Articulated Train

Abstract

A plurality of small, individual car units are provided, each measuring about 2-3 meters (7-10 feet) in length and 2-3 meters (7-10 feet) in width. A single drive wheel is mounted at each side of the car unit, so that the unit will be suspended between a pair of rails, the center of gravity being at, or below the suspension or surface. Adjacent car units are interconnected by weight-bearing couplings which keep adjacent car units from tipping about the single support wheels. These interconnections may be pins, interfitting truncated cones, spherical sections or the like, permitting relative movement of the car units.

Parent Case Text

The present application is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 719,900, filed Apr. 9, 1968 now abandoned.

Description

The coupling elements for railway cars combined with elastic elements have to allow substantial space with respect to the passenger-carrying structures which they link, especially if allowance is made to negotiate curves. As a consequence, conventional railway cars or coaches have considerable lengths, and weights.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Safe and economical high speeds without danger of derailing can be obtained by using ultralightweight cars having wheels equipped with pneumatic tires rolling, on two elevated rails which embrace the vehicle at the level of its center of gravity.

The following dimensions have been found to be critical. A car length of the order of 2 to 3 m. (7-10 ft.), approximately; and a width, or beam also of the order of approximately 2 to 3 m. (7-10 ft.). arrived at by the following empirical approach:

The unit weights of drive units with wheels and all auxiliaries-- based on a wheel of 0.5 m. (20 in.) in diameter-- decreases as the wheels are moved further apart beyond 0.5 m. (20 in.) in a tangential relationship, to reach zero at infinity (chain-dotted line in the graph of FIG. 29). The passenger-carrying structure (coachwork, coach, car etc.) is simply like a supported beam; in proportion as the two supports are moved apart, beyond a minimum interval of 0.5 m. (20 in.), the unit weight increases in the manner shown by the broken line in the graph of FIG. 29.

The resultant empirical curve indicated by the full line is the sum of the two other curves and shows a minimum somewhere between 2 and 3 m. (7 and 10 ft.).

The choice of a length of approximately 2 m. (7 ft.) is arrived at by using the lightest possible materials; thus, it is advisable to reduce the size of the car as far as possible and, moreover, for reasons associated with the negotiation of curves of small radius. This length is particularly suitable to provide an adequate comfortable interior, although this does not mean that it could not be increased to accord with other kinds of application.

In application of the principles hereinbefore set out, the result is that a car or vertebrate coach, inclusive of a load of six passengers, has an overall weight of 1,000 to 1,500 kg. (2,200 to 3,300 lbs.), i.e., 500 to 750 kg. (1,100 to 1,650 lbs.) per wheel. In conventional railway systems, this figure fluctuates around 10,000 kg. (22,000 lbs.) per wheel; in some lightweight trains around 5,000 to 6,000 kg. (11,000 to 13,200 lbs.) have been achieved.

The immediate consequence of the ultralightweight design is that it is possible economically to make the vehicle absolutely nonderailable by arranging the train to run on rails which are situated not beneath the coaches, or cars, in the conventional manner, but on rails disposed at the sides thereof and embracing the overall train at or very nearly at the same level as the center of gravity of the vehicles, so that the train is unable to leave the track. In the conventional systems, the safety factor against derailment is the weight which prevents the flanges of the wheels of usually about 28 mm. (over 1 inch) from lifting above the heads of the rails and jumping the track.

Obviously enough, without using an ultralightweight design, conventional trains could equally run in the manner just described in relation to articulated trains, on elevated rails located at the sides and level with the center of gravity. Yet, as a solution to the problem of preventing derailment only, this would, in the context of conventional systems, mean an immense and totally prohibitive expense.

Coach units of critical minimum length are coupled together in elastic fashion at the whole of their terminal peripheries. Each unit is supported upon the lateral rails over two inflated tire wheels running in vertical planes, and located at either side of the unit at a convenient point along its length. To provide for guidance and centering purposes, horizontal wheels, likewise provided with pneumatic tires, bear against vertical surfaces presented by the rails of the track. The rails have a cross section different from the conventional one such as a T-section, I-beam section, C-section or other suitable profile.

Hitherto, trains have been made up of successive vehicles or cars coupled together by more or less automatic hook couplings of various designs, all embodying a hook and one or two elastic buffers plus, in the majority of cases, a link combined with the hook, each wagon having its own wheels, with a minimum number of four and sometimes as many as 12. Each car can maneuver and move independently of any other on the tracks while at the same time in payload space or body of each car is independent of its neighbors. In the articulated, or vertebrate train, everything is different; each vehicle unit, coach or car, which will be termed a "vertebra " due to the manner of its connection to its neighbors, is simply provided with two supporting wheels which carry proportions of the loadings and weights of neighboring vertebrae, and is connected with its neighbors not by a single hook-type coupling but by a total, continuous or discontinuous, elastic or inelastic peripheral coupling arrangement. This allows the train to be formed so that it occupies a continuous tubular useful volume which, because of the reduced dimensions of each vertebra, enables operation of the train at high speeds over winding and undulating sections of track, with a fluid, silent movement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a transverse section of the terminal portions of two neighboring vertebrae articulated together through the medium of vertical pins (example A, detailed hereinafter);

FIG. 2a illustrates, in longitudinal section to an enlarged scale, an embodiment of a coupling between the terminal edges of the walls of two neighboring vertebrae, in the region of the pin-type joint;

FIG. 2b illustrates, in longitudinal section to an enlarged scale another embodiment of a coupling between the terminal edges of the walls of two neighboring vertebrae, in the region of the pin-type joint;

FIG. 3 illustrates a section through a pin assembled in its elastic mounting;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section through the peripheral edges of two neighboring vertebrae;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section through the terminal peripheral edges of two neighboring vertebrae, articulated together through the medium of a truncated (frustoconical) link.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal section of the terminal peripheral edges of two neighboring vertebrae, articulated together through a spherical or knuckle-type bearing, taking the form of two spherical zones having the same center, one lodging within the other;

FIG. 7 is a lateral elevation of the terminal portions of two neighboring vertebrae, articulated together through a spherical joint in the form of mutually oppositely disposed pairs of spherical plates;

FIG. 8 is the transverse section of the line VIII--VIII in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is the transverse section of FIG. 8, showing the maneuver of uncoupling by rotation about a longitudinal axis of one of the two sets of spherical plates;

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal section through the terminal peripheral edges of two neighboring vertebrae, showing the maneuver of uncoupling by detachment of the external spherical plate;

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal section through the terminal peripheral edges of two neighboring vertebrae, illustrating the maneuver of uncoupling by swinging away the hinged internal spherical plate;

FIG. 12 is a side elevation of a number of vertebrae units, showing how adhesion and traction are distributed;

FIG. 13 is a pictorial view of neighboring vertebrae showing the arrangement of their wheel systems, namely drive, centering, and safety and maneuvering wheel systems;

FIG. 14 is a vertical section through the traction zone of a vertebra, illustrating the aforedescribed wheel systems;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged detail of the wheel system of FIG. 14 shown cooperating with a rail of double-T section;

FIG. 16 is a detailed view of the wheel system cooperating with a C-section rail;

FIG. 17 is a detail of the wheel system cooperating with a rail of special combined T-section and C-section;

FIG. 18 is a detail of the wheel system cooperating with a rail having an angled section in which the angle is greater than 60.degree. and less than 90.degree.;

FIG. 19 is a detail of the wheel system cooperating with an angle-section rail with dissimilar length flanges;

FIG. 20 is a detail of the wheel system cooperating with a rail of tubular rectangular section formed by the combination of two C-section profiles with their flanges offered up to one another;

FIG. 21A is a side elevation of a system by which an entire overall vertebrate train can be moved to a different level by either raising it or lowering it as a complete unit, a train of 2 vertebrae being illustrated;

FIG. 21B is a transverse section of the system of FIG. 21A;

FIG. 22A is a top plan view of a system for moving an entire vertebrate train to a different track at the same level, by horizontal translation of the train;

FIG. 22B is a side view of the system of FIG. 21A.

FIG. 23A is a top plan view of a switch for carrying out track change at the same level by a swing arrangement with a switch arm in one position;

FIG. 23B is a view of the switch in another position;

FIG. 23C is an elevational view of FIG. 23A;

FIG. 24 is a top plan view of a points (switch) system for changing track, using a points tongue located at the same level;

FIG. 25A illustrates in side elevation access to the door of a vertebra coach by the detachment and raising of an appropriately designed section of the rail;

FIG. 25B is a top view of the rail section and coach of FIG. 25A;

FIG. 26A illustrates in side elevation access to the door of a vertebra coach, access being by the detachment and lowering of an appropriate section of rail;

FIG. 26B is a top plan view of FIG. 26A;

FIG. 27A illustrates in side elevation access to the door of a vertebra coach, by a movable section of the rail being designed to pivot about a horizontal axis;

FIG. 27B is a top plan view of FIG. 27A;

FIG. 28A illustrates in side elevation access to the door of a vertebra coach, by a movable section of the rail designed to pivst about a vertical axis;

FIG. 28B is a top plan view of FIG. 28A; and

FIG. 29 is a graph showing the derivation of the critical length to obtain lightweight units.

The total peripheral mode of coupling has been given the name of vertebration, and this system can in fact be realized using rigid or elastic means, or mixtures of both. The short length of the coaches or vertebrae requires but little play in order to travel properly around curves in the tracks and to adapt without any difficulty to gradients and undulations in the terrain.

Vertebrae, or coach units 1, 2 (FIG. 13) are interconnected by means permitting relative movement about a vertical axis, by top and bottom pins 3 in sockets 4 (FIGS. 1 and 3) located on the vertical geometrical axis. Sockets 4 are sufficiently elastic to permit limited play and pivoting. The peripheral connection of the terminal sections of two vertebra, or coach units 1, 2, is achieved by means of a continuous or discontinuous elastic and impermeable annular element 5 (FIG. 4), seated in appropriate recesses in the fronts and rears of the body of the coaches and kept in position there by appropriate means. The elastic annular element 5 has a reduced section which is, however, quite adequate in view of the short critical length of the vertebra coaches 1, 2.

FIG. 5 illustrates peripherally attached lightweight metal or plastic components 6, 7, suitably reinforced, which have a frustoconical shape, annular in plan view. Adjacent components engage one inside the other and are attached together through the medium of a toroidal stop collar 8 which, fixed to the male component 6, retains the female component 7. One of the components is fixed to the first vertebra 1 by means of an elastic ring 9 whose elasticity is effective radially while the other, the male component 6, is fixed to the second vertebra 2 by means of an elastic ring 10 whose elasticity is effective axially. The security of the coupling is ensured by catches, pins or stops which hold the main toroidal stop collar 8 on the male component 6 in the position in which it retains the female component 7, so that there is no risk of accidental uncoupling.

FIG. 6 illustrates a spherical coupling, formed by attaching to each terminal part of a coach, an annular peripheral component. One, a male part 11, engages in the other, a female part 12, so as to permit relative swinging movement between the two, their mutually contacting surfaces defining a curved surface in the form of a zone of a sphere. The cooperating surfaces have the same center, thus allowing a certain amount of play in any direction. This, effectively, constitutes a constant velocity joint adequate for the purposes of the vertebrae train system. The assembly of the male spherical part 11 inside the female spherical part 12 is carried out by a device which provides for a temporary reduction in diameter of the internal component to be achieved, or, alternatively, temporary enlargement in diameter of the external part. The device is arranged to have means ensuring that the changes in diameter cannot take place accidentally.

An advantageous variant embodiment of this type of spherical coupling (see FIGS. 7-11) consists in substituting, for the annular peripheral components 11, 12, in which the mutually contacting surfaces define a zone of a sphere, concentric with respect to each other, three or more sections in the form of internal spherical plates 13 and external spherical plates 14 with spaces between them, which enable the diametral dimensions of the coupling to be kept the same and are such that uncoupling can be carried out (without any variation in the said diametral dimensions) simply by rotating a ring 15 carrying one of the sets of plates, the set of internal plates 13 in the present example, through an angle 16 about an axis normal to the equal bases of the spherical zone defined by the plates (FIG. 9) or, simpler still, by the detachment of one of the pairs of plates 13, 14, which form the coupling (FIG. 10), or, yet again, by hinging (FIG. 11) a selected one of the plates so that it can be swung away; the whole mechanism will be provided with the requisite safety arrangement of course.

The units of the vertebrate train have driven wheels 18 (FIG. 13). The wheels are driven independently for each unit, each being provided with its own corresponding electric motor. There is a pair of vertical driven wheels 18 on each vertebra coach 1, 2, so that the tractive effort is uniformly distributed over the full length of the train, see FIG. 12.

The distribution of the tractive effort means that all the vertebra coaches are in effect self-propelling vehicles permitting substantial reduction in, or total elimination of forces between vertebrae so that an ultralightweight design can be used.

The drive wheels 18 rotate on horizontal axles and carry their unit on flat horizontal tracks formed of a pair of rails making up the permanent way. Preferred profiled sections for the rails are T-sections, double-T sections or C-sections which should have their horizontal flanges aligned and which, in their webs, provide vertical surfaces with which wheels 23 (FIGS. 13-20) cooperate to center the units between the two rails. Wheels 23 rotate on vertical axles. A third set of wheels 24, running between the flanges of the tracks, serve safety and maneuvering functions. Wheels 24 rotate on a horizontal axis, similar to wheels 18, and only come into play as auxiliaries when, as a consequence of delation of the main drive wheels 18, they drop onto the bottom flange of the rails. These auxiliary wheels 24 may for example be located at the forward part of the vertebra while the drive wheels 18 are located at the rearward part so that, should the train be uncoupled, i.e., broken up into its separate units, each of the vertebrae 1, 2 has a four-wheel support which it requires for maneuvering, see FIGS. 13 and 14.

The triple rolling arrangement of the wheels on vertebra 1 on the rails of the track is designed to match the particular profile on the rail sections. FIGS. 13, 14 and 15 show the rail 19 as a double-T (or I-beam) section presenting its top surface as the track on which the drive wheels 18 rolls, its vertical web as the track on which the centering and guide wheels 23 roll, and the upper surface of its bottom internal flange as the track on which the vertical safety and maneuvering wheels 24 may roll.

FIG. 16 shows a triple wheel system in cooperation with a channel, or C-section rail 20; FIG. 17 illustrates a similar arrangement in respect of a special combined T-section and C-section rail 21. Other wheel systems only may be used. FIG. 18 illustrates a simplified rail section 22, the profile of which is angled to provide equal length flanges making an angle of greater than 60.degree. and less than 90.degree. with one another. The centering and guiding wheels 23 are disposed in an upward slanting attitude so that they can perform the safety function too. Safety and maneuvering wheels 24 rotate on horizontal axles and are so mounted that, should they become operative, they run on the main horizontal track used by the drive wheels 18.

FIG. 19 provides an example of a triple wheel system in cooperation with a right-angle section track 42 having a profile with dissimilar flange lengths. The broader flange forms the vertical track on which the horizontal centering and guiding wheels 23 roll; the narrower flange is the horizontal track on which the drive wheels 18 and the safety and maneuvering wheels 24 (when they come into operation) roll.

FIG. 20 illustrates a strengthened rail section 39, of rectangular tubular form, produced by placing the flanges of two C-section rails in abutment with one another. In this case, the centering and guiding wheels 23 are also horizontal and the safety and maneuvering wheels 24 are again vertically disposed and located in exactly the same way as in the previous case.

The fact that each of the drive wheels 18 is associated with its own individual electric motor enables combinations to be produced which improve the economy of the system, for example some of the motors having the current shut off when the gradient of the track permits.

There is also the possibility of using auxiliary jet propulsion over long stages remote from urban concentrations, in this case the maneuvering and the phases of entering and leaving stations being carried out under the control of the electrically operated drive wheels 18 as described, and the motors then being disconnected in open country, to do duty simply as running wheels during the period of operation of the jet engines.

The additional propulsive means may, quite apart from jet engines, be constituted by any other engine of the kind currently employed in aviation applications, such as a piston engine driving a propeller, a propjet engine or the like. In respect of all these additional modes of propulsion, great attention must be paid to ensuring that there are adequate means of insulation against noise and vibration, which means should be interposed between the engines and the vertebra coaches carrying them.

The track, or permanent way is of the two-rail type in which the rails have one of the cross sections hereinbefore described and are conveniently mounted parallel to one another on pillars or on yokelike structures of reinforced concrete or some other suitable material, provided with means suitable for ensuring that the track gauge is maintained. As far as changes in direction are concerned, the reduced weight of the vertebrate train and the high location of the rails above the ground, enable arrangements to be used which permit operation at the same or at different levels, and which are totally divorced from conventional switchpoints.

Changing to Track at Different Level (see FIGS. 21A and 21B)

Vertebrate trains of short length can be lifted in their entirety. A sector of track 25 which can accommodate the whole of the train is placed on an elevator 26 disposed between two track sections 19 located at different levels. The mobile track section 25, with the vertebrate train in position on it, is raised or lowered to transfer the train from the lower to the higher track or vice versa. The vertical displacement is produced by an appropriate hydraulic system associated with the requisite stops to ensure that the end of travel positions are properly determined.

Track Change by Translation at the Same Level (FIGS. 22A and 22B)

This kind of track change can be used, like the one just described, in respect of vertebrate trains of short length which are entirely contained on a mobile track section 27 mounted on a carriage able to displace on transversely laid rails 28. The carriage transports the complete train from one of the two tracks 19 to the other, these tracks being parallel with one another in the particular zone concerned. The transverse displacements of the carriage are controlled by remote-control facilities, or from the train itself, through electronic systems which set into operation an electrical or hydraulic mechanism which carries out the actual transfer function.

Jack-Operated Switching or Track Change at the Same Level (FIGS. 23A and 23B)

This mode of track change is carried out before the vertebrate train arrives. The fixed track section 29 is made open in both directions, and in the gap there are located two complementary sections of rail 30 and 31 whose alternate move into position determines the direction to be taken by the train. In order to achieve this result, the complementary rail sections are included in an automatic remote-controlled jacking system operated by mechanical sliding wedge arrangements or, preferably, by hydropneumatic systems employing vertical jacks 32 whose pistons are fixed to the complementary rail sections 30, 31 in order to raise or lower them alternatively as required. The raised or pressurized position of the pistons supporting the complementary rail section 30 which provides continuity of the fixed rail section 29 (FIG. 23A), interlocks with the lowered or unloaded position of the pistons carrying the complementary rail section 31 which deflects the train onto the other track, and vice versa (FIG. 23B). When one of said rail sections is accurately aligned with the rail of the fixed section of track so that it forms a perfect continuation of its rolling surfaces the other rail section is located at a lower level (FIG. 23C) which, with a good margin of clearance, enables the vertebrate train to travel freely thereover.

Track Changing by Pivoting of a Switchpoint Tongue at the Same Level (FIG. 24)

This method of track change is carried out before the train arrives. The fixed section of rail 29 is open in both directions. At the point of bifurcation of the rail system there, a vertical axis of rotation 33 of the extremity of a switchpoint tongue 34 is fixed. The top and lateral portions of tongue 34 form extensions of the rolling surfaces of one or the other of the rails 29 of the fixed rail section, in front of which fixed rails its free end or tip is located. The free end or tip of tongue 34 is fixed to the frame of a turntable 35 which runs on circular arcuate transverse rails 36 centered on the center 33 of rotation of the switchpoint tongue 34. The transverse rails 36 are located in the spaces existing in the rails 29 of the fixed track portion and carry the turntable 35, together with necessary auxiliary track sections 37 (continuity of the main track direction) and 38 (switching onto branch track) respectively, which are interposed in those gaps in the rails left by the switchpoint tongue 34 so that the gaps are properly closed whichever of the positions the tongue is in. The turntable 35 carrying the tip of the switchpoint tongue and the auxiliary rail sections 37 and 38, is displaced by an electric stepping motor through the medium of a mechanical reduction gear.

The rails 29 are located halfway up the sides of the vertebra coaches at the level of their center of gravity, so that, in order to enter or leave the vertebrate train the continuity of the said rails 29 must be interrupted, as at the rail section 41 (FIGS. 25A and 25B), at the stations, at the precise locations at which the vertebra coaches 1, 21, with their doors 40, have stopped. Stopping the train in a precise position is achieved by using electronic automatic controls to carry out the successive maneuvers of arrival, halting and simultaneous opening of the doors 40 of the coaches, and detaching or swinging away of rail sections 41 located in front of the doors. Then, successively, doors 40 of the coaches, and of the rail sections 41 close and the train may start up and depart. The opening of the rail sections can be effected in various ways, e.g., by their complete detachment; in this case the mobile sections 41 move vertically upwards (FIGS. 25A and 25B) or downwards (FIGS. 26A and 26B) through a distance sufficient to completely clear the height of the doors 40 of the vertebra coaches 1; or by a hinging arrangement with a minimum swing of 90.degree. about a horizontal axis (FIGS. 27A and 27B) or vertical axis (FIGS. 28A and 28B), disposed at one extremity. The synchronous operation of the moving sections 41 of the rails 29 is achieved by electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic means controlled by an automatic control circuit.

The sizes, shape of, and material used in each of the elements which together form the rail transportation system, can be ultralightweight and will vary in accordance with particular requirements.

Claims

I claim:

1. Articulated railway train system comprising

a plurality of car units (1, 2) made of lightweight material, each said car units having tubular cross-sectional form and having a width approximately the same as the length;

said car units being adapted to run on rails, each elevated at least to the center of gravity of said car units and disposed one at each side thereof;

a pair of single driven suspension wheels (18), one wheel each, located at a respective side of each car unit and oriented to roll on said rails in a vertical plane and having running surfaces at least at, or above the center of gravity of said unit;

motor means in said car units coupled to drive said suspension wheels, whereby said car units will be individually self-propelled;

one centering wheel (23) each, located at respective sides of the car units to roll in an essentially horizontal plane and bearing against said rails;

and top and bottom weight-bearing interconnecting means formed at the top and at the bottom of each car unit adjacent the ends of each car of the car units and interconnecting said self-propelled car units for relative swinging movement with respect to each other, said weight-bearing interconnecting means joining said car units into an articulated train system in which the car units are independently self-propelled and suspended between said rails and supported for rolling movement at, or above their center of gravity at one point at the side of the car and in which each car unit is interconnected with an adjacent unit, said interconnection means balancing said individual car units and maintaining said car units in a train without, however, transmitting substantial tractive effort.

2. System according to claim 1, wherein the interconnecting means further extends substantially entirely around the circumference of the tubular car units.

3. System according to claim 1, wherein the interconnecting means includes a pair of pin and eyelet connections (FIG. 3) one each at the top of the end face of the car and one at the bottom of the end face of the car unit and located at the centerline, said pin and eyelet connections being elastic about a vertical axis;

and an elastic sealing means (5) interconnecting said car units substantially around their circumference.

4. System according to claim 1, wherein the interconnecting means (FIG. 5) includes matching truncated conical interfitting projections (6, 7);

means (9, 10) resiliently mounting said projections at the ends of the cars (1, 2);

and means (8) preventing separation of said interfitting projections.

5. System according to claim 1, including a third set of undriven, idler wheels (24) mounted for rotation in a substantially vertical plane and located to be normally free and out of engagement with said rail, said idler wheel preventing tipping of said car units upon disengagement of said interconnection means.

6. System according to claim 1, wherein said width is about 2-3 m. (7-10 ft.).

7. System according to claim 1, wherein said interconnecting means includes (FIGS. 6-11) interfitting coupling projections, at least one of which (11) has a spherical cross section, and engaging one inside the other to permit relative swinging movement between the two projections.

8. System according to claim 7, wherein the projections (FIG. 6: 11, 12) have relative sizes to effect a nonseparable interengaging fit.

9. System according to claim 7, wherein the projections comprise (FIGS. 7, 8, 9) a plurality of annular, spherically curved sections (14) secured to the end face of one car (1) and a plurality of similar interfitting spherically curved sections (13) secured to a matching end face of an adjacent car (2);

and means (15) mounting one of said sections with limited relative rotation with respect to the other of said sections to permit disengagement of said sections from each other when the sections on one car are rotated so as not to match the angular position of the sections of an adjacent car.

10. System according to claim 7, wherein the projections comprise (FIGS. 10, 11) a plurality of annular, spherically curved sections (13, 14) secured to the end faces of said cars, the sections at one end face, at least, being movably mounted (FIG. 10; FIG. 11: 17) on its associated car unit to permit displacement of the fit of the section on one car from the section of the other.

11. Articulated railway train system comprising

a plurality of car units (1, 2) made of lightweight material, each said car units having tubular cross-sectional form and having a width approximately the same as the length; in combination with rails each elevated at least to the center of gravity of said car units and disposed, one at each side thereof;

said car units comprising

a pair of single driven suspension wheels (18), one wheel each, located at a respective side of each car unit and oriented to roll on said rails in a vertical plane and having running surfaces at least at, or above the center of gravity of said unit;

motor means in said car units coupled to drive said suspension wheels, whereby said car units will be individually self-propelled;

one centering wheel (23) each, located at respective sides of the car units to roll in an essentially horizontal plane and bearing against said rails;

and top and bottom weight-bearing interconnecting means formed at the top and at the bottom of each car unit adjacent the ends of each car of the car units and interconnecting said self-propelled car units for relative swinging movement with respect to each other, said weight-bearing interconnecting means joining said car units into an articulated train system in which the car units are independently self-propelled and suspended between said rails and supported for rolling movement at, or above their center of gravity at one point at the side of the car and in which each car unit is interconnected with an adjacent unit, said interconnection means balancing said individual car units and maintaining said car units in a train without, however, transmitting substantial tractive effort.

12. System according to claim 11, wherein said rails comprise an essentially horizontal running surface adapted to support said driven suspension wheels (18);

and a surface angled at an acute angle with respect thereto and engaged by said centering wheels (23).

13. System according to claim 11, including a third set of undriven, idler wheels (24) mounted for rotation in a substantially vertical plane and located to be normally free and out of engagement with said rails, said idler wheels preventing tipping of said car units upon disengagement of said interconnection means, wherein said rails include (FIGS. 15, 16, 17) a channel shape having an essentially horizontal running surface and an auxiliary surface parallel thereto and spaced from said running surface;

said idler wheels (24) being located between the side of the rail opposite said running surface and said auxiliary surface, said idler wheels having a smaller diameter than the distance between said side and said auxiliary surface and engaging one or the other thereof upon isolation of a single car unit from the train system.

14. System according to claim 11, wherein said rails (FIGS. 22A, 22B) support a plurality of car units forming a train; a pair of rails adjacent a train being formed of a plurality of units placed in separate sections;

and means displacing said separate sections horizontally to move a rail section, together with the train thereon.

15. System according to claim 11, wherein said rails (FIGS. 21A and 21B) support a plurality of car units forming a train; a pair of rails adjacent a train formed of a plurality of units being placed on a separate rail section;

and means displacing said separate rail section vertically to move said rail section, together with the train thereon, from one level to another.

16. System according to claim 11, wherein pairs of rails extend in different directions;

and track switching means (FIGS. 23A, 23B) comprising at least one rail section (30, 31) movable in a vertical plane between levels selectively engaging the rails to provide for continuous rail surfaces in a plurality of directions to effect switching of trains.

17. System according to claim 11, wherein pairs of rails (FIGS. 25-28) are provided and at least one of the rails is subdivided into rail sections, one of said sections forming a movable rail element;

and means moving said rail element out of continuous track alignment with said rail sections to permit access to said cars while said cars are suspended on said rails.

18. System according to claim 11 wherein said width is about 2-3 m. (7-10 ft).

19. System according to claim 11, wherein pairs of rails are provided and a Y-switch (FIG. 24) having a switching tongue (34) selectively engageable in one or two directions with either rail and pivotally mounted at the bifurcation point of the Y to form a continuation of the rail surface;

a turntable section (36) carrying auxiliary intermediate track sections (37, 38);

and means synchronously moving said turntable section and said switching tongue to align, selectively, an intermediate track section from the turntable, and said tongue, in accordance with a desired switching direction, said intermediate track sections closing gaps not closed by said tongue.

20. System according to claim 19, wherein the tip of the tongue (34) is interconnected with the turntable section (36),

whereby, upon movement of the turntable section, the tongue will be moved therewith.