IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bridges Adams, of Holly Mount, Hamp-
stead, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bridges Adams
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th December 1864.
I, WILLIAM BRIDGES ADAMS, of Holly Mount, Hampstead, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in new modes of constructing and applying
wrought-iron sleepers for the purpose of supporting or suspending rails on
railways or tramways, and with the further object of rendering such sleepers
elastic so as to prevent the rails from being damaged by blows of the wheels,
and also to keep the sleepers more steady in the ground or ballast. For this
purpose I take sheets of wrought iron of about four square feet of surface,
equal to the old stone blocks or more or less, and of a square or oblong form,
and of a thickness from 1 to inch on which I prefer to make the rail rest
over the whole length of the sleeper. And to secure the rails to these
sleepers, I use brackets of cast or wrought iron rivetted or bolted to the
sleepers, one on each side of the rail, the brackets if of wrought iron being
rolled to the proper section, and cut off to lengths. And these brackets may

page_text: press the rail between them, or be bolted to and through the rail, or may be
so arranged as to permit a wood or metal key to be driven in between the
rail and brackets on one or both sides, and the metal may be a spring key or
ratcheted to keep it in position, and the elasticity of the wrought plate will yield
also sufficiently to permit the driving of the key, and to keep it tight by
reaction. And the sheet or wrought-iron sleepers may be flat on the ballast,
or cupped, or may have their edges or corners turned down to give edge
bearing in the ballast, and they may be laid square with the line of rails or
diagonally, corner to corner, and double head or flat-footed rails may be
used with them; and they may be packed in the ballast with a hollow space
below the central part so as to spring slightly and ease the rails under the
loads. And to connect the opposite sleepers together, I use flat or angled
bars of iron secured to the sleepers by hook-head or other bolts passing
through the sleeper, or through sleeper and brackets, a projection being formed
on the foot of each bracket which passes through the wrought sleeper and
notches into the cross tie bar, and so keeps the gauge accurate.
flat-footed rail be used, a stud or clip may be raised or punched in the
sleeper so as to clip one edge of the rail foot, the other being secured by a
loose clip held down by the hook-head or other bolt which secures the cross
tie bar. And these cross tie bars serve to stiffen the sleeper transversely to
the rail while the rail stiffens them in the direction of its length, and thus
comparatively thin metal may be used, and the sheet iron sleepers may be
And
galvanized or dipped hot in tar or oil to preserve them from rust.
bridge rails may be used with these sleepers, and they, as well as the flat-
footed rails, may be so rolled as to pitch their upper tables to the cone of the
wheels, or the brackets may be pitched, or the cross tie bars bent in the
middle to give the pitch, and ordinary chair or chairs of wrought iron may
also be applied in these sleepers and cross tie bars.
And if a
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Bridges Adams in the Great Seal Patent Office on 3
the 23rd May 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME I, WILLIAM
BRIDGES ADAMS, of Holly Mount, Hampstead, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Bridges Adams, Her special licence that I, the said William
Bridges Adams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Bridges Adams, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Bridges Adanis, 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 William Bridges Adams, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
..
First, Fig. 1 in elevation, la. in plan, and 1b. in a pair, shew my wrought-
iron sleepers in one form, viz., a sheet of wrought iron about two feet square,
and placed diagonally beneath tho rail with two corners turned down parallel
to the rail, and provided with slot holes to permit the tie bars to pass through.
and also to grip the ground or ballast to prevent side shifting. The rail a
bears over the whole length of the sleeper 6 diagonally, and is held down to
it by the brackets c, d, which have studs e, e, below them passing through
holes in the sleepers and into notches in the tie bar f, thus securing the
gauge. The bracket c fits close to the rail; the bracket d is apart from the
rail to admit a key of wood or. iron g to be driven in, and the iron key may
be notched or ratcheted to interlock in. the bracket, and so may the wood
key, the elasticity of the sleeper permitting an opening and closing action ;
and the brackets may be of cast iron or of wrought iron rolled to section and
cut off in lengths; the tie bar may be of angle iron or of plain bar. The
brackets, sleepers, and tie bars are held together by hook bolts h, h, which
may also notch into the tie bar, and the sleepers may be punched at the bolt
holes so as to dispense with the studs on the chairs or brackets, burrs being
formed in the act of punching, leaving the metal prominent instead of
removing it. The thickness of the sleepers may vary from inch to half au

page_text: inch, or more or less according to the elasticity required; the support of the
tie bar and the rail in opposite directions will permit the use of a compa-
ratively thin plate. The letters of reference are the same in the three
Figures, and instead of the hook bolts hook nuts may be used to clasp the tie
bars, or the tie bar may be formed with nuts screwing the bolts into them
from above or the nuts clasping the tie bar.
Figs. 2, 2a., and 2b., shew a similar arrangement, with the variation that
the corners of the sleepers b, b, are turned down fore and aft to the rail as
well as the lateral corners, and the brackets c, d, are shewn of wrought iron,
d being rivetted to the sleeper, while c is bolted by a hook bolt which takes
the tie bar and sleeper, and thus dispenses with the wood or iron key.
Figs. 3, 3a., and 3b., shew an arrangement in which only one corner of the
sleeper is turned down to key into the ground and permit the tie bar to pass
through. On the sleeper is placed an ordinary chair c with a wood key to
secure the rail. The chair is secured to the sleeper and tie bar by hook bolts
as before described, the hook bolts being notched into the tie bar to keep the
gauge. This arrangement will not enable the wood key to drive elastically
but the sleeper will be elastic below the chair. And the ends of the sleepers
fore and aft may be bent upwards to press against the rail and get support, and
wood or other elastic material may be placed between the chair and sleeper.
Fig. 4 in elevation, 4a. plan, and 4b. in a pair, shew another arrangement
in which the sleeper is placed square to the rail and is cupped, that is the
edges are turned down to stiffen the sleeper at a, a, and inclined planes b, b,
are sunk in the middle to take two wedge-form brackets c, d, which suspend
the rail between them. As the hook bolts which hold the brackets, sleeper,
and tie bar together, are tightened, they force the brackets against the rail,
and hold it tightly.
Fig. 4c. shews the sleeper curved upwards, fitted with brackets, and with a
bent tie bar secured by hook bolts. And the sleeper may be channelled for
the rail table as indicated by the dotted lines a.
Fig. 5 shews in section, and Fig. 5a. in plan a similar sleeper of wrought
iron cupped upwards and with flat edges to which may be applied rails as
before described or ordinary flat bottomed or other rails.
Fig. 6 shews in elevation, and Fig. 6a. in plan as a pair, a wrought iron
sleeper with flat edges and cupped in a rounded or domed form to give strength.
A chair a is cast with a hollowed bottom to fit the rounded plate, and a stud b
passes through the sleeper and is notched into the tie bar, all three being
secured by hook bolts as before described. And the chair bottom may be
round or in the form of a cross in plan the better to fit the sleeper.

page_text: Fig. 6b. shews a wrought-iron sleeper 18 inches wide in the direction
of the rail's breadth, and about 2 feet long, the edges a, b, are flat, and the
middle c arched with the rail bearing lengthlong on it, secured by brackets
d, e, rivetted to the sleeper, and a key f. Hook bolts g, g, secure the sleeper
to the tie bar through the flat edges, a solid chair may be used instead of the
brackets.
Fig. 7 shews a wrought-iron sleeper to be placed square to the rail, with
one edge turned down for the tie bar to pass through. Or the edges may
be turned down on both sides parallel to the rail, with the tie bar passing
through.
Fig. 8 shews in elevation, and Fig. 8a. in part plan, a sleeper like the last
with flat bottomed rail a fixed to it, being secured at one edge by a lip 6 punched
up in the plate to form an overlap, and with loose overlap c in the outer
edge or by two loose overlaps secured by the hook bolts taking the tie bar,
which passes through a slot in a turned down edge.
Fig. 8b shews a pair of sleepers in plan. And instead of placing the sleeper
square to the rail it may be placed with the turned down edge diagonal to the
rail, the tie bar in such case being notched into the vertical edge at the end
thereof, and the tie bar may be turned up at the end to pass through a hole
in the sleeper, and so clip the rail, dispensing with the overlap of the sleeper,
or two edges may be turned down transversely to the rail, the tie bar being
turned up over one edge of the rail through a slot in the sleeper, and hook
bolted to a fast or loose overlap.
Fig. 9 shews in elevation, Fig. 9a. in plan, and Fig. 9b. in a pair, a wrought-
iron sleeper with two edges turned down transversely to the rail. On the
sleeper is placed a chair 6 holding the rail c by the key d. The chair is fixed
by hook bolts e, e, to the tie bar f. And as ordinary chairs may be used where
wood sleepers are removed to be replaced by wrought iron as desirable in hot
climates.
Fig. 10 shews in full size section a part of a chair a fastened down by hook
bolts 6 to the sleeper c and the tie bar d. The hook bolts are notched into the
tie bar as indicated by the dotted line e, and fit the sleeper plate where passing
through. But the holes in the chair are of larger diameter, being originally
intended for wood trenails. I therefore apply a washerf in a coned form over
the hole and screw, the nut down upon it which secures the chair in a central
position to the bolt, or a nut with a coned spherical or capped bottom may be
used instead of the washer. The Fig. 10 shews all parts in full size. And
the sleeper Fig. 9 may be placed upside down with the chair resting on the
edges and a block between them, the ballast resting in the hollow. of the

page_text: sleeper to weight it. Or the edges of the sleeper may be turned up as indi-
cated at g, g, to meet the rail and support it equally with the chair. And an
elastic steel spring dotted line, Fig. 9a. may be placed in the seat of the chair
for the rail to rest on with the opened corners turned down to keep it in
position.
Fig. 11 shews in full size elevation, and Fig. 11a. in plan a mode of forming
a projecting foot, chair, or sleeper, to a flat-bottom rail with a narrow flange
which may be used for the wrought-iron sleepers before described as Figs. 3,
5, 6, 9, or 10. The chair a is rolled in a long bar with the two flanges b, b,
rolled square as indicated by the dotted lines and cut off into lengths. The
chair being heated red hot, the rail c is placed in it resting on the lower flange,
the flanges b, b, are then hammered over the bevil of the rail flange and shrunk
tight by cooling; and the chairs may also be in two halves and rivetted to the
rail in rebates against the web without heating, and any required number of
chairs may be applied. They may be bolted or rivetted on the metal sleepers
before described. Fishes for the joints are shewn at d, d. And the rails may
be also rolled with very narrow lower flanges, and the chairs may be so
long as to form sleepers with tie bars and hook bolts. And these wrought-
iron sleepers may be stamped hot into shape like metal teaboards or similar
ware, and of such form that they may lie one within the other for the purpose
of packing and transport, and they may be accurately punched with the
necessary holes by machines. And those which are stamped hollow as Figs. 4,
5, and 6, may be of thinner metal than the others, and Figs. 1 and 2 which
are supported by the rails and tie bars may also be of thin metal, say inch or
more, but Figs. 3, 7, 8, and 9, may be inch to inch or more. And these
various modes of applying chairs and brackets herein-before described, may be
used to any of the various sleepers where suited. And the brackets may also
be bolted to and through the rails. And the sleepers may also be placed close
together or at any convenient distance apart, and sleepers of flat plate may be
used, the ends of the tie bars being bent to a right angle to hold in the ground
and prevent lateral sliding. And the hook bolts may have keys instead of screw
nuts to secure them. And the pitch of the rails may be effected by the
formation of the brackets or by bending the tie bars. And where convenient
the tie bars may also be secured to the sleepers by keys or keys and cotters
instead of hook bolts.
Figs. 1, 1a., to Fig. 9a., inclusive are drawn to a scale of two inches to one
foot.
Figs. 1b., to 9b., inclusive, are drawn to a scale of half an inch to one foot.
Figs. 10 to 11 inclusive, are drawn full size.

page_text: Having now described my said improvements I wish it to be distinctly under-
stood that what I claim as original is the system of permanent way as
illustrated from Fig. 1 to Fig. 9b., inclusive with wrought-iron sleepers cupped
or hollowed, or with edges or corners turned down, the rails being attached to
them in the various modes herein-before described.
Also the mode of attaching or applying ordinary cast chairs to such sleepers
of wrought iron by means of conical washers or nuts, as shewn at Fig. 10.
herein-before described.
Also the mode of shrinking wrought-iron chairs, or feet, or sleepers on the
lower tables of rails as shewn at Figs. 11 and 11a., as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bridges Adams, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
WILLIAM BRIDGES ADAMS. (L.S.)