IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS AND OF STREET TRAMWAYS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles de Bergue, of 10, Strand, in the City of
Westminster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS AND OF STREET TRAMWAYS."
Sealed the 18th June 1869, and dated the 31st December 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles de Bergue at the
.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st December 1868.
I, CHARLES DE BERGUE, of 10, Strand, in the City of Westminster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS AND OF STREET TRANWAYS,"
to be as follows:-
The Invention comprises the constructing permanent way of railways
and of street tramways with rails and with transverse metal sleepers at
intervals supporting both rails, the rails resting at or near to the ends
of the sleepers, and the sleepers being made of one or other of the
special forms or constructions or combinations of forms or constructions
enumerated in the following list or catalogue, namely, sleepers being in

page_text: cross section a solid construction presenting externally a T shape, or H
shape, or channelled or recessed shape, or corrugated shape, or a hollow
construction presenting externally a circular shape, or elliptical shape,
or D shape, or wedge shape, or triangular shape or square shape, or a
rectangular shape, or a shape in accordance with any geometrical regular
or irregular figure, or whether solid or hollow, or a shape approaching
any of those mentioned. The list also includes half or part sleepers of
any approved form, that is to say, divided as to their length but intended.
to be used in pairs or parts fastened together at their adjoining ends to
form combination sleepers, so that although each rail may bear almost
entirely on one such half or part, yet a partial support as to inclination
or canting may be received from the other such half or part. The list
also includes sleepers generally in accordance with any of the foregoing
definitions, but having the ends varied or adapted to constitute a chair
or seating for rail, sometimes constructed with ribs or narrow bearing
places in pairs at each position of support, and sometimes furnished
with provision for holding rails, and lastly, it includes any combination
of the said constructions and shapes. The rails, whether of iron or
steel, may be of the ordinary double-headed pattern, or may be L shaped
or shaped, or of any approved form, the seatings on the sleeper where
provided being made to correspond. The sleepers may be of cast iron,
or wrought iron, or steel, or of any of these together, and the forms
indicated may be parallel or not parallel throughout, and the con-
struction may be partly solid and partly hollow or recessed, and the
hollow or recessed parts or some of them may be filled in with a packing
of concrete or any suitable material. And when the sleeper is in two
parts they are to be fastened or joined together, and the fastening may
be made the means of fixing or regulating the gauge of the railway or
tramway. The sleepers according to form may be presented or used with
any face or side uppermost, as preferred. In further explanation it may
be stated that it is specially contemplated to employ rails of a generally
L shaped section for the facility of securing them by bolts and nuts to
the sleepers, and to form or provide snugs or projections or steps on the
sleepers against which the foot of the L rails may bear to define the
gauge.
The Invention further comprises the constructing the permanent way
of tramways, whether of wood, or of metal, or of both, or of other material
or materials with steel or iron nails or knobs at intervals on the edges

page_text: of the trams or tram supports to assist the wheels of road vehicles when
striking then at an angle to mount up out of a possible groove or rut
on to the fair level of tram or tram support. And the constructing the
permanent way of tramways and railways with metal rails and longi-
tudinal lateral packings to same, and with transverse metal or timber,
sleepers, on which the rail and packings are seated and fixed to gauge
combined with metal nails or knobs at intervals on the edges of the
packings, as above set forth.
streets.
The more especial object of the latter mentioned features of the
Invention is its adaptation to roads or ways, in, across, or along ordinary
carriageways of streets or roads, whether paved, macadamized, or other-
wise formed, so that the general and ordinary traflic by common vehicles
drawn by horses may be as little inconvenienced as possible, and not
injured when crossing diagonally over the tramway or the permanent
way or the rails, as is the case with ordinary tramways or railways in
The transverse sleepers when of metal may be of any of the
forms enumerated in the list or catalogue herein-before mentioned. The
longitudinal lateral packings may be of wood and preferably of hard' and
durable timber, such as oak, a pair of packings being employed to each
rail one on either side, and each packing fitting or bearing sideways
against the rail, and shaped as requisite to avoid bolt heads and fish
plates where they occur, and each on its opposite side having a bevilled
or inclined surface, against which a wedge or key may act for securing
same to sleeper, or the packings may he secured by bolts passing through
them and through the web or central portion of the rail.
nails or knobs may be driven into or fixed to tram, tram support, or
packings, as the case may be, at intervals, or the packings may be of
stone, artificial stone, cement, or concrete blocks with the occasional
knobs, and when not of wood may be of short lengths from sleeper to
sleeper. It will readily be understood that if the sleepers are fairly
bedded both the rails and the packings resting as they do upon the
sleepers may be laid and replaced as often as required without skilled
labor, especially if (as it is intended), the packings are cut or made of a
uniform size in cross section.
The metal

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles de Bergue in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 30th June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COMF, I, CHARLES
DE BERGUE, of 10, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-.
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles de Bergue, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles de Bergue, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles de Bergue, 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, 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 AND OF STREET TRAMWAYS."
upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles de Bergue, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles de Bergue, 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, that is to say:
Firstly. The improvements have reference to the permanent way of
railways and of street tramways constructed with rails and with
transverse metal sleepers at intervals supporting both rails, the rails
resting at or near to the ends of the sleepers, and the sleepers being
made of one or others of the special forms or constructions, or com-
bination of forms or constructions enumerated in the following list

page_text: or catalogue, namely, sleepers being in cross section a solid construction
presenting externally a T shape, or H shape, or channelled, or recessed
shape, or corrugated shape, or a hollow construction presenting ex-
ternally a circular shape, or elliptical shape, or D shape, or wedge shape,
or triangular shape, or square shape, or a rectangular shape, or a shape
in accordance with any geometrical, regular, or irregular figure, or
whether solid or hollow, or a shape approaching any of those mentioned.
The list also includes half or part sleepers of any approved form, that is
to say, divided as to their length, but intended to be used in pairs or
parts fastened together at their adjoining ends to form combination
sleepers, so that although each rail may bear almost entirely on one
such half or part, yet a partial support as to inclination or canting may
be received from the other such half or part. The list also includes
sleepers generally in accordance with any of the foregoing definitions,
but having the ends varied or adapted to constitute a chair or seating
for rail sometimes constructed with ribs or narrow bearing places in
pairs at each position of support, and sometimes furnished with provision
for holding rails, and lastly, it includes any combination of the said
constructions and shapes,
And the said firstly mentioned improvements consist in and embrace
the constructing permanent way of the said character or description,
and more particularly in constructing the metal sleepers thereof, or for
the same with greater depth or transverse strength of the said metal
sleepers at or about the middle of their length than at or about their
ends, the object being that either entirely or in degree the ends of
the sleepers may act as two cantilevers, with their common support at
the middle, if or when from settlement of the ballast the strain or load
should so come.upon them, the ends of the sleepers being nevertheless
so spread or shaped as to take a fair bearing on the ballast. The rails
whether of iron or steel may be of the ordinary double headed pattern
or may be L sliaped or T shaped, or of any approved form, the seatings
on the sleeper where provided being made to correspond. The sleepers
may be of cast iron, or wrought iron, or steel, or of any of these together,
and the forms indicated may be parallel or not parallel throughout, and
the construction may be partly solid and partly hollow or recessed,
and the hollow or recessed parts or some of them may be filled in with
a packing of concrete or any suitable material; and when the sleeper
is in two parts they are to be fastened or joined together, and the

page_text: fastening may be made the means of fixing or regulating the gauge
of the railway or tramway. The sleeper according to form may be
presented or used with any face or side uppermost as preferred.
The accompanying illustrative Drawing exemplifies the several
varieties of the said improvements or a sufficiency of them to enable
the others to be understood. It is specially contemplated to employ
rails of a generally L shaped section for the facility of securing them
by bolts and nuts to the sleepers, and to form or provide snugs, or
projections, or steps on the sleepers against which the foot of the L rails
may bear to define the gauge.
One illustration of this is shewn by the two sections and plan views
Figures 1, 2, 3. A is the sleeper, and a, a, the snugs referred to. In
this case it is of cast iron and is formed with two vertical flanges which
it is to be noted are deeper at the middle than at the ends where
however the horizontal plate of the sleeper is made so as to bed fairly
on the ballast. The Figure 2 which is a cross section through the
seating for the rail also particularly shews that the rail is not intended
to bear close down upon the sleeper across its entire width but only
upon the ribs or projections b, b. The seating may however (if
preferred) extend completely across the sleeper. Also the snugs a
instead of being curved in plan, as shown in Figure 3, may be straight
and parallel across the sleeper.
Figures 4 and 5 show a modification in which a sleeper of a T.shape
is used, and Figures 6 and 7 and Figure 8 two other modifications in
which sleepers of a H shape are used. Figures 9 and 10 two other
varieties. Figure 11 is a transverse section (on a larger scale) of T
sleeper taken through seating for the rail. Figures 12 to 17 are
transverse sections (drawn to the general scale) of various forms of
hollow and channelled sleepers which may be used. All the forms
Figures 4 to 17, besides certain others (represented) admit of rail being
bolted direct to the sleeper.
Figures 18, 19, 20, 21 are three sections and a half plan view,
shewing cast-iron sleeper with the ends raised above the level of the
middle portion, which may be completely sunk within or covered by the
ballast or by paving to allow a horse track to be formed without the
sleepers interfering with the feet of the animal. The ends, which need
not be covered by the ballast, admit of readily repacking of the ballast
when required without disturbing the middle. It will be noted as

page_text: before that greater depth is given to the flange or flanges at the middle
than at the ends.
Figures 18, 21, are section and plan same as Figures 18 and 21,
excepting as follows:-In Figures 18 and 21 the sleeper has two vertical
flanges at the ends, which (flanges) unite into one at the middle,
whereas in Figures 18 and 21 the two flanges extend the whole
length. In both sets of Figures the rail seatings are the same or nearly
so as in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
Figures 22 to 24 show a case somewhat similar to the two lastly-
mentioned cases, but with the cast-iron sleeper modified to receive a
light double-headed reversible rail to bear vertically, but bolted or
secured laterally to horns or projections h, h, with which the sleeper is
constructed for the purpose. The lateral contact against the horns is
shown as against two ribs or projections h, h, but such contact may
be continuous across the horns, or may be only at the middle, the horns
being shaped or curved accordingly.
Figures 22, 23, and 24* are the same as Figures 22, 23, and 24,
excepting as to greater width of sleeper, which may be used in the case
of joint sleepers, of whenever greater bearing surface on the ballast is
desired.
Figure 22 shews form slightly altered from Figure 22 to admit
ordinary double-headed reversible rail. i is a packing piece to be used
in this case.
Figures 25 to 28 are views shewing sleeper with spoon-shaped or
dished ends.and T shaped middle, the ends being spread to much greater
width than the middle, and the middle having much greater depth than
the ends. The rail, seating, and fastening, with clip and single bolt
are the same as in my already patented dished cast-iron sleepers, and
apart from the combination with the distinctive features of this Inven-
tion constitute no part thereof. The rail shewn is flat-bottomed.
Figure 25 shows modification to suit ordinary double-headed
reversible rail. The remarks as to rail, seating, and fastening, lastly
above mentioned, apply in this case also.
And the said improvements consist in and embrace, secondly,
the constructing the permanent way of tramways, whether of wood
or of metal, or of both, or of other material, with steel or iron nails
or knobs at intervals on the edges of the trants or tram supports to

page_text: assist the wheels of road vehicles when striking them at an angle to
mount up out of a possible groove or rut on to the fair level of tram or
tram support.
In illustration of these improvements Figures 29 and 30 are a section
and plan of light tramway, consisting of wooden longitudinal sleepers
and light flat rails thereon, the sleepers being at intervals connected by
angle-iron tie bars (see also section of same, Figure 30*). The dis-
tinctive feature to be noted is the application of the nails or knobs m, m,
at the upper edges of the sleeper, and which may be seen more clearly in
the enlarged cross section of sleeper Figure 31. Herein on one side is
shown a spike on one of the upper edges, and a screw on the other, both
with knobs or heads, for the purpose set forth. The more especial
object of the improvements comprised under this second and also under
the next or third division of this Specification is their adaptation to
roads or ways in, across, or along ordinary carriage ways of streets or
roads, whether paved, macadamized, or otherwise formed, so that the
general and ordinary traffic by common vehicles drawn by horses may
be as little inconvenienced as possible and not injured when crossing
diagonally over the tramway on the permane.'t way or the rails, as is the
case with ordinary tramways or railways in streets.
And the said improvements consist in and embrace, thirdly, in con-
structing the permanent way of of tramways and railways with metal rails
and longitudinal lateral packings to same, and with transverse metal or
timber sleepers, on which the rail and packings are seated and fixed to
gauge, combined with metal nails or knobs at intervals on the edges of
the packings, as above set forth. These improvements are illustrated by
the two sections and the plan view, Figures 32, 33, and 34, in which
s, s, are the longitudinal lateral packings, which, as well as the rail, are
seated on the ends of the transverse sleeper A, and m, m, are the nails or
knobs. The transverse sleepers when of metal may be of any of the
forms enumerated in the list or catalogue herein-before mentioned. The
longitudinal lateral packings may be of wood, and preferably of hard and
durable timber, such as oak, a pair of packings being employed to each
rail, one on either side, and each packing fitting or bearing sideways
against the rail, and shaped as requisite to avoid bolt heads and fish
plates, where they occur, and each on its opposite side having a hevilled
or inclined surface, against which a wedge or key may act for securing
same to sleeper; or the packings may be secured by bolts passing

page_text: The
through them and through the web or central portion of the rail.
metal nails or knobs may be driven into or fixed to tram, tram support,
or packings, as the case may be, at intervals; or the packings may be
of stone, artificial stone, cement, or concrete blocks, with the occasional
knobs, and when not of wood may be of short lengths from sleeper
to sleeper. It will readily be understood that if the sleepers are fairly
bedded both the rails and the packings resting as they do upon the
sleepers may be laid and replaced as often as required without skilled
labour, especially if (as it is intended) the packings are cut or made
to an uniform size in cross section.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles de Bergue, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
C. DE BERGUE. (L.S.)