IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OR TRACK OF IXAMWATO.
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William John Cockburn-Muir, of Westminster,
in the County of Middlesex, but at present residing at Glasgow, in
the County of Lanark, North Britain, Civil Engineer, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OR TRACK OF IXAMWATO.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William John Cock-
burn-Muir at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 9th November 1870.
I, WILLIAM JOHN COCKBURN-MUIR, of Westminster, in the County
of Middlesex, but at present residing at Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OR TRACK
OF TRAMWAYS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
. This Invention consists of a tram rail which may be carried by detached
metallic as distinguished from the ordinary continuous timber supports,
held in a block-shaped hollow metallic sleeper or chair which will

page_text: •
work in with the sets or blocks of stone paving, so that the track
shall become an integral part of the ordinary paving of the street or
road. The upper part of the rail is of a form similar to that of the
ordinary grooved tram rail, but has on the lower edge of the inner side
a projecting bead or fillet, and a vertical web projecting from the under
side at or near the middle to give vertical stiffness. The sleeper or
chair is cast with a channel or seat in the upper part having generally
the profile of the rail, so that the whole of the inner side of the rail
down to the bottom of the vertical web fits close to the channel or seat,
the bead or fillet on the rail fitting into a groove in the seat. At the
outer side of the rail the channel or seat is formed so that while support
is given to the rail there is yet sufficient horizontal clearance to admit
of the free insertion or withdrawal of the rail. The lower portion of the
outer side of the channel in the sleeper is inclined at an angle inwards,
and into the space between it and the outer side of the vertical web of
the rail a tapered key or wedge, whose transverse section is a prism
with the base downwards, is driven, the corresponding side of the channel
in the sleeper being correspondingly tapered so that the rail is forced
against the opposite side of the channel or seat. On that side the rail
is prevented from moving by its fillet or bead being engaged in the
groove of the channel or seat. On the outer side it is held immovable
by the taper key or wedge, which when driven home cannot rise against
the inclined side of the channel in the sleeper. The top of the rail is
made flush with the top of the sleeper or with a slight elevation to allow
for wear of head, and the top of the sleeper flush with the surface of
the road or street. The sleepers may be laid opposite to each other
and connected in pairs by tie bars as with ordinary metallic sleepers to
regulate the gauge.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William John Cockburn-Muir in the Great Seal 3
Patent Office on the 9th May 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JOHN COCKBURN-MUIR, of Westminster, in the County of Middlesex,
but at present residing at, Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
3

page_text: year
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of November, in the
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the 34th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William John Cockburn-Muir, Her special
license, that I, the said William John Cockburn-Muir, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William John
Cockburn-Muir, 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OR TRACK OF TRAMWAYS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William John
Cockburn-Muir, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 William John Cockburn-Muir,
do hereby declare the nature of my 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 accom-.
panying Drawings. and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say :-
'
My said Invention consists of a tram rail which may be carried by
detached metallic (as distinguished from the ordinary timber) supports
or block-shaped hollow metallic sleepers or chairs, which will work
in with the sets or blocks of stone paving, so that the track shall become
an integral part of the ordinary paving of the street or road. The
upper part of the rail is of a form similar to that of the ordinary grooved
tram rail, but has on the lower edge of the inner side a projecting bead
or fillet, or that side may be made with a bevil inwards and a vertical
web projecting from the under side at or near the middle to give vertical
stiffness. The sleeper or chair is cast with a channel or seat in the
upper part having generally the profile of the rail, so that the whole of
the inner side of the rail down to the bottom of the vertical web fits.

page_text: close to the channel or seat, the bead or fillet on the rail fitting into a
groove in the seat, or the bevil on the rail fitting into a corresponding
inward bevil in the sleeper. At the outer side of the rail the channel
or seat is formed so that while support is given to the rail there is yet
sufficient horizontal clearance to admit of the free insertion and with-
drawal of the rail. The lower portion of the outer side of the channel
in the sleeper is inclined at an angle inwards, and into the space
between it and the outer side of the vertical web of the rail a tapered
key or wedge of prismoidal form with the base downwards is driven,
that outer side of the channel in the sleeper having a corresponding
taper longitudinally, so that the rail is forced against the opposite or
inner side of the channel or seat. On that side the rail is prevented
from moving by its fillet or bead, or the bevilled side being engaged in
the groove of the channel or corresponding bevilled side of the seat.
On the outer side it is held immoveable by the taper key or wedge,
which, when driven home cannot rise against the inclined side of the
channel in the sleeper. The top of the rail is made flush with the top
of the sleeper or with a slight clevation to allow for wear of head, and
in laying the track the top of the sleeper is set flush with the surface
of the road or street, whether stone or asphalt. The sleepers may be
laid opposite to each other and connected in pairs by tie bars (as with
ordinary metallic sleepers on railways) to regulate the gauge.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of practically
using the same may be better understood, I have hercunto appended a
Sheet of Drawings, on which Figure 1 is a plan of one form of the
metallic sleeper or chair which constitutes one part of my present
Invention; Figure 2 is an end elevation of the same, and also shews a
transverse section of my improved tram rail in the position which it
occupies when fitted into the said metallic sleeper or chair. The upper
part of the rail A is of a form similar to that of the ordinary grooved
tram rail, but on the lower edge of the inner side it has formed on it a
projecting bead or fillet a, and a vertical web 6 projects from the under
side at or near the middle as shewn at Figure 2, to give vertical stiffness
to the rail. The block-shaped sleeper or chair B is formed or cast with
a longitudinal channel or seat in its upper part as shewn, and which a
corresponds generally to the profile of the rail A, so that the whole of
the inner side of the rail A down to the bottom of the vertical web b,
fits close to the channel or seat c, and the bead or fillet a fits into a

page_text: correspondingly shaped groove e in the seat or channel c, as shewn at
Figure 2. At the outer side of the rail A the channel or seat c is so
formed that whilst vertical support is given to the rail A there is yet
sufficient horizontal clearance to admit of its free insertion and with-
drawal. The lower portion of the outer side of the channel or seat c,
of the sleeper B, that is, the side opposite to that against which the
inner side of the vertical web b of the rail A bears, is inclined at an
angle inwards as shewn at Figure 2, and into the space between it and
the outer side of the vertical web b, a tapered key or wedge ƒ of pris-
moidal form with the base downwards is driven. The said outer side
of the channel c is tapered similarly with the key or wedge f; so that
in driving home the key or wedge f the rail is forced against the inner.
or opposite side of the lower part of the channel or seat c in the
sleeper B, and on that side the rail A is prevented from moving by its
fillet or bead a being engaged in the groove e of the channel or seat c.
On the outer side the rail A is held immoveable by the taper key or
wedge, shewn at Figure 2, which when driven home cannot rise
against the inclined side g of the seat or channel c in the sleeper B.
The top of the rail A is made flush or nearly so with the top of the
sleeper or chair B, or with a slight elevation to allow for wear of head,
and the top of the sleeper or chair B in laying the track is set flush
with the sets or blocks of stone paving or asphalt, so that the track
becomes an integral part of the ordinary paving of the road or street.
.
Figure 3 shews in its position in my improved metallic sleeper for
tramways a transverse section of a modified form of the tram rail herein-
before described. In this instance in lieu of forming the inner side a
of the rail A with a fillet or bead, as shewn at Figure 2, the said inner
side is inclined and held firmly against the correspondingly formed
portion of the channel or scat 6 of the sleeper C by the taper key or
wedge B. The sleepers are held together in pairs by a tie bar X or other
of the usual methods of connecting iron railway sleepers to preserve the
gauge may obviously be adopted.
Figure 4 is a tranverse section of another similar form of metallic
sleeper or chair adapted to carry a tram rail of the form as horcin-before
set forth, and Figure 5 a horizontal section thereof on the line x, x,
Figure 4.
In the arrangement now referred to the sleeper or chair is formed
with open sides and with a central web extending vertically from the

page_text: lower part of the channel or seat a to the bottom c of the sleeper or
chair A, the bottom in this instance being a solid plate or table,. as
shewn at Figure 4. The web b extends from one end of the sleeper or
chair A to the other end, and transverse ribs d, extending from the top
to the bottom of the sleeper, are formed on each side of the bed b, and
at suitable intervals for strength throughout its length as. shewn at
Figure 5. On one part of the inner side of the channel or seat a a
socket g is cast, into which one end of the tie bar C is introduced, and
which may be held in place by a bolt or otherwise, as more particularly
seen at Figures 4 and 5.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be used
or practically carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that
what I consider novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
First. The improved form and arrangement of tram rail and the
manner of holding the same in the sleepers by means of a fillet, bead,
or inclined edge, and forced home by a wedge driven into a groove or
chamber in the sleeper or chair corresponding thereto, as herein-before
described and shewn on the appended Sheet of Drawings.
Second. The constructing of the sleeper or chair so that it works in
with the sets or stones of street paving, so as to avoid having any portion
of the structure covered by the paving, whether stone or asphalt,
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William John Cockburn-Muir,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of May
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
WILLIAM JOHN COCKBURN-MUIR. (L.S.)