AN IMPROVED METHOD OP AND SIGNAL APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ACCIDENTS ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Fenton, of Low Moor, near Bradford, in the
County of York, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OP AND SIGNAL APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ACCIDENTS ON RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 24th March 1857, and dated the 27th October 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Fenton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th October 1856.
I, JAMES FENTON, of Low Moor, near Bradford, in the County of York,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND SIGNAL APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ACCIDENTS ON RAILWAYS," to
be as follows:-
My Invention consists in placing a supplementary signal or semaphore
between the station signal and the distance signal. The supplementary signal
is worked in connection with and by the same handle as the distance signal;
it stands only as high as the buffer beam of the engine, and is placed so near
te rails that when an arm is thrown out therefrom to "danger" the engine
cannot pass without breaking it down. The arm is secured in a socket, and
may be readily replaced, when broken, at a small cost. The signal post will be
inexpensive as no lamp is required, and a short wire attached to that of the
distance signal will work the supplementary arm. The additional signal post

page_text: should be placed as far inside of as to allow an ordinary train to be protected by
the distance signal when it is pulled up short of the station.
A thin glass phial containing a colored fluid (say white) may, if found
necessary, be introduced into the end of the supplementary semaphore arm,
which would be broken when the engine struck it, and tho fluid bespattered
over the buffer beam, more certainly ensuring the detection of the culpable
engine driver. When the distance signal is set at "caution," it is necessary
that the supplementary signal post and arm should be so arranged that the
engine and train will pass clear.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Fenton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th April 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
FENTON, of Low Moor, near Bradford, in the County of York, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Fenton, Her special licence that I, the said James Fenton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Fenton, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND
SIGNAL APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ACCIDENTS ON RAILWAYS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James Fenton, my executors or admini-
strators, 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 samo 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 James Fenton, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that
is to say:
My Invention consists in placing a supplementary signal or semaphore
between the station signal and the distance signal, or beyond the latter, or
both. The supplementary signal is worked in connection with and by the
same handle as either the station or the distance signal, and is used for indi-
cating whether the one or other of these signals was set at the time the engine
passed it; it stands only as high as the buffer beam of the engine, and is
placed so near the rails that when an arm is thrown out therefrom to danger
the engine cannot pass without breaking it down. The arm is secured in a
socket, and may be readily replaced, when broken, at a small cost; or the arm
may be jointed in such manner, that instead of being broken, a portion of
it may be turned out of its transverse position, and thus indicate the passage
of the engine. The signal post will be inexpensive as no lamp is required, and
a short wire attached to that of the station or distance signal will work the
supplementary arm. The additional signal post, when situated between the
station and the distance signals, should be placed as far inside the latter as to
allow an ordinary train to be protected by the distance signal when the train
is pulled up short of the station. A thin glass phial containing a colored
fluid (say white, or other similar contrivance,) may, if found necessary, be
introduced into the end of the supplementary semaphore. This would be
broken when the engine struck it, and the fluid bespattered over the buffer
beam, more certainly ensuring the detection of the culpable engine driver.
When the signals are set at caution, it is necessary that the supplementary
signal post and arm should be so arranged that the engine and train will pass
clear of them.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed is a side elevation, Figure 2 a
plan, and Figure 3 a front view, of one of my improved supplementary signal
posts furnished with a jointed arm; Figure 4 is a side view, and Figure 5 a
plan, partly in section, of the arm detached.
A is an upright post, through which is passed the horizontal weigh shaft B;
which carries the jointed signal arm C at one end and the crank arm D at
the other. The arm C is jointed at a, so as to be capable of folding aside
when struck by the buffer E of the engine, and a spring band bolt '; shown
in Figure 5, are fitted at the joint in such manner that the bolt is pressed
by the spring 6 against one or other of the flattened surfaces a³, a', a', for the
purpose of preventing the folding part of the arm C from being moved by the

page_text: wind, or other accidental cause, from the position in which it is set, whether
extended or folded. The folding part of the arm C is a thin plate of steel or
iron rivetted in a thicker portion. F is a horizontal rest fixed to the post A,
which rest receives the arm C against it when the latter is driven aside by the
buffer. The extremity of this rest is faced with a piece of vulcanized india-
rubber c to receive the blow of the arm C. To the crank arm D is attached
the connecting rod G, the lower end of which is jointed by a pin to one end
of the lever II, the other end of which is furnished with a weight I (supposed
to be removed in Figure 3). The pin which connects the rod G with the
lever H carries also a shackle K, to which is connected a chain L, which passes
under the pulley M, and has its other extremity connected to the wire which
works the station or the distance signal, as the case may be. N is a guide
piece attached to the post A, and furnished with the stops e, f, to limit the
motion of the lever H; O is a guide piece fixed to the front of the post A.
The action of the apparatus above described is as follows:-Supposing all
tho parts of the signal to occupy the positions shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3,
and the buffer E of the engine to move in the direction indicated by the
arrows in Figures 2 and 3, and to strike against the arm C, this arm will
thereby be turned into the position indicated by dotted lines C, C', in Figures
2 and 3, coming against the rest F. When the station or distance signal wire
and therefore the chain L is slackened, the weight I falls, and by means of
the lever I raises the-connecting rod-G, and-thereby the shaft B is turned
through-a-fourth-of-a-revolution, carrying-with-it-the arm C, the folded portion
of which slides down the guide piece O, and is by it again extended or opened
out into the position shown by the dotted lines C", in Figures 1 and 3, ready
to be again set. When the chain L is pulled from the station, the connecting
rod G is pulled down and the arm C is again extended, as shewn in the Draw-
ings. In order to prevent the possibility of the engine driver or other person
completely re-setting the signal arm after an accident had occurred, so as to
make it appear that the signal arm had been set after his engine had passed
it, a detector bolt. P is placed in the upper part of the guide plate O. This
bolt is so fitted as to be wholly driven within the plate O by the arm C when
the latter is struck by the engine, and is acted upon by a tooth upon the shaft
B, or by some other suitable contrivance, in such manner that after it has been
driven wholly within the plate O it cannot be protruded again until the chain L
is slackened from the station.
I sometimes form the jointed signal arm partly of a set of thin curved steel
plates A, B, C, D, arranged as shewn in the plan view, Figure 6. These

page_text: plates will come successively into action when the front one A is struck by the
buffer of the engine. An arm constructed in this manner will receive the
blow of the buffer with less shock than the arm before described.
If thought desirable, the chain L, Figures 1, 2, and 3, leading from the
signal wire may be connected to that extremity of the lever H upon which
the weight is now hung, and the weight be transferred to the opposite end, so
that the signal shall be set by slackening the chain L. Other modifications of
the details above mentioned may also be used without departing from the
principal of my Invention.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the employment on railways of one or more supplementary signal
posts carrying jointed or other arms worked simultaneously with the station or
distance signals when set to indicate danger, in such manner that the said
arms shall be moved aside or broken by the engine as it passes, thereby indi-
cating that the said signals were in their proper position at the time of the
passage of the engine, as herein-before described.
Secondly, the construction and arrangement of the supplementary indicating
apparatus, as berein-before described, and represented in the Drawings here-
unto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Fenton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
JAMES FENTON. (L.S.)