IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Judson. Addis, of Tanna, in the
Presidency of Bombay, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 25th September 1868, and dated the 28th March 1868..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Judson Addis
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 28th March 1868.
I, WILLIAM JUDSON ADDIS, of Tanna, in the Presidency of Bombay,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in the permanent way
of railways, and relates to improved arrangements and combinations of
parts whereby the offices of sleepers and fish plates are combined, and
those of spikes, trenails, and chairs are dispensed with. For this
purpose I employ sleepers formed of plates bolted or otherwise fastened
together, such sleepers being of the sectional form of a triangle (or
approaching thereto) the sides of which I prefer to form hollow or

page_text: concave. The rails (which may be either single or double headed) are
fixed to the sleepers by means of bolts passing therethrough and
through jaws formed at the junction of the plates, such jaws being of a
suitable shape to embrace the sides or web of the rail. The sleepers I
prefer to form in lengths of three feet fixed at six feet distances from
centre to centre, but I do not confine myself thereto, and I place the
sleepers in pairs opposite each other, and employ tie rods or bars passing
through and fixed to opposite sleepers to maintain the gauge of way.
If desired each angle of the sleepers may have a single or double headed
rail fixed therein, thereby facilitating renewal of the line when one
length of rail has been worn out or injured, as it is only necessary to
turn the sleepers, and thus bring up another rail, and then to fix the
ends of adjoining rails in the sleepers; or if desired only one rail may
be fixed in the sleepers. The ends of adjoining rails meet in the centre
of a sleeper and are securely bolted therein, the sleepers thus combining
the offices of sleepers, chairs, and fish plates.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Judson Addis, in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHAIL COME, I, WILLIAM
JUDSON ADDIS, of Tanna, in the Presidency of Bombay, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eight day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Hér reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Judson Addis, Her special
licence that I, the said William Judson Addis, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Judson Addis,
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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that I, the said William Judson Addis, 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 im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Judson Addis, 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:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in the permanent way
of railways, and relates to improved arrangements and combinations of
parts, whereby the offices of sleepers and fish plates are combined, and
For this
those of spikes, trenails, and chairs are dispensed with.
purpose I employ sleepers formed of plates bolted or otherwise fastened
together, such sleepers being of the sectional form of a triangle (or
approaching thereto), the sides of which I prefer to form hollow or
concave. The rails (which may be either single or double headed) are
fixed to the sleepers' by means of bolts passing therethrough, and
through jaws formed at the junction of the plates, such jaws being of
a suitable shape to embrace the sides or web of the rail. The sleepers
I prefer to form in lengths of three feet fixed at six feet distances
from centre to centre, but I do not confine myself thereto, and I place
the sleepers in pairs opposite each other, and employ tie rods or bars
passing through and fixed to opposite sleepers to maintain the gauge of
way. If desired, each angle of the sleepers may have a single or double
headed rail fixed therein, thereby facilitating renewal of the line when
one length of rail has been worn out or injured, as it is only necessary
to turn the sleepers, and thus bring up another rail, and then to fix
the ends of adjoining rails in the sleepers; or, if desired, only one
rail may be fixed in the sleepers. The ends of adjoining rails meet
in the centre of a sleeper, and are securely bolted therein, the sleepers
thus combining the offices of sleepers, chairs, and fish plates.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will procced, aided by the accompanying
Drawings, more fully to describe the same.

page_text: Figure 1 is a cross section of a portion of the permanent way of a
railway arranged and combined according to my Invention; Figure 2
is a plan drawn to a smaller scale; and Figure 3 is a side elevation.
a is an ordinary single-headed rail which is supported in sleepers b,
formed of plates of iron or steel rolled or shaped to the desired form,
so that when. brought together and united by bolts and nuts 61 or
by other suitable means they assume the sectional form of a triangle
(or approaching thereto), the sides of which are hollow or concave as
shewn. The rails a are embraced by the jaws & formed at the upper
angles of the sleepers b, and are there firmly secured by the bolts and
nuts b¹ passing through the jaws 6%, and through holes formed in the
webs of the rails a. The sleepers I prefer to form in lengths of three
feet fixed at distances of six feet from centre to centre, thereby allowing
three sleepers in an eighteen foot rail, and affording facility for
" fishing the rails in the centre of a sleeper, as shewn at a* in
Figures 2 and 3; and I place the sleepers in pairs opposite each other,
as shewn at Figure 2. And in order to maintain the gauge of way
I employ tie rods or bars c passing through holes formed in the plates
of the sleepers, and secured to the sleepers by gibs and keys as shown,
or by other suitable means.
"
At Figures 4, 5, and 6 I have shewn an ordinary single-headed
rail a secured to each angle of the sleepers b, thereby facilitating the
renewal of the line when a length of rail has been worn out or injured,
as it is only necessary to turn the sleepers, and thus bring up another
rail, and then to fix the ends of adjoining rails in the sleepers.
Similar parts are marked with similar letters of reference in all. the
Figures.
Figure 7 shews a section of a portion of the permanent way of
railways in which an ordinary double-headed rail is secured in the
jaws 63, which are rolled or otherwise formed to a shape suitable to
embrace the particular description of rail employed. d is the line of
formation of the railway, and e is the height to which the line is
ballasted.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
mode in which I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein shewn and

page_text: described; but what I do claim is the novel arrangements and com-
binations of parts of the permanent way of railways, substantially as
herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Judson Addis, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
Witness,
B. J. B. MILLS,
Patent Agent,
35, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane,
London.
W. J. ADDIS, C.E. (L.s.)