Improvements in Railway Systems.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd July, 1890-Accepted, 23rd Aug., 1850
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Systems.
I, BENJAMIN SABIN HENNING of 35 Wall Street in the City, County and State of
New York, United States of America, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has for its object to reduce the power required and consequently the
expense of driving cars upon surface, underground or elevated ways, and to improve
the construction of underground systems so as to avoid the objections incident to the
ordinary methods of construction, these objects being effected as hereinafter fully, set
forth and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which :-
Fig. 1 is a section representing a tunnel system and one means of propelling the
cars therein.
Fig. 2 is a plan showing the arrangement when there is a double track.
Fig. 3 is a section showing an underground track of a city railway embo-lying my
improvement.
Fig. 4 is a sectional view of part of an underground system illustrating my
improvements in such systems.
Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view at one of the stations, Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the arrangement of underground way and
stations in the city.
Fig. 7 is a sectional elevation on the line 4-4, Fig. 6.
Fig. 8 is a partial plan of one of the cars.
In underground railways whether as tunnels beneath rivers or ways extending
beneath the streets of the city where the cars must be brought to the surface, as at
the ends of a river tunnel, or to or near the surface as at the stations in a line beneath
the city, there are inclines which the cars must descend and ascend, and it is one object
of my invention to inake use of such inclines as a means of facilitating the propulsion
of the cars without the objections incident to the use of steam or other motor carried
by the cars.
To this end I make use of a cable driven by a steam engine or other suitable motor
and extending the length of the track which the cars must travel, said cars being
provided with suitable grips or attachments for connecting with the cable and the
track having two or more inclines. Thus in the tunnel construction shown in Fig. 1
there are two terminal inclines 2, 2, and there also may be an intermediate level 7 of
any required length, and the cable 3, in proper sections, passes round drums or
pulleys 4, 5, 6, 6, one of which is a driving pulley operated from any suitable motor.
If the car starts down the left incline 2 it will move by gravity, and if the incline
is sufficient, at the proper speed, and being connected with the cable will propel or
aid in propelling the latter so as to store up power as when compressed air or electricity
is usel, or it may otherwise supply a power which may be stored up or utilized as
described hereinafter.
In the construction shown in Fig. 1 the draft of the car upon the cable in descending
carries the cable, turns the pulley 5, and drives therefrom the dynamo D, and the
current from the latter is stored up and used to aid in driving the motor when the car
is passing up the opposite incline. When there is a double track as shown in Figs. 2
and 3, the driving pulleys 4, 4, of the two tracks are connected to turn together so
that the descent of one car driving one cable will act to drive the other cable with
which the other car may engage in ascending, so that but little additional power is
required from the motor to lift the second car. The cars may pass back and forth on
the same track or may be switched from one back to the other, passing only in one
direction on each track as shown in Fig. 2.

page_text: When there is a long track, as in underground ways in cities, there is a series of
inclines between the points a, a, where there are stations as set forth hereinafter, and
in such cases the cars engage the cable continuously so that the weight of each car in
descending aids in driving the cars that are upon the levels or on the up grados.
The plans of rapid transit in cities heretofore carried into effect are open to many
serious objections, among which are noise, dust and smoke, the ob-truction and
defacement of thoroughfares and obstruction incident to exposure to storms. The use
of underground ways obviates some of these objections, but heretofore it has been
necessary to arrange such ways near the surface rendering it necessary to cross lines
of sewers, pipes, etc., disarranging the systems of such pipes at many points. It has
been proposed to avoid these objections by lowering the level of the tunnels, but this
is attended with the disadvantage of the employment of elevating apparatus at the
different stations for raising passengers from the underground to the street level.
In order to obviate these objections to an underground system as well as objections
incident to the use of a separate motor for each train, 1 make use of the construction
and means hereinafter described and illustrated in Figs. 4 to 8. The underground
tunnel A extends continuously below the surface of the ground, the tunnel being either
parallel with a street or running in a direct line between terminal points as may be
desirable, but instead of being in proximity to the surface of the ground as heretofore
has been the practice, or instead of being throughout its length at a distance from said
surface upon a continuous level with elevators or stairways leading upward at the
stations, the said tunnel consists of a series of inclines in reverse directions and a
series of high levels at the stations, but below the surface of the ground, and a series
of low levels between said stations Thus, that portion 1 of the underground way A
which is nearest to each station is level for such a distance as may be necessary to
support a train of the greatest length, and while it may be at the surface of the
ground in some instances is preferably below the same, but so near to the surface
that passengers can reach the surface by ordinary stairways without objectionable
efforts.
From the upper level 1 the track descends in opposite directions upon as steep an
incline as is practicable or desirable towards the adjacent station, such inclined
portion 2 being of any desired length and finally joining the lower level 3,
which extends for any desired distance to the foot of the incline leading to the next
station.
By this arrangement of upper and lower levels and intermediate inclines the
greater proportion of the underground track is such a depth below the surface that
the tunnel will in no way interfere with the pipe or sewer system of the city, while by
arranging upper levels and inclining the track to and from the latter at the stations
the passengers are carried by the vehicles to such a point at each station in proximity
to the surface that they can reach the latter without material effort, thereby obviating
the expense and loss of time connected with the use of elevators at the stations, or the
objections incident to long stairways.
While any desired motive power, as for instance that described in reference to
Figs. 1 to 3, may be employed in connection with the underground tunnel and way
constructed as above described, I prefer to utilize this construction to facilitate
transportation. Thus it will be seen that as the cars pass from an upper level 1 on to
an incline 2, they will be conducted by the force of gravity along the entire length of
said incline and by the force of momentum along the lower level, and I place the
stations at such distances apart that the lower level 3 will not exceed in length the
distance that the cars will travel at a fair rate of speed under the momentum acquired
in descending the incline, and with the incline upon which the cars must rise to the
next level-1, as well as with the latter I combine any suitable motor, Fig. 5, whereby
the cars as their speed diminishes will be driven at the proper rate of motion up the
said incline to the said level and after stopping thereon to discharge and take on
passengers will be started upon said level and conducted to the head of the next
incline down which they will pass by gravity. It will thus be seen that for
a major part of the distance the cars will be driven by gravity and momentum

page_text: alone so that an artificial motor is required only for a fraction of the distance that thɔ
cars have to travel.
Different constructions and arrangements of artificial motors may be employed.
For instance the cars may be provided with secondary batteries and electrical motors,
the motor power being only used and exhausted during the times for which the cars
must move after they cease to be effectively carried by momentuin. Or they may be
carried up the inclines and along the upper levels by means of short cable sectious 4
driven from suitable motors. In the present instance, however, the cars travei
continuously in one direction upon the track, the travelling cable sections being
combined only with the incline upon which the cars must ascend and also extending
along the upper level sufficiently to deliver the cars down the next incline.
To avoid the necessity of carrying the tunnel too far below the surface of the
ground it is preferable to arrange the stations adjacent to the centres of the blocks and
as near midway between the streets as possible. This arrangement is illustrated in
Figs. 6 and 7, from which it will be seen that by placing the stations midway in the
blocks and between the streets S, S, the lowest portions of the tunnel are below the
streets where the pipes and sewers are situated while the higher portions are brought
near the surface at the points where they will not materially interfere with such pipes
and sewers. By arranging the higher levels 1 near the surface but below the surface
and without breaking the latter much valuable space is saved, only sufficient of an
area of ground being required at each station to afford a proper outlet and inlet for
the movements of passengers to and from the train.
While any suitable gripping appliances may be used for connecting the cars
automatically or otherwise with the cable sections 4, I have shown one arrangement
in Fig. 8, consisting of two gripping jaws 8, 9, the jaw 8 swinging on a fixed
pivot 10, and the jaw 9 swinging on an eccentric secured to a shaft 11, capable of
being operated by means of a hand wheel 12.
While I have referred to lower levels it will be evident that under some circum-
stances the opposite inclines might meet at the bottom without an intermediate level
portion of any great extent.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The combination with a track having two or more reverse inclines, of a cable
extending the length of the track one or more cars and means for continuously
connecting them with the cable, and means for utilizing the movement of the cable
when driven by a car in descending to store up power in the cable motor, substantially
as set forth.
2. The combination of a track having two or more reverse inclines, a cable
extending the length of the track, and motor therefor and a car or cars and connec-
tions between the car and cable for connecting the same in descending and ascending,
substantially as set forth.
3. The within described improvement in propelling cars upon tracks having a series
of reverse inclines, the same consisting in connecting the cars upon the descending
inclines and then on the ascending inclines with a cable driven by a motor, sub-
stantially as set forth.
4. The within described system of transit in cities comprising an underground way
having upper and lower levels and intermediate inclines, the upper levels being at or
near the surface at the passenger stations, cars adapted to travel upon said ways and
motors therefor, substantially as set forth.
5. The combination in a system of transit in cities, of a series of surface stations,
an underground way having levels communicating with, but below the stations, and
lower levels and intermediate incline portions, and cars adapted to travel on said ways,
substantially as set forth.
6. The combination in a transit system of a way having high and low levels and
intermediate inclines, a travelling cable arranged in proximity to the incline travelled

page_text: by the car in approaching the station and to the level of said station, and cars adapted
to engage said cable, substantially as set forth.
7. The combination with a way having a series of upper levels, a series of lower
levels and intermediate inclines, of travelling cables arranged in proximity to the
inclines that are travelled upward by the cars and to the upper levels and cars
provided with means for gripping said cables and releasing the same, substantially as
set forth.
Dated this 23rd day of July 1890
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Applicant's Agent.