IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWA
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Barningham, of the Pendleton Iron Works,
near the City of Manchester, Iron Manufacturer and Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWA
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Barninghant
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th October 1862.
I, WILLIAM BARNINGHAM, of the Pendleton Iron Works, near the City
5 of Manchester, Iron Manufacturer and Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY
OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in making railway sleepers either transverse or
longitudinal of wrought iron rolled to a semi-elliptical or other suitable form
to combine strength with lightness, and of sufficient area to be firmly supported
on the ballast. The rails are attached by bolts or otherwise to chairs or half
chairs, which are welded, rivetted, or bolted to the sleepers, or the chairs may
be formed of strips of metal cut from the top of the sleeper on three sides,
and bent into the required form to suit the shape of the rail. When bridge
or other flat bottomed rails are employed they may bear upon, and be con-
nected to the sleepers by bolts or rivets.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Barningham in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th April 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BARNINGHAM, of the Pendleton Iron Works, near the City of Manchester,
Iron Manufacturer and Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Barningham, Her special license that I, the said
William Barningham, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Barningham, 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 PERMANENT WAY OF
RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Barningham, 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 William Barningham, 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, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in making railway sleepers, either transverse
or longitudinal, of wrought iron, rolled to a semi-elliptical or other suitable
form, to combine strength with lightness, and of sufficient area to be
firmly supported on the ballast. The rails are attached by bolts or other-
wise to chairs or half chairs, which are welded, rivetted, or bolted to the
.sleepers, or the chairs may be formed of strips of metal cut from the top
of the sleeper on three sides, and bent into the required form to suit
the shape of the rail. When bridge or other flat bottomed rails are

page_text: employed they may bear upon, and be connected to the sleepers by bolts
or rivets.
And in order, that my Invention may be fully understood, and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me,
reference being had to the three accompanying Sheets of Drawings, and to
the figures and letters marked thereon.
On Sheet 1, Fig. 1 is a plan of my improved wrought-iron sleepers with
half chairs welded thereon; Fig. 2 is a side view; and Fig. 3, an elevation
of the same; a, a, are the wrought-iron sleepers, rolled of a semi-elliptical
form or semicircular, or other suitable form to combine strength with
lightness, and of sufficient area to be firmly supported on or by the ballast;
when the sleepers, have been rolled they are cut off to the required length by
a circular saw or otherwise, and they are then ready to have the half chairs b,
(seen best in Figs. 4 and 5,) welded to them, the rails c are secured to the
half chairs by the bolts d. In welding the half chairs to the sleeper
the upper surface of the sleeper is slightly depressed, so as to form a level
surface for the under side of the rail to bed upon, or the sleepers may
be rolled with a flat surface on the top, as shewn in Fig. 14.
On Sheet 2, Fig. 6, is a section of another of my improved wrought-iron
sleepers with a double chair; Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the sleeper,
which is similar to that shewn on Sheet 1, marked a. The chair is made
with two jaws b, which are made of wrought iron rolled to the proper section
and cut by a circular saw or otherwise; the chair is made with the cross
piece 6; the chairs are welded to the sleeper, and a space is left between the
centre portion of the chair, and the top of the sleeper to insure a sound weld.
The rail c is held in the chair by the keys e, and as the jaws of the chair
are wider above than below the rail is suspended in the chair, as shewn in
Fig. 6.
Figs. 8 and 9, represent two views of another of my improved sleepers
and chairs welded together; the rail c is supported by one of the jaws b, and
it is wedged fast, by the curved key e, fitting the curve of one of the jaws.
Fig. 10, is a section of a sleeper and chair which is formed with two jaws b
these jaws are rolled in separate pieces, each piece welded separately to the
sleeper, the jaws taper towards each other above, and support the rail c
between them; Fig. 11, represents a chair very similar to that shewn in.
Fig. 10, but in this case the two jaws b, are rolled together with the cross;
piece b', and then welded to the sleeper.
Fig. 12, is a section of part of my improved sleeper a, shewing how the

page_text: ordinary bridge rail c, may be connected to it. To the sleeper are welded
the hooped rib f, and the plain rib g, the flange of the bridge rail is slipped
under the rib f, and when the rail is in its place it is held there by the bolt
and nut h.
Fig. 13 shews another mode of securing an ordinary bridge rail to my
improved sleeper. In this case the rib i, fitting the interior of the rail c, is
welded to the sleeper a; the bolt h passes through one or both of the flanges
of the rail. Figs. 14 and 15, are two views shewing how the bridge rails
may be jointed when supported by my improved sleepers; j is a bridge rail
fish plate supported on the sleepers a, a; the fish plate fits within the bridge
rail c, and the bolts h secure the rails, fish plate, and sleepers together, the
intermediate bolts h¹, secure the rails and fish plate together,
On Sheet 3, Figs. 16, 17, and 18, represent an ordinary contractor's rail
and the mode of connecting it to my improved sleepers. The flanges of the
rail c, are held between the hooked ribs k, which instead of being welded to
the sleeper a, as described in reference to Figs. 12 and 13, are formed of strips
or portions of metal forming part of the top of the sleeper, which is cut at
three sides, and bent over a swage block to the required form; the joint of
the rails is formed by the ordinary fish plates 1.
Fig. 19 shews another mode of connecting a contractor's rail to my
improved sleepers; the hooked rib f, is welded to the sleeper to secure one
flange of the rail, and the other is held by the bolt h, but the hooked rib
may be made as shewn and described in Figs. 16, 17, and 18. Figs. 20, 21.
and 22, represent three views of one of my improved sleepers with a half
chair formed out of the metal of the sleeper; this half chair is similar to that
shewn in Fig. 5 marked b, where it is described as having been welded to the
sleeper; in Fig. 20, the lower side of the common double headed rail c, bears
upon the top of the sleeper a, and the rail is bolted to the half chair b, by the
bolt d.
Fig. 23, represents one mode of connecting rails to longitudinal sleepers
of my improved form; the rail c is connected by the bolt d, to a half chair b,
which is made of wrought iron rolled to the proper shape, and cut to the
required length, these half chairs are welded at suitable intervals to the
longitudinal sleeper a, chairs with two jaws and ribs may be welded to the
longitudinal sleepers for securing rails of various sections as above described
in reference to transverse sleepers.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described several
modes of performing the same, I wish it to be distinctly understood, that I

page_text: do not intend to limit myself to the details given, as the same may be con-
siderably varied or modified, and in some cases the wrought-iron chairs or
half chairs instead of being welded may be rivetted or bolted to the wrought
iron sleepers, the main object of my Invention being to reduce the expense
of maintaining the permanent way of railways in efficient working order.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Barningham, have hereto
set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three.
WILLIAM BARNINGHAM. (L.S.)