IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Charles Brant, of Surrey Square, Old Kent
Road, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 26th October 1858, and dated the 21st May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Charles Brant
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st May 1858.
I, JOHN CHARLES BRANT, of Surrey Square, Old Kent Road, in the County
of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of improvements on my Patent, No. 1344, dated
12th June 1855, in the addition of a new and improved railway sleeper, and
a mode of securing the rail, chair, and sleeper, also in using a cork packing
similar to that which I have previously applied under my before-named
patent. I propose making my improved railway sleepers both imperishable:
and indestructable, consequently the immense saving of labour and expense will
be great. They may be formed of potters' clay, Stourbridge clay, refuse of glass
works, or plastic clay, in combination with plumbago, manganese, smith ash,
slag dust, or other similar materials. The sleeper is formed with or without
the chair attached, or with a groove or rest to admit the rail, under which I

page_text: place a cork packing in combination with cocoa-nut fibre or not. The
junction sleeper or rest is made to admit of the union of the ends of the rails
being firmly bolted to the tie bar and transverse bearing, thus keeping the
two lines of rails firmly in position; the great advantages of these sleepers are
that they are not affected by changes of temperature nor liable to fracture, as
is the case with iron, perfectly free from decay, its close adhesion with the
ballast, and the possibility of making them on almost any line of railway with
little expense, and in any form that may be desired, when any of the usual
kind of iron chairs are used with the imperishable sleeper. The place for
fixing the chair can be moulded on the sleeper, so that the chair when fixed
would be sunk in the sleeper on a cork packing, giving the rail a solid and
equal bearing on the chair and sleeper. My improved rails are composed of
wood and iron combined, the wood forming the interior, and being slightly
raised; by this plan of rail, the sides of which are shifting, I can produce rails
of great length and strength, by means of which fish joints are dispensed with.
I also apply a single-headed rail, being a V pattern, fitting into groove-shaped
intermediate sleepers made from potters' clay or similar material with cork
packing, and tied together with tie bars as previously mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Charles Brant in the Great Seal Patent Office a
on the 16th November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JoпN
CHARLES BRANT, of Surrey Square, Old Kent Road, in the County of Surrey,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of May in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of IIer
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Charles Brant, Her special licence that I, the said John
Charles Brant, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Charles Brant, ny 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

page_text: condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Charles Brant, my execu-
tors 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 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 John Charles Brant, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My Invention consists of improvements upon the former Patent granted to
me on the Twelfth day of June, in the year One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-five, in the addition of a new and improved railway sleeper, and also of
improvements in the rails, which may be used with or without the improved
sleepers, also in using cork packing similar to that which I have previously
applied under my before-named Patent. I propose making my improved rail-
way sleepers both imperishable and indestructable, consequently the immense
saving of labour and expense will be great. They may be formed of potter's'
clay, Stourbridge clay, refuse of glass works, or plastic clay in combination
with plumbago, oxide of iron, manganese (conimonly called the black oxide
of manganese), smith ash, steatite, silica, cements, slag dust, or other similar
materials, or any one of them. These sleepers may be shaped or moulded to
any necessary form or size, while the clays or similar materials before men-
tioned are in a plastic or malleable condition, and when formed they undergo
the process of kiln-drying or burning, according to the nature of the materials
used. The sleeper may be formed with or without the chair attached, which
chair may be of the same material and the whole width of the sleeper, or less.
Bolt holes may also be formed in these sleepers without difficulty, which may
be left rough inside, causing the wooden trenails when used to obtain a very
firm hold; or the sleeper may be formed with a groove or rest to admit the
rail, under which I place a cork packing, either with or without cocoa-nut
fibre or jute. The junction sleeper or rest is made to admit of the union of
the ends of the rails, being firmly bolted to the tie bar and transverse bearing,
thus keeping the two lines of rails firmly in position. The great advantages
of these sleepers are, that they are not affected by change of temperature, nor
liable to fracture, as is the case with iron, perfectly free from decay, its close
adhesion with the ballast, and the possibility of making them on almost any
line of railway from the clays or earths which may be found in levelling the

page_text: line, and with small expense in-comparison to timber sleepers, and in any form
that may be desired. When any of the usual kind of iron chairs are used with
the imperishable sleeper, the place for fixing the chair can be moulded on the
sleeper, so that the chair, when fixed, would be sunk in the sleeper on a cork
packing, giving the rail a solid and equal bearing on the chair and sleeper.
One of my improved rails is composed of wood and iron, the wood forming
the interior and being slightly raised. By this plan of rail, the sides of which
are shifting, I can produce rails of great length and strength, by means of
which fish joints are dispensed with. My other rail is of metal only, and is a
single-headed rail of a V pattern fitting into groved shaped intermediate
sleepers, made from any of the materials before described, and similarly packed
with cork, jute, or cocoa-nut fibre, or both, and with the tic bars, as previously
mentioned.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my Invention for
improvements in the permanent way of railways, what I desire to claim as
my Invention and to have secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, is,-
Firstly, the manufacture of railway sleepers from clays or similar materials,
as before described with the additional application of cork, jute, or cocoa-nut
fibre packing, or both.
And, secondly, the metal rails with the introduction of timber and the plain
V rail, as described.
I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine or restrict myself to
the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to refer to, as
some variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the principles
of my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Charles Brant, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed
JOHN CHARLES BRANT. (L.8.)