PREVENTING ACCIDENTS AND COLLISIONS ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Claude Nicolas Leroy, Mechanic, of Paris (Empire of
France), and of 45, Essex Street, Strand, London, for the Invention of
CALLISTONO ALLA "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Claude Nicolas Leroy at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th October 1857.
I, CLAUDE NICOLAS LEROY, Mechanic, of Paris (Empire of France), and of
45, Essex Street, Strand, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "PREVENTING ACCIDENTS AND COLLISIONS ON RAILWAYS," to be as
follows, and consists in certain arrangements producing signals, by means of
which the engine driver is always warned in good time, 1stly, if the line is
clear; 2ndly, if one or more carriages become detached from the train; 3rdly,
if the switches have been properly directed:―
These results are obtained by placing on each side of the line double
inclined planes, disposed so as to be acted upon continually by the engines in
their successive journies backwards and forwards. The inclined planes are
placed at a certain distance apart from each other, say, every mile; they are
composed of moveable laths or rods, connected together by means of wires
supported at suitable distances. Every locomotive is furnished with two
levers, one of which is fixed, and the other moveable. Those levers are
CD T

page_text: furnished at their lower parts with rollers or tocks, meeting each a kind of
inclined plane, so as to give a movement to the said levers. This movement
is naturally transmitted to the other inclined planes before and behind the
train. The locomotive is furnished besides with two bells at the place where
the engine driver stands; one of them is in communication with the moveable
lever of the locomotive; the lower part of this lever is adapted to the inclined
planes, and the whole is disposed in such a manner that if a train is passing
along the preceding inclined plane it transmits to the planes a movement
which will ring the bell, and thus warn the driver that the line is not clear;
if, on the contrary, the preceding train is beyond two inclined planes, its
passage has caused the first inclined plane to work, consequently the following
train does not receive any warning, the line being clear. As the signals are
made in both directions, it is evident that two trains cannot run against each
other, nor one run against another from behind. It will be understood that
by means of those several movements it will be easy to work the distance
signals, so that by fine weather, in the day or night, the drivers will have
double signals. It happens sometimes that one or more carriages-detach
themselves from the train; the drivers not being aware of this, proceeds on his
journey and leaves such carriages on the line. To remedy this, I propose to
add to the ordinary means of coupling carriages-spring-tongs or such like,
which by giving way will ring the second bell and warn the driver.
Another part of my Invention.consists in disposing the discs signals in such
a manner that they are worked at the same time that the switches are. It
will be understood that by removing those discs sufficiently from the switches
the engine driver will know in time if the pointsman has done his duty.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed...
by the said Claude Nicolas Leroy in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th April 1858. .
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE-PRESENTS SHALL COME I, CLAUDE:
NICOLAS LEROY, Mechanic, of Paris, (Empire of France), and of 45; Essex 3
Street, Strand, London, send greeting...
WHEREAS' Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her Letters. -
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first-year of Her
reign, did; for Herself, Her heirs and' successors; give and grant unto me; the 3
said Claude Nicolas Leroy, Her special licence, that I, the said Claude Nicolas>>>

page_text: Leroy, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Claude Nicolas Leroy, 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 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 "PREVENTING
ACCIDENTS AND COLLISIONS ON RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Claude Nicolas Leroy, my executors or administrators, 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 Claude Nicolas Leroy, 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:
The Invention relates to certain mechanical arrangements for preventing
accidents and collisions on railways, by informing the engine driver at a
suitable moment, by means of visible or audible signals, or by both simul-
taneously, whether the track in the dirction in which his train is running is
free, whether the switches are in the required position, or whether any portion
of the carriages of the train might have been separated from the rest of the
train. In order to obtain the signals in the manner required, I place a series
of suitably combined levers along the track of a railway, at a quarter of a mile
or other suitable distances apart, the said levers being connected together by
wire or otherwise, in the manner as will be described. In the annexed
Drawings Fig. 1 shows a plan view, and Fig. 2 an elevation view of part of
the track of a railroad, furnished with my arrangements for informing the
driver of a train whether the track is free for this train to advance safely;
Fig. 3 shows a locomotive, tender, and train of railway carriages, provided
with the required arrangements for working the levers on the track, and the
audible signals. In these various Figures corresponding parts are indicated
by the same letters of reference. A, B, are two lever arms, jointed together
in C, whereas the other end of A is provided with a slit a, so as to glide over
a pin a¹, inserted in this slit and in the arms of the chair D, which latter is
bolted on the sleeper E. The end 6 of B is connected to a short spindle B¹
turning in two chairs B and B³ fixed to the sleeper E'; the other end of the
spindle B' has a short lever arm F, to the end of which is connected another

page_text: lever arm F¹, the free end F4 of which is allowed to move through a short
distance up and down in a slit in a guide 2 fixed to a sleeper E2; this lever
arm F has in fa bent form; on the sleeper E² is fixed also a small forked
chair G, in which turns ou a bell-crank lever G1, G2, to the short arm G² of
which is fixed a wire, running along the track and connected to the upper end
of the lever arm F of the next apparatus, whereas the long arm G' is provided
with an articulated stop, one part g of which is fixed to the lever arm-G',
whereas the other part g¹ may turn from the horizontal to the vertical position
round a pin g², so as to strike from below against the bent part fof the lever
arm F whenever this latter has been advanced towards G by the lowering of
the levers A, B, and the consequent moving of the arm F. To the spindle B'
is fixed another lever arm H, the other end of which has a counterweight H',
and is connected to the forked end of a second lever arm H2, the other end of
which glides over a pin i in the chair H³by a slit i, in the same manner as
has been described for the lever arm A. It will be understood from this
arrangement that, the levers A and B being in the position shown by Figs. 2
and 3, and if to the outside of the locomotive is fixed a projecting part j,
forming a curved incline; that when the locomotive is to advance in its natural
direction, that is to say, from the right to the left hand, the incline J in
coming to strike against the ends C of the levers A, B, these levers will be
brought to the horizontal position; whereas, on the contrary, the connected
ends of the levers H, H2, will rise so as to cause these levers to form a double
incline. If now a series of the said arrangements are fixed along the line, say
at a distance apart of about a quarter of a mile, and connected together by
wires d; that is to say, that a wired connects the lever arm F3 of the first
apparatus with the lever arm F of the second apparatus, whereas the lever
arm F2 of this second apparatus is connected with the lever arm F of the
third apparatus, and so on; it will then be evident that when the locomotive
lowers the lever arms A and B of the first apparatus, this will cause the lever
arms H, H², to rise; and thus indicate to a following train that a train is just
before it on the track; the first train then passing over the second apparatus,
lowers the lever arms A, B, of this second apparatus, but by this motion the
.. wire d of this second apparatus causes the lever arm G¹ of the first apparatus
to rise, whereby the stop 7' lifts the lever arm F¹, thereby causing the lever
arms H, H2, to fall down by the effect of the counterweight H'; and, on the
contrary, the levers A,B, to rise, thus indicating to the driver of the next train
that the first train has passed the second apparatus, and is consequently at
more than a mile in advance; should, on the contrary, the driver of the
.1 second train find the levers H, H2, in their elevated position, this would be a

page_text: sign for him that the first train is within a mile distance from him, and
accordingly he will stop entirely, or sufficiently diminish his speed.
In order further to furnish the driver with an audible signal,there is adapted
to the outside of the locomotive a rod K,fixed in such position as to strike with
its lower part against the levers H, H2, when these latter should be in their
elevated position, the rod hereby comes to strike with its upper end.against a
stop fixed to the locomotive; by which a hammer is liberated, and thereby
comes to strike against a bell fixed to the locomotive, thus giving notice to the
driver. Fig. 4 shows a plan view, and Fig. 5 an elevation view of a part of
a railway on which I make use of an arrangement similar to that of the
levers A, B, just described for actuating the switches and signal discs. In
these Figures corresponding parts are indicated by the same: letters of
reference. N and O represent two lever arms; connected together and
actuated in the same manner as the levers A, B, of the arrangement' above
described; the lever O causes a shaft O, turning in suitable bearings, to
revolve, and thereby turn the lever arm N', by which the signal disc Nis
actuated; whereas another lever arm'O2 is also fixed to this shaft, to the end
of which arın O is attached the end of a wire P; guided over suitable
pulleys p, p'; and fixed with its opposite end to one armQ of a bell-crank
clever.Q, Q'; the other arm Q' of which acts on the ordinary rods: R employed
for moving the railway switches, the other end of which rod. R is again.con-
nected with one arm S¹ of a second bell-crank lever S, S₁, the other arm Stof
which is connected by a wire P' with the end of the arm 0; fixed with its
opposite end to a shaft Of, turning in suitable.bearings, and acting on a com-
5bination of two levers T, T', arranged in a similar manner as those N, O, and
acting on a lever. arm. U, by which the signal disc U' is caused to turn in the
required position. By this arrangement the switches.and.the required signal
discs are consequently moved simultaneously, so as to show to the engine-
driver whether the switches are in the position required for allowing the train
0 to move on with safety, the whole being actuated by the locomotive; which
latter in passing depresses, by means of its incline.J, the lever arms N, O,
. or T, T
-
Another part of the Invention consists in an arrangement I make use of for
informing at once the driver if any of the carriages of his train should have
5 become separated from the engine. For this, besides the ordinary means of
connecting the carriages of a train, provide each carriage with a wire or
small chain f, one end of the chain of each carriage is provided with an elastic
clasp g, gl; between the two arms g and g; of which the end link of the chain
of the next carriage may be inserted; the clasp.g, gofthe tender is.con-

page_text: nected by a suitable combination of bell-crank levers l, m, and wires n, r, with
the hammer of a bell, in such manner that whenever a sufficient strain is
imparted to the clasp of the tender, the hammer will immediately strike the
bell; if, consequently, one of the carriages should become disconnected from
the rest of the train, its chain f will cause those of the preceeding carriages
to stretch themselves, and consequently cause the bell on the tender to be
struck, thereby at once informing. the driver of what has happened. It will
be remarked that in the arrangements above described I make use of wires
extending themselves over very long distances along the line of railroad, and
as such wires are greatly influenced bythe variations of heat and cold, it would
be impossible to insure the proper acting of the apparatusses if there were not
means of insuring to the said wires a constant strain, so as to be always
sufficiently stretched for the proper working of the apparatusses they connect
together. For this purpose I make use of the mechanical arrangement, of
which the Figs. 6 and 7 show two vertical sectional views, Fig. 8 a top view,
and Fig. 9 a side elevation view. In these four figures corresponding parts
are indicated by the same letters of reference. The same consist of an open
casing, formed of two cheeks A,B,fixed at a suitable distance apart by stays a,
and between which is fixed a spring barrel or drum C, similar to those made
use of in watches, the spring D of which may be wound up in the ordinary
manner, by means of its square-headed spindle E and a ratchet wheel F, with
catch F. A wire, which is wished to be kept constantly sufficiently stretched
for actuating, for instance, two of the apparatusses of Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, is cut
in two parts; the two ends thus formed are fixed and coiled a sufficient
number of times round the drum C, but in opposite directions, as shown by G
and G', in Fig. 8; to the barrel is fixed another ratchet wheel H, in the teeth
of which the end I of a catch I, K, having its fulcrum in L, may take: The
spring D will exert a constant strain on both ends G and G' of the wire,
which ends are allowed to uncoil themselves from the barrel C as soon as their
strain should exceed that of the spring D. When, however, the locomotive
comes to pass over one of my collision preventing apparatusses of Figs.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, the wire will be suddenly stretched with a rather violent jerk,
thereby causing the end I of the catch I, K, to fall in the teeth of the wheel H,
the arm K (which acts a a counterweight for the catch or arm I) having not
sufficient time to fall down, and thereby preventing the catch I of entering
between the teeth of the wheel H, as is the case when only a slow revolving
motion is given to the drum C.
This very simple, and at the same time very efficient apparatus, I intend
applying to all such arrangements where a uniform stretching of wires, cords

page_text: small chains, or other similar objects is required in order to counteract the
effects of dilatation or contraction resulting from variations in the temperature
or atmospherical influences.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and shown the manner
of carrying the same into practical effect, I now state that I do not confine or
restrict myself to the precise shape or form or details of the arrangements
here above described, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention,
consists of the systems or modes described for causing the locomotive or other
carriage of the train to act on apparatusses fixed at suitable distances along
the track,and thereby offering to the engine drivers visible or audible signals,
informing them whether the track on which their train is moving may be
safely pursued by them or not; the arrangements for informing the drivers
whether the switches are in the required position; and whether any dis-
connection between the carriages of a train might have occured; and,
finally, the apparatus for counteracting the irregularities in strain imparted
to wires or other similar objects serving for transmitti ng motions at great
distances.
In witness whereof, I, the said Claude Nicolas Leroy, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Eight day of April, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-eight.
Witness,
J. SOUTH.
C. N. LEROY. (L.S.)