CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY TURN TABLES
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of the Patent Office, 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of
April, in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my
exors, admňors, and assigns,. Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my exors, admors,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my
exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Guernsey,
Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
TURN TABLES, Communicated to me from abroad; in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, should
cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my

page_text: hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, referenco
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
There are four kinds of turn tables at present in use :-
First, those supported, when at rest or in motion, by rollers at or near their
margins.
Second, the pillar tables in which the weight is supported principally or
entirely on or by a central pillar or column, whether the table is at rest or in
motion.
Third, tables in which the platform is supported by rollers, and partly by a
column pillar or central shaft.
Fourth, tables which are depressed or raised for the purpose of being turned,
and which, when in the act of turning, are supported on a central point or on
rollers, and which, when at rest, are sustained at or near their outer edges on
fixed bearings, as wedges or cams, but which wedges or cams have to be
shifted when the table is to be turned, and again replaced to render the table
fit for the passage of a train.
A general defect of turn tables is, that when passed over rapidly by heavy
carriages, they are liable to tilt or to deflect, which arises from their not
boing laid on a sufficiently firm basis, and sustained either continuously or
at short intervals under the line of rails. Unless the platform of the turn
table is supported so as to sustain the great weights and sudden shocks of
a heavy engine and tender with the attached carriages passing in succes-
sion over it along the line without any sensible tilting, deflection, or depres-
sion in any part, the table is liable to become unsafe, and the trains cannot
pass across it in safety without a slackening of speed or other precau-
tions. Further, from the unequal bearings to which tables supported on
rollers and some other description of tables are subject, and the consequent
constant motions which such tables experience on the passing of a train, the
platform is liable to turn slightly as the weight comes suddenly upon it, the
effect of which turning is to throw the rails on the platform of the table out
of accurate adjustment or line with the rails of the road. Now the design of
this Invention is to present a table free from such defects, the means of avoid-

page_text: ing which, and the advantages attained, will appear from the following state-
ment and description of the annexed Drawings, which represent several
modifications and improvements in the construction and arrangement of turn.
tables, so as to attain with facility the various objects for which provision must
be made. The leading or characteristic features, however, of all are, that the
table; when required to be turned, is- raised by the pressure of a fluid, and
sustained: whilst being turned upon the fluid, by the pressure of which it was
so raised, and when turned to the required position lowered by withdrawing
that pressure, and that the table, when not required to be turned rests on
continuous or solid. stationary bearings under the passing weight, instead of on
á central column or on rollers. The apparatus employed for the purpose of
raising, sustaining, and lowering the table, and the importance of having
ready access to such apparatus, and the arrangements for sustaining the plat-
form on solid stationary bearings, give rise to several modifications which are
hereafter particularly described. The column of central shaft of the table, as
will be seen on inspection of the Drawings, turns at the upper part in an accu-
rately fitted collar; and to avoid the tilting of the table when raised for the
purpose of being turned, it is necessary that the column or shaft should turn
at it's lower extremity also in an accurately fitted collar or bearing, so that the
effect of the weight at the outer edge of the platform when the table is raised
may be effectually resisted. For this purpose the lower end of the shaft or
central column may turn either in a lower ring or collar accurately adjusted
with the upper collar, and fixed in the brickwork of the continuous support,
or it may be held and turn in the raising apparatus; but great care must be
taken that the two collars or rings in which the central shaft is to turn are
accurately and securely fixed so as not to be liable to get out of adjustment
with each other. Another important consideration is the having ready access
to the lower part of the shaft or central column, with suitable arrangements
for removing or repairing the raising apparatus. When the shaft or central
column is held or turns in a lower collar accurately adjusted with the tipper
collar; and placed immediately above the raising apparatus, the only duty and
operation of the raising apparatus is to lift the table, and furnish the bearing
by which the table is to be raised and sustained, and upon which it is to be
turned when so raised; but when the raising apparatus also serves as the fixed
collar or bearing in which the lower end of the central. shaft or column turns,
the raising apparatus has an additional duty to perform, Hamely, to hold the
lower end of the central shaft, and prevent the tilting of the table when it is
being turned. The tilting to which tables are usually subject when the weight
is at the outer edge as each carriage comes on to or goes off from the platform

page_text: of the table is prevented by the bearings at or near the outer edge and the
continuous supports under the rails, which the peculiar arrangements of this
,table admit of.
I will now proceed to describe the annexed Drawings. Figures 1 and 3
are sectional views of the table and raising apparatus, shewing also the force
or injecting pump and main bearers or girders of the platform of the table, of
which Figures 2 and 4 are plans. Figure 5 is a sectional view shewing a
.stop for the purpose of insuring the table after being turned stopping in such
a situation that the rails on the platform of the table may be in accurate
,adjustment with the rails of the line.
The framing and construction of the platform of the table may be made
.according to the pleasure of the engineer, provided that the main bearers or
girders A¹, A', as shewn in Figures 1 and 3, are sufficient to sustain the weight
.of the carriage with its load without deflection at the outer edge, when the
table is lifted for the purpose of being turned, and that the platform is firmly
connected with the central column or shaft B. It will be observed that the
main bearers or girders of the table are sustained either continuously under
.the lines of rails r, r, or as on a square in the middle of the table, (as shewn
at C, in Figures 1, 3, and 4,) according to the width of the guage, and also
near the edge of the platform C¹, under the points D¹, D', over which the
.trains pass on, to, and off the table in the ordinary working of the railway.
Thus there will in all cases be firm support near the outer edge of the table,
and across the table in the line of the rails of the railway.
Figure 6 shews a plan of foundations which may be convenient in some
cases, the projections A, A, A, A, at the junction of the walls B, B, present-
ing buttresses upon and into which corresponding projections of the upper and
lower collars, or the raising apparatus herein-after explained, may be set.
This arrangement of the foundations may be found convenient for railways of
the broad guage. It also has the advantage of giving more room in the
.central pit for the raising apparatus, the access to which may be from above s
through the platform, either directly into the central pit or through an arch in
the circular walls C, C, C, C. Whatever kind of support is adopted, I recom-
mend that the girders of the table should rest on a partially elastic bed E', E',
as of caoutchouc, gutta percha, or any of their known preparations or other
suitable elastic substance, so as to obviate the effect of the shock on the trains
passing over the platform, and on the lowering of the table on to its solid
bearings after having been raised. It will also be obvious that the platform
may be sustained on framings of wood placed on the cross walls of the inner
pit extending to the outer wall or curb, and that it will not in general be

page_text: necessary to excavate the whole pit in which the turn table is placed. The
stop shewn in Figure 5 may be placed at any convenient part of the curb or
outer retaining wall of the turn-table pit, or it may be placed near the force
or injecting pump, so that the same person who manages the raising and
lowering of the table may depress the stop, when required, by setting his foot
upon or otherwise depressing the foot plate G¹ affixed to the top of the
spindle H, and thereby overcoming the upward pressure of the helical spring
I', which at all other times either presses the bolt F into one of the recesses
made in the ring K¹, or causes it to bear up against its lower edge. The
platform (if raised from its bearings) may now be turned round without. inter-
ruption until the bolt F' comes under the opening L¹ in the outer rim of the
platform, and the bolt falling into this opening, the further turning of the
table will be arrested unless the stop is again depressed. The openings L', in
the outer rim K¹ of the platform must be made at intervals corresponding
with the distance through which the table is to be turned, for the purpose of
bringing the rails r, r, in the platform of the table opposite the line of
the rails of the permanent way on to which the carriage is to pass from off
the table.
The foundation of the walls upon which the platform of the table rests,
especially of the walls under the central part of the platform, will require par-
ticular attention; and in all cases in which the natural foundation is not of the
most solid description, concrete should be resorted to, (as shewn in Figure 8,)
so as to insure a solid foundation for at least the central part, and to guard
as much as possible against settlement in any part after the table has been
fixed and adjusted. The construction of the force pump for injecting the
water or fluid into the raising apparatus requires no explanation, many varieties
of force or injecting pumps, both with and without safety valves, being in use,
and their construction being perfectly understood by engineers. The pump
shewn in the Drawings is shewn as arranged for working two tables or two
sets of tables; but various other arrangements may be adopted, and it will be
obvious that one pump may be employed in a station for a great number
of tables, by simply turning a cock in connection with the pipe leading
to the table to be raised. I would also remark, that when room is of great
importance, as in stations, the forcing or injecting pump may be placed in the
outer or even the inner pit of the turn table, or at any convenient place at a
distance. The adaptation of the raising apparatus to the central shaft admits
of several arrangements, which I will now proceed to explain by reference to
the Drawings.. According to the arrangements shewn in Figure 1, the central

page_text: shaft or pillar B³ (to which the platform of the table is firmly attached, as
already mentioned) is fitted with great accuracy, so as to turn freely in an
upper and a lower collar A and B, firmly set in the brickwork of the walls
under the rails already referred to, and accurately adjusted to each other, so
that the central shaft may be vertical. The raising apparatus is placed imme-
diately below the bottom of the shaft, and consists of a short piston c fitted
into a cylinder D', having near the upper part a recess for receiving & cup
packing a, a, as in the hydraulic press, which may be of leather, as usual, or
of the metallo-thionised caoutchouc, or gutta percha. The axis or central line
of the piston and cylinder of this raising apparatus should be placed as nearly
as possible in accurate adjustment with the axis or central line of the pillar of
the table, and the whole apparatus firmly secured in its place. The necessity
which may occasionally exist for introducing fresh packing renders it neces
sary to provide suitable arrangements for ready access for that purpose. This
may be effected in various ways. For instance, supposing the piston to be at
the bottom of the cylinder, and, consequently, not in contact with the central
shaft, the raising apparatus may be withdrawn from under the central shaft,
and the piston raised out of the cylinder, and fresh packing introduced.
Instead of the raising apparatus resting on the foundation, as shewn in
Figure 1, it may be suspended from the lower collar by bolts D, D, (of suffi-
cient strength to sustain the weight to be raised by the fluid pressure); and
these being withdrawn, the apparatus may be lowered down (a sufficient depth
being left for this purpose), and the piston raised out, and fresh packing intro-
duced, or the raising apparatus may be permanently and solidly fixed, but cut
across at the middle of the packing, as shewn by the dotted line E, E, the
two parts of the cylinder being held together by strong bolts inserted through
flanges cast on the upper and lower portions of the cylinder. In this last case.
the piston must be of such a length as that when the piston falls to the bottom
of the cylinder the top of the piston may be on a level with the dotted line.
The bolts in the flanges being then unscrewed, the top of the cylinder may be
lifted off, and fresh packing introduced. If the junction of the upper and
lower part of the cylinder in the middle of the packing be objected to, the
junction may be made at the top of the recess, as in Figure 7, for the leather
packing, instead of at the middle, as indicated by the lines E, E, and the
upper part L may be made to fit as an external cylinder or cap upon the top
of the lower part D.
When, instead of having the lower collar, as above described, the raising
apparatus is made to answer that purpose by the lower part of the central

page_text: column or shaft being accurately fitted as a piston or ram to the cylinder,
then the cylinder of the raising apparatus must be very firmly secured side-
ways to the foundations, as it will have to counteract the tendency of the
table to tilt when in the act of turning. In Figure 3 the raising apparatus
5 is secured at the sides by wedges or blocks which can be removed, and the
table being raised to such a height as to take the line a¹ of division at the.
lower end of the shaft clear of the top of the cylinder, the table is to be:
wedged up, and the piston being allowed to fall to the bottom of the cylinder
(the injection pipe being disconnected), the raising apparatus can be drawn
from under the central shaft, and fresh packing introduced, as already
described. It must be observed, however, that, according to this arrangement,
the table cannot be passed over whilst the packing is being replaced. In
Figure 8 the central shaft is made in three pieces; A, B, and C, the middle
piece being fitted into square apertures in and firmly secured by bolts in the..
flanges to the upper and lower pieces, so that the middle piece B can be
removed at pleasure, and the lower piece C removed, so as to introduce fresh.
packing.
The operation of turning the table is as follows:-The carriage. which is to:
be turned and run on to another line of rails or reversed having been run.
upon the table, one or two strokes of the pump, will raise the table from. its
bearings E¹, E: The table with its load will then be sustained by a central:
column or pillar resting on a fluid, and (the stop being depressed) may be.
turned with great facility. The table having come opposite to. the rails on to:
which the carriage is to be run, the extreme pressure of the water, will be
released by turning one of the handles N', N', shewn in Figures 1 and 3, and
the table will again sink on to its fixed bearings. E', E, when the carriage.
may be run off from the table on to the railway. By the side of the force or
injecting pump, and in connection with the pipe.leading to each table, is placed
an air guage O, which may be used for several purposes. Firstly, as soon as
the water level becomes stationary, or the compression, of the air.ceases,. the
table will have been raised, and to whatever height the table is raised by
the injection of fresh fluid the guage will remain stationary. Thus, the guage
may be employed to facilitate the working of the table. Secondly, the guage.
may be employed to ascertain the load which is on the table. For this pur-.
pose the height at which the water stands when no carriage is on the. table,
or when the weight of the table only is sustained, will be the zero of the
scale;
and the weight of the table, being known, the degree of compression
will indicate the weight of the additional load, the pressure guage being
graduated according to the rules which are well understood. Thirdly, the

page_text: guage will serve to indicate whether there is an impediment to the lifting of
the table besides the mere weight to be raised, inasmuch as if any obstruc-
tion exists the guage will not attain a stationary position; but the compression
will continue beyond the ordinary limits of loads to be lifted. Hence, if from
any cause the table is out of working condition, the guage will shew it. If 5
there be leakage in the pumps or raising apparatus, the guage will not stand
at a higher level with each stroke of the pump.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I do not claim as new or
the exclusive use of a fluid as a support to a central shaft or column turning 10
upon it, or the apparatus for injecting and retaining fluid under pressure, or
the several parts of the table and arrangements shewn in the Drawings, except
when such fluid pressure apparatus, parts and arrangements are used for the
purposes and in the manner herein-after declared. And I hereby declare the
improvements in turn tables, whereof the exclusive use is intended to be secured 1
by the said Letters Patent, to be as follows:-
Firstly, I claim a turn table resting on solid walls under the lines of rails,.
and when required to be turned, raised, and sustained by fluid pressure, as
above described.
Secondly, I claim as an improvement in turn tables, the use and application 2
of caoutchouc, gutta. percha, or other elastic substance, as a bed or bearing
between the platform of the table and its permanent supports, for the purposes
above described.
Thirdly, I claim the application of a stop apparatus in combination with a
table sustained and turned as above described, for facilitating the working of 2
the table, and ensuring the accurate adjustment of the lines of rails on the
platform with the lines of the permanent way.
Fourthly, I claim the application of an air and fluid guage in combination
with suitable injecting and raising apparatus to turn tables for the purpose of
indicating the working of the table, and the load raised upon it, as above g
described.
Lastly, I claim as an improvement in turn tables raised and sustained as
above described, the use and application of the metallo-thionised caoutchouc
or the metallo-thionised gutta percha, for the cup packing of the raising
apparatus..
In witness whereof; I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
R. A. (L.s.) BROOMAN.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-ninth day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Richard Archibald Brooman
came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.