IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY ROLLING Stock.”
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Handyside, of Victoria Chambers, Victoria
Street, in the City of Westminster, Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY ROLLING Stock.”
of
66 IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Handyside at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th November 1875.
I, HENRY HANDYSIDE, of Victoria Chambers, Victoria Street, in the
City of Westminster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY ROLLING STOCK," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in railway rolling stock, and
has for its object the braking or bringing to a standstill all loco-
motives, carriages, or railway wagons to which it is applied when
descending steep inclines or when travelling at great speed or otherwise
on more level portions of the line, and also to prevent retrograde

page_text: motion of the locomotive or train, of carriages or wagons, or any one or
number of them, in the event of a coupling breaking, or for any other
special object when it is desired to hold either the locomotive or train,
or portion thereof, at rest on any portion of a steep incline, or on any
other portion of the line.
In carrying out my Invention I employ a peculiar form of grasping
shoe, which firmly grasps the two top sides of the rails and at the same
time bears on the top of the rails, thus obtaining six bearing or frictional
surfaces instead of two as in ordinary practice, where only the tops of
the rails are utilized.
Each shoe is formed of two cheeks or sides for bearing against the
sides of the rails, and which are united by a sufficient number of links
connected together over the centre of the rails, and also to a top pressing
plate for bearing upon the top of the rails and to the cheeks or sides by
means of through bolts. The inner and lower sides of each of the
cheeks or sides are provided with renewable faces of some approved
brake metal, which faces are retained in place by small bolts, and under
the centre of the links and retained by a through bolt there is placed
another renewable face of similar metal, which forms the acting surface
of the top pressing plate. Each cheek or side is suspended by one or
more rods, by preference two, the lower ends of which are secured to
the cheeks or sides by bolts, whilst their upper ends are provided with
an eye which fits loosely on to pins projecting from each side of a slido
block, which is allowed sufficient motion, vertically or otherwise, to
admit of the brake shoe passing the centre, and thereby acting equally
well without turning the locomotive carriage or wagon.
The slide block slides in suitable side pieces fastened to the side frame
of the locomotive, or in the case of a carriage or wagon guide pieces are
attached to the under side of the framing of the carriage or wagon. The
slide blocks are suspended from their centres by connecting rods, the
upper ends of which are. fastened into the arms of a rock shaft, which
works in journals secured to the frame of the locomotive.
In the case of a carriage or wagon the connecting rods would be
placed on the under side of the slide block and the rock shaft also
placed on the under side of the framing of the carriage or wagon. The
rock shaft is provided with a lever arm, the extremity of which is fitted

page_text: with the ordinary screw arrangement used for common wheel brakes.
The screw brake shaft may be worked with the ordinary brake handle
or with the improved arrangement of parts, herein-after described,
whereby the brakesman is enabled to liberate and raise the shoe and
return it on to the rail in a ready and rapid manner.
To each end of each cheek or side is attached one end of a tension
rod, the other extremity of which is provided with a screwed end with
double nuts or some other suitable arrangement for adjustment. These
screwed ends pass through holes in an angle iron or other bar secured to
the frame of the locomotive carriage or wagon by a bracket iron or
equivalent means for the attainment of the same object.
The improved apparatus for releasing or holding the brake shaft is
arranged in the following manner:-The brake shaft passes loosely
through a tube, which is retained in its position on the shaft between
suitable flanges or collars. The tube passes through a boss formed with
trunnions, by which the whole apparatus is fixed to the top of an ordinary
brake pillar or wherever most convenient for the brakesman. Inside of
the boss is fitted a friction piece, which is acted on by a screw arranged
in such a manner that when turned by means of a handle with which
it is provided the screw tightens the friction piece against the tube,
which is then firmly held in its place. The power of the brake screw
may then be applied in the ordinary manner, but in the event of its
being desired to raise the shoe from the rails suddenly a slight turn of
the handle will instantly liberate the tube and allow it to slide free.
When the shoe is used as a strut ascending an incline the tube will
remain quite free, and the relative position of the top of the tube and
the top collar on the shaft will be regulated by the screw on the brake
shaft.
In the case of a locomotive engine it may be advisable to work the
rock shaft with a single or double steam cylinder acting with its piston
rod or rods direct on to a connecting rod coupled on to the end of the
rock shaft lever arm, or in the case of a train of wagons or carriages
the power may be transmitted by compressed air, as is well understood.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Handyside in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th May 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HANDYSIDE, of Victoria Chambers, Victoria Street, in the City of West-
minster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Handyside, Her special
license that I, the said Henry Handyside, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Handyside, my
executors, administrators, or 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 ROLLING STOCK," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Henry Handyside, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Henry Handyside, 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 accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say: -
"
The said Invention relates to improvements in railway rolling stock,
and has for its object the "brakeing" or "bringing to a standstill ” all all
locomotives, carriages, or railway wagons to which it is applied when
descending steep inclines or when travelling at great speed or other-

page_text: The improved apparatus for releasing or holding the brake shaft is
arranged in the following manner, reference being had to Figure 3 :-
The brake shaft R passes loosely through a tube S, which is retained in
its position on the shaft R between the fixed collar 2 at the bottom and
the moveable collar 3 at the top, which latter is secured with a through
key. The tube S passes through a boss T formed with trunnions, by
which the whole apparatus is fixed to the top of an ordinary brake
pillar or wherever most convenient for the brakesman. Inside of the
boss is fitted a friction piece U, which is acted on by a screw V arranged
in such a manner that when turned by means of a handle with which it
is provided the screw tightens the friction piece U against the tube,
which is then firmly held in its place. The power of the brake screw
may then be applied in the ordinary manner, but in the event of its
being desired to raise the shoe from the rails suddenly a slight turn of
the handle W will instantly liberate the tube S and allow it to slide
freely. When the shoe is used as a strut in ascending an incline the
tube S will be secured at its lower end by the friction piece U and the
relative position of the top of the rails, and the shoe will be regulated
by the screw on the brake shaft.
In the case of a locomotive engine it may be advisable to work the
rock shaft with a single or double steam cylinder acting with its piston
rod or rods direct on to a connecting rod coupled on to the end of the
lever arm M of the rock shaft L, or in the case of a train of wagons or
carriages the power may be transmitted by compressed air, as is well
understood.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is, or may be used,
or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The application of the peculiar construction of gripping shoe
to an ordinary rail as a brake, substantially as herein-before described
and illustrated by my Drawings.
Secondly. The application of a vertical or other slide motion for the
3 purpose of effecting the reversing of the shoe, and as the medium
through which pressure may be brought on to the shoes.

page_text: Thirdly. The application of a friction tube to the brake shaft,
substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and illus-
trated by my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Handyside, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of 5
May, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.