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[quote user="greyhounds"][quote user="futuremodal"][quote user="nanaimo73"] FM- How about an adjustable length multi-unit car where center sections could be dropped or added to suit demand ? [/quote] Well, now you're opening up a whole 'nother can of ideas.  It should be possible to develop an adjustable length railcar based on the slider chassis concept.  If such is practical, then why not further apply the concept to multiple unit type cars?  One other idea I had a while back involved current bi-modal equipment.  What if, instead of having to have a loaded trailer for each bogie set, or having to load extra bogies on a flatcar if they are needed at the other end, we could just attach the bogies to the end of the consist with a hand held drawbar connecting each free wheeling bogie to the next?  This would allow more flexibility of bi-modal operations.   [/quote] Why on Earth wold anyone want an adustable length railcar?   Aside from being totally uneccessary in terms of use and expense - it would be very difficult to build.  When I was at RoadRailer, we couldn't built an workable adustable length bimodal chassis because it was impossible to make it strong enough to stand the draft and buff forces in a train.  The problem would be multiplied many times over in railcars.  I suppose, with unlimited expsense you could built and adjustable length railcar - but again, why would you want to? As to dragging empty boggies behind a train - they're too light by temselves.  They were at about 11,000 poiunds when I was with RoadRailer.  That won't hold them on the rails.  One good bounce and you've got a wreck.  [/quote] There is another idea that might work for an adjustable length spine car that uses the nut and bolt concept.  It's basically a center sill that is round and bolt or screw shaped - turn it one way to lengthen the car, turn it in reverse to shorten the car.  The center sill thus is the "bolt" and the end platforms/truck attachments are the "nuts".  The platform itself would use the slider chassis mechanism to change it's length in conjunction with the center sill.  The main benefit of this design is that all the longitudinal forces are taken up by the "bolt" in equal proportion regardless of car length, and the car itself can be configured for any length desired between the minumum and maximum.  We have rotary drawbars, why not rotary center sills? As for towing free wheeling RoadRailer or RailRunner bogies, if they are attached to each other using a light weight (for easy handling) slot-on-slot drawbar, the lack of vertical play in that type of connecting device should limit bounce, as the weight of the fore and aft bogies would counter the vertical tendencies.  Of course, any such device would have to be tested prior to actual use.
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