the bottom of the tank for filling and/or eduction unloading thereof with the other lading conduit terminating near the top of the tank for venting and filling of an adjacent tank thereof and for automatically determining the outage of the tank. Additional embodiments provide lading ports at the ends of the tank on the longitudinal axis thereof or a conduit mounted above the tank and extending the length thereof and valved to accommodate series or parallel loading of the tank cars.