Improved Means for Replacing Derailed Railway-cars.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Feb., 1893
Complete Specification Left. 17th Nov. 1893-Accepted. 23rd Dec., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Replacing Derailed Railway-cars.
We, ANNA ELIZA DARLING, and SARAH ANN KNIGHT, both of Fredonia,
New York State, U.S.A., Gentlewomen, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object to provide simple means for replacing derailed
railway cars upon the metals with the least possible delay, and further to provide
means which can be carried by every train.
The invention comprises a metal plate which is capable of being readily adjusted
to the rails and resting upon the sleepers. Upon the plate is a short length of rail
or the like which is pivoted near one edge thereof, so as to enable it to be set at
any angle with regard to the rails. The pivoted pieces of rail can be fixed at any
angle by pins which are placed in holes made in different positions in the plate.
When a car is derailed, two of these plates are taken and are secured to the rails;
one on each side of the track. The pivoted pieces of rail are then set at a suitable
angle, and the car is then drawn onto the plates and is guided by the pivoted
lengths of rail onto the rails of the track.
Dated this 17th dow of Fah 1902
W. H. MUNNS,
Applicants' Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Replacing Derailed Railway-cars.
We ANNA ELIZA DARLING and SARAH ANN KNIGHT both of Fredonia,
State of New York, U.S.A., Gentlewomen 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 :—
Our invention relates to improvements in devices for replacing cars & locomotives
on the tracks when they have been derailed; and the object is to provide a simple
device which is cheap of manufacture and can be readily and quickly adjusted to
either rail and held in place firmly thereon from lateral displacement.
With these ends in view the invention contemplates a suitable base having a
rigid metallic plate the edges of which project beyond the base and are turned
down to form flanges, one of which flanges fits over and incloses the rail to which
the device is applied, and a bar or rail pivoted on the metallic plate and adapted to
be held in proper position by removable pins, which fit in a series of holes in the
plate. This device can be adjusted to either rail of a track by simply changing the
angle of the pivoted rail and fitting the pins in the proper holes, so that the tread
of the wheels will run on the movable rail when the device is arranged on the left-
hand rail and the flange of the opposite wheel will run against the rail of the other
device arranged on the inner side of the right-hand rail, which is the position of the
devices when a car is to be replaced from the left of the track (see Fig. 1) and
when the car is to be replaced from the right of the track the devices and parts are
reversed, as shown in Fig. 2.
In practice two of the replacers are employed, one being arranged outside of the
track, and having the adjustable rail or bar adjusted so that the tread of the wheel
will run thereon, and the other replacer is arranged within the track and on the
other rail, with the tread of the opposite wheel running on the plate and the flange
impinging against the rail.

page_text: To enable others to more readily understand our invention we have illustrated
the same in the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a track having our improved car replacers
applied thereto in the proper position to receive a car from the left of the track.
Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the replacing devices arranged to receive a car
from the right of the track.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged front elevation of the
replacer, shown on the left-hand rail in Fig. 2.
Referring to the drawings in which like reference letters denote corresponding
parts in all the figures, A designates a suitable base, which is preferably equal in
height to the rail above the cross-ties or the pavement, so that it may lie alongside
the rail and be flush with the top thereof. A metallic bridge-plate B is secured to
the base in any suitable manner and it extends laterally beyond the edges of the
base for a part of its length and has the downward-extending flanges b. One of the
flanges is adapted to fit down and over the rail to which the replacer is applied,
and the rail is thereby clamped between said flange and the side of the base, which
effectually holds the device from edgewise displacement.
A bar or rail C is eccentrically pivoted on the bridge-plate by a vertical pin 61
which is situated at or about the central line of the plate near its sloping end, and
the longer arm c of this rail or bar is of sufficient length to extend to one of the
front corners of the plate B when the device is in position, while the shorter arm c¹
preferably extends but halfway or more to the other end of the plate B.
The rear end of the base Å and the bar C are both bevelled so that they will
form a gradual incline, upon which the car-wheel will readily run.
In order to hold the rail or bar C rigidly in position when the replacer is in use,
we employ two or more pins D, of suitable size and shape, which are fitted in a
series of holes E E' in the bridge-plate alongside the bar, and prevent it from
getting out of proper position. We have stated that two of these devices are
generally used to replace a car on the track, and they are both constructed exactly
alike and are adapted to either rail of the track by simply adjusting the rails to the
proper positions and fitting the pins in the proper holes to retain the bars in
position. For this purpose, as before mentioned a series of holes is provided.
When the device is used to replace a car from the left of the track, (see Fig. 1.)
the bar on the replacer fitted on the left rail is held in place by pins fitted in the
openinge E, so that the forward end of the rail or bar will extend across the rail
over which the flange fits and the tread of the wheel will run thereon, while the
rail or bar of the device applied to the right-hand rail will be held in place by the
pins fitted in the holes E, so that the forward end of said bar will not extend
across the rail, but simply to the inner edge thereof, and the flange of the wheel
which runs on this replacer will impinge against the bar pivoted thereon. Similar
holes are provided on the opposite side of the bridge-plate, so that the bar may be
readily adjusted in proper position when the device is applied to the opposite rail,
as is obvious.
We are aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and details of
construction of the devices herein shown and described as an embodiment of our
invention can be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the
advantages thereof, and we therefore reserve the right to make such changes as
fairly fall within the scope of the same.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
1. The combination of a base a bridge-plate secured thereon and having the
side flanges, and a bar or rail eccentrically pivoted on said bridge-plate and adapted
to be adjusted in position and held from movement by pins fitted in holes in said
plate on opposite sides of the pivot of the bar or rail, substantially as described.
2. The combination of a base, a bridge-plate having the side flanges and a

page_text: duplicate series of holes E E' on opposite sides thereof a bar or rail eccentrically
pivoted on the plate at or about the central line of the plate near its sloping end,
and the pins D, adapted to be fitted in said holes alongside the bar or rail to hold
the same rigidly in position substantially as described.
Dated this 17th day of November 1893.
W. H. MUNNS,
Agent for Applicants.