IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND WHEELS."
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Edwards Wilson, of Upper Norwood, in the
County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CONSTRUCTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND WHEELS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Edwards Wilson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th July 1864.
I, JAMES EDWARDS WILSON, of Upper Norwood, in the County of
Surrey, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND WHEELS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in constructing railway
carriages and wheels. In constructing railway carriages they are arranged
to run on six wheels, and the two end axles are in the following manner made
capable of a sight locking motion; across the under framing of the body of the
carriage are transverse bearers faced with or formed of metal, which rest
on rectangular frames on which the two end axles are carried, the sides of the
rectangular frames are, by preference, of iron, and they have the springs and
bearings or boxes applied to them in the ordinary manner. The upper or

page_text: bearing surfaces of the ends of these frames, where they support the transverse
bearers of the body of the carriage are of metal, or faced with metal, and it is
preferred that these rubbing surfaces should be the one of steel and the other
of gun metal. The transverse bearers and the ends of the rectangular frames
are prevented, separating in a vertical direction by suitable stops, and the
transverse bearers are prevented moving horizontally in a side way direction
beyond that necessary for the curves on the line by other stops or clips. Each
end frame is, by two connecting rods, connected to a vertical pin on the
under side of the body of the carriage half way between the end axle and the
centre axle, thus the end axles will be able to play slightly and be at liberty
to assume positions not parallel with the central axis when the rails on which
the carriage runs are laid in curves. In constructing the body of a passenger or
other carriage, the floor is laid on transverse joists or beams of wood, or it
may be of metal, below the joists or beams boards are fixed in a diagonal
direction, and above them boards are fixed in an opposite diagonal direction,
and over these a floor of wood is laid consisting of longitudinal boards. The
sides and ends of the carriage are each constructed of two sets of diagonals of
wood or metal, or both, which cross each other; these frames are lined by
light boards, or fillets of wood, tongued and grooved together, and on the
outside similar boarding is used. The roof or top is framed together in a
similar manner to the sides and ends; and where a carriage is made with an
upper story or compartment, the roof of the lower compartment, boarded over
longitudinally, becomes the floor of the upper compartment. The roof of the
upper compartment is formed to a convex curve, and is covered with cor-
rugated iron or otherwise. The sashes and shutters of the windows or
openings at the sides are arranged to slide diagonally in the between
the diagonal framings. The interior of the carriage is divided into com-
partments or not as may be required, and passenger carriages have seats
where required.
spaces
In constructing railway carriage wheels, each wheel is constructed of two
dished plates, the outer edges of which are fixed by screw bolts or rivets to
an inner rib formed in the ring of a railway or flanged tyre, which inner rib
is situated about midway of the tread of the tyre. At the centre of each of
the dished plates there is a hole, and around it the metal is turned
outwards to form a flange, which is securely fixed to the ends of a hollow
nave made, by preference, cylindrical, and with end flanges to receive the end
plates or covers. The axle tree on which the wheel turns is somewhat conical
and it has collars or projecting rings by which, and the arrangement of the
covers at the ends of the hollow nave, the wheel is securely retained on the

page_text: axletree. Inside of the hollow nave is fitted a box cylindrical on the outside
to fit the interior of the nave; this box is hollow and conical on the inside, and
there is a space all round between it and the exterior of the axletree; this
space is partly filled up by bars of soft or white metal, there being suitable
spaces between the bars for the passage of lubricating fluid through to the
axletree. The hollow box is arranged to be set up more and more as the
white metal wears, and the white metal bars will be caused to come more and
more nearly together.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Edwards Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
EDWARDS WILSON, of Upper Norwood, in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Edwards Wilson, Her special licence that I, the said
James Edwards Wilson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Edwards Wilson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING RAILWAY
CARRIAGES AND WHEELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Edwards Wilson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Edwards Wilson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by

page_text: the following statement thereof, reference being made to the Drawings
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
Each carriage is constructed in such manner that the two end axles of the
carriage may each have a slight locking motion.
Figure 1 shews a plan, and Figure 2 a side elevation; these two
diagrams shew in outline one of the end axles of a railway carriage with its
framed locking action.
a, a, is the rectangular frame; b, b, are the two wheels; c is the axle; d, d,
are two connecting rods. On the under side at each end of the carriage is a
transverse bearer e, faced with or formed of metal which rests on the rectan-
gular frame a, a, on which each of the end axles is carried; these rectan-
gular frames have the springs and boxes of the axles applied to them in the
ordinary manner. The upper surfaces of the rectangular frames where they
receive and support the transverse bearer are wide enough to admit of the
small locking motion of the frames a, a. It is preferred that these rubbing
surfaces should be one of steel and the other of gun metal, but other
materials may be used. The transverse bearers and the ends of the rectan-
gular frames are prevented separating in a vertical direction by suitable stops,
and the transverse bearers are prevented moving horizontally in a sideway
direction beyond that necessary for the curves (on the line of railway) by
other stops or clips. Each of the end frames is, by two connecting rods d, d,
connected to a vertical pin at d', on the under side of the body of the carriage,
half way between the end axle and the next or central axle, which has no
locking motion applied thereto, and it is on this pair of wheels on which the
carriage turns as on a centre. By these means the two end axles will have
some play, and be able to lock slightly and assume positions not parallel with
the central axis depending on the sharpness of the curves on the line. This
construction will readily be understood by reference to Figures 1 and 2. In
constructing the body of the carriage a system of diagonal framing is resorted to
as is shewn in Figures 3, 4, and 5; Figure 3 represents a plan of one end of
the bottom framing of one end of a railway carriage; Figure 4 shews part of
the side view of the framing of a railway carriage; and Figure 5 shews
a transverse section of the body of a railway carriage. The floor or bottom
and also the roof or top of a carriage are each formed of two sets of diagonals,
which may be of metal or wood; the Drawing shews them to be of hollow or
trough iron combined with angle iron, which is the construction preferred. f,f,
are the two sets of diagonal bars, which are of hollow or trough iron, that is,
they are rolled with a hollow recess or channel longitudinally, having a flange
on each side. These bars are arranged face to face, and where they cross or

page_text: intersect each other, these flanges are rivetted together; 9, 9, are parallel
transverse bars of angle iron which are split at their ends and turned outwards
so as to admit of the ends of the upper ones being rivetted to the side framing,
h, h, which is of T angle iron, whilst the ends of the lower bars 9, 9, are
rivetted to the angle iron frame i, i; the bars i, i, are rivetted to the bars h, h;
the upper and lower bars 9, 9, of angle iron are at a distance apart, and they
have between them the two systems of diagonal framing ff. The two sets
of parallel bars 9, 9, are connected together by zig-zag bars j, j, which are
rivetted to the angles of the bars g, g, and the ends of the bars j, j, are rivetted
to the T-angle iron frame h, h. The ends of the carriages are made similarly
to the sides, but they have openings formed for doorways. The bottom, top,
sides, and ends are boarded on the interior, as is partly shewn in the Drawings.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention I would have it under-
stood that what I claim is,-
First, the mode herein described of constructing railway carriages in order
that the two end axles may have a short locking motion.
And, secondly, I claim the mode herein described of constructing the bodies
of railway carriages with diagonal framing.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Edwards Wilson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal this Fifth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
J. EDWARDS WILSON. (L.S.)