In order to reduce the length of such a vehicular train, as for the purpose of accommodating more passengers on a given length of track, it is advantageous to design each vehicle following the first one as a semitrailer hitched to the preceding vehicle with elimination of a forward wheel axle. The coupling between a lead vehicle and a single-axle follower vehicle, particularly for a scenic railway or the like, should be of the universal type allowing relative disalignment of the two vehicles in both a horizontal and a vertical plane, thereby letting the train make sharp turns and follow rapid slope changes in a manner characteristic of such rides. Such a universal coupling is especially difficult to realize with railborne vehicles whose wheels are constrained to follow the track without lateral excursions in the curves.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds