IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF Guiding, DRIVING, AND BRAKING VEHICLES RUNNING ON SINGLE RAILS."ING,
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hamilton Lee Smith, of No. 6, Westminster
Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, in the County of Middle-
sex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF Guiding,
DRIVING, AND BRAKING VEHICLES RUNNING ON SINGLE RAILS."
DRIVING,
AND BRAKING VEHICLES RUNNING ON SINGLE RAILS."
Sealed the 4th August 1874, and dated the 27th May 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hamilton Lee Smith
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th May 1874.
I, HAMILTON LEE SMITH, of No. 6, Westminster Chambers, Victoria
Street, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF GUIDING,
DRIVING, AND BRAKING VEHICLES RUNNING ON SINGLE RAILS," to be as
follows:-
=
This Invention relates to means of guiding in a vertical position
locomotives, carriages, and other rolling stock which run upon a singlo

page_text: under rail, these means being also applicable in the driving and braking
of such vehicles. For this purpose I mount on the upper part of the
carriage, locomotive, or other vehicle one or more pairs of horizontal
wheels which run on the opposite sides of a central rail fixed above the
carriages. These horizontal guide wheels are mounted in bearings
pressed by light springs so that the wheels are always kept in contact
with the central rail, and the wheels are thereby caused to revolve as the
vehicle runs along. The play of the bearings is limited so that the
vehicle is prevented from being canted to any sensible extent to the one
side or the other.
°
Instead of fixing one central rail above the carriages two such rails
may be so fixed, and the guide wheels may run, those of the one side on
the side of the one rail and those of the other side on the side of the
other rail; or instead of mounting the carriages so as to run upon an
under rail directly below their centre, such under rail may be somewhat
to one side of the centre, and a single set of guide wheels above the
carriages may run against a single rail fixed on the opposite side of the
centre, such wheels preventing the carriages from tilting over as they
would do upon the rail that is fixed out of their centre line.
I prefer, however, to arrange the guide rail and guide wheels as first
described,. that is to say, with wheels on each side of a single upper rail
embracing the same between them.
Such wheels on the locomotive may be the driving wheels, having
their bearings so arranged that the rail can be pinched between them
with any desired degree of force. Also the guide wheels of the other
carriages may be made to act as brakes by being caused to pinch in this
manner the central rail between them.
.
The upper guide rail or rails may be supported in any convenient
manner. One method is to provide a number of diagonal trusses like
the principals of a roof, having their fect supported in the ground on
each side of the carriage track, and the guide rails made fast to them or
to cross ties secured to them above the level of the carriage roofs. In
places where trees occur in suitable positions the trees on opposite sides
of the carriage track may be connected by cross ties to which the guido
rail or rails can be secured. Or poles let into the ground on each side

page_text: {
of the carriage track may be bent over towards each other at top and
secured in their bent condition by cross ties to which the guide rails are
sccured.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Hamilton Lec Smith in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 26th November 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HAMILTON
LEE SMITH, of No. 6, Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, West-
minster, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her. most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Hamilton Lec Smith, Her special
license that I, the said Hamilton Lee Smith, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Hamilton Lee Smith,
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 MEANS OF GUIDING, DRIVING, AND BRAKING VEHICLES
RUNNING ON SINGLE RAILS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Hamilton Lee Smith, my executors or administrators, by. an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, 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 Scal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Hamilton Lee Smith, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the samo
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in- and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
:

page_text: panying Sheets of Drawings and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to means of guiding in a vertical position
locomotives, carriages, and other rolling stock which run upon a singlo
under rail, these means being also applicable in the driving and braking
of such vehicles. For this purpose I mount on the upper part of the
carriage, locomotive, or other vehicle one or more pairs of horizontal
wheels which run on the opposite sides of a central rail fixed above the
carriages. These horizontal guide wheels are mounted in bearings
pressed by light springs so that the wheels are always kept in contact
with the central rail, and the wheels are thereby caused to revolve as the
vehicle runs along. The play of the bearings is limited so that the
vehicle is prevented from being canted to any sensible extent to the one
side or the other.
Instead of fixing one central rail above the carriages two such rails
may be so fixed, and the guide wheels may run, those of the one side on
the side of the one rail and those of the other side on the side of the
other rail. Or instead of mounting the carriages so as to run upon an
under rail directly below their centre, such under rail may be somewhat
to one side of the centre, and a single set of guide wheels above the
carriages may run against a single rail fixed on the opposite side of the
centre, such wheels preventing the carriages from tilting over as they
would do upon the rail that is fixed out of their centre line.
I prefer, however, to arrange the guide rail and guide wheels as first
described, that is to say, with wheels on each side of a single upper rail,
embracing the same between them.
Such wheels on the locomotive may be the driving wheels, having
their bearings so arranged that the rail can be pinched between them
with any desired degree of force. Also the guide wheels of the other
carriages may be made to act as brakes by being caused to pinch in this
manner the central rail between them.
manner.
The upper guide rail or rails may be supported in any convenient
One method is to provide a number of diagonal trusses like
the principals of a roof having their fect supported in the ground on
each side of the carriage track, and the guide rails made fast to them or

page_text: to cross ties secured to them above the level of the carriage roofs. In
places where trecs occur in suitable positions the trees on opposite sides,
of the carriage track may be connected by cross ties to which the guide
rail or rails can be secured. Or poles let into the ground on each side
of the carriago track may be bent over towards each other at top and
secured in their bent condition by cross ties to which the guide rails arc
secured.
The accompanying Drawings represent transverse sections of lines of
railway constructed so as to operate according to my Invention, with
various forms and arrangements of the parts, as I will now explain,
referring to the several Figures in which like letters are employed.
According to the construction shown in Fig. 1 the vehicle V runs by
central wheels W on the single ground rail G, and is provided with two
sets of overhead horizontal wheels or rollers R running on each side of
a fixed longitudinal timber T secured to a wooden framing, which may
be constructed as shewn on the one side at F or on the other side F¹.
These frames fixed at suitable intervals are steadied by the guide
timber T acting as a tic and also by other suitable tics and diagonal
braces B.
Fig. 2 shews modified forms of the wooden framing F and F¹.
According to the construction shown in Fig. 3 the vehicle is steadied.
by one set of overhead wheels or rollers R running between two overhead
timbers T. The framing in this case consists of two poles P let into the
ground and bent to an arch form, in which shape they are secured by
cross ties C supporting the guide timbers.
In the construction shewn in Fig. 4 the overhead guide timber T,
operating as described in reference to Figs. 1 and 2, is supported by a
trussed frame of timber F' fixed only at one side of the track.
Fig. 5 shews a modified construction of the single framing F support-
ing guide timbers as in Fig. 3, between which two sets of rollers R and R
are mounted, cach set a little to one side of the centre line in opposite
ways, so that the one set or the other set bear according as the vehicle
V preponderates to the one side or the other.
Fig. 6 shews a method of applying the guide timbers T at the sides of
the vehicle with two forms of framing F and F', and two arrangements

page_text: '
of the overhead wheels or rollers R or R', either of which may be
applied in conjunction with such lateral guides. The lateral bracing B
may serve as a fence.
According to the arrangement shewn in Fig. 7 the bearing wheels W
are arranged out of the centre line of the vehicle so as to throw a pre-
ponderating weight on the one side, and a single set of lateral overhead
wheels or rollers R steady the vehicle and support the lateral prepon-
derance by running along a single lateral guide timber T.
According to the construction shown in Fig. 8, the bearing wheels W
being central, the steadying of the vehicle is effected by means of a set
of horizontal and vertical wheels or rollers R and R¹ bearing respectively
against the side and against the under surface of the guide timber T..
In Fig. 9 a single set of lateral wheels or rollers R, running between
two guide timbers T and T', serves to steady the vehicle; and in Fig. 10
two sets of vertical wheels or rollers R embrace between them a single
guide timber T.
Fig. 11, shews modified forms of the framing F and F¹, with fencing f
employed either to support a single central guide timber T, as in Fig. 1,
or two lateral guide timbers T¹ for wheels or rollers, such as are
indicated by the dotted lines R'.
Fig. 12 shows other modes of constructing the framing F and F¹
suited to the lateral guide rollers R.
According to the construction shewn in Fig. 13 a pair of iron guide
rails I enclose between them the single, set guide, wheels or rollers R.
The rails I are secured to cross beams of wood braced by diagonal
framing B, and supported on piles either oblique as F or upright
as Fi
In Fig. 14 rails I instead of timbers are employed as lateral guides for
wheels or rollers arranged, either as shewn on the one side at R or as on
the other side at R³, the framing being like that shewn in Fig. 13.
In Fig. 15 two sets of overhead wheels or rollers R embrace a central
guide rail I.
According to the construction shewn in Fig. 16 the weight of the

page_text: wheels or rollers R running clear over lateral timbers T serve to steady
the vehicle. A similar arrangement is shewn in Fig. 17, the guide
wheels or rollers R being in this case made to run under the guide
timbers T.
:
In Fig. 18 a girder K supported on side walls S of masonry or concrete
carries the guide rail I; the vehicle being mounted on wheels W out of
centre, only the one set of overhead rollers R generally bears on the
guide rail I, while the other set R¹ prevent the vehicle from oversetting
in case of accidental preponderance on the wrong side.
In Fig. 19 are shewn two constructions of iron framing F and F¹ to
carry a couple of rails I, I', guiding two sets of rollers R, R', between
them, the one set R bearing on I, and the other set bearing on I¹.
In Fig. 20 is shewn a method of constructing the framing of piles
Por screw piles P¹ tied together at top by girders Ķ carrying the guide
rails I.
In Fig. 21 the framing consists of screw piles P (which may be
strutted as indicated by the dotted lines F¹) carrying a rail I which
guides the horizontal and vertical rollers R and R'.
In Fig. 22 is shown a modified form of the guide rail I embraced
between two sets of horizontal rollers R, and Fig. 23 shows the guide
rail I and rollers R set at an angle.
In Figs. 24 and 25 are shewn constructions of side walls in masonry,
concrete, or other building material presenting lines of stone guides A,
with the guide wheels or rollers R or R¹ bearing against them.
For the points and crossings of railways operating as above described
the single ground rail may be made to act as a point of ordinary con-
struction, and the guide rails or timbers may be made to move either
horizontally or vertically a sufficient distance laterally or upwards to
give room for the passage of the guide wheel or roller.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed by the use of the various construc-
tions and arrangements shewn in the Drawings, I would have it
understood that I do not limit myself to the particular forms or pro-
portions of the parts shewn and described, but I claim, the method,

page_text: substantially as herein described of steadying or guiding, in a vertical
position vehicles running on a single rail by means of one or more sets
of guide wheels or rollers mounted on the top or at the sides of the
vehicle so as to bear against guide timbers or rails fixed above the
ground, the said means of guiding being also applicable for the purpose
of driving and braking.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hamilton Lee Smith, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.