Apparatus for Testing and Regulating the Position of the Rails in Railway Tracks.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Aug., 1899-Accepted, 20th Jan., 1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Apparatus for Testing and Regulating the Position of the Rails in
Railway Tracks.
I, FRANCOIS ALGOUD, Chief Engineer, State Railway, of Chateau la Vallière
(Andre et Loire), in the Republic of France, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement: —
This apparatus for testing and regulating, in other words, maintaining railway
tracks, consists in part of an apparatus for testing or adjusting the necessary
distance between the rails, for example, (1) After ballasting the permanent
way. (2) In straightening the track and (3) upon the necessary widening of
the distance between the rails at curves of small radius, in order to facilitate
the travelling of locomotives and carriages. The apparatus comprises further
an arrangement, which enables the super-elevation of the outer rail at a curve
to be tested and adjusted. Further, for the testing of the rail inclination, a
suitably arranged edge is provided in such arrangement.
The accompanying drawing illustrates this apparatus which is intended to
supersede the three contrivances hitherto used in railway maintenance, viz., the
iron template, for the gauge of way, the template for the super-elevation of the
outer rail at curves in the track, and the water-level, which must be used for
the super-elevation of the outer rail together with the template.
Fig. 1 is a side view of the one end of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a similar view
of the other end. Figs. 3 and 4 are end views. The end shown in Fig. 1 com-
prises a steel plate a which is straight on the upper side, the under end being
furnished with a shoulder having two steps c d. The steel plate a is fixed by
means of screws to the left hand end of a rectangular wooden rule or staff e.
On the steel plate a an angle-iron a' is arranged to turn and forms an addi-
tional step for the first step c of Fig. 2 and can be turned into and out of the
working position as desired. In order to turn the angle-iron a into the working
position, it is sufficient to move it to the left, until the one arm rests on the stop
shown in Fig. 1. The position of the angle-iron indicated by dots (Fig. 1)
shows the working position, whilst the position represented in unbroken lines is
that of rest.
The two parts a, a of Fig. 1 each have a bronze tablet, on which the corre-
sponding gauge of way is indicated by figures.
At the other end of the staff e, Fig. 2, is a steel plate a² which is furnished
at the lower end with a shoulder, having two steps c¹ d¹ corresponding with the
steps shown in Fig. 1.
C
The upper part of the plate a² is of trapezium form with rounded-off edges
and carries a pendulum or pointer which is suspended on a knife-edge and in
its position of rest indicates the vertical, in whatever position on the two rails
the apparatus may be. A staple h prevents excessive swinging of the pointer.
The lower end of the pendulum g moves over a scale i. This scale is so