referring now to the drawings , wherein like characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views , there is shown in fig1 a first embodiment of a wheel chocking assembly 10 installed aboard the deck 12 of a railroad car 14 which is typically used to transport automobiles , and which includes a conventional track 16 extending along the length of the railroad car 14 in order to guide the wheels 18 of an automobile during loading and unloading operations . while fig1 shows an assembly 10 on each side of the railroad car 14 merely for convenience , it should be noted that only one side is necessary . a second outboard track 24 is also provided in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention . as shown more clearly in fig2 when viewed in conjunction with fig3 , 3a , 3b and 3c , the wheel chocking assembly 10 includes a first u - shaped member 20 which is rotatably coupled at a pair of bearing surfaces 21 to a shaft 22 positioned between the track 16 and the parallel , outboard track 24 . track 16 as well as the outboard track 24 each have holes 25 drilled at regular intervals along the lengths thereof to permit adjustable placement of the shaft 22 , and thus the wheel chocking assembly 10 . such adjustment may be accomplished by withdrawing a lock 23 , compressing a spring 19 , thus withdrawing the shaft 22 and repositioning it as necessary . a pair of j - shaped members 26 are also coaxially and rotatably mounted at respective bearing surfaces 27 to the shaft 22 within the u - shaped member 20 . in order to erect the wheel chocking assembly 10 , from its collapsed state in a flat position upon the deck 12 as shown in fig3 b , a t - shaped member 28 having a spring - loaded foot portion 29 is rotatably mounted at the mid - point of the horizontal portion of the u - shaped member 20 at a bearing portion 31 . the foot portion 29 of the t - shaped member 28 is first swung down between the pair of j - shaped members 26 thus elevating the other end of the t - shaped member 28 as well as the u - shaped member 20 . so as to maintain the wheel chocking assembly 10 is this erected position shown in fig3 c , the foot portion 29 of the t - shaped member 28 is releasably coupled to the j - shaped members 26 as explained below . referring now to fig3 a , a pair of pins 30 , each of which are attached to a respective spindle 32 , are retracted within a pair of slots 34 in the foot portion 29 thereby compressing a spring 36 and retracting the spindles 32 which are placed within a hollow portion 38 of the j - shaped members 26 when the spring 36 is released . assembled in such a manner , the members 20 , 26 , and 28 form a wedge 40 which is advantageously positioned against the wheel 18 . in order to prevent jamming of the wedge 40 , the hollow portions 38 may be lined with a low - friction material such as nylon , or may alternatively be formed to provide a tapered , low friction fit of its respective spindle 32 . thereafter , a strap member 42 may be coupled between a respective pair of wedges 40 over the top the wheel 18 as described herein below . referring now to fig4 there is shown a preferred embodiment of the strap member 42 . a first pair of webbed members 44 are attached at their ends substantially in the form of an ellipse e . at opposite points of the ellipse e , along its major axis , a second pair of webbed members 46 are attached to provide a means of coupling the respective pair of wedges 40 . a buckle 48 , such as a conventional overcenter buckle as described in the 1985 aeroquip catalog 267 is attached to the distal end of one of the webbed members 46 , while a clip 50 is attached to the distal end of the other webbed member 46 . a third pair of webbed members 52 are attached between the first pair of webbed members 44 at points equidistant from and parallel to the minor axis of the ellipse e . constructed thusly , the strap member 42 may be attached between a respective pair of wedges 40 which are properly positioned against the wheel 18 , placed over the top of the wheel 18 , and tightened securely conforming to the shape of the wheel 18 by taking up slack through the buckle 48 . in accordance with one important aspect of the invention , the wheel chocking assembly 10 must prevent lateral and vertical movement of the wheel 18 as well as preventing the movement thereof in a forward or backward direction . prior art attempts utilizing chocks alone permit the automobile to rise out of the chock upon impacts simulating coupling operations . impact tests performed upon the afore described embodiment of this invention , however , revealed that the wheel chocking assembly 10 including the strap member 42 was capable of withstanding an impact of approximately 13 miles per hour while substantially securing the automobile . moreover , by utilizing a strap member 42 which conforms to the shape of the wheel 18 , damage to the wheel 18 can be obviated in spite of the high tension forces which are required to adequately secure the automobile . this is unlike certain prior art approaches which have utilized either single strap or tandem wire cables in conjunction with a pair of chocks . while the embodiment of fig1 - 4 has been found to be very suitable for use in protecting automobiles during transit , the channels 16 and 24 situated along the deck 12 of the railroad car 14 cause an obstruction to the high speed loading and unloading of the car 14 . for this reasons the embodiment of fig5 - 11 is preferred . referring now to fig5 through 8 , there is shown a second and preferred embodiment of the invention which includes a pair of chocking frames 60 in conjunction with the strap member 42 to secure a wheel 18 . as illustrated therein , chocking frame 60 includes a pair of support tubes 62 which are attached in a substantially parallel manner to a connecting tube 64 . the connecting tube 64 , when viewed in conjunction with fig7 and 8 , is contained within a side channel 66 which is attached to the deck 12 of the railroad car 14 . having an inwardly - extending lip portion 70 , the side channel 66 further includes a plurality of inverted t - shaped slots 72 which permit the chocking frames 60 to be locked into position upon the deck 12 or retained in an upright position moved in the direction of arrow a ( fig7 ), when not in use against the sides of the railroad car 14 . alternatively , any means such as straight - sided slots with appropriate locking means may be utilized in accordance with the present invention as long as the chocking frames 60 can be adjusted along the length of the channel 66 and hingedly coupled thereto . as shown in fig5 - 7 , a respective wedge 74 is attached in a telescoping manner to the pair of support tubes 62 . the wedges 74 are movable in the direction of arrow b ( fig5 ) toward or away from the side of the railroad car 14 by sliding along support tubes 62 in order to accommodate varying sizes of automobiles . each wedge 74 is comprised of a pair of bottom tubes 76 , each of which are slidably fit to sheath its respective support tube 62 , and a top tube 78 connected by strut members 80 to the bottom tubes 76 which are maintained in parallel alignment by a pair of cross tubes 82 connected therebetween . a plurality of shim plates 81 may be attached beneath the wedge 74 in order to favorably position the wedge 74 above the deck 12 . a buckle tube 84 connects one pair of cross tubes 82 of one wedge 74 and provides a point of attachment for the buckle 48 on the strap member 42 . in this embodiment , the buckle 48 is attached to a coupler 86 formed around a bolt 88 supported between a pair of angle members 90 attached to the buckle tube 84 . the other wedge 74 has attached between its respective cross tubes 82 a strap bolt 92 around which the clip 50 of the strap member 42 may be attached . the operation of a lock mechanism 94 suitable for precluding movement of the wedges 74 upon their respective support tubes 62 may now be explained with reference to fig9 . each of the support tubes 62 and bottom tubes 76 have a plurality of regularly spaced holes 96 through which a pair of locking pins 98 may be inserted . in order to adjust the position of a respective pair of wedges 74 for accommodation of a varying size of automobile , the locking pins 98 each have a handle 99 which is rotated upwardly within respective slots 101 in the cross tubes 82 thereby withdrawing the pin 98 from the holes 96 as shown by the dashed arrows and permitting the distal end of the locking pins 98 to be rested upon a detent 100 . when the wedge 74 has been repositioned , the locking pins 98 may be pushed from the detent 100 and fully inserted within the holes 96 . the problem of jamming of automobile wheels 18 against the wedge 74 such that the wedge could not be retracted and which had been encountered in prior art approaches is obviated in accordance with one important aspect of the present inventions shown in fig1 and 11 , a modified wedge 110 comprised of the pair of bottom tubes 76 each slidably fit to sheath its respective support tube 62 has a cam - and - lever assembly 112 attached to the top of the cross tubes 82 to relieve those situations where the automobile &# 39 ; s tire 18 jams the wedge 110 , thus precluding its removal without tools . a cam 114 having a lever 116 rigidly mounted thereto is rotatably mounted on shaft 118 attached between a pair of angle members 120 . in its undeployed position , as shown in fig1 , the wedge 110 is positioned in front of the wheel 18 , as previously described and the lever 116 is pulled up , thus causing the overcenter type cam 114 to lock into its deployed position as shown in fig1 . this action forces a faceplate 122 mounted on a hinge 124 to contact the wheel 18 . if , after transport , the wheel 18 has jammed the wedge 110 , pushing down on the lever 116 unlocks the cam 114 and unjams the wedge 110 by partially collapsing the faceplate 122 . a pair of stops 126 limit the movement of the cam - and - lever assembly 112 . some of the many advantages of the invention should now be readily apparent . for example , a novel wheel chocking assembly has been provided which is capable of securing an automobile to the deck of a transport such as a railroad car . the assembly is quickly positioned proximate to wheels on one side of an automobile , requiring no tools for alignment or adjustment , and safely restrains the automobile during transit as well as railroad car coupling operations . furthermore , the assembly facilitates ready stowage to permit efficient loading and unloading of the automobiles . obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings . it is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise and as specifically described .