IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentle-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
RAILWAY CARRIAGES."-A communication from Antoine Francois Julien
Doebs, of Toulouse, in the Empire of France, Brewer.
Sealed the 7th July 1854, and dated the 6th May 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th May 1854.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
RAILWAY CARRIAGES," a communication, from Antoine Francois Julien Doebs,.
of Toulouse, in the Empire of France, Brewer, to be as follows:
This Invention relates to an improved construction of brake for railway
carriages, and to a peculiar mode of fitting the seats therein, for the prevention
of the shock which would be imparted to the passenger by the application of
the brake, and consequent sudden stoppage of the train. The system or mode
of stopping the train consists in the employment of a series of sliding shoes or
sledges, which are attached to the frame of the carriages and bear upon the
rails. These sledges are brought into action by lowering the body of the
carriage, which is effected by carrying the axles in moveable boxes which slide

page_text: vertically in fixed guides attached to the guard plates of the carriage. These
moveable boxes are raised or lowered by screws, which are actuated by bevil
gearing on the top of the carriages; the shafts working this gearing are
coupled between each carriage by suitable coupling, so that the whole of the
brakes may be brought into action simultaneously by the lowering of the
carriages on to the rails. The screw spindles are connected to the vertical
shafts which actuate them, by being made square at their upper free ends,
and sliding by means of friction pulleys in a box on the lower end of the
vertical shafts. This box is hinged to the shafts, and is pressed on each side
by flat springs, which allow the carriage to oscillate without interfering with
the gearing or shafts. One or more cranks are formed on the main shaft
running along the train, for the purpose of turning the same, and each crank
is held in its place by a suitable detent, carried by a parallel shaft on the
carriages. Should the stoppage be found to be too sudden, on applying the
whole of the brakes, they may be brought into action separately in succession.
The floor of the carriages is made to slide over a series of pulleys, and when a
sudden stoppage or shock occurs, it is allowed to run forward and strike
against spring buffers placed in the interior of the carriage. A small bell or
other signal is fitted in the carriage, to intimate to the passengers that they are
to prepare themselves for the action of the brake, by sitting firmly on the seats,
with their feet and backs firmly planted against the foot-board and back of the
seat. The floor of the carriage is brought back again to its original position
by a pinion and rack; the carriage may be elevated again, either by turning
the gear in the contrary direction, or by employing a separate ratchet for that
purpose. By another arrangement, the brakes may be brought into action by
the obstacle or obstruction itself. This is effected by placing a truck in front
of the train fitted with a pair of long spring telescopic buffers which bear
against the buffer beam of the engine. Two rods are connected with this
truck; one of which, by á rack, reverses the engine; whilst the other, is prolonged
beneath the train, and actuates either the whole of the brakes simultaneously.
or in succession. This is effected by attaching barrel springs to the actuating
shaft of the brakes, which is released on the rods being pushed inwards, and
by the action of the springs commences to revolve, thereby actuating the
vertical shaft and screw spindles, herein-before mentioned. A separate shaft,
however, is also used to actuate the brakes by hand, when required. The
apparatus is brought back again into position by means of a rack and
pinion actuated by a winch handle.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th November 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Henry Johnson Her special license that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or
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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES," a com-
munication from Antoine Francois Julien Doebs, of Toulouse, in the Empire
of France, Brewer, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the Drawings, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
break for railway carriages, and to an improved mode of arranging the seats
in railway carriages, which seats are made to slide, and thereby prevent the
shock which would arise through a sudden stoppage of the train, by the appli-
cation of the brake. The brakes themselves are composed of a series of of
sliding shoes or sledges attached to the framework of the carriages; they are
rought into action and made to bear upon the rail by lowering the body of the.
carriage by suitable gearing, herein-after described. This gearing may. either

page_text: be actuated by the guard of the train, or it may be acted upon, and so lower
the carriage, should the same accidentally run into any obstacle on, the line, in
which case it would greatly diminish the shock on such an occasion. For this
purpose, a telescopic apparatus is placed in front of the train, and the com-
pression or closing of this apparatus, on coming in contact with any obstacle,
will bring all the sledges into action, and cause the train to bear entirely upon
them and slide along the rails, thereby effectually bringing it to a stand-still
within a shorter distance than has hitherto been accomplished.
And in order that the said Invention may be more readily understood, I
shall now proceed to describe and refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings represents a side elevation
and partial section of a railway carriage fitted with the improved brake; and
Figure 2 is a corresponding transverse section of the same, taken along the line"
1,2, in Figure 1. The brakes themselves are composed of three pairs of shoes
or sledges A, fixed to the longitudinal beams B of the carriage framing. The
under sides of these sledges are shaped similar to a railway wheel tyre, and is
not elevated above the rails more than is just sufficient to allow of a free play-
of the springs C, without bringing the sledges into contact with the rails.
These sledges are brought into action by certain mechanism, which consists
principally in the combination of two boxes D, D¹, shewn in detail at Figures
3, 4, and 5. The first one is fixed between the guard plates C,. and the
second one, D', is situated inside the first one D, which it fills breadthwise, but
not in height, so that it may be elevated or lowered in the box D by means of
a vertical screwed spindle E, which is connected to the key piece E¹, as shewn
in Figures 3, 4, and 6; by raising this screw, the internal box D¹ is permitted
to rise up in the fixed box D, when the carriage will descend will all its weight
upon the rails, being supported thereon by the sledges A. In order to cause all
the carriages of the train to descend simultaneously, a peculiar arrangement of
mechanism-is-employed for acting-upon-all-the-screws at the same time.On
the top of each carriage is fitted a shaft i, Figures 7 and 15, secured by a
coupling to a similar shaft fitted on to the next carriage of the train, so as to
form one common shaft, throughout. As each of the carriages may be more
or less loaded, or have a greater or less number of passengers inside, they will
be more or less elevated on their springs, which will be in different states of
tension, according to the various weights they have to support. In such a case
the tops of the carriages would not be all in the same level, and the shaft i
would be twisted out of a direct line, thereby interfering with its working. To
obviate this defect, a bent rod R is placed with its lower extremity resting

page_text: upon the centre of the springs immediately over the box D, which centre
never varies in height, as will be obvious, on referring to the Drawing. The
upper end of this serves as a bearing or support for the shaft i, as shewn in
Figures 2, 7, and 8 of the Drawings. By this incans the shaft i will always
be maintained at the same elevation, although the height of the body of the
carriage or waggon may constantly vary. In order to bring the apparatus into
action, should the train accidentally run into any obstacle on the line, a truck
A, Figures 16 and 17, is furnished in the front on train before the engine,
which truck is furnished with a certain length of hollow tubes a, of a gradually
decreasing diameter, so that they may enter enter the one into the other, similar
to a telescope formed with a number of slides. In the interior of these tubes
are helical springs, which by their resistance' serve to deaden the shock which
would otherwise arise when the buffer or guard a', which is placed in front
of the truck, and descends to within a short distance of the rails, comes in con.
tact with any obstacle on the line. To the transverse bar bare attached the
two horizontal rods c, c', the first of which carries a rack e gearing into a
pinion e fast on the short crank shaft f, Figures 16, 17, and 18, which actuates
the connecting rod f¹. This rod acts upon the reversing lever g of the
engine; the other horizontal rod acts upon the mechanism of the first
carriage. For this purpose it is fitted with a rack at its extremity to actuate
the small pinion h, Figures 7, 8, 12, and 17, when any shock causes it to be
driven back. On the shaft of the pinion is keyed the bevel pinion ', actuating
the bevel wheel k, against which is fixed the spur or chain wheel ; thus, each
time the rack is driven back, it will cause the wheel to revolve, since it is
connected by an endless chain with the wheel . The wheel runs loose
upon the shaft i, and is fitted with a pall, which takes into the teeth of the
ratchet wheel m, Figures 12 and 14, which is fixed upon the shaft 2 in such
a manner, that the wheel ', although loose, can communicate a rotatory motion
thereto. This arrangement admits of the shaft i being turned by hand by the
crank or handle, Figure 8, without at the same time interfering with the
rest of the mechanism last described, and serves by the aid of the forked arm j
to draw back the bolt j', which holds the lever arm J in its place. This arm
has a constant tendency to escape by reason of the barrel spring G, which on
the release of the arm J gives a rotatory movement to the driving shaft M, one
of which is fitted on to each carriage. Each of these shafts carries two bevil
pinions o, which gear with the bevil wheels o!, and these latter actuate the
wheels p. It will be seen from this arrangement and combination, that whether
the shaft Mis turned by the handle p' by hand, or by the aid of the rack,
before referred to, acting-upon the releasing bolt j, the bevil wheels p will be

page_text: TION
caused to rotate, and consequently the screws E, since these latter are actuated
by the vertical shafts E³, Figure 1, upon which are keyed the pinions p. The
prolonged upper portion of the screws E is forged square, and is fitted into the
key E¹, which is furnished with antefriction pulleys q, shewn in detail in
Figures 3, 4, and 6, so that when the shafts E2 rotate they will cause the
screws to rotate also, at the same time permitting them to rise or fall inside
them over the friction pulleys q. The keys are connected by hinged joints to
the vertical shaft E, and carry two metal blade springs q', which permit of the
to and fro motion of the carriage without bending or twisting the shaft E2 in
any way. The driving shafts M are each furnished with barrel springs G and
stops J, which press constantly against the rods or bolts 1, (Figures 8, 9, and
10) thus, should any small or light obstacle lay in the way of the train, it will
be removed by the guard bar a on the front of the truck A', Figures 16, and
17. If the object, however, be too great to be thus removed, it will exert a
certain resistance against the horizontal rods c, c¹, which will act in the manner
herein before described, the tubes a closing one in the other until the train
slides entirely upon the sledges. It will thus be seen that the obstacle itself
brings the breaks into action; nevertheless as it will be of course better to stop
the train before coming in contact with the obstacle, should the same be
visible, a handle or crank 2 is placed on the shaft i, by which it may be turned
by hand, as herein-before described. In order to bring the whole apparatus
into effect again, after stopping or retarding the train, each carriage is
elevated by the aid of the jacks K, Figures 1 and 2, which are fitted thereto;
then, by means of the handles r, Figures 8, 9, and 10, fitted on to the shafts
¹, with which each carriage is furnished, the bolts or spindles ¹ (which
hold the stop lever J) are brought into position again by means of the
bar s, which is slotted at a; in this slot is fitted the short vertical arm or
stud s¹, Figures 9 and 10, which is fixed to the bolt j. By the aid of
the winch handle r, the pinion t on the shaft 71 will be caused to rotate;
and as this pinion gears into a rack formed on the under side of the bar s,
it will cause this-bar-to-advance, and with it the bolt ', which will thus be
brought back again to its original position. The stop lever J is previously
set by winding up the barrel spring G by the winch handle p' on the
opposite end of the shaft. In order that the stud s¹, fixed to the bolt j
may not move the rod or bar s, when the brakes are brought into action, the
slot is made sufficiently long to permit of the movement of the bolt without
interfering with the bar s, and pinion t When the bolt j¹ has been brought
latter must be slid back again the
into its proper position by the bars, this
length of its slot, in order to bring the opposite end of such slot to bear upon

page_text: the stud s¹, as shewn in Figure 10; in this position it is evident that the
bolt with its stud s¹ may be drawn back by the actuating mechanism which
brings the brakes into action, without interfering or moving the adjusting
apparatus, which consists of the bar and racks, pinion t, and shaft ¹. In
order that the sliding bars shall always be moved back again after having
adjusted the bolt j', it is made to move back by self-acting mechanism, which
consists of a spring t, Figure 11; which presses constantly upon an arm or
tappet u on the shaft r, which is thereby always caused to rotate a certain
distance sufficient to bring back the bar s to its proper position. In order to
allow for the bending of the train when passing curves, a short length of
double.coiled spring a¹ is introduced at the end of shafts i, as shewn on a large
scale at Figure 15, which are thereby rendered. flexible, and adjust themselves
to the form of the train without interfering with their working. It will be
obvious, from the peculiar arrangement and combination of mechanismi herein-
before described, that.by acting upon the whole of the brakes in the train at
one time the same may be brought to a stand-still almost instantly. In order
to prevent any fatal or unpleasant shock being given to the passengers by the
sudden application of the brakes, the seats are fitted on to a moveable floor P
Figure 1, which is supported on rails y, y, Figure 2, by the rollers or ante-
friction pulleys y', y¹. The seats are fitted with moveable backs, and are so
arranged that all the passengers shall have their backs towards the engine, or
in the direction of the motion of the train. When the moveable floor slides
forward it comes in contact with a buffer v, situated in a vacant space V, in the
front of each carriage; it is brought back again after the stoppage of the train
by the pinions v¹ and rack x, secured to the under side of the floor. The
pinions are worked by a winch handle v", which may be fitted on to the pinion
shaft when required. is a small alarum bell, situated inside the carriage,
by which the guard gives notice to the passengers that the train is about to be
stopped.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe
or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of the said Invention; but what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me- by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,..
First, the general construction and arrangement of apparatus for stopping
or retarding the motion of railway trains, as herein-before described.

page_text: e
Second, the the peculiar construction and arrangement of mechanism for
working the breaks by hand, as herein-before described.
Third, the peculiar construction and arrangement of mechanism, by which
the brakes are brought into action, and the, engine reversed, if the train should
accidentally come in contact with any heavy obstacle on the line, as herein-
before described.
Fourth, the application and use of the truck A', with the spring telescopic
apparatus attached thereto, in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described.
Fifth, the peculiar construction and arrangement of apparatus for adjusting
or bringing into position again the brake mechanism after the same has operated
as. herein-before described.
Sixth, the system or mode of raising or lowering the bodies of the carriages
when bringing the brakes into action, as herein-before described.
Seventh, the application and use of the boxes D and D', and screw spindle E;
in the manner and for the purpose herein-before described.
Eighth, the system or mode of carrying the shaft i, whereby such shaft is
not effected by the varying heighths of the tops of the carriages, as herein-
before described.
Ninth, the system, or mode of allowing for the lateral deflection of the
shaft when passing curves, by the introduction therein of the double helical
springs u, as herein-before described.
Tenth, the peculiar mode of connecting the screw spindles E with their keys
or actuating rods or shafts, as herein-before described.
Eleventh, the peculiar construction and arrangement of moveable or sliding
carriage floors, with the mechanism connected therewith, in the manner and for
the purpose herein-before described.
Twelfth, the application and use of the screw or other jacks or elevating
mechanism fixed to the under side of the carriage, and forming a portion of
the same, as herein-before described, for the purpose of elevating the carriages
after the stoppage of the train.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson; have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Sixth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON.
(L.S.)