CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON RAILS FOR RAILROADS
Year: 1821

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
Losir, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the County of Northumberland, Iron
Founder, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fourteenth day of September, in the second year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Losh, His especial licence that I, the said William Losh, my exors,
adñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Losh, my exors,
adiñors, 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 of, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON RAILS FOR RAILROADS ;" in which Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said William Losh, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's Court of
Chancery within two months. next and immediately after the date of the said
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW.KNOW YE, that I, in compliance with the said proviso, do hereby
declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the

page_text: same is to be performed, is described and ascertained in the following expla-
nation thereof (that is to say):-
My improvements consist, first, in using, placing, and fixing bars of mal-
leable iron on the upper surface of a line of cast-iron rails or malleable iron
rails of whatever form; such rails may be in the longitudinal direction of the
rails when laid, so as to form an uninterrupted line the whole length of the bar,
which may be as long as it shall be found convenient and economical to use,
and of the same breadth as the upper surface of the rails to which it is fixed,
or a little broader or narrower.
Secondly, in some cases I fix a band or strap of malleable iron to the under
surface of rails made of cast iron, in order that such band or strap may by its
power of tension give support to the cohesion of the parts of the cast-iron rail,
and admit of its being made lighter, and thus save expence, while it adds to
security from breakage.
Thirdly, I claim as an improvement a rail formed by placing two bars of
malleable iron on their sides or edges, and fixing them in that position by bolts
and studs, or by any other convenient method, and on their upper edges
placing and fixing a flat bar of malleable iron, or one which is slightly curved
or rounded at the edges, to diminish friction, so that the bar or plate placed and
fixed on the upper edges of the two malleable iron bars, shall form the surface
upon. which the wheels of the waggon or carriage are to revolve. Railroads
are now become so general, that for the information of mechanical men, or
those who have the direction. of constructing and laying them, Drawings.
would be quite superfluous; I will, therefore, proceed to state the methods
which I have found the most convenient for forming the junction of the plate
or flat bar, which I apply upon the surface to the body of the rail, as the part
which principally sustains the weight, and also the mode by which I attach
the band or strap to the lower edge of the cast-iron rail. The dimensions of
the bars meant to form the upper surface of a railway calculated to carry
locomotive engines of seven or eight tons weight, and waggons of three or four
tons weight each, I would recommend to be fifteen or sixteen feet long, 2 inches
broad, and -inch thick. At every eighteen inches or two feet of the length
of this surface plate a tenon is firmly riveted to the under side, by a bolt or
bolts passing thro' a hole or holes made thro' the plate by. a, drill. or. punch of
about this or -inch diameter, and which holes.ought to be countersunk on the
upper side of the plate, so that when the bult is hammered or clinched it
spreads into the countersink, and while it prevents the bolt from drawing back,
fills the hole in the bar, and leaves its upper surface even, as before. These
tenons have holes through them in the transverse direction of the bars to take

page_text: a pin of about of an inch diameter, and at each extremity of the plate I
fix on a tenon by welding, after having cut off a piece of about two inches
long and of half the breadth of the bar from the opposite ends of the bar
or plate, and at the opposite angles, so that when two bars so prepared
are brought to join at the ends the joint is what is denominated a half-
lap or scared joint. If it be the question to place malleable iron plates on
cast-iron rails, nothing more is necessary than to make the rails with
mortise holes to receive the tenons, with transverse holes to correspond with
those in the tenons fixed on the plates, and after placing the rails in their
chairs or carriages, or apply the plate to the surface of the rails, and to drop
the tenons into the mortiso holes, and to secure them there by a pin driven
tightly into and thro' the transverse holes of the tenons and mortise holes.
The mortise holes are made in the rails by placing a core in the mould
previously to running in the metal, and lest this hole should weaken the rail, it
is adviseable to add as much metal on the outside of the rail in the form of a
boss, where the hole is, as will make up the deficiency. I place a chair on a
pedestal at every three or four feet distance, less or more, according to the
length of the cast-iron rails, each of which must be supported at its ends, and
I generally make these rails with half-lap joints, and rest them on a curved
bearance. I take care that where the ends of the plates meet to form a joint,
they shall be sustained by a chair, and my reason for making the joints half-
lapped or scared, with tenons welded on these half laps, is, that one pin or bolt
will secure both the adjoining ends, of the surface plates and of the bars of
cast iron more perfectly in the chair than any other contrivance I am aware
of. Surface plates thus prepared with tenons, as described above, may be
attached and fixed to the upper surface of a series of malleable iron rails
placed in chairs, which rails consist of flat bars fixed on their thin edges, so as to
them. For this
present the greatest resistance to a weight bearing upon
staples of iron in the form of the guard of a door latch may be fixed by rivets
to the flat sides of such bars, and in such positions as to form, in conjunction
with the sides of the bars, mortise holes to receive the tenons on the surface
plate, which may be fixd by transverse pins, as described above, and thus may
be formed a very serviceable railway. In this case the supporting bars should
not be less than 2 inches deep by inch thick if meant to carry locomotive
engines; and between these bars I place intervening bars or brackets of
malleable or cast iron to support the projecting edges of the surface plate, and
to assist in attaching it more firmly to the supporting bar. In forming the
rail consisting of a plate of malleable iron supported by two flat bars of
malleable iron, I prepare the surface plate as above with tenons, and having
purpose

page_text: fixed the two bars intended to support it on their edges paralel to each other
in a series of chairs, and secured them in that position by bolts passing through
them, and by intervening studs to keep them at a proper distance, which is
such that the surface plate shall project about of an inch beyond them with
its sides or edges, which may be a little curved or rounded to lessen the friction
from the wheels passing over it. The surface plate is laid upon them and the
tenons dropped in between them, and fixed by pins or bolts passing in a
transverse direction through holes in the bars, which are made to correspond
with the holes in the tenons, and thus securing them as if they were in mortise
holes. The surface plate in this instance I use of the dimensions described
above, and the supporting bars are each the same length of the plate, and
about 2 inches deep or broad by about ths ог inch thick. For carrying
waggons of inferior weight, I make rails by applying a surface plate upon one
side of a malleable iron bar which shall have been rolled or turned into the
shape of a rolly road plate, and by placing, the edge of the other side in a series
of chairs at about three feet separate. The dimensions of a rail of this kind,
calculated to carry about eight hundredweight or half a ton, may be about
1 inch broad for the vertical side, and one inch broad on the top part, and
or ths inch thick throughout, and covered with a plate 1 inch broad by
inch thick. The length of each separate bar may be twelve feet, less or
more, to suit convenience. The strap or band of malleable iron I fix
to the under edge of the cast-iron rail, by perforating both ends of the
strap near the extremities by a long hole, calculated to pass over a stud of
malleable iron which is fixed at each end of the rail, by being run in
at the time of casting the rail, and this stud should be about 1 inch broad by
inch thick, and placed so that when the strap has been put over them in a
heated state it cannot in contracting slip its hold, but will, on the contrary,
fix itself the closer. I make these straps of malleable iron bars, of about
1 inch broad, and about inch to inch thick, and of such length as to
draw strongly against the studs and bottom of the rail when in its position.
The under edge of the cast-iron rail to which this strap is applied being
curved when the strap is fixed upon the studs, by an extension of its length by
heat, in contracting by parting with such beat, it applies itself firmly to and
supports every part of the lower edge of the rail, and till the power of tension
of this strap is overcome, and it extends in length, or the studs break, the rail
cannot give way.
Many other methods, perhaps equally secure, may be made use of to place
and fix surface plates on the upper surface of rails, but I prefer the plan
I have pointed out by tenons and mortise holes, because when worn or

page_text: damaged the plates can easily be taken off and replaced without injury to the
part of the rail which supports them; and this I consider one of the great
advantages they possess. The upper surface of a railway may be placed,
altho' not originally intended to be so, by tapping holes in the surface of
the rails and fixing on the plates, by means of screws introduced thro'
countersunk holes in the plates, into the holes thus tapped in the rails, and
screwing them down; the head of the screw filling the countersink, prevents
its drawing through, and so fixes the plate firmly and securely on the surface
of the rail.
In witness whereof, I have bereunto set my hand and seal, the Tenth day
of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and