Improvements in Permanent Way for Railways and Tramways.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Dec., 1894-Accepted, 19th Jan., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Permanent Way for Railways and Tramways. :
I, JOHN DEERING REED, of 76 Edgewood Street Boston, Suffolk County,
State of Massachusetts, United States of America, Mechanic, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
This invention relates to the substructure which is employed to secure in place
the rails composing either street or steam railway systems, and furthermore which
serves to prevent the rails from spreading and upholds the joints at the meeting
points of the rails.
My improvements consist primarily in the substructural arrangement of parts
which shall maintain the rails and rail-joints in proper aligninent and position for
the rail system, and includes a stringer longitudinally beneath the rail; secondly,
in a series of steel chairs which serve to clasp the stringer and secure the latter to
the ties, and further act as a metallic under-support to prevent the rail cutting into
the stringer; thirdly, in the arrangement of elements which are located at the rail-
joint to prevent the breaking down of the latter, and comprising in addition to the
ties, the longitudinal stringer, and steel chairs of a supporting metallic bar of some
four feet in length, which rests upon the stringer and the steel chairs, the latter
being flush with the top surface of the stringer. Other characteristic features will
be hereinafter fully described and set forth.
The drawings represent in
Figure 1 a vertical transverse section of a steam railway supporting structure
embodying my invention, the section being taken at a joint.
Fig. 2 is a similar view as applied to a street railway system, likewise at a
joint.
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the reinforce plates.
In said drawings 2 represents the ordinary cross ties upon which heretofore,
particularly in steam railway systems, it has been customary to lay the rails and
spike them directly to said ties. Under this method the rail meets a wooden
surface and the ties soon cut out and become worthless. In lieu of this con-
struction I propose to provide a longitudinal stringer 3 beneath the rail. 4,
while to firmly unite these two elements together place steel chairs 5 of such
form that they clasp about the girder and extend over upon the tie in the shape
of an angle foot 6. Spikes 7. 7. 7. secure the whole rigidly together. By the
arrangement, as above premised, it will be seen that the rail is given an under-
neath metallic support, which prevents said rail from cutting into and destroying
the wood. Furthermore to give greater support to the rail the steel chairs are
let into the girder, so that practically the girder has a uniformly level top
surface with transverse metallic plates at intervals, or wherever a chair may be
located. Thus in the substructural system above premised the rail not only has
a continuous rest in the shape of the girder, but it has an underneath metallic
support at intervals, and there is no tendency to rock or tip, since the steel
chairs obviate this action to a great extent, while the stringer can not be cut.
Thus a very heavy rail can be employed without liability of injury or rapid
deterioration to the road-bed structure.
In the proper maintenance of a rail system, it is very necessary that, the rail-
joint should have a firm, solid support, to overcome the pounding action of the

page_text: wheels in passing this point. In my present improvements I employ a supporting
bar 8, so termed, which is preferably some two and one-half feet in length, eight
and one-half inches in width and one-half inch in thickness. This is laid upon the
girder and is supported conjointly by the latter and the steel chairs before
mentioned. Above this is placed the rail, while laterally of the rail are secured
gage-plates 10, these latter being of the same length as the supporting bar.
These
several elements, the chairs, the supporting bar, and the gage-bars-are all bored,
as shown in. Fig. 1, and plugged at 12 with some kind of wood.. Spikes 13 driven
therethrough and which pass into the stringer and cross tie serve to hold these
parts rigidly in position. The ordinary fish-plate 14 and bolts 15 are employed to
unite the rails longitudinally. By this method in the use of the stringer and the
chairs, the latter being the rigid joint and upon which rests the supporting bar, I
create a firmly suspended joint support. The ordinary gravel tamping as employed
in steam railways serves to hold the entire structure in place. In order to maintain
the rail approximately in a horizontal plane and to enable it to rest upon the
stringer at all points, except at the joint where the supporting bar occurs, the
stringer is cut out to admit of the supporting bar in order to offset this increase in
height occasioned by the thickness of the said supporting bar, while the chairs are
positioned under the bar.
In Fig. 2 is shown a portion of a street railway system in which the same
arrangement of parts is employed. Here the improved street rail is shown at 4',
the ties at 21, the stringer at 31, holding spikes at 71, the supporting bar at 8,
which is of greater thickness to compensate for the flat rail which is of less depth
in cross section than the Trail in Fig. 1. Furthermore a plugged hole is extended
through the bar 8' and the chair, while a spike 13' which is driven into the plug
serves to hold the rail in place and bind the latter, the supporting bar, and the
chair, all to the girder. Where the improved rail 21 is used the pavements
(indicated in broken lines) can be laid up snugly as shown.
It will be understood that since the stringers are rigidly attached by the steel
chairs to the cross ties, no cross-tie rods are required, as heretofore, to prevent the
stringers and rails from spreading.
66
"
In some instances where my system is adapted to be substituted for the ordinary
joint, and to remedy the defects in a rail-joint where one end of the rail has been
pounded down I propose to employ a
reinforce plate so called. This is a thin
steel blank 20, shown at Fig. 3 with a turned up or transversely bent end. In
repairing a joint this plate 20 is adjusted across and beneath the low end of the
rail and between said rail and the supporting-bar as shown in Fig. 2. This serves
to raise the end of the rail a trifle high and thus causes it to meet the wheel, and
since the rail end has a firm metallic support, the pounding action of the wheel now
tends to straighten the rail at this point and the defect is gradually remedied.
the drawings this reinforce plate 20 is shown in position beneath the rail end in
Fig. 2, but the form of said plate 20 is adapted for use in the steam rail system.as
illustrated in Fig. 1, and will have the same relative position, that is between the
rail 4 and the supporting bar 8. •
.
In
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I-declare-that-what-I
claim is :
1. The structural support for railway systems consisting of a series of cross-ties,
stringers longitudinally beneath each rail and which rest upon the ties, metal chairs
which span the girders and are adapted to unite each girder with the cross-ties,
said girders and chairs being adapted to form a continuous level surface, comprising
alternate surfaces of wood and metal upon which the rails rest, substantially as and
for purposes explained.
2. In structural supports for railway systems, the combination with cross-ties,
stringers which rest upon the cross-ties and extend longitudinally beneath the
rails, of metallic chairs which extend over and about the stringers, and a

page_text: supporting-bar located beneath the rail and which rests upon the upper surface
of the stringers here composed of alternate surfaces of wood and metal,
substantially as specified.
3. In structural supports for steam railways, the combination with cross-ties,
longitudinal stringers, metallic chairs which pass about said stringers and unite
them with the cross-ties, of a supporting-bar, gage-plates laterally of the rail, and
devices for uniting the supporting-bar, gage-bars and chairs with the stringers and
cross-ties, substantially as set forth.
4. The combination with suitable cross-ties, stringers which rest thereon and
extend longitudinally beneath each rail, of a metallic supporting-bar beneath a
rail-joint, a reinforce plate between the rail end and said supporting-bar, and chairs
which span the stringers and unite them with the cross-ties, substantially as set
forth and stated.
Dated this Third day of December 1894.