IMPROVEMENTS IN ADJUSTING AND PACKING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ADJUSTING AND PACKING THE
RAILS OF RAILWAYS."-A communication from abroad by William
Louis Winans and Thomas. Winans, of St. Petersburg, in the
Empire of Russia.
Sealed the 13th May 1870, and dated the 23rd December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 23rd December 1869.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Laue, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ADJUSTING AND
PACKING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to secure the great advantage of well
bedded sleepers and obtain a uniform and even support for the rails
[Price 8d.]

page_text: without the necessity of frequently ramming or packing up the sleepers.
To this end the joints of the rails must be properly fished so as to form
one continuous rail of equal strength throughout, and a space of an
inch, more or less, is left between the head of the spikes (which secure
the rails and are driven into the sleepers alongside of the rail) and the
lower table of the rail. Thus as the spike heads do not bind the rail
to the sleepers any sinking or elevation of a sleeper below or above its
proper height can be readily detected.
By the present system of tightly nailing the rail to the sleeper it will
be evident that. if a sleeper sinks ever so little below those next to it,
it will be continually disturbed with increasingly injurious effects, not
only to the sleeper and its bed but to the rail also, in consequence of
the sleeper being drawn up by the rail after having been forced down
by the passage of heavy weights, and being thus left in a position to
repeat the blows upon its bed on the passage of each succeeding
heavy weight over it; and in case of a sleeper being lifted above its
proper position, the sleepers on either side of it being secured to the
rails by the spikes are lifted from their beds with results similar to.
those just given in connection with the preceding case.
To correct at once any inequality which may occur in the general
plane of the surfaces of the sleepers where the rails rest liners of thin
sheet iron or other metal, multiplied when necessary, are placed between
the rails and such sleepers as may become lower than the general plane
and are secured in place by some simple device.
When there is an
accumulation of liners, owing to a majority of the sleepers being below
their original level, the rail may be raised by means of a lever, or in any
other convenient way, as far as the spike heads will allow, and the
surface of any or all such sleepers as are above their proper height may
be planed or cut off by means of a planing tool guided by the rail and
worked by two men so as to bring the surface of the sleepers to their
proper height again without disturbing their beds.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence
that 1, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Newton, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ADJUSTING AND PACKING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS," being a
communication to me from abroad by William Louis Winans and
Thomas Winans, of St. Petersburgh, in the Empire of Russia, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,
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 mauner
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 William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say)
The object of this Invention is to secure the great advantage of well
bedded rails and sleepers and obtain a uniform and even support for

page_text: the rails without the necessity of frequently ramming or packing up
the sleepers from below. To this end the joints of the rails must be
properly fished so as to form one continuous rail of equal strength
throughout, and a space of an inch more or less is left between the
head of the spikes (which secure the rails in place and which are
driven into the sleepers alongside of the rail) and the lower table of the
rail. As the spike heads do not bind the rail down to the sleepers any
sinking or elevation of a sleeper below or above its proper height can
be readily detected. In the one case the rail will be supported by the
sleepers on either side of any sleeper which is depressed, and therefore
the rail would promptly rise to its proper position after the passage of
any weight over it, and would fully expose to an observer the fact that
the sleeper in question had sunk below its proper level. In the other
-case the rails (being supported by the elevated sleeper, and not resting
upon the sleeper next adjacent to it) will reveal the fact that the sleeper
in question has been lifted above its proper position.
By the present system of tightly nailing the rail to the sleeper it will
be evident that if a sleeper sinks ever so little below those next to it, it
will be continually disturbed (with increasingly injurious effects not
only to the sleeper and its bed but to the rail also) in consequence of
the sleeper being drawn up by the rail after having been forced down
by the passage over it of heavy weights, and being thus left in a
position to admit of the blows upon its bed being repeated on the passage
of each succeeding heavy weight over it. By these concussions not only
will the foundation of the sleeper be disturbed and damaged, but it will
be difficult if not impossible to tell in many cases which sleeper is well
bedded and which is not, and in case of a sleeper being lifted above its
proper position, the sleepers on either side of it (being secured to the
rails by the spikes) are lifted from their beds with results similar to
those just given in relation to the preceding case.
In order to correct at once any inequality which may occur in the
general plane of the surfaces of the sleepers on which the rails rest we
propose to insert liners of thin sheet iron or other metal between the
rails and such sleepers as may become lower than the general plane.
One or more of these thin plates, according to the distance of the sleeper
from the rail, may be inserted from time to time as the sleepers sink, and
these thin metal plates are to be secured in their place by any simple
and suitable device.

page_text: In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation of part of the
permanent way of a railway shewing the wooden sleepers in section
and packed with thin metal plates between the rails in the manner just
described.
a, a, is the rail which in its normal state is supposed to be perfectly
straight and level; and b, b, b, are the wooden sleepers, some of which
have sunk below their proper level (indicated by the dotted line), thereby
leaving a space between the under side of the rail and the sleeper. When
any of the sleepers have sunk below this level to the thickness of one
of the metal plates the rail is to be packed beneath by the insertion of
a plate c, and if the sleeper in the course of time continues to sink
two, three, or more plates must be inserted from time to time until the
space is filled up as at c, c. These thin plates or liners may be made
of any thickness, form, or material best calculated to answer the purpose
above described. When there is an accumulation of liners, owing to
the majority of the sleepers having sunk below their original level or
proper height, the rail a may be raised or lifted up, as shewn in Fig. 1,
by means of a lever arrangement, shewn in plan at Fig. 2, and in
elevation at Fig. 3, or in any other convenient way. By means of this
lever the rail is to be lifted up as far as the spike heads d, d, will allow,
as at Figures 2 and 3, and the surface of the highest sleepers or such
as are above the height of the others may be plaued or cut down by
any suitable tool, or by means of a planing tool supported and guided
by the rail, as shewn at Figures 4, 5, and 6 of the Drawings, or by any
other convenient means. This planing tool may be worked by two men,
and by this means the surface of the sleepers may be brought to one
uniform level again without disturbing their beds.
. In Figures 2 and 3, e is the lever above referred to for raising the
rails when necessary for the introduction of the iron plates or liners c,
or for introducing the planing tool f, Figures 1, 4, 5, and 6, for reducing
the height of a sleeper. The planing tool fis adapted to two pendent
arms g, g, and consists of a pair of circular saw discs for cutting lines
across the sleeper and a planing tool for removing the wood between
the two cross cuts. This instrument or apparatus is worked by two
men, who when seated astride the rail move the planing tool to and fro
under the rail.
Having now described our Invention of improvements in the mode
of adjusting and packing the rails of railways, and having explained

page_text: the manner of carrying the same into effect, what we claim as new is,
the combination of the spikes with their heads an inch more or less
above the lower tables of the rails with the system of lining up the space
between the rails and sleepers with thin plates. We also claim in
combination with the above cutting down to an uniform level the
surface of those sleepers, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)