AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANUFACTURING, RAILWAY CROSSINGS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bridgewater, of Watford, Herts, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANUFACTURING,
RAILWAY CROSSINGS."
Sealed the 14th March 1865, and dated the 24th September 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said. Henry Bridgewater at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th September 1864.
I, HENRY BRIDGEWATER, of Watford, Herts, Civil Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANU-
FACTURING RAILWAY CROSSINGS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to improve the manufacture of spliced
crossings by increasing their structural strength. The spliced crossings I'
form of ordinary double-headed rails, cutting away the flanges on the abutting
sides of the rails that are to be joined together, so as to give the rails when
joined the proper taper form. At the end of the splice rail I cut away the
beads for a short distance, leaving only the web of the rail, which laps upon
the web of the V or point rail like a fish plate, and the flanges of the V or
point rail I'cut away, so as to form shoulders for the shoulders of the splice
rail to abut against. The rails thus fitted together I secure by means of
rivets or bolts passed through the webs of both rails. To give the crossing

page_text: the proper form I taper off the point rail.in the usual way. Spliced crossings
tbus constructed are reversible crossings, but it will be obvious that this novel
system of splicing is equally applicable to crossings that are not reversible.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Bridgewater in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th March 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BRIDGEWATER, of Watford, Herts, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One-thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Henry Bridgewater, Her special license that I, the said
Henry Bridgewater, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Bridgewater, 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANUFACTURING RAILWAY
CROSSINGS," upon, the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry
Bridgewater, by an instrument in writing under my hand, and seal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Bridgewater, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention is to improve the manufacture of spliced
crossings by increasing their structural strength. The spliced crossings I
form as heretofore, out of ordinary double-headed rails, or of rolled steel rails,
cutting away the flanges or portions of them on the abutting sides of the
rails that are to be joined together, as commonly practiced, so as to give the

page_text: upon
rails when joined a tapering form.
At the end of the splice rail I cut away
the heads for a short distance, leaving only the web of the rail, which laps
the web of the V or point rail like a fish plate, and the flanges of the
V or point rail I cut away, so as to form shoulders for the shoulders of the
splice rail to abut against. The rails thus fitted I secure together by means
of rivets or bolts passed through the webs of both rails. To give the crossing
the proper form I taper off the point rail on both faces in the usual way..
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn the Invention as applied to
double-headed rails which produce reversible crossings, but it will be obvious
that this novel system of splicing is equally applicable to crossings that are
not reversible.
Fig. 1 is a plan of the improved crossing complete. W; W, are the wing
rails; V, V, are the rails forming the crossing point, or V; & A, B, C, D, are
the chairs for sustaining the several parts of the crossing. Fig. 2 is a side
view of the crossing point V, shewing the lapping or extended splice rail
attached to the point rail; Fig. 3 is a section, taken through the V-rail and
extended splice rail at the line a, a, Figures 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is an end view,
shewing the nose of the crossing, as at n, Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a section through
the chair B at the line b, b, Fig. 1, shewing the V and wing rails in position;
Fig. 6 is a section of the V and wing rails at the line b', ', Fig. 1, of chair B,
and Fig. 7 is a section through the chair C and V and wing rails at the
line c, c, Fig. 1. By reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3, it will be seen that
the end of the splice rail is made to fit into the hollow between the flanges or
heads of the point rail, and that the two are firmly secured together at this
part by a rivet or bolt, in addition to the bolts or rivets at the other parts of
the splice. An important additional security is thus obtained against the joint
yielding to lateral strain. At the same time, by reason of the abutting
shoulders formed on the two rails, and the flanges of the point rail overlapping
the top and bottom edges of the end of the splice rail, the vertical strain to
which the point is subjected will be effectually resisted.
I would here remark that some of the advantages of crossings made on
this plan are, that they can be readily and economically made, either by
machinery with shaping and planing machines, or by hand at a blacksmith's
forge. If made of rolled steel rails they are as durable as cast steel crossings,
and can be supplied at considerably less cost; they are, moreover, more
durable, and can be supplied at a less cost than any of the patented cast-iron
crossings, and they are safer, and make a better and more uniform road. By
extending the splice rail as previously described beyond the butt joint, some-
what similar to a fish plate, and by rivetting or bolting the parts together, and

page_text: by using chairs with a seat of corresponding taper form, the working of the
parts and consequent wear so common and so objectionable in the ordinary
spliced crossings is avoided. They can be made reversible out of any double-
theaded rails of the same section as the permanent way, and laid in a similar
manner with chairs and sleepers, making better. joints, and more uniformity
in the road than is obtained by using any of the patented cast-iron or cast-
steel crossings.
:
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under
the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, securing the point and splice
rails of railway crossings by the aid of a lap formed as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bridgewater, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
HENRY BRIDGEWATER. (L.S.)