IMPROVEMENTS IN FISHES AND FISH JOINTS FOR CONNECTING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Heard Wild, of Saint Martin's Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FISHES AND FISH JOINTS FOR CONNECTING THE
RAILS OF RAILWAYS."
Scaled the 11th May 1853, and dated the 16th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Heard Wild
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th March 1853.
I, CHARLES HEARD WILD, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FISHES AND FISH JOINTS FOR CONNECTING
THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS" to be as follows:-
In securing the joints of rails, it has been found advantageous to
attach pieces of iron to each side of the rail, by means of bolts and
nuts, and such pieces of iron are commonly called "fishes." Chairs
have been constructed on a similar principle, to support one side of the

page_text: rail, while a fish is applied at the other side, and secured to the chair
by bolts and nuts. My Invention consists in forming a recess or
groove, in one or both sides of each fish, so as to reduce the quantity
of metal at that part, and to be adapted to receive the square heads of
the bolts, which are thus prevented from turning round when the nuts
are being screwed on. A washer may be inserted in the groove,
between the fish and the nut.
These grooved fishes may be used in pairs, and connected to the rails
and to each other by bolts and nuts or rivets, of the same or unequal
diameters, or a single grooved fish may be used in connection with a
fish joint chair.
1 fix rails between two fishes, or between a fish and a fish joint chair,
by three or more bolts and nuts or rivets; and I make the central bolt or
bolts, or rivet or rivets, of larger diameter than the external ones, as
the strain is chiefly at the joint.
I also construct fish joints by dividing the rail longitudinally, and
arranging the parts so as to break joint with one another, and placing
a fish at each joint.
I also construct fishes with projecting plates or wings, which form a
seating, and which are perforated with holes to receive bolts, or spikes,
or rivets, by which they are secured to the sleepers or bearers of the
railway, and thus serve as joint chairs. The fishes are firmly bolted or
rivetted to the rails, and being also secured to the sleeper or bearer, a
very strong and firm joint is thus made.
I plane those parts of rails and fishes which come in contact with
each other, in order to produce a more perfect contact of the bearing
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Heard Wild, in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 16th September 1853.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Charles Heard Wild, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles Heard Wild, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Heard Wild, 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, exer-
cise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FISHES AND FISH JOINTS FOR CONNECTING THE RAILS OF
RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
Heard Wild, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Heard Wild, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say):
Figure 1, Sheet I., of the drawings, is an elevation or side view of
portions of two rails united by a fish joint, constructed according to
my Invention. Figure 2, is a section of the same at the line A, A, in
Figure 1. Figure 3, is a section at the line B, B, and Figure 4, is a
section at the line C, C, in Figure 1. The same letters denote the
same parts in each Figure. D, E, are the rails; F. F. are the fishes,
secured by the bolts G, G, H, H, and nuts I, J; K, L, are washers.
placed between the rails and the nuts. The fishes F, F, are made

page_text: with a groove or recess in their outer surfaces, which groove serves to
receive the square heads of the bolts G, II, and prevent them from
turning round when the nuts are being screwed on or off. Washers
K, L, are placed in the groove of the fish which is next to the nuts, so
as to allow of the nuts being turned round. Or the fish on this side
may be made without the groove. The position of the bolts and nuts
may be reversed, if preferred, so that the nut may be prevented from
turning round while the bolt is screwed into it. The groove renders
the fish lighter for equal strength, or stronger for an equal weight of
metal, than a fish which is made of equal thickness throughout. The
top and bottom of each fish is a plane surface, and the parts of the rail
with which they come in contact are also plane surfaces, forming the
same angle as the top and bottom surfaces of the fish. The fishes are
thus made to fit into their places with greater facility than if these
surfaces were of curved or irregular forms. If, however, the surfaces
of the rails are curved, the fishes may be made to fit them.
The central bolts G, G. are made of larger diameter than the extreme
ones II, II, as the strain is greatest upon the central bolts. Rivets may
be employed in lieu of bolts and nuts if preferred. When three bolts
and nuts or rivets are employed I make the central one of larger
diameter than the other two. When rivets are employed, the groove
in the fish enables me to employ rivets whose heads are thicker, with
the same amount of projection from the side of the rail, or which pro-
ject less, with the same thickness of head, than when plain ungrooved
fishes are employed. This is a matter of great advantage, as avoiding
the danger of the flanges of the wheels of the carriages coming into
collision with the rivets. I manufacture the grooved fishes of wrought
iron, by rolling it between rollers of corresponding forms, in a similar
manner to that in which railway bars and other wrought-iron bars arc
manufactured. The bars are then cut to the required lengths.
Figure 5, Sheet II., is a plan, showing two rails D, E, united by a
grooved fish and a fish joint chair. Figure 6, is a side view of the
same, showing the fish joint chair. Figure 7, is a section of one of the
rails, shewing an end view of the fish and chair. D, and E, are the

page_text: rails; F, is the grooved fish, which is similar to those already described;
G, II, are the bolts; and I, J, are the nuts; M, is the fish joint chair
which is fitted to the side of the rails. The rails are secured between
the fish F, and the fish joint chair M, by means of the bolts and nuts.
Figure 7a, shews a modification of this joint, in which the chair is made
to touch the rails at the points a, b, instead of fitting between the two
heads of the rail, as in Figure 7. The fair bearing of the bottom of
the rail on the chair is thus insured.
Figure 8, is a plan shewing another mode of constructing and
applying fish joints for connecting the rails of railways. Figure 9,
is a section of the same, drawn to a larger scale. The rail is
made in two piccos D, and E, and may be called a split rail, or
divided rail. The two pieces D, and E, are placed so as to break
joint with one another; and a fish F, is placed at cach joint, and
secured by bolts and nuts or rivets passing through it, and through
both portions of the rail. The rail is supported in flat plates or chairs
N, N, having lips 0, 0, which embrace the lower flange of the rail. Or
the lower part of the split rail may be made similar to the upper part,
and it may be supported in chairs, in the usual manner. The surfaces
of the rails which come in contact with each other may be flat; or one
or both of them may be made with a projection or projections fitting
into a corresponding recess or recesses in the other.
Figure 10, is a plan, shewing two rails D, E, connected by a pair of
grooved fishes F, F, made with projecting wings N, N, which rest upon
and are firmly secured to a sleeper or bearer.
Figure 11, is a section, shewing this arrangement as adapted to a
transverse sleeper; and Figure 12, is a similar section of the same
as adapted to a longitudinal bearer. F, F, are the grooved fishes,
which are bolted or rivetted to the rails, and secured to the
sleeper or bearer P, by bolts and nuts, or spilees, or treenails,
passing through perforations in the wings N, N. The rail does
not itself rest upon the sleeper or bearer, but is supported entirely,
by its sides and upper flange, by the grooved fishes, so that the
weight is distributed over the whole area of the projecting wings,

page_text: instead of being concentrated upon the comparatively small portion of
the sleeper or bearer which is directly under the rail.
In order to make the rails and fishes fit closely to cach other, I planc
the surfaces which are intended to come in contact with each other.
This I effect by means of rotary steel cutters, as shewn in Figures 13,
and 14. Or the rails only may be planed, and the fishes may be used,
without being planed; or the fishes may be planed, and the rails left un-
planed. The rails and fishes are planed by passing them slowly under
the rotary cutters P, and Q, in Figures 13, and 14, while the same are
caused to revolve. It is not necessary to plane the whole length of
the rail, as it is sufficient to plane the ends only at the parts where the
fishes are to be secured. Although I have mentioned rotary cutters as
being employed for this purpose, any other mode of planing the sur-
faces may be employed.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim, as the Invention intended
to be secured by the aforesaid Letters Patent,--
Firstly, the constructing fishes for connecting the rails of railways
with a groove adapted for receiving the heads of the bolts or rivets
employed for securing such fishes, and the application of such fishes
for connecting the rails of railways in manner herein-before described.
Secondly, the constructing fish joints for connecting the rails of
railways by means of fishes applied to the joints of divided or split
rails, in manner herein-before described.
Thirdly, the constructing fish joints for connecting the rails of
railways with fishes, secured by three or more bolts and nuts, or
rivets, of which the central bolt or bolts, or rivets or rivets, is or are of
greater diameter than the extreme ones, as herein-before described.
Fourthly, the constructing fish joints for connecting the rails of rail-
ways with grooved fishes fitted to the sides of the rails, and secured to
them by bolts and nuts or rivets, and having projecting wings firmly
secured to and resting upon the sleepers or bearers so as to support
the rails by their sides and upper flauges in manner herein-before
described.

page_text: Fifthly, the constructing fish joints for connecting the rails of rail
ways with rails and fishes having the touching surfaces of one or both
of them planed, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Charles Heard Wild, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
CHARLES HEARD WILD. (L.S.)
Witness, WILLIAM DEMPSEY,
103, St. Martin's Lane, London.