IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CROSSINGS AND SWITCHES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Price Williams, of Great George Street,
Westminster, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAILWAY CROSSINGS AND SWITCHES."
Sealed the 13th April 1869, and dated the 22nd February 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Price Williams
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd February 1869.
I, RICHARD PRICE WILLIAMS, of Great George Street, Westminster,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CROSSINGS AND SWITCHES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in railway crossings
and switches.
In constructing railway crossings where two lines cross each other,
as is shown in the annexed diagram A., the angle being obtuse, I form
one of the crossing lines, say that marked a, b, of a single length of rail,
the passage for the tyre of the wheel being notched out in it to the
requisite depth. The crossing line c, d, is formed in two separate
lengths; one rail or length passes from c to e, where it meets the rail a, b,

page_text: and here it is bent so as to run parallel to a, b, and the two are firmly
fixed together. The rail or length d, f, is continued on past the point f
and is bent round parallel to a, b, and made to form the guard rail or
a portion of it. This arrangement is represented by the diagram B.
The dotted lines indicate where the supporting chairs are placed; it is
preferred that they should be separate chairs, or made in pairs, but they
may be all in one piece. The three rails where they are parallel are
bolted together. Continuations of the guard rail may be cast with the
chairs. The chairs are in most cases supported on wooden sleepers, but
metal sleepers may be used, and the chairs may be cast in one piece with
them. Where the crossing is of the sort indicated by the diagram C.,
the angle of the continuous bearing surface being acute, the crossing is
made in a similar manner, as is indicated by the diagram D., but the
passage for the wheel flanges has to be made on the other side of the
rails.
In constructing railway switches I procced in the manner indicated
by the diagram E., making three of the road rails moveable in place of
two only as at present is usual. Two of the switches' rails, viz., tliosé
marked a and b, I joint each at one end to the fixed rails of the main
line, and the joints are made at opposite ends of the rails at a and b.
The third switch rail is on the inner side of the curve of the branch; it is
marked c and is jointed to the fixed rail of the branch at c'. The rails
b and c are connected and moved simultaneously. A fourth moveable
rail d is also used by preference, but it serves only as a guard rail; it is
jointed at d and shown in dotted lines; it is connected with the rail a
and moves with it. The motions are given simultaneously by means of
a single switch lever with which the free ends of the rails are suitably
connected so as to be drawn by it in opposite directions. In the dia-
gram E. the switches are set for the main line, in the diagram F. they are
set for the passage of trains along the branch line. The switch rails
when placed are suitably locked in position. I prefer to mount on each of
the fixed rails up to which the free end of one of the switch rails comes
a sliding clip or bolt which can be projected forward by a lever so as to
hold and lock the switch rails. A weight may be applied in such
imanner as to force the switches home either one way or the other and
prevent them standing in an intermediate position.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Price Williams in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st August 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
PRICE WILLIAMS, of Great George Street, Westminster, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Richard Price Williams, Her
special licence that I, the said Richard Price Williams, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard
Price Williams, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CROSSINGS AND SWITCHES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Price Williams,
my executors 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 Richard Price Williams, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The first part of this Invention has for its object improvements in
railway crossings.
In constructing railway crossings where two lines cross cach other I
form one of the crossing lines of a continuous rail, and the other crossing
line in two parts, one on each side of the continuous rail; each part
where it meets the continuous rail is bent round at an angle to come

page_text: parallel with this rail and is securely fixed thereto. The bent round end
of the rail that comes up to the inner side of the continuous rail is
retained at the requisite distance from it to allow of its bent round end
serving as a guard rail. The continuous rail and the bent end of one of
the parts of the crossing rail are notched out to the requisite depth for
the passage of the tyre of a wheel. In the case of an obtuse crossing
the end of the rail which forms the guard rail is thus notched, but in
the case of an acute crossing then the bent end of the other rail is
notched out.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shown various ways of
supporting a crossing constructed in the manner above described.
In the plan view, Figure 1, the lines of rail are shown to be supported
on what are known as Livesey's cast-iron sleepers; in the plan view,
Figure 2, the lines are shown to be supported on what are known as
Greave's cast-iron sleepers; and in the plan view, Figure 3, the lines
are shown to be supported in cast-iron chairs, to be fixed to wooden
sleepers in the ordinary manner.
In each of the above Figures the rails a and b are shewn to be solid
rails as I prefer that they should be. The rails c are ordinarily double-
headed rails similar to the rails with which the line is laid.
In the plan views, Figures 4 and 4", are shown crossings where rails
with a flat base or Vignolle section are employed.
In all the above Figures the crossings shewn are acute crossings. a, a,
are the main line rails; b and c the two parts of the crossing rail, the
part coming up to the outer side of the rail, being bent round and
securely held close up to the main line rail, whilst the part c that comes
up to the inner side is bent and is secured at a sufficient distance
from the main line rail to allow of its being used as a guard rail, as is
clearly shown by cach of the Figures. The manner in which the rails
of the crossing are secured in cach of the arrangements is clearly
shown by the Drawings, so that it is unnecessary to give here any
detailed description of the mode shown of securing the rails.
At Figure 5 is shown an obtuse crossing; the rails are supported in
cast-iron chairs affixed to wooden sleepers; the rail c is in this case
notched out as above stated in place of the rail b; d is a rail serving
as a guard rail.

page_text: At Figure 5 the crossing lines are carried on two cast-iron bed
plates to be similarly fixed to sleepers. An acute crossing similarly
carried on two cast-iron bed plates as shewn at Figure 5.
66
In each of the crossings above described one of the rails is a
through rail," and is notched for the passage of a wheel; this advan-
tage may also be attained by forming the crossing of one casting with
a longitudinal groove formed in it to receive the "through rail" of
the main line, this rail being notched for the passage of a wheel across
it as in the crossings already described. The other, or crossing rail,
forms part of the casting; such a crossing is shown at Figure 5º.
In constructing railway switches I proceed in the manner indicated
by the diagrams E. and F. The rails a, d, are coupled together and
hinged at a' and d'; the rails b and c are similarly coupled together
and hinged at ' and c'. Motion is given simultaneously to these
switch rails by means of a single switch lever with which the free
ends of the rails are suitably connected so as to be drawn by it in
opposite directions. In the diagram E. the switches are set for the
main line; in the diagram F. they are set for the passage of trains along
the branch line. The switch rails when placed are suitably locked in
position to effect this. I prefer to mount on each of the fixed rails up
to which the free end of the switch rails come a sliding clip or bolt
which can be projected forward by a lever so as to hold and lock the
switch rails. A weight may be applied in such manner as to force the
switches home either one way or the other and prevent them standing
in an intermediate position.
At Figure 6 of the Drawings hereunto annexed is shewn a plan view
of a railway switch constructed in the manner I prefer for carrying out
this part of my Invention; the switch is shown to be set right for the
main line. In this Figure the same letters of reference are used
to indicate like parts to those shewn by the diagrams above men-
tioned.
The rails a, d, are connected together by distance pieces and tie bolts,
and b and c are similarly connected together; the coupled rails a, d, and
the coupled rails b, c, arc jointed by fish joints at a, b, c, d', to the ends
of the fixed rails; e, e, are the sliding bolts for locking the switch rails
in position. Each sliding bolt is formed of moveable fish plates which
come on either side of the ends of the fixed rails by which the bolt is
carried. When the bolts are shot forwards to lock the switch rails the

page_text: ends of the fish plates forming the bolt embrace the ends of the switch
rails and hold then firmly. The space between the two central fish
plates is filled or made solid, and is tapered at the end to ensure the
moveable rails being brought truly into a line with the fixed rails. The
fish plates and filling piece are tied together by screw bolts f, as shewn,
the screw bolts being passed through slots in the rails.
The switch rails and the locking bolts are, in the arrangement shewn
at Figure 6, all worked by one lever; they might however, if preferred,
be worked by two separate levers.
Various arrangements of mechanism may also be adopted for working
the switch rails and bolts by one lever. In the Drawing it is shewn to
be effected by the switch lever being arranged to act on the sliding bolts
through toggle-jointed levers, so that the sliding bolts only move at the
commencement and end of the stroke of the switch lever, whilst the
switch rails are arranged to be moved by the switch lever during the
middle portion only of its stroke. This is effected by forming a pro-
jection g' on the switch lever g to act on the lower end of the lever h,
which is formed in the manner shewn in the cross section, Figure 7.
The upper end of this lever is jointed by the rod ¹ to one end of a long
lever k, and this lever is at its two ends connected by other rods k¹ to
the moveable ends of the switch rails, as shewn. When the switch lever
is moved in either direction the projection g' upon it will not at once
come into contact with the lever h, so that the switch rails will not be
moved. When the projection comes into contact with the lever hit
turns it upon its axis, and moves the switch rails until the projection is
again free from the lever; the switch lever will then complete its
stroke without again acting upon the switch rails. In order to actuate
the locking bolts by the switch lever this lever is by a rod 7 connected to
a slide, to which are jointed the toggle levers m, m; these levers at
their opposite ends are jointed to sliding rods n, n, supported by guide
rollers, and the rods at their ends are connected to lever arms o, o, on
axes p, p.
Other arms r, r, on these axes are by links connected to one
of the tie bolts f of the locking bolts e, e. By this arrangement when
the switch levers are moved in either direction the bolts e will at the
commencement of the movement of the lever be at once drawn back,
and will then remain stationary during the central portion of the move-
ment of the switch lever (at which time the switch rails are being
moved); afterwards at the completion of the movement of the switch

page_text: lever the bolts will be again shot forward, and will again lock the switch
rails in position. In order when the points are set right for the branch
line to prevent any engine that may be running back along the main
line from running off its end where the switch rails a, b, have been
moved away from it I employ two rails 8, 8, which are caused to move
with the switch rails, in the manner shewn by the Drawing, in such
manner that when the switch rails are moved away from the ends of the
main line rails one of the rails & forms a continuation of one rail of the
main line, whilst the other rail 8 is moved up to the side of the other.
main line rail, and the rails 8, 8, are so grooved and inclined that if a
train is running back on the main line it will by these rails & be shunted
sidewise on to the switch rails a, c, (the action being similar to the well-
known American drop crossing), and the train will thus pass over the
crossing and continue on to the main line. In order when the points
are right for the main line to prevent an engine running back along the
branch from running off the line at the crossing I continue the lines x, y,
and lead them by two obtuse crossings across the up main line rails
and on to the down line of rails, and on this line the train would then
be running in its proper direction. In case of a single line of rails the
rails x, y, might lead into a siding.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Price Williams, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
R. PRICE WILLIAMS. (L.S.)