IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SWITCHES OR JUNCTION POINTS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Price Williams, of Great George Street,
Westminster, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
RAILWAY SWITCHES OR JUNCTION POINTS."
Sealed the 15th November 1870, and dated the 28th May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Price Williams
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th May 1870.
I, RICHARD PRICE WILLIAMS, of Great George Street, Westminster,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SWITCHES OR JUNCTION POINTS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in railway switches
or junction points.
When a line of railway bifurcates into a main line and a branch line
where ordinarily facing points would be required I form the main line
rail on the left-hand side, or that on which the branch diverges as a con-
tinuous rail, and the branch rail on the same side I make to terminate

page_text: A
at the outer side of the main line rail, and firmly fix it thereto.
groove or passage is cut in the main line rail for the flanges of the
wheels to pass as the train runs on to the branch. The apparatus has
no moving parts on this side of the line. 'On the other side of the line,
say the right-hand side, there is a switch rail jointed at the end at
which the trains enter upon it, and at the other end free to be moved
between the rail forming the continuation of the main line, and the rail
forming the continuation of the branch line. Fixed to the switch rail
and moving with it is a guard rail so placed that the flanges of the
wheels as soon as they get on to the switch rail are confined between
it and its guard rail, and the wheels are thus securely passed on to the
main line rail or on to the branch line rail, according as the switch
rail is made to coincide with the one or the other.
In order that a train backing on the main line over the switches
when they are set for the branch (should such a thing occur) may not
run off on to the ballast I fix to the switch rail at its free end an incline,
which in such a case will receive the flanges of the wheels, and cause
them to rise up over the switch rail and descend on its inner side, and
thus safely pass on to the main line, the wheels being guided in so
passing over the switch rail by a guard rail on the other side of the line
opposite the flange passage or groove in the fixed main line rail.
In order to prevent accident should a train run back along the branch
line when the point or switch is set for the main line I prefer to employ
an ordinary pair of points always open, so as to divert a train thus
approaching the main line points or switches from the branch line into
a siding, from whence it may, if desired, be allowed to pass on to the
down main line; or, in place of this arrangement, the branch rail on
the one side and the guard rail of the switch on the other may be con-
tinued for a distance alongside of and parallel with the original line, so
as to receive a train so running back and direct it by means of crossings
into a siding or into the down road. In this manner the use of facing
points is avoided.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in, pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Price Williams in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
PRICE WILLIAMS, of Great George Street, Westminster, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing. dato the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year. of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Richard Price Williams, Her special license that
I, the said Richard Price Williams, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Price Williams, my exe.
cutors, 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 expressed, 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
RAILWAY SWITCHES OR JUNCTION POINTS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Richard Price Williams, my executors or ad-
ministrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly 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 Richard Price Williams, 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 the following statement thereof, that is to say: -
This Invention has for its object improvements in railway switches, or
junction points,
When a line of railway bifurcates into a main line and a branch line
where ordinarily facing points would be required I form the main line
rail on the left-hand side, or that on which the branch diverges as a
continuous rail, and the branch rail on the same side I make to termi-

page_text: nate at the outer side of the main line rail, and firmly fix it thereto..
A groove or passage is cut in the main line rail for the flanges of the
wheels to pass as the train runs on to the branch. The apparatus has
no moving parts on this side of the line. On the other side of the line,
say the right-hand side, there is a switch rail jointed at the end, at t
which the trains enter upon it, and at the other end free to be moved
between the rail forming the continuation of the main line and the
rail forming the continuation of the branch line. Fixed to the switch
rail and moving with it is a guard rail, so placed that the flanges of
the wheels as soon as they get on to the switch rail are confined between
it and its guard rail, and the wheels are thus securely passed on to the
main line rail or on to the branch line rail, according as the switch rail
is made to coineide with the one or the other.
In order that a train backing on the main line over the switches when
they are set for the branch (should such a thing occur) may not 1
run off on to the ballast I fix to the switch rail at its free end an
incline, which in such a case will receive the flanges of the wheels, and
cause them to rise up over the switch rail and descend on its inner
side, and thus safely pass on to the main line, the wheels being guided
in so passing over the switch rail by a guard rail on the other side of
the line.
In order to prevent accident should a train run back along the branch
line when the point or switch is set for the main line I prefer to employ
an ordinary pair of points situate in the branch line above the junction
always open, so as to divert a train thus approaching the main line
points or switches from the branch line into a siding, from whence it
may, if desired, be allowed to pass on to the down main line. In this
manner the use of facing points is avoided.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings here-
unto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of a switch or junction point arranged according to
my Invention; a, a¹, is the main line along which a train approaches
the junction; b, 6', is the continuation of the main line beyond the
junction; and c, c¹ is the branch line; d is a groove or flange passage

page_text: allow the flanges of the wheels to pass from the inner to the outer side
of this rail, as the wheels run on to the branch rail c which is firmly fixed
at one end to the main line rail, and is, as the Drawing shews, carried
in the same chairs with it. The rail in which the groove or flange
passage d is cut should be stouter than the ordinary rails of the line, as the
drawings indicate; e is the switch rail, it is jointed at one end to the
main line rail a¹ and at its other end it is free to move, and it can be
set to correspond either with the main rail ¹ or the branch rail c¹. fis
a guard rail fixed to the switch rail, it controls the wheel flanges and
when the switch is set for the main line, it prevents the wheels on the
other side of the line crossing the main line rail on to the branch line;
is an incline fixed to the switch rail on its other side, and if by any
neglect or accident a train is backed along the main line rail b', when
the switch rail is set for the branch line this incline receives the flanges
of the wheels, they run up this incline and mount and cross over the
switch rail, the guard rail & on the other side controlling the wheels
and bringing them from one side of the switch rail to the other, where
they drop into their places, and the train runs on along the main line;
i is a hand lever for working the switch rail, it has a projection & upon
it, which as the lever is moved acts upon a second lever k, these parts
are seen in Figure 2, which is a section taken on the line A, B, Figure 1,
and also in Figures 3 and 4, which are sections taken respectively on
the lines C, D, and E, F, in Figure 1. The extreme positions of the
hand lever i are indicated by dotted lines in Figure 2.
21
The form of the lever k is such that it is not acted upon by the
lever i until this lever has moved for some distance from its starting
point, and similarly the motion of the lever is complete before the
lever i arrives at the end of its course. This surplus motion of the hand
lever is applied to the removal and replacal of a bolt, as herein-after
described. The lever k is connected by a rod / with the switch rail e,
with its guard rail ƒ and incline 7, and by it the switch rail is set to
coincide either with the rail' or with the rail c¹; m is a rod jointed to
the hand lever i, it passes through guides in a frame n and has a stud m¹
upon it; this stud enters an angular slot in the slide o, and from the
form of the slot it results that when the hand lever i is moved from side
to side it first moves the slide o to the right hand, then for a time the
slide remains stationary, and as the hand lever completes its motion the
slide o is returned to its first position. The slide moves when the lever k

page_text: is stationary, and vice versa.
The left-hand end of the slide is con-
nected with an arm p³ on a shaft p, and p* is another arm on the same
shaft, which by a connecting rod is connected with a sliding bolt q,
capable of moving to and fro in the space between the rails b and c¹ ;
when the lever i is at either end of its course, the bolt a projects beyond
the rails &¹, c¹, and into one or other of the spaces between the rails e, f,
and g, and so locks the switch rail, but when the lever i is at or near
a central position the bolt is drawn back and the switch rail is free to
move.
q
Figure 5 is a section taken at the time a, b, Figure 1, and the dotted
Hines in this Figure indicate the variations from this form of section taken
at the lines c, d, and e, f, respectively.
The way in which I prefer to employ trailing points on the branch
ține in order to prevent a train by neglect or accident backing along it
to the junction when the points are set for the main line I have already
stated.
5.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that what
I claim is, the construction of railway switches or junction points with
on the one side a moveable or switch rail, and on the other side a
flange passage to admit of the wheels passing across the main line rail
and on to the branch rail, substantially as described.
I also claim the construction of railway switches or junction points.
substantially as described.
.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Price Williams, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of Novem-
ber, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.