Tramway Lines of Snow.
Year: 1885

page_text: Tramway Lines of Snow.
I, ISAAC FITCHEW CUTTLER, of 17, Morningside, Manningham, Bradford, in the
County of York, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CLEARING TRAMWAY
LINES OF SNOW, to be as follows:-
The object of my invention is to construct an apparatus that can be readily
attached to the front of a tramway engine, for the purpose of removing the major
portion of snow from the front of the engine, and from the rails before the wheels
of the engine, in order to reduce the slipping of the wheels on the rails, which
I accomplish in the following manner:
To the front of the lower portion of the engine I attach a metal casing, which
projects from each side of the engine at an angle meeting in the centre of the track
between the rails some distance in front of the engine frame. This casing is hollow,
and connected by pipes to one of the steam pipes or boiler of the engine, and is
curved from the bottom near the road inclining backwards to near the top, where
the curve of the plate is to a much less radius bending towards the nose of the
metal casing, which I term a plough.
This metal casing or plough is capable of regulation in elevation by vertical
screws in connection therewith, and which extend to above the foot plate of the
engine, and from the nose of the plough by a screw at an angle attached to the
upper portion of the engine frame.
On starting the engine, the plough clears the major portion of the snow from
the track, depositing it on either side; the steam in the casing heating the same,
prevents the snow accumulating, causing it to slide casily on the face of the plough
to either side of the track. The condensed hot water or steam, as the case may be,
is allowed to escape through a tap at either side immediately over the tram lines,
and thereby softens the little snow that is left thereon; which is removed by steel
brushes that are fixed some little distance in advance of the engine wheels, and
which can be regulated in height by screws that extend to above the foot plate of
the engine; thus by these means the snow is cleared away and the slipping of the
wheels reduced to a minimum.

page_text: Tramway Lines of Snow.
I, ISAAC FITCHEW CUTTLER, of 17, Morningside Manningham, Bradford in the
County of York Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to construct an apparatus that can be readily
attached to the front of a tramway engine for the purpose of removing the major
portion of the snow from the front of the engine and from the rails before the
wheels in order to reduce the liability of the latter slipping on the rails.
In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1,
apparatus attached to the front portion of a
the same Fig. 3 a sectional elevation and
draining the hollow plough.
represents a side elevation of my
tramway engine Fig. 2 is a plan of
Figs. 4 and 5, details of the tap for
To the front of the lower portion of the engine I attach the metal casing or
plough A, by brackets B, the pins C passing through the same with the collars C
resting on the bottom bracket. Between each collar C¹ and the top bracket
secured to the engine front plate, I place a spiral spring S, in order to allow the
metal casing or plough A, to yield should the bottom edge of the same come in
contact with the pavement or other obstruction.
The casing A, is hollow, and connected by pipes D, to one of the steam pipes, or
boiler by which it is heated. On starting the engine, the metal casing or plough A,
clears the major portion of the snow from the track, depositing it on either side of
the same; and the casing being heated in the manner as before described, prevents
the snow accumulating, causing it to slide easily on the face of the plough to either
side of the track.
The condensed water or steam as the case may be, escapes from each side of the
casing through the tap T, and distributing rose T¹ placed immediately over the
tram lines; thereby softening the snow that is left thereon, which is removed by
the steel brushes E, fixed in advance of the wheels and regulated by the rod F
from the foot plates of the engine; thus by these means the snow is cleared from
the rails thereby reducing the slipping to a minimum.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
The hollow casing A, combined with the brushes E, substantially in the manner
and for the purpose described.
The hollow casing A heated by steam for the purpose described.
WAUGH & CHAPMAN,
70, Chancery Lane, W.C.