IMPROVE. MENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the invention of "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS." A communication from
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald Broomali
at, the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th December 1863.
1, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:
This Invention consists in constructing iron railway sleepers of any or all of
the forms represented in section in the accompanying Drawings; these sleepers
may be laid either in the position shown or inverted, and before or after laying
them I prefer to ram ballast into the hollow parts, and fix a plate on each end
of the sleeper to prevent the ballast working out. The manner of securing
the rails to these sleepers will vary according to the form of rail employed;
where chairs are required they must be of such shape as will correspond to
the shape of the sleeper to which they are fixed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1. RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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,"
(communicated to me by Charles Ferdinand Zores, a person resident at
Plouegat-Guerand, France,) upon the condition (amongst others) that 1,
the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in constructing iron railway sleepers as hereafter
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings. These iron sleepers
possess the following characteristics:-Ist, equal and even greater stability,
that is to say, better bearing surface on the ballast as compared with wooden
sleepers; 2nd, longitudinal and transverse rigidity sufficient to give them all
necessary solidity; 3rd. thicknesses of different parts of the iron sleepers
suflicient to impart to their fixing or combination with the rails, chairs, and

page_text: other parts, more solidity than can be attained with wooden sleepers: 4th.
forms of iron, allowing of easier and less expensive handling. laying, and
transport than wooden sleepers: 5th. solidity and simplicity both in the forms
of chairs and the methods of fixing them, and in the methods of securing flai-
bottomed rails to the sleepers: 6th, greater elasticity than possessed by wooden
sleepers 7th. greater durability than wooden sleepers: 8th, less cost of iron
than wooden sleepers.
I now proceed to show, by the aid of the annexed Drawings, the manner in
which the foregoing advantages are realized by the iron sleepers which form
the subject of the present Invention.
1st, equal and even greater stability of these sleepers. which I term Zores'
sleepers, that is to say, better bearing surface on the ballast as compared with
wooden sleepers. The undulating and rounded iron sleepers represented in
Figures 1 to 6 and 9 to 15, Sheet 1, possess a bearing surface on the ballast
greater than that of wooden sleepers, and, in consequence of their concave
shape, an increased acting surface on the ballast as compared with ordinary
wooden sleepers. This superiority in the stability of the Zores' iron sleepers is
further increased by the important fact thai while it is impossible to maintain
the packing of the ballast under wooden sleepers in good order for a length of
time, the ballast in consequence of the pressure of passing trains giving way
quickly at the edges, it is quite the contrary with these iron sleepers, in the
interior of which the ballast remains always solidly compressed. The iron
sleepers for fished or jointed rails represented in Figures 7, 8, 16, 17, and 18.
have exactly the same flat bearing surface on the ballast as, and an increased
acting surface superior to that of wooden sleepers. With regard to resistance
to lateral displacements resulting from the bearing surface of the ends of
wooden sleepers, resistance which is only produced to a great extent at curves,
it is obtained in these Zores' iron sleepers and to a greater extent by means of
iron plates at the ends of the sleepers, as shewn in Figures 27 to 37. the
resistance of which plates to lateral displacements greatly increases the power
of the compressed ballast in the interior of the sleeper. These plaies may
be fixed by rivets as shewn in Figures 27, 29, 31, 33, 35, and 37; or
they may be movable and applied after the sleepers have been laid out and
packed.
2nd. longitudinal and transverse rigidity of the iron sleepers sufficient to
give them all necessary solidity. The rounded form of these iron sleepers,
terminated by two ribs placed horizontally and strengthened at top by another
rib of varying form, as well as the unlulating form, likewise terminated by two
ribs placed horizontally and strengthened by the rigidity resulting from the

page_text: undulations, give to these iron sleepers a longitudinal rigidity and strength
much greater than really necessary, as shewn by the Drawings. Transverse
rigidity is obtained in several ways; 1st, by the form of the rounded or
undulating sleepers: 2nd, by the plates for giving inclination, which, as repre-
senied in Figures 28 and 29. for flat-bottomed rails, connect the horizontal
ribs 3rd. by iron cross pieces connecting by means of rivets the horizonial
rihs of the sleepers. as seen in Figures 27. 30, 31, 32, 34, and 35: 4th, by
the bolts which secure the chairs to the sleepers for double-headed rails, as
seen in Figure 35: 5th, by the plates fixed to the ends of the sleepers, as seen
in Figures 27. 29. 31, 33, 35, and 37: 6th, by the arrangemenis of the form
of chairs for double-headed rails, as indicated in Figures 32. 33. and 35. The
iron sleepers, as with wooden sleepers, are sunk in the ballasi, which must be
well rammed under the parts which support the rails, the weight of the passing
trains is then entirely supported by the ballast itself, and not by the sleepers.
which act only as cushions.
3rd. thicknesses of different parts of the iron sleepers sufficient to impart to
their fixing or combination with the rails, chairs, and other parts better
solidity than can be attained with wooden sleepers. This feature is very
important, for if the thickness of the different parts of the iron sleeper con-
stitutes its solidity, and consequently that of the paris united to them, the cost
which it determines will come in question. In fixing the thicknesses of the
different parts of these Zores' sleepers it is necessary to consider the conditions
in which they aci. the dimensions necessary to insure their durability and their
solidity, and the weight of the whole, as on the weight depends their cosi.
The horizontal ribs or feet which receive the bolts or rivets securing the plates
for giving inclination, the cross pieces, end plates, and other parts, should be
about a quarter of an inch (6 or 7 millimetres), more or less, thick; the upper
ribs of different forms intended to receive the inclination plates or the chairs,
and which the bolts which fix them to the sleeper pass through, should be
from a quarter to a third of an inch (6, 7, or 8 millimetres) thick, according
to the shape of the ribs. All the arched or undulating parts of the body of
the sleeper should be about th or th of an inch (4 or 5 millimetres) thick.
which dimensions are more than sufficient to give the whole the necessary
solidity and durability, and at the same time the cost will not be great. The
different parts of these Zores' sleepers of rounded or undulating iron have thus
thicknesses sufficient to ensure to them and to the various parts united in
them all desirable solidity, greater solidity and especially greater durability
than that of combinations with wooden sleepers, and which in consequence of
the rapid oxidation of the parts of the bolts which enter the wood, especially

page_text: when the sleepers have been injected with sulphate of copper, soon give way
and consequently occasion continual repairs.
4th, forms of iron allowing of easier and less expensive handling, laying,
and transport of the Zores' sleepers as compared with wooden sleepers. A
glance at the rounded or undulating forms of iron for the Zores' sleepers,
represented in Figures 1 to 16, will shew that the handling, laying, and trans-
port thereof are very easy whether they be furnished or not with their chairs,
inclination plates, bolts, cross pieces, and end plates, as represented in Figures
27 to 37. As the iron sleepers are much lighter than ordinary wooden
sleepers, and as their undulating form permits of their being easily taken hold
of, they are much more readily handled, one man may lay them or remove
them, which is not possible with wooden sleepers. The transport, loading,
and unloading of the iron sleepers are likewise much easier and less costly
than wooden sleepers.
5th, solidity and simplicity both in the forms of chairs and the methods of
fixing them, and in the methods of securing flat-bottomed rails to the sleepers.
The different arrangements of chairs by which double-headed rails are secured
to the sleepers are combined so as to be adapted easily and solidly on the
Zores' rounded or undulating iron sleepers. These arrangements, which will be
fully understood by Figures 32 to 35, fulfil all requirements with regard both to
solidity and the simplicity of their combinations with the iron sleepers by means
of bolts and nuts, or single or double cotter pins, and to facility of replace-
ment when necessary without displacing the adjoining sleepers. In consequence
of the considerable increase of solidity given to the base of the cast-iron chair,
a part in which the breakage or injury nearly always takes place, by the
fitting of this base on the iron sleeper, with which it is united by the bolts,
breakage or injury to the chairs will very rarely happen. In the employment
of metal sleepers for flat-bottomed rails, for which the rounded or undulating
iron sleepers may be employed with the horizontal ribs or feet placed above
or below, as indicated in Figures 27 and 30, the iron plates for giving the
necessary inclination to the rails, and through which the shafts of the fixing
bolis pass, may at the same time serve as solid cross pieces for the sleepers,
the horizontal ribs of which when placed above they unite. With regard io
the combinations of fish chairs with the rounded or undulating iron sleepers
of great breadth, which will be fully understood by Figures 36 and 37, they
are much simpler, more solid, easier to fix and unfix, and more economical
than those hitherto employed with wooden sleepers. All the methods of
securing chairs or flat-bottomed rails to these iron sleepers, whether it be by
bolts and nuis, cotter pins, or otherwise, have a strength, solidity, and durability.

page_text: LO WHICH the methods of securing when wooden sleepers are employed cannot
be compared.
6th. greater elasticity of the Zores' iron than of wooden sleepers. The
forms of rounded and undulating iron sleepers represented in Figures 27,
and 30 to 37, are adapted to the reaction of elastic power by opening slightly
and again closing under the pressure of the passing train, whence a much
softer and easy motion than is attained with the less supple wooden sleepers.
If the forms of rounded or undulating iron sleepers represented in Figures
28 and 29 do not admit of the satisfactory action of elastic power as the
other forms referred to, they possess at least as much elasticity as wooden
sleepers, especially if the elasticity is the result of the momentary compression
of the ballast.
7th and 8th, greater durability and less cost of the Zores' iron sleepers
compared with wooden sleepers. While 10 or 12 years is about the time
ordinary wooden sleepers last, it is reckoned that the rounded and
undulating iron sleepers constructed according to this Invention will last for
50 or 60 years, while the old iron of the worn-out iron sleepers may be
re-manufactured.
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Sheet 1 contains views of various undulating forms of iron for sleepers;
Figure 1, bent iron with convex trough; Figure 2, undulated iron with con-
vex and rounded troughs; Figure 3, undulated iron with convex troughs with
a flat part on the top: Figure 4, undulated iron with concave troughs and a
flat part in the middle; Figure 5, iron with double bend and convex troughs;
Figure 6, undulating iron with two rounded and concave troughs; Figure 7,
iron with double bend and with a rounded concave trough in the middle;
Figure 8, iron with double bend and concave troughs. Sheet 1 also contains
views of various rounded forms of iron for sleepers; Figure 9, rounded iron
with enlargement at the upper part; Figure 10, rounded iron with flat edge;
Figure 11, rounded iron flat inside and outside the top thereof; Figures 12
and 13. other similar forms: Figure 14, rounded iron with rounded hollow
part at top and flat inside the top: Figure 15, rounded iron with trough
at top with angular sides: Figure 16. rounded iron with flat top both
outside and inside; Figure 17, rounded iron with two flat tops and an
angular trough in the middle; Figure 18 (drawn in
iron, width a rounded undulation at the upper part.
sleepers may be varied in many other ways and arranged so that water
cannot remain on any part of their upper surface, and that the packed ballast
dotted lines), rounded
The forms of iron for

page_text: may be securely retained. Figures 19 to 22 shew several forms for this object.
The ends are inclined or bent to allow the water to run off and to hold the
ballast. The dotted lines in Figures 1 to 18 shew how the forms of iron
there delineated may be bent for the same purpose. Figures 23 to 26,
Sheet 1, are various forms of keys for securing flat-bottomed rails, the end
plates, and cross pieces, on the iron sleepers.
Sheet 2 shews, first, sleepers with flat-bottomed rails; Figures 27 and
27bi shew flat bottomed rails with the sleeper represented in Figure 1;
Figures 28 and 28i, flat-bottomed rails with the sleeper, Figure 9, inverted;
Figures 29 and 29, flat-bottomed rails with the sleeper, Figure 2;
Figures 30 and 30bi flat-bottomed rails with the sleeper, Figure 11; and
Figures 31 and 31, flat-bottomed rails with the sleeper, Figure 5. Sheet 2
also shews sleepers with double-headed rails and sleepers with fish chairs:
Figures 32 and 32 show double-headed rails with their chairs and the
rounded iron sleeper represented in Figure 10, the chairs rest on the rounded
jart of the sleeper, and are formed to fit partly over it; Figures 33 and 33bi
shew double-headed rails with the undulating iron sleeper, Figure 4, inverted;
Figures 34 and 34, shew double-headed rails with the sleeper, Figure 12;
Figures 35 and 35, double-headed rails and the sleeper, Figure 13;
Figures 36 and 36, double-headed rails with fish chairs and the sleeper,
Figure 16 Figures 37 and 37, flat-bottomed rails with iron shoes, fish
chairs, and the sleeper, Figure 5; Figures 38 to 47 represent bolts and other
fastenings for securing the rails to the iron sleepers.
Sheet 3 represents various combinations of chairs, rails, and Zores iron
sleepers Figures 48, 48, and 48ter, shew a double-headed rail with the iron
sleeper, Figure 11, the chair rests on the flat part of the sleeper and is fixed
by a single key; Figures 49, 49bis, and 40ter, shew the same with the chair
fixed by means of two keys; Figures 50, 50bis, and 50ter, shew a flat-bottomed
rail secured to the sleeper by means of an arched piece shown detached in
Figures 55, 55, and 55ter, and an inclination plate, Figure 56; Figure 51,
51, and 51ter, shew a flat-bottomed rail secured to the sleeper by means of
two arched pieces shewn detached in Figures 54, 54, and 54ter, and an
inclination plate, Figure 57: Figures 52, 52bis, and 52ter, double-headed rail
secured to the sleeper by a chair carrying an arched piece which enters a
notch in the chair; Figures 53, 53, and 53ter, double-headed rail secured to
the sleeper by a chair with a hinged arched piece; Figure 58 represents
another form of plate for giving inclination to flat-bottomed rails; Figures 50
to 62 are views of keys and other parts for securing rails to the iron sleepers.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as the improve-
ments in the permanent way of railways,
First, the undulating forms of iron sleepers represented in Figures to 8
of the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the rounded forms of iron sleepers represented in Figures 9 to 18
of the accompanying Drawings.
Third, the arrangements of keys, represented in Figures 23 to 26 of the
accompanying Drawings, for securing flat-bottomed rails, end plates, and cross
pieces to the iron sleepers.
Fourth, the arrangements of iron sleepers and flat-bottomed rails repre-
sented in Figures 27, 27, 28, 28bis, 29, 29 bis 30, 30, 31 and 31bis, of the
accompanying Drawings.
Fifth, the arrangements of iron sleepers and double-headed rails, and of
iron sleepers. and fish chairs, represented in Figures 32, 32, 33, 33. 34.
34, 35, 35, 36, 36, 37, 37bis, and 38 to 47 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Sixth, the arrangements and combinations of chairs. rails, and irou
sleepers represented in Sheet of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I. the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of June, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
R. A. BROOMAN. (..S.)