IMPROVEMENTS IN SLEEPERS FOR RAILWAYS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Greenshields, of No. 11, Little Titchfield
Street, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SLEEPERS FOR
RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 28th October 1856, and dated the 29th April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Greenshields at.
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th April 1856.
I, THOMAS GREENSHIELDS, of No. 11, Little Titchfield Street, London, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN SLEEPERS
FOR RAILWAYS, to be as follows, viz:-
The transverse wooden sleeper in general use is a single piece of wood,
about nine feet in length, laid on or in the ground to bear the iron chair that
carries the rail; it also serves as a tie to keep the rail in gauge.
The improvement consists in constructing blocks of wood of several pieces
in thickness, and having a greater bearing surface than the sleepers in general
use, the surface between the pieces forming the blocks to have a slightly
elastic composition, that will also be impervious to wet or moisture. Two of:
these blocks are to be placed in a position that the centres correspond with
the centres of the chairs; when fixed in the required position, a plank of
wood is to be placed on the two blocks to receive the chair, and the pins or
bolts fixing the chair will secure the plank to the blocks and keep the rail. in

page_text: gauge. The blocks so constructed will act to a certain and limited extent in a
similar manner to buffers, and lessen the injurious effects from percussion,
caused by the weight and high velocities of the trains passing over the bearing
points.
The chair can be placed on the blocks or buffers and kept in gauge by tie
rods or bars of iron.. The blocks or buffers to be constructed with oak, deal,
elm, or timber, cut into planks, partly of each sort, or wholly of either of these
materials.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Greenshields in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GREENSHIELDS, of No. 11, Little Titchfield Street, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself; Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Greenshields, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Green-
shields, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Thomas Greenshields, 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 SLEEPERS FOR RAILWAYS, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Thomas Greenshields, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under his, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should parti-
cularly 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 Thomas Greenshields, do hereby declare
the nature of bis 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 (that is to say):-
The improvement consists in constructing a transverse,wooden sleeper in a
manner to develope the efficiency.of wood as a materiál best adapted to lessen:

page_text: the injurious effects of percussion, caused by trains passing at great speed
over bearing parts placed at intervals; and in order to obtain the greatest
amount of advantage from the elastic quality of the wood, the bottom of the
rail, instead of having about three inches bearing in a cast-iron chair, has a
direct bearing of eighteen inches on wooden blocks, the blocks being made
eighteen inches long, twelve inches wide, and seven inches thick. They act
to a certain and limited extent as buffers, and by this means a much greater
bearing surface is obtained than with the ordinary cast-iron chair and wooden
sleeper. The rail is secured in position by a chair made of wrought iron, so
constructed as to yield an elasticity, but controuled by that possessed by the
wood, the centre part of the chair being sunk to give the rail a direct bearing
on the wood, a material possessing some amount of elasticity, a condition
necessary to lessen the injurious effect of percussion on the perfectly con-
structed machinery of the engine, the surface of the rail, and also on the
material of the sleeper. The wrought-iron chair being sunk in the centre and
let into the sleeper, gives greater security, more particularly in passing round
curves, as the chair by this means is not dependant on the pins only to keep it

page_text: made to receive the bottom of the rail; the dotted line e, e, shewing the
depression made to receive the centre part of the wrought-iron chair.
No. 3 shews the tie plank B placed in position on the blocks, and forming
a complete transverse buffer sleeper.
.
No. 4 shews the blocks of two intermediate sleepers, having five sleepers in
an eighteen feet length of rail, the bearing on the blocks being eighteen
inches, it leaves a uniform space between the points of support of two feet one
inch and one-fifth of an inch, being less space between the points of support
than when six ordinary sleepers are used in an eighteen feet length of rail.
The sleepers can be used with the ordinary cast-iron chairs, but will require
packing pieces, equal in thickness to the bottom of the chair, to give the
bottom of the. rail the increased bearing on the wood; but it is preferred to
use the patent wrought-iron chair with the buffer sleeper, as giving greater
'safety, as they do not require the uncertain and expensive wooden keys to
secure the rail in position, and for reasons before stated, will give a smoother
transit over the bearing points, and, lessen the cost of repairs to the rolling
stock and the permanent way, than when rigid cast-iron chairs are placed on
wooden sleepers.
The blocks or buffers may be constructed of a greater thickness and with a
larger base than shewn or described, or may be increased or lessened as
circumstances may require, and may be constructed. with oak, elm, beech, or
other description of timber, partly of each sort, or wholly of either of these
materials, or cut in one piece; but it is preferred to construct them in thick-
nesses as before described. The chairs can be placed on the blocks or
buffers, and kept in gauge by tie rods or bars of iron, but it is preferred to
use deal planks or other description of wood, to receive the chair and to keep
the rail in gauge.
When the deal or other description of wood to be used in the construction
of the blocks or for the tie planks has been cut to the size required, before
using it is to be prepared in the following manner :-In a suitable vessel is to
be made a dilute solution, and made in the following proportions, to one gallon
of rain or soft water is to be added, and well and carefully mixed, four ounces
of common salt and two ounces of alum, and the temperature raised and kept
at about 96° of Farenheit's thermometer. The pieces of wood are. to be
placed and kept in this solution from four to six hours, according to its density;
it is then to be taken out and placed on the ends to drain; when thoroughly
drained, it is to be dried by any of the convenient and well-known means, at a
temperature not exceeding 80° of Farenheit; when dry, the surfaces forming
the joints are: to be paid, over with a hot mixture prepared in the propor-

page_text: tions and as follows:-In a suitable vessel put ten parts of tallow elaine,
fourteen parts of gas tar (previously boiled down to an asphalte), and one
part of rosin, the whole to be heated and well incorporated before using, and
to be applied hot to the surfaces before described, also to the ends of the
grain of the wood, the coating to be continued until it bears out on the
surface like a coat of paint. The mixture may be made thicker or thinner,
by diminishing or increasing the quantity of tallow elaine.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the means of
carrying it into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself
to the precise details, or to the exact form or dimensions of the several parts
shewn or described, or to the precise quantities or exact temperature of the
solution or mixture described, nor do I claim the exclusive use of the materials
employed or used; but what I claim is,-
Firstly, the construction of blocks or buffers connected by tie planks, rods,
or bars, for forming transverse sleepers, as before described.
Secondly, the preparing the deal or other description of timber to be used
in the construction of the sleepers, and in the manner and with the materials
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Greenshields, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
THOMAS GREENSHIELDS. (L.B.)