IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILS FOR TRAM ROADS, AND IN LAYING DOWN THE SAME IN STREETS & HIGHWAYS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sidney Alexander Beers, of the City of Brooklyn, in
the State of New York, United States of America, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILS FOR TRAM ROADS, AND IN LAYING
DOWN THE SAME IN STREETS & HIGHWAYS."
Sealed the 12th September 1861, and dated the 25th March 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sidney Alexander Beers
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 25th March 1861.
I, SIDNEY ALEXANDER BEERS, of the City of Brooklyn, in the State of New
York, United States of America, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILS FOR TRAM ROADS, AND IN
LAYING DOWN THE BAME IN STREETS & HIGHWAYS," to be as follows:-
Fig. 1 of the annexed Drawings represents a transverse section of an iron
rail according to my Invention. a is the head of the rail, having a groove to
receive & guide a wheel with a flat or ordinary tire; 6 is a vertical web con-
necting the head a with the base c; c is a horizontal web or base strengthened
by brackets connecting the same with the head a at intervals along the line of
the rail; d, d, are brackets at each end and along the body of the rail. Fig. 2
is a tranverse section of the same rail, illustrating the method of uniting the
rails at the joint; c, f, represent the ends of lugs or duffs cast upon the side of
the rail to receive an iron wedge or key; g shows a section of the wedge in
its internal position. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal elevation of, the rail, showing.
the fastening at the joint; f, f, are horizontal or parallel cleets or duffs, while
e, e, are corresponding duffs, but converging from right to left to correspond
to the draft of the wedge; g is an iron wedge with bevilled edges, as shown by

page_text: the transverse section of the same in Fig. 2, and driven across the joint in the
rails, by which the two are firmly united without the use of bolt or screw.
Rails of this description of sufficient depth and strength I use without stringers,
and lay them down as herein-after described. Fig. 4 represents a transverse
section of a flat rail with a groove in the upper surface to receive & guide a
carriage or ordinary wheel without a flange as before, but which is intended to
be laid on and supported by a longitudinal string piece of timber as usual.
In laying down or constructing a tram road I proceed as follows:-A
narrow longitudinal trench is opened in the pavement for each line of rails
and at distances of about twelve feet, which is the usual length of the rail; a
thin cast or other iron plate, some eight by sixteen inches, is firmly bedded on
the gravel or earth forming the bed of the pavement, and at the proper depth
below the top of the pavement. Upon these plates the rails are placed, the
successive joints resting upon the aforesaid plates; the rails are then moved into
line, the wedges driven into place, and the earth firmly tamped under the base
of the rail so as to furnish a uniform and continuous bearing, when the trench
may be filled and tamped about the rail and the pavement replaced and well
rammed home, so as to leave the pavement even with the top of the rail on
both sides thereof.
When the pavement is of a reliable character no ties of any kind are
necessary, the rail being held firmly in line by the pavement; but when the
pavement is of an indifferent character, iron rods may be used to connect the
rails or preserve the guage, such rods passing through holes cast in the web
of the rail for that purpose. On common roads without pavement wooden
ties may be used and the rails spiked to the same.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Sidney Alexander Beers in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th September 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SIDNEY
ALEXANDER BEERS, of the City of Brooklyn, in the State of New York,
United States of America, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Sidney Alexander Beers, Her special licence that I, the said Sidney Alex-

page_text: ander Beers, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Sidney Alexander Beers, 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 "In-.
PROVEMENTS IN RAILS FOR TRAM ROADS, AND IN LAYING DOWN THE BAME IN
STREETS AND HIGHWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Sidney Alexander Beers, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Sidney Alexander Beers, do hereby.
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same.
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and,
by the following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) -
My improvement in rails for tram roads consists of an improved form of the
surface or head of the rail so as to guide a common wheel with a flat or
ordinary tyre, and laying down such rails so that both edges are on a level
and equally flush with the surface of the roadway.
Fig. 1 of the annexed Drawings represents a transverse section of an iron
rail according to my Invention. a is the head of the rail, having a groove
or channel x to receive and guide a wheel with a flat or ordinary tire; b is a
vertical web connecting the head a with the base c; c is a horizontal web or base.
strengthened by brackets connecting the same with the head a at intervals.
along the line of the rail; d, d, are brackets at each end and along the body of
the rail. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same rail illustrating the method
of uniting the rails at the joint; e, f, represent the ends of lugs or duffs cast
upon the side of the rail to receive an iron wedge or key g, also showing a
section of the wedge g in its intended position. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal
elevation of the rail showing the fastening at the joint; f,f, are longitudinal
and parallel cleets or duffs, while e, e, are corresponding duffs, but converging
from right to left to correspond to the draft of the wedge; 9 is an iron wedge.
with bevilled edges as shown by the transverse section of the same in Fig. 2,
and driven across the joint in the rail, by which the two are firmly secured

page_text: together without the use of bolt or screw; rails of this description, if of sufficient
depth and strength, may be used without stringers and laid down as herein-
after described. Fig. 4 represents a transverse section of a flat rail with a
groove & in the upper surface to receive and guide a carriage or ordinary wheel
without a flanch as before described, but which is intended to be laid on and
supported by a longitudinal string piece of timber as usual. This rail, instead
of being flat on the under surface, may have a rib or ribs rolled or otherwise
formed thereon to rest upon stringers or other supports adapted thereto.
In laying down or constructing the tram road first above mentioned I
proceed as follows:-A narrow longitudinal trench is opened in the pavement
or roadway for each line of rails, and at distances of about twelve feet, which
is the usual length of the rail; a thin cast or other iron plate, some eight by
sixteen inches, is firmly bedded on the gravel or earth forming the bed of the
pavement. Upon these plates the rails are placed, the successive joints resting
upon the aforesaid plates, the rails placed in proper line and guage, the wedges
driven into place, and the earth firmly tamped under the base of the rail so as
to furnish a uniform and continuous bearing. The trench may then be filled
and tamped about the rail and the pavement replaced and well rammed home,
so as to leave the pavement even with the top of the rail on both sides thereof.
Iron rods may be used to connect the rails or preserve the guage, such rods
passing 'through holes cast in the web of the rail for that purpose, or wooden
ties may be used and the rails spiked to the same.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the manufacture and use of rails
in cast or wrought iron for the purpose of street tramways or street railroads,
having a concave track or groove x, as represented in the Drawings hereunto
annexed, to receive and guide the wheels of vehicles without the necessity of
flanges on the wheels, and also in the manner of laying down the same
on iron plates or with iron ties without a wooden string piece, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sidney Alexander Beers, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
S. A. BEERS. (L.S.)