IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Johnson, of Single St., Mile End, London,
Colour Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
CARRIAGES,"
Sealed the 3rd March 1857, and dated the 5th September 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Johnson at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
September 1856.
J, JOHN JOHNSON, of Single St., Mile End, London, Colour Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "INPROVEMENTS IN
RAILWAY CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to railway carriages, and consists of certain apparatus
and mechanism by which, 1st, the passengers in each carriage of a railway
train would be enabled to communicate orally,instantly, and at all times, with
the guard and engine driver in case of danger or other necessity.
2ndly, the guard and engine driver would also be enabled to communicate
with each other by the same apparatus, and in like manner, and with equal
facility.
3rdly, the guard would be enabled to lock and unlock the whole or any less
number of doors of the respective carriages comprising the train under his
charge either simultaneously or separately.
4thly, an instantaneous communication by voice and signal can be effected
[Price 8d.]

page_text: between any two places not too remote from each other, as, for instance,
between the different parts of a ship, building, or other erection, place, or
between any two localities. The apparatus consists of small hollow shafts,
the ends of which are connected by flexible tubes and by links, the hollows
being for conducting sounds, and the links for communicating motion
from one shaft to another.
The mechanism for locking and unlocking the doors of railway carriages,
as before described, consists of the hollow shafts and links. To these shafts
small levers are fixed. At the bottom, side, or top of the door frame of the
carriage a spring lock or catch is fitted to a bar, bolt, or latch, which is
made to turn, drop, or shoot into a socket or staple in or upon the door.
These bolts are actuated by the motion of the lever or links, which is com-
municated thereto through suitable small connecting rods and cranks. The
hollow shafts are mounted in sockets fixed to the carriage, and are capable
of being turned round upon their axis either to the right or left; they run
the entire length of the carriage, and when connected at the ends by the
flexible tubes and links extend from end to end of the train. The shafts
have small flexible tubes suspended therefrom or fitted thereto, and
terminating with a mouth-piece, one of these being placed or fitted in
each carriage or compartment, as the case may be.
The whole of the doors are locked and unlocked simultaneously by turning
the shafts first to the left and then back again, and separately by turning
them to the right and back again, or vice versa. If necessary, similar shafts
and links fitted with suitable mechanism or gearing could be and is intended
by me to be rendered also available for opening and closing as well as
fastening and unfastening the doors of the carriages.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
JOHNSON, of Single Street, Mile End, London, Colour Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six,in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Johnson, Her special licence that I, the said John Johnson, my

page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Johnson, my executors, adminstrators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
RAILWAY CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 John Johnson, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to railway carriages, and comprises certain
improvements therein or applicable thereto, that is to say:-
1st, an apparatus by which the passengers in each compartment of any
carriage would be enabled to communicate orally and instantaneously, and
also by telegraph or sigual, at all times during the journey, with the guard
and engine driver.
2ndly, an apparatus by which the guard of a railway train would be
enabled to communicate his verbal orders to the enginedriver instantaneously
in case of danger or other necessity, and by which a conversation between
them could be maintained whenever circumstances should render the same
necessary, and without the guard leaving his proper place in the train.
3rdly, an improvement enabling the guard simultaneously or separately
to lock or unlock the whole or any less number of doors of the respective
carriages composing the train under his charge.
4thly, an apparatus by which the interior of railway carriages could be
warmed in winter, or when required.
5thly, an improved mode of stopping railway trains.
6thly, an improved coupling for railway carriages.
7thly, an improved buffer and spring for locking and unlocking the
doors and wheels when stopping and starting.
Ethly, a mode of attaching the doors of railway carriages thereto so that
they may be self-fastening when closed.

page_text: 9thly, a carriage-door fastener, and fastened and unfastened indicator or
detector, by which the guard, porters, or other servants of the railway
company may always ascertain at a single glance whether the doors of the
respective carriages in a train are fastened or unfastened.
10thly, a passengers' door signal, by which a passenger in any part of a
carriage or train can immediately upon or previously to the arrival of the
train at any station indicate on the exterior of the carriage the particular
door he requires to be opened
detector, by which the guard, porters, or other servants of the railway
company may always ascertain at a single glance whether the doors of the
respective carriages in a train are fastened or unfastened.
10thly, a passengers' door signal, by which a passenger in any part of a
carriage or train can immediately upon or previously to the arrival of the
train at any station indicate on the exterior of the carriage the particular
door he requires to be opened
DESCRIPTION OF THE APPARATUS.
The apparatus or mechanism by which I propose to effect the foregoing
improvements in railway carriages and parts thereof are as follows, (viz.):
For enabling the passengers to communicate with the guard and both with
the engine driver by voice and signal, I construct an apparatus, which consists
of a small hollow shaft or shafts, to be mounted at the top, sides, or bottom of
the carriage, as may be found most convenient, and running the entire length
of the vehicle, passing each end and projecting therefrom about 12 inches (or
more or less if required); these shafts are capable of being turned round in
their respective mountings or bearings, and at each end of the carriage are
fitted with a double or single lever link or other suitable coupling, and also
with a short flexible tube; the external couplings are to be made duplicates
of each other in all cases, and to fasten of themselves when coupled by a
spring bolt, clip, or screw, capable of being instantly unfastened by hand
when required; these couplings may, if necessary, be made so as to both
fasten and unfasten by hand.
In addition to the external coupling, I also provide (when required) an
internal coupling, consisting of a loose or fixed socket, into which and by which
the shaft lengths arejoined together; these sockets are made square or in any
other suitable form, and are intended to give an increased expanding and cou-
tracting property or power to the shaft, so as to make it accommodate itself
in length to the varying distance between carriage, and to shorten the external
link before mentioned, and entirely dispense therewith when necessary.
The shafts, sockets, and flexible connecting tubes I make hollow, and
attach to each carriage, for the purpose of conducting sound from oue end
of the train to the other, or from one carriage to any other.
In addition to the hollow shafts above described, which I will now
denominate the maiu shafts, I also fix branches or tubes, terminating by
funnel or other shaped mouth-pieces, in each carriage or compartment, as
may be required.

page_text: It will be seen that when these main shafts (which when coupled run the
entire length of the train) together with the branches and mouth-pieces,
afford a means of oral communication from any one part of the train to any
other part thereof.
The mechanism by which I propose to effect the simultaneous locking and
unlocking of the whole or any less number of doors or wheels of the respec-
tive carriages comprises the shafts above described, to which I attach a screw.
pulley,and cords, or wires or levers, in connection with spring catches, rising
and falling breaks, bolts, or latches, at the sides, top, or bottom of the door,
These bolts or latches are actuated by the motion of the main shaft, by turning
which to the left all the doors on the left side of the train are locked, and by
turning the same round to the right hand all the doors on the right side of the
train are locked. These operations are effected by a moveable screw collar or
flange and stop upon the main shafts, which work into a Y, or double-armed
lever, so that by turning the main shaft to the right until the forward arm of
the lever comes in contact with the stop, when the right hand locking
mechanism is thrown into gear; and by the reverse motion the left hand
mechanism is actuated; when both sides are locked or unlocked and the main
shaft is turned half way it will be out of gear throughout, and in this position
is ready for locking the doors on either side. When pulleys and wires areused,
I connect the same with spring bolts or latches, and fix the pulleys upon
hollow spindles (thro' which the main shaft can pass), and upon each pulley
form a projection, and a similar projection or pin upon each of the screw
collars or flanges, so that when the flange is worked backwards or forwards
it comes into contact with the projection on the pulleys, and turns them
to the right or left for locking or unlocking, as the case may require, the
cords or wires being double for that purpose. The spring by which the bolts
or latches are held secure in their required positions I construct by inserting
vulcanized india-rubber, flanged cups, or hollow cones, between similar shaped
cups or cones of metal or other material. I make these cups hollow-sided,
they may, however, be made in other forms, and a spring thus constructed
may be used for other purposes. In lieu of the form above described, I first
construct a hollow open spiral coil of metal of the required size, and between
the metal insert a similarly formed coil of vulcanized india-rubber of sufficient
thickness to fill the space between metal and metal, still leaving a hollow in
the centre of both the passage of a rod or bar. A spring thus constructed
has a double power, may be made of any strength and size required, is adapted
for general purposes, and is intended by me to be used in connection with the
buffers of railway carriages, as he rein-after described.

page_text: By an apparatus similar to the main shaft and couplings above described I
also propose to warm the interior of the carriages, by making the hollow shaft
or pipe conduct heat from the engine thro' the train; the pipes from each
side are to be turned and united at each end of the carriage into a pipe closed
and opened by a stop-cock, one coupling at each end of the carriage being
required. By the construct" of shafts and couplings upon the principle
herein described I also propose to open and close the doors as well as to lock
and unlock the same; and also to lock and unlock the whole of the carriage
wheels simultaneously.
To the bottom of sliding doors I attach a rack, into which a toothed
wheel (on the main shaft or turned thereby is made to work, and thus move
the door backwards and forwards, and open and close the same. When the
doors are hinged I fix a segmental or circular rack thereto, a spring bolt
falling into an eye holding the door fast when closed. For locking the whole
or any less no. of carriage wheels, I use mechanism constructed on the same
principle.
I have now described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the mode in which the same is to be performed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Johnson, have hereto set my
hand and seal, this 5th day of March 1857.
JOHN (L.S.) JOHNSON.