IMPROVEMENTS RAILS FOR RAILWAYS
Year: 1863

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Loeder at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
May 1853.
IN
1, WILLIAM LOEDER, of New Broad Street, in the City of London, Merchant,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
RAILS FOR RAILWAYS," a communication to me from abroad (by Gabriel Dumler,
of Namur, Belgium, Engineer,) to be as follows:-
It is proposed to substitute for the ordinary rail a rail the head and body of
which will be made in separate parts, sometimes further subdividing the body
that the head may be better secured to it, the parts of the rail being rolled
separately. The head may be made of steeled iron, steel, or other material more.
suitable to resist the friction to which it will be submitted than the soft iron
forming the body or stem of the rail. This method is applicable to every
description of rail, single or double, T-headed, or other, and the head may be
secured to the body in various ways by splints or fishes, by chairs, by making
the head with a double stem or flange beneath forming a groove, into which
passes the upper part of the body, the two parts being secured to each other.
by a bolt, or screw and nut, or the under part of the rail head may be made
[Price 8d.]

page_text: with a stem in the centre, which will be passed into a groove formed on the
rail body, and be held there by a bolt or screw, or the rail body may be made
in two parts, and when brought together on the stem of the rail head the lower
orifice will be filled up with wood, ballast, or other material, or the two parts
may be formed with a ledge to carry the stem of the rail head when brought
together. Again, the rail head may be formed with a flange piece beneath, to
be placed against another flange formed on the upper part of the body, and be
fixed by bolts passing through both flanges. If desired, the two parts might
be let into each other, and then soldered, but bolting will, I think, be found
preferable, as permitting the head to be more easily removed, turned, or a fresh
one substituted without removing the body from the sleeper.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Loeder in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th November 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LOEDER, of New Broad Street, in the City of London, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Loeder. Her special licence that I, the said William Loeder, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Loeder, 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 RAILS FOR
BAILWAYS" (a communication to me from abroad by Gabriel Dumler, of
Namur, Belgium, Engineer.) upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Loeder, 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 immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW ANOWIE, that 1, the said William Loeder, 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 state-
ment, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and
forming part of this my Specification, and to the letters of reference marked
on the different Diagrams, denoting similar parts where such parts can be seen
at each of the Figures respectively:--
The rails in ordinary use on railways are open to objection, both as regards
the system of their manufacture and their capacity to resist wear and tear
(more particularly in their heads, whether T or bridge). All rails manufac-
tured or rolled in one piece require to be turned or set aside after a compara-
tively short term of wear, and the turning of the double-headed rail occupies a
considerable time, and necessitates the taking up of a considerable portion of
the permanent way of railways.
The object of this Invention is to economize on the cost of permanent way
by making part of the rail more permanent, and the head not only more
capable of resisting the shocks of the rolling stock, but easily removable when,
from wear, fracture, or other cause, it is found desirable to renew the surface
or head of the rail. The rail is, according to this Invention, made in two
parts, the body and the head, or in more than two parts, the body being itself
subdivided for the better securing it on the sleepers, and the rail head on or
into the body. By adopting this system the head of the Trail (or head
of other shape) is, without material increase of cost, made of steeled iron or
steel itself, thus offering a resistance to shock and wear that. iron cannot
pretend to, while the two parts of the rail body and head can be laminated
separately, making the head with double stem and the body with a ridge, so
that when the head is received on to the body a bolt is passed through the
stems of the head and ridge of the body to secure the two parts together; or
this may be in a sense reversed, the rail head being made with one stem, and
the body with the receiving sides, forming, when in position, plough and tongue,
the tongue being formed with the rail head, and the plough with the body
thereof; bolt or screw is passed through to secure the parts in position, as
previously mentioned; or the body of the rail is made in separate (say iwo)
parts, and when brought together to receive tongue or stem of the rail
head, the cavity below the stem of the head can be filled with wood or other
material, or the body can be formed with a ledge, on which a portion of the
under part of the rail head rests. while the stem or tongue running partly
down the body. which is recessed to receive it, is fastened thereto by a bolt
or other fastening, and the parts can be manufactured to assume various

page_text: shapes or forms, some of which are shewn in the Drawing. Again, where
desirable, two parts can be let into each other, and then brazed or soldered,
but I prefer to use bolts, screws, fish plates, or other rail fastenings well
known and in ordinary use, as such permit the rail head to be more easily
detached from the body in order to turn the other side of the head to the
wear from the wheels, or to remove the head altogether and replace it by
another without removing the body of the rail from its rest on the permanent
way.
In the annexed Drawing, Figure shews an end sectional view of a
rail made according to this Invention. A is the head of the rail formed
with two stems, b, b, so as to permit it to rest on the body of the rail
B at c, c, that portion of the body of the rail from c to d forming a
tongue or saddle for and passing between the stems b, b, to the under
part of the rail head, which it thus serves to support, being secured
(at intervals) by bolts e, or any of the ordinary well known fastenings.
Figure 2 shews end view of rail made according to this Invention. A, the
rail head, with single stem passing into two receiving stems or arms made on
or with the body B, forming what is termed plough and tongue, the arms
forming plough, the stem of the rail head tongue, the head and body being
secured together by bolts or other fastenings passing through the stem and
arms before mentioned. Figure 3 shews a compound rail, the body of which
B is at its upper part formed with a ledge or shelf. The head A has its neck
formed to run down the body, the end thereof. resting upon the ledge, a bolt
or other fastening being passed through the body and neck at the centre of the
latter. Figure 4 shews a rail with its body B divided into two parts, the
head A being formed as at Figure 1, and each part of the body B being
secured near its top by bolts passing through the upper part of each body piece
and the stem of the rail head. The hollow left below the stem, and between
it and the sleeper, may be filled in with wood or other material. Figure 5 also
denotes a rail with its body made in two parts, and its head furnished with a
stem to pass between said parts, but in this instance the body is so rolled or
manufactured as to receive the stem in recess cut in each part of the body, as
shewn, thus leaving no hollow to be filled in, as at Figure 4; the head A and
body B are secured together as before described. Figure 6 shews also end
view of rail, the head A being formed as at Figure 1, the body B in two parts
recessed at its upper parts, as at Figure 5, but meeting at the base, so that
when the parts are being fitted together, lengths of wood or filling of any other
suitable material are placed in the opening or hollow left under the stem of
the head. Figure 7 shews a part of a rail in sectional elevation, the head A.

page_text: being placed on the body B at the junction of the ends of the latter, so as to
break joint as at C.
. It would be impossible to represent in a Specification and the Drawing
thereto annexed all the forms into which the heads and bodies of rails made
according to this Invention may be rolled or constructed. I have, however,
shewn in the Drawing, by means of red dotted lines on the Diagrams, some of
the variations which may be made from the forms described and shewn, not
that I foresee any advantage in departing therefrom, but one or other may be
found in practice to give greater strength or durability to the rail and be more
economical in its construction.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Loeder, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
WILLIAM LOEDER. (L.s.)