IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bridges Adams, of No. 1, Adam Street,
Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 17th October 1856, and dated the 12th July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bridges Adams,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th July 1856.
I, WILLIAM BRIDGES ADAMS, of No. 1, Adam Street, Adelphi, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
First, in double-headed rails, by rolling them with a thin vertical web, and
the upper and lower shoulders of the side channels with a very obtuse angle
to the vertical web, or nearly a rectangle, and then placing in the side channels
supplementary vertical webs, running the whole length of the rails and breaking
joint with them and with each other, such supplementary webs being fixed
either by transverse bolts passing through them, or by chairs, or brackets, or
other means, the rails being fixed to wood or metal sleepers by any ordinary
or convenient means, or short lengths may be used at the joints.
Next, improvements in my girder rails, described in my Patents of 1851 and

page_text: 1854, wherein the rail forms a kecl descending below the bearing surface on the
ballast. In those rails the head is necessarily made very deep to allow suffi-
cient space for the bearing brackets to clear the wheel flanges; therefore, to
diminish this depth and make the rails lighter, I roll or cast the lateral angle
brackets with a rib on the top, an inch or more or less in depth, to make up
for the space subtracted by the lessened depth of the head; the angle brackets
in such case approximate to a T section with one limb shorter than the other;
they are to break joint with the rail, or with the rail and with each other, as
may be preferred. Thus, with a given depth of rail the vertical strength of
the brackets will be increased.
Next, improvements in girder rails, by using cast angle brackets with the
horizontal web at or near the centre of the rail, and bolts passing thro' the
whole width of the brackets, or a part of the width, by casting them with
recesses. The brackets may be in short lengths breaking joint with each
other, and this class of bracket may be used for the joints of other rails.
Next, improvements in my girder rails, by making the upper and lower
shoulders of the side channels, or the upper or lower shoulders separately, in
an undercut form; the lower shoulder being so formed, and the upper one
being at an opposite angle, the brackets will slide in laterally, and when con-
fined by the bolts transversely, the downward pressure of the load will tend to
keep the brackets in their places without any strain upon the bolts, as the
lower side cannot escape from the shoulder of the rail by reason of the under
cutting, and the tendency of the load is to force in the bracket inwards below
the upper shoulder; and in case of the two heads of the rails being similar, for
the purpose of reversing, both shoulders above and below must be undercut,
and the upper one filled with a loose fillet, so as to reverse the angle, and
permit the angle bracket to enter, and these loose fillets will also serve the
purpose of packing the brackets when worn by having them of different thick-
Пesses. The mode of producing these rails is by rolling the shoulders at first
nearly square but with projecting lips, and then subsequently pressing the rail
at the last operation through flattening rolls, the lips will be forced inwards
and the undercutting will be produced.
Another part of my improvements has for its object to prevent bolts or
screws used to fasten fishes, or brackets, or girder rails, or other parts of per-
manent way from getting loose. In the case of brackets or girder rails, which
provide a fulcrum near the heads or nuts, I use keys or wedges between such
fulcrum and the nut or head to prevent turning back, or I enlarge the size
of the head or nut by a collar fitting round after screwing up, which collar
may have an elongated side to it. But in the case of fishes, or deep brackets,

page_text: where no fulcrum may exist sufficiently near, I lock the heads of screws or
the heads and nuts of screw bolts together by lock plates, in pairs or greater
number, and I form the heads elongated or otherwise, for the better accom-
plishing this; and I form the under sides of the heads or nuts, against which
the screwing force takes place, either with bevilled or undercut edges at the
corners or at all four sides, square heads and nuts being preferable; or a
groove may be formed round the sides or across them so as to retain the lock
plate; and the lock plates may be curved to act as a spring, or the ends or
corners may be made to turn up to prevent them from getting out; or, if
driven in from the top in the grooves of the nuts or heads, the lower edge
may be turned up to retain it. In this mode a plate may be driven in with a
wedging action, and the corners may be turned up and down to prevent its
getting loose, and the heads or nuts may be of any desirable form, and the
sides of the heads or nuts may range parallel with each other when screwed
up, or diagonally, or one in each direction. And as it is requisite to screw the
bolts to a convenient position to put on the lock plates, washers of more or
less thickness may be used to accomplish it; and instead of the lock plates
wedging in between the nuts or heads, perforated plates may be placed over
them, or holes may be pierced through them for wires or keys, or a link
placed round two of them and pressed close.
And another mode is to place a wedge-form washer or collar between the
hole in the fish or bracket and round the bolt, so that when screwed up it will
jam the bolt hard; or to form the nut with a conical collar entering the hole
round the bolt, and the lock plates may be made bent so as to enter them in
the grooves or bevils of the nuts or heads, and then straightened with a hammer
to fix them; or a lock plate connecting the two bolt heads may be put in
and the bolts put through it, and a channel plate may be rolled with rising
edges to take the nuts, and the channel wide enough to allow the nuts to turn,
and when in position a wedge may be driven between the nut and channel
plate edge.
Another part of my improvements is in the spikes or keys which fasten
chairs or brackets down to sleepers. It is required that the head of the spike
should fit closely into the cast iron; a circular spike is thus apt to split the
chair or bracket. My improvement consists in making the spike of the section
of a parallellogram in the direction of the length of the chair, or of an oval or
any other form, with a longer section in one direction than in another. I
prefer a spike made of bar iron, about half an inch thick and one inch and a
half or one inch wide, or they may be three-eighths of an anch thick by three
quarters of an inch wide. The spikes may be punched one out of the

page_text: other, the lower end being a chisel-formed salient angle, and the upper a
re-entrant angle, which when hammered down will form the head; this form
will with a given weight of iron give a greater surface hold than the round
form of spike. And to make elastic spikes, I roll them cruciform or triangular,
with four or three webs, the outer edges of the webs bevilled, so that on pres-
sure they will fold round the central axis. And in connection with my improved
mode of securing fish or bracket or chair bolts, I make an alteration in the
form of the rail for keeping the fish or bracket firmer, by rolling or stamping,
pressing or cutting, that part of the shoulders above and below the side channels
of the rails to a squarer form than the other portions to the length of the
fishes or brackets, so that they will keep firmer with less strain on the bolts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Bridges Adams in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BRIDGES ADAMS, of No. 1, Adam Street, Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Bridges Adams, Her special licence that I, the said William Bridges
Adams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Bridges Adams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 (amongst others) that
I, the said William Bridges Adams, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under his, 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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Bridges Adams, 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 follow-
ing statement:-
Figure 1 shews an ordinary double-headed rail A with a thin vertical web
B, and the shoulders of the side channel forming an angle approaching to a
rectangle with the vertical web. Two supplementary webs C, C, are placed
in the side channels, breaking joint with the rail, and also breaking joint with
each other, if preferred. These supplementary webs are bolted at E through
and to the rails by bolts, or may be rivetted, or the bolts tapped into one of the
webs at intervals, varying from one foot six inches to four feet, or more or less.
D, D, are two brackets or knees, which may be of cast or wrought metal,
according to my Patent of One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, and
which may be made to take one or more of the bolts E which connect the
false ribs to the rail, wedging them inwards. These brackets may be fastened
to the sleepers by bolts or spikes at e, e. F is a plate of thin iron, turned up
at the ends, so that in case of the bolt E getting loose, the rail in pressing
down will tend to nip the knees together; and I prefer to make the bracket
knees to take one bolt, being three to five inches in length, but they may be
made longer to cover the joints, and two or more bolts may be used; and the
rail with the false webs bolted together may be fixed in ordinary chairs, if
preferred; and this arrangement will be far better than fishing the joints, as
the rail in this mode may be usefully rolled square in the shoulders and side
channels, so that the false webs will take a firm bearing and support the lip
of the rail through the whole length. And when chairs are used to support
these supplementary webbed rails, or fish-jointed rails, or bracket rails, herein-
after described, I arrange the bottom of the chair with a spring plate for the
rail to rest on, with a recess to retain the plate, and with a curved hollow
space below the plate, so that the rail bearing on the spring plate, which I
prefer to be of steel hardened and tempered, will rest elastically thereon, and
be saved from the effect of blows, which tend to crystallize the iron of the rails.
Figure 18 shews this arrangement. A is the rail, B the chair, a the spring
plate; and the chair may be solid, or a casting, or of wrought iron in two
parts or more, bolted together below the rail and clipping the spring plate.
The object of this is to neutralise the blows of the wheel, in a similar mode to
that I have just specified in another Patent, by putting springs within a hollow
space within the periphery of the tyres.
Figure 2 shews a girder rail A, seven inches in depth, the shoulders of the
side channels a, a, d, d, being undercut or rolled to the form, by being first

page_text: made with projecting lips subsequently pressed inwards, or they may be cut
out by a planing machine or cutter to the angle. The lower edges of the
brackets B, B, dovetail into the undercutting of the rail d, d. The upper
portions, following the same range of angles, wedge in beneath two fillets or
packing bars b, b, which fill the undercutting of the top part of the rail, and
give the depth to the head essential to clear the wheel flanges. The upper
wings of the angle brackets spreading in the direction of the shoulder angles
upwards serve a purpose herein-after described. This rail is reversible upside
down, though formed with shallow heads, by moving the bars b, b, and in
case the edges of the brackets wear, a piece of hoop iron may be inserted to
tighten them; and by the undercutting of the lower channel the pressure
of the load will tend to fix the brackets firmer without any strain on the bolt
C, to which the cranked tie or guage bar D is unattached.
Figure 3 shews a similar girder rail without undercut shoulders, and with
the upper wings of the brackets horizontal. The packing bars may be
dispensed with by the angle brackets being rolled with the upper shoulders c, c,
as shewn.
Figure 4 shews the rail A formed with a single head, the lower portion
having lateral projecting ribs to form undercut channels b, b. As this rail
is not intended to reverse, packing bars are not required at the upper head,
where the shoulder angles a, a, are rolled to a wedging shape, corresponding
to the wings of the brackets.
Figure 5 shews a portion of the rail, and the dotted lines indicate that
portion which is cut away by the planing machine when so formed.
Figures 6 and 7 shew girder rails with angle brackets, which may be formed
with double shoulders above, as the dotted lines a, a, a, to clip the sides of the
rail heads. The outside edges of the angle brackets b, b, b, b, are turned up or
down for the purpose of strengthening them, but they may be rolled with a
merely thickened edge, if preferred. The two rails are shewn in position, but
approximated together with the tie bar broken off. The wheels A and B are
shown in the position of having escaped from the rails but not from the angle
brackets. By the action of gravity the flange of the wheel A runs close to the
head of the rail in the angle, while the wheel B, by the same action, tending to
run down the incline, produces friction on the wheel A against the rail, thus
forming a self-acting break, with every wheel off the rail, tending to stop the
train and awaken the attention of the driver, and great facility is afforded
for again causing the train to take the rails. A piece of inclined metal or
a crowbar being placed in the channel under the flange of the wheel A up
to or above the top of the rail, the force of gravity in the wheel B will imme-

page_text: diately draw the wheel A on to the rail and over it, the action being accelerated
by the wheel B bearing on the opposite rail at d, when the differential
diameters of flange and tread determine the wheels to their right course.
Figure 8 shews a cross section of a girder rail formed with cast angle
brackets bolted through their whole width, or which may be arranged to bolt
through a portion of the width, if preferred. A is the rail; B, a T-angle
bracket, seen in end view, with the bolt 6 through the rib formed on the
horizontal portion, which is a half bolt hole; the opposite T-angle bracket C
shews a section through the horizontal web.
Figure 9 is a side view of the brackets broken off, and which are intended
to be from two to three feet in length.
Figure 10 is a plan of the T-angle brackets broken off, the letters of
reference being the same in each. A crank connecting washer d, through
which the bolt passes, is notched half into each bracket, and this washer may.
be sunk into the brackets to any desirable depth to shorten the bolts instead of
being kept at the edge; there is a half hole only in each bracket end, but
at the brackets which cover the joints of the rails a solid hole is formed,
through which, and through half holes in the rail ends, passes another bolt.
Figure 11 is a side view of the joint hole, and wrought T brackets
may be used instead of cast in the same mode, connecting them by a wrought
or cast coupling for the bolt, and the brackets may be arranged to break joint,
if required.
Figure 12 shews a girder rail A with wrought angle brackets, and narrow
horizontal ribs B, B, and projected shoulders b, b, give depth for the wheel
flanges. Planks C, C, are placed below the horizontal webs to increase the
bearing, and they may be bolted to the webs, or reversed by connecting ties,
formed of square or flat bar iron D, pressing below the rail, the pressure of
which on the bar D will tighten the planks; and planks may be placed beneath
both rails and brackets, in case of their resting on stones, or on too hard
ground, to soften the blows of the wheels.
Figure 13 shews a girder rail A, with longitudinal timbers B, B, bolted
to and through the rail, as substitutes for the iron angle brackets shewn at
Figure 8. The rail is formed with extended shoulders a, a, a, a, to increase
the bearing on the timber. The dotted lines b, b, shew the timber angled
upwards to receive the wheels in case of their escaping from the rails; the
joints are to be formed with fishes or with angle brackets.
Figure 14 shews a girder rail formed of a bridge rail A, flat horizontal
plates B, and T-angle iron C, all breaking joint together. There are holes
pierced in the flat plate, but none in the rail or T-angle. Hook head bolts

page_text: D, D, secure the whole together, the nuts bearing partly on the flange of the
rail A and partly on washers E, E; the cranked tie bar F is connected
to the angle by the bolt G. This plan of rail was patented by me in the
year One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, but the use of the hook head
bolts is an improvement to facilitate construction, as it is difficult to ensure
accuracy with holes through all three thicknesses; but these bolts may be
used also with bridge rails, with holes pierced in the flanges.
Figure 15 shews the rail, plate, bolts, and washers in plan.
Figure 20 shews a bridge rail formed into a channel girder rail, reversed
from its usual position by being turned upside down, so as to lay down on
common roads or highways, or the level crossings of railways, so as not to
interfere with the wheels of the carriages. This rail is shewn in section at
Figure 20, and at Figure 21 in side view. A, A, A, is the rail; B, B, a casting,
or which may be of wrought iron, clipping the two rails together below, and
secured by the bolts and nuts C, C, C. A round bar D, D, which may be of
any other section, with keys E, E, E, connects the opposite rails together. The
rail is bedded in the surface of the road, and the flange is placed in the middle
of the wheel tyre G, though it may be at one side, as usual; points and
crossings of the ordinary kind are not needed, as a rule, with this rail. I
prefer to fill up the groove, either temporarily or permanently, with a bar,
inclining at the ends, so as to raise the wheels to the level of the road, in
which case the engine, or horse carriage, or train, may be drawn on one side,
resting on the wheel flanges. Wood or other material may be placed under
the rail flanges to encrease the bearing, if required, or under the bottom
of the rail, to prevent hardness; and the wheels may, if preferred, be made
to bear on their flanges in the groove at the bottom, in which case the
bolt heads at the joints must be countersunk in the hollow of the rail;
and it may occasionally be economical to use old rails of the bridge kind, the
tops of which have been worn, and are therefore useless for their ordinary
purpose; and in this case the joint castings must be made to clip the rails on
each side the whole length of the joint casting, and bear against the upper
flanges, as shewn by the dotted lines e, e, Figure 20; and to ensure the bearing
below, flags of stone or sheets of metal may be placed as a paving below the
wood placed under the rails.
And another variety of this system of railway is shewn at Figure 22, in
section, and Figure 23, in side views. A, A, A, are double-headed rails, laid
on their sides, and bearing on the road, in which they are sunk to the
level, or with timber below them, or other material. The joints are formed by
a casting B, B, or a piece of wrought iron with bolts C, C, C, passing

page_text: through the rails and castings, nutted or keyed below. The heads of the
bolts must be countersunk into the rail channels, and the ordinary fish-bolt
heads in the rails will serve for this, and two or more bolts may be used. A
horizontal hole in the casting takes a round or other formed rod or bar D, D,
which is keyed in and connected to the opposite rail. On these rails ordinary
carriages may run by the track of the wheels being adapted to the guage, the
wheel tyres running in the channels. It is obvious that old rails, worn out in
the ordinary use of railways, may be adopted for this purpose, as the side
channels remain undamaged by railway use; and by this arrangement a single
rail may be used, serving to bear and guide the wheels on one side of the
carriage, while the opposite wheels may run on a plain surface of stone or
metal, and the same with the bridge rail, described at Figures 20 and 21;
and when a single track of rails is used to travel on in two opposite directions,
I lay the rails at the ends of the track, so as to extend them into a horse-shoe
form, so that where the distance between begins to widen, the channel of one
rail is filled up, when the wheels on that side leave the rails, and the opposite
rail guides the carriages round the horse-shoe till the wheels again take both
rails on their return. And instead of the channels in the rails to guide the
wheels, the rails may have a rib on their surface, with two flanges on the
wheels, so that in either case the carriages may be guided by the wheels on
one rail, while the wheels on the other side may run on a plain surface; and
similar arrangements may be made to form "turns out," or for intersecting
lines or branches.
Figures 16, 17, 18, 18, and 19 shew improved modes of forming the ends
of rails for the purpose of connecting them by angle brackets or by fishes.
Figure 18 shews an ordinary double-headed rail in cross section. Figure 16
shews a portion of the four shoulders cut or pressed away through the length
of the fish or bracket. A is the rail; B, B, the fishes. By comparing
Figure 18 with the rails shewn at Figure 16, it will be seen that the fish
applied in the ordinary way cannot hold to the rail except by great end strain
on the bolts, whereas in Figures 16, 17, 18, and 19 there is scarcely any
strain at all. Figure 18 shews the ordinary double-headed rail with fishes
wedged below the bolts and nuts, and deepened to the bottom of the lower
table in a cranked form, so as to give virtual stiffness and facility for wedging
up. In this case there will be end strain on the bolts, as with ordinary fishes.
Figure 19 is a side view, shewing part of a fish, corresponding to Figure 16,
applied in a mode which requires the use of chairs or of brackets to support
the rail. Figure 17 shews angle-iron brackets of wrought or cast iron A, A,

page_text: and wedges or keys a, a, driven in below the nuts and bolt heads, to keep them
from turning and getting loose. Figure 18 shews fishes B, B, rolled with
horizontal ribs above and below, or which may have a rib only below, to keep
them laterally stiff, and with the side space between wide enough to permit
the nuts to turn round, after which they are keyed up below at a, a. A neat
fitting box spanner should be used to screw up the bolts, in which case the
horizontal ribs may be made wider, as the spanner will pass between them.
The punching of the holes in a thinner plate than the ordinary fish will thus
be much more perfect; and the squared channels at the rail ends may be pro-
duced by cutting or planing to the length required.
In my Patent of the year One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven I
specified rolling the rail channels square, but I have never used it, because I
find it would be inefficient if used with ordinary chairs, as then proposed, as
weakening the lips of the rail-head, therefore my present method is to square
the channel only as far as it is supported by the fish or bracket; and this
mode of squaring may also be used with a double chair bolted together; and
I prefer to produce the squaring of the channels of the rails by heating
the ends and placing them between dies exactly fitting the rail ends, so that
the metal will be forced away from the edges towards the central web, and the
rail ends will be consolidated at the same time; and the bolt holes may be
punched in the same dies at the same time, and one end being punched while
the rail is hot, the rail is cooled, and then the other end is heated, cut off,
punched, and stamped, and in this mode the rail will be made more accurate
to length than in the ordinary mode. And I also roll rails with the side
channels square through their whole length, in order to apply angle or
Tbearing plates break joint through their whole length, similar in section to
the brackets shewn at Figure 17, but of wider span, in order to supply
bearing surface and dispense with sleepers. The side channels are shewn
square, but they may be slightly wedge form, and strips of hoop iron may be
used as packing, bent slightly to prevent coming out.
Figure 24 is a side view, and Figure 25 a plan, shewing a mode of securing
the heads and nuts of bolts against turning when used for fishes or brackets.
A, A, are the heads; B, B, the nuts; they are formed with the four or more
edges cut away at an angle, both heads and nuts; plates with corresponding
edges, and of a wedge form C, C, C, are driven in when the nuts are secured
fast, and the corners of the narrowest edge a, a, Figure 24, are then turned
up, and the whole is made firm. For the heads, a plate notched out, as
Figure 26, may be used; or the nuts and heads may be made of a pyramidal

page_text: form, the largest part outside to hold wedges between them; or lock plates
may be placed over the heads and nuts, taking two or more.
Figure 27 shews a mode of applying circular wedges in a conical form
round the bolt and against the periphery of the hole, and wedging it in by
screwing down the nut.
Figure 28 shews a mode of constructing spikes for chairs or brackets of a
four-feather section; Figure 29 shews the head and lower part broken away
in the middle. Spikes of the ordinary form being rigidly cylindrical or conical,
it is difficult to fit them to the holes in the chairs; if too small they rattle,
if too tight they split the chair. By my mode of construction, with the edges
of the feathers curved, the spike is elastic round its longitudinal axis, and as
it is driven down and turns in the hole the diameter can lessen. The lower
part is formed into a cross-shaped chisel; the upper part, forming the head, is
thickened by driving into a die, as seen at Figure 29; Figure 30 shews a
triangular section of a similar kind.
Figure 31 shews a spike, formed of bar iron, cutting one out of the other,
the spike to be driven into a slot in the chair in the direction of the grain of
the sleeper; Figure 32 is the side view.
Having now described my said improvements, I wish it to be understood
that what I claim as original is,
The construction of rails, either single or double headed, with one solid
and two supplementary webs, bolted, screwed, or rivetted together, and
breaking joint with each other, the rails being either broad-footed or fixed in
chairs, or by brackets or knees.
And also the construction and application of a bar or plate of metal turned
up at the ends to keep the fcet of the brackets together, as herein-before
described, and shewn at Figure 1.
The undercutting of the shoulders of the side channels of rails, performed
either by cutting machines or by rolling lips, afterwards pressed inwards with
packing bars, for the purpose of reversing, and also for saving thickness on
the head of the rail; also, the pitching upwards of the side wings of the angle
brackets to form channels next the rail heads, as shewn by Figure 2; also
rolling shoulders on the upper side of the angle brackets, to give depth to the
wheel flanges, with light heads to the rails, as shewn at Figure 3; also, the
single-head rail with undercut channels below and wings pitched upwards,
as Figures 4 and 5, herein-before described.
Forming upper shoulders to angle brackets against the rail heads, and turn-
ing the edges up or down, or otherwise strengthening them by thickening, as
Figures 6 and 7; together with the upward pitch, forming safety treads and

page_text: breaks for the wheels, in case of their getting off the rail, as herein-before
described.
Girder rails, formed by cast or wrought T-angle brackets, as shewn by
Figures 8, 9, 10, and 11; also the application of planks of timber under the
angle brackets to widen the bearing or to prevent hardness, such planks being
either fixed or loose, as shewn at Figure 12; also the double-headed girder
rail with enlarged head bearings, to prevent pressing into the longitudinal
timbers, bolted in the side channels, such rail being formed with a single
head, if preferred, as shewn at Figure 13, and herein-before described.
The construction of girder rails, formed of a bridge or foot rail, with a flat
bearing plate and a vertical T-angle bearer, all break joint, and connected
by hook head bolts, as shewn at Figures 14 and 15, and herein-before
described.
The construction, use, and application of bridge rails with joint connections or
similar rails, as shewn at Figures 20 and 21, to lay down on common roads and
highways and level crossings of railways, or for other purposes, the flanges being
rolled as wide as may be desirable for bearing surface, and the wheel flange
running in the channel; also the construction, use, and application of double-
headed rails, or similar rails, laid down flatwise, and connected by joints for wheels
to run in the channels without flanges, for common roads and highways, or
other purposes, and shewn at Figures 22 and 23; also the converse plan of
ribbed rails with double flanges to the wheels, so that in either case the wheels,
or carriages, or engines, or trains may be guided by one rail only, while the
opposite wheels may run on plain surfaces, as herein-before described.
The cutting out or pressing square, or nearly square and flat surfaces on
that portion of the rails which are to be connected by fishes or brackets, to
keep them firm without stress on the bolts, as shewn at Figures 16, 17, 18,
184, and 19, and herein-before described.
Applying supports of elastic steel recessed into chairs for rails to rest on,
and prevent the effects of blows, tending to crystallize the rails, as shewn at
Figure 18, and herein-before described.
Securing the bolts used to connect rails and fishes, or brackets, or chairs,
or angle brackets by wedging, as shewn at Figures 17 and 184, and the
peculiar form of fishes shewn at Figure 184; and the use of rails with square
or nearly square side channels rolled the whole length of the rails, in order to
apply angle bearing plates, break joint, and keyed bolts, similar in section to
Figure 17, but wider, and tie bars of iron, similar to those used for girder
rails, being used to connect them, as herein-before described.
The undercut form of bolt heads and nuts, so as to receive wedges, and the

page_text: wedges and plates and lock plates, to prevent the bolts and nuts or screw
beads from working loose, as shewn at Figures 24, 25, and 26, and the conical
washer, shewn at Figure 27, as herein-before described.
The elastic-headed three and four webbed spikes for chairs and brackets,
shewn at Figures 28, 29, and 30, and the oblong section spikes cut one out
of the other, shewn at Figures 31 and 32, and herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bridges Adams, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
WILLIAM BRIDGES ADAMS. (L.s.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the said William
Bridges Adams, in the presence of
HENRY WANSEY,
3, Moorgate Street, London, Sol'.