IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAMWAYS
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Faulkner at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
December 1874.
I, JOHN FAULKNER, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Telegraph Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAMWAYS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to make a permanent way for
tramway cars, omnibuses, and other vehicles which shall not interfere
with the ordinary traffic, and also shall give such a secure fastening to
the-rails when laid down as to make the tramway road at least as durable
as the ordinary streets paved with setts or other means.
The wheels of the car are to be made without flanges, and to run on
rails laid level with the streets.
To the car or omnibus I attach a central bowl or roller which is under
the guide or control of the driver, and worked by him by a pulley or
lever actuated by his foot or hand in such a manner that when he presses
or raises a lever the bowl or roller shall be in contact with the ground
and shall run in an oval or partially oval shaped hollow formed in the

page_text: centre of the road or tramway, such hollow being either formed from
the setts themselves or made out of iron or other material inserted in
the roadway.
To make the pavement for the tramway I first lay a substratum of
some yielding material upon the usual bottom of gravel, concrete, or
other ordinary materials, by preference asphalte, Val de Travers, or
Limmer cement; over this the stone or wood setts or other materials are
placed in the usual way and bound together 'by pitch or tar.
The rails which I make double headed or T shaped are laid flush with
the ground and the bottom parts inclosed in cement, Val de Travers, 1
Limmer, or other hard and clastic substance which will hold them
firmly and prevent them rising or giving way under whatever pressure
to which they may be subjected, and when necessary I use the ordinary
fish plates for joining the rails together.
I also propose in certain cases to use instead of iron rails merely the ]
asphalte, Val de Travers, Limmer concrete, or other cement alone, or to
use wood, stone, or other smooth substance for the wheels to move
on.
Where rails are used the top surface may be roughened, or serrated, or
smooth, according to. the necessities of the case, and when required I 2
insert sleepers, stays, or other means for holding the rails in a fixed
position, suitable means for leading off the rainfall being laid at distances
required for the purpose of allowing the rain in the trough to run away.
By this Invention I obviate the use of flanged wheels and enable the
driver of a tramway car or ordinary omnibus or car to leave the track 2
whenever advisable, and to return to it when desired. The central
hollow for the bowl or roller is so shallow that it cannot interfere with
vehicles crossing the track, being indeed only meant as a guide or feeler
for the driver, and not a permanent track to run in; also by having the
substratum as described a certain amount of elasticity will be given to 3
the track, making the work lighter for the horses as well as giving
considerable durability to the road.