IMPROVE- MENTS IN RAILWAYS AND RAILWAY ENGINES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Barnard Fowler, of 71, Cornhill, in the City of
London, Merchant, and David Greig, of the Steam Plough Works,
Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RAILWAYS AND RAILWAY ENGINES."
Sealed the 1st October 1867, and dated the 4th April 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Barnard Fowler and David
Greig at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 4th April 1867.
We, BARNARD FOWLER, of 71, Cornhill, in the City of London, Merchant,
and DAVID GREIG, of the Steam Plough Works, Leeds, in the County of
York, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAYS AND RAILWAY ENGINES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in railways and railway
engines.
With railway engines intended for use on very steep inclines the adhesion
of driving wheels to the rails can no longer be depended on for the traction,
for if with a view of increasing the adhesion the engine be made very
heavy, then a great amount of power is constantly unprofitably employed in
carrying this heavy engine up the inclines. Many other means have been
devised for preventing engines slipping on steep inclines, but none of them are
convenient in practice.
According to our Invention we make locomotive engines capable of
running on railways with a barrel or drum driven by the engine, and we
arrange the railway with a rope passing from end to end of it for the engine

page_text: to wind itself along, the drum winding in the rope in front and laying it out
behind. We arrange the drum in the centre line of the engine on a hori
zontal axis passing under the boiler; the boiler we make with two barrels,
one on each side of the drum. The drum may conveniently have holding
instruments upon it to clip firmly a rope passing only partly around it; in
this case the rope is taken first around a guide pulley on the axle of the
leading wheels, then around the clip drum, and again over the guide pulley
which lays the rope on the line behind the engine; or a plain winding drum
may be employed with the rope passing several times around it to obtain
sufficient hold. We arrange the engines to drive a crank shaft under the
boiler, and a pinion on the shaft drives a spur wheel on the axis of the drum.
In order that the engine may be able to move without the rope when
required we mount another pinion on the crank shaft, which can be thrown
into gear with a spur wheel on the axle of a pair of the carrying wheels.
some cases we mount the engine and winding drum on one carriage and a
boiler on another. The carriages are coupled together and the steam led from
one to the other. The line of railway is provided with suitable supports for
the rope between the line of rails, which both keep it off the ground and also
keep it in its place between the rails, as is requisite on curves. The rope is
firmly attached at each end of the section of line to which it is applied, and
at junctions and sidings means are provided for separating it and connecting it
with one or other of the ropes of the several diverging lines; also means are
provided for securing the rope firmly whilst it is disconnected.
Io
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Barnard Fowler and David Greig in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, BARNARD
FOWLER, of 71, Cornhill, in the City of London, Merchant, and DAVID GRBIG,
of the Steam Plough Works, Leeds, in the County of York, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Barnard Fowler and David Greig, Her special licence that we, the said
Barnard Fowler and David 'Greig, our executors, administrators, and assigns,

page_text: or such others as we, the said Barnard Fowler and. David Greig, our 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 RAILWAYS AND RAILWAY
ENGINES;". upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Barnard
Fowler and David Greig, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in.
writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of
us or them, should particularly described 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.
14.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said David Greig, on behalf of myself and, the
said Barnard Fowler, do hereby declare, the nature of our 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-
This Invention has for its object improvements in railways and railway
engines..
With railway engines intended for use on very steep inclines the adhesion
of driving wheels to the rails can no longer be depended on for the traction,
for if with a view of increasing the adhesion the engine be made very heavy,
then a great amount of power is constantly unprofitably employed in carrying
this heavy engine up the inclines. Many other means have been devised for
preventing engines slipping on steep inclines, but none of them are convenient
in practice.
According to our Invention we make locomotive engines capable of running
on railways with a barrel or drum driven by the engine, and we arrange the
railway with a rope passing from end to end of it for the engine to wind itself
along, the drum winding in the rope in front and laying it out behind.
In constructing the engine we prefer to arrange the drum in the centre line.
of the engine on a horizontal axis passing under the boiler. The boiler we
make with two barrels, one on each side of the drum. The drum may con-
veniently have holding instruments upon it to clip firmly a rope passing only
partly around it; in this case the rope is taken first in contact with a guide
pulley on the axle of the leading wheels, then around the clip drum, and again
over the guide pulley, which lays the rope on the line behind the engine. We
arrange the engines to drive a crank shaft under the boiler, and a pinion.on

page_text: wheel
The line of railway
the shaft drives a spur wheel on the axis of the drum. In order that the
engine may be able to move without the rope when required we mount another
pinion on the crank shaft which can be thrown into gear with a spur
on the axle of a pair of the carrying wheels; or, but less conveniently, in place
of using a nipping drum a winding drum without holding instruments may be
employed with the rope passing several times around it and around the guide
pulley to obtain sufficient hold. The drum and guide pulley should be grooved.
on the face to keep the convolutions of the rope separate the one from the
other and in their proper places. In some cases we mount the engine and
winding drum on one carriage and the boiler on another: 'The carriages are
coupled together and the steam led from one to the other.
is provided with suitable supports for the rope between the line of rails, which
keep it in its place between the rails, as is requisite on curves. The supports
which may be of cast iron, are conveniently fixed to the sleepers by trenails;
they a are placed at suitable distances varying with the curve of the line, and on
the inner side of the curve. One of these supports is shown at Figure 1. The
rope is firmly attached at each end of the section of line to which it is applied;
and at junctions and sidings means, such as an ordinary shackle, are provided:
for separating it and connecting it with one or other of the ropes of the several
diverging lines. The shackle should be so made as to pass freely over the
guide pulley and drum of the engine. Also, means are provided for securing
the rope firmly whilst it is disconnected; it is preferred to employ for this
purpose a clamp, one jaw of which is firmly fixed to the sleepers; the other
jaw is hinged to it and folds down on to it so as to enclose the rope between
the two jaws, and the jaws being drawn together by screws the rope. becomes
securely held. The railway is laid as a single line, so that the engines and
trains run to and fro over it, and when the section of line is of considerable
length arrangements are made so that the trains (but not the engines) may
pass each other in the raiddle of the section in the manner shown at Figure 2.
A, A, is the main line, which is provided with the rope, and B, B, are sidings
or loop lines without rope. On arriving at this passing place the engines, which
remain on the main line by means of hook ropes, draw their trains on to the
sidings or loops B, and so the trains are caused to pass each other; the engines
returning, whilst the trains continue on their journey.
:
Figure 8 is a longitudinal section of a locomotive engine arranged in the
manner which we prefer; Figure.4 is a transverse section, and Figure 5 is a
plan partly in section of the same.
1
a, a, is the frame of the engine, carrying upon it the boiler consisting of
the fire-box b and the water space surrounding it, and the two longitudinal

page_text: barrels é; é, bho on each side of the centre line Frue tubes, such as are
ordinarily used in locomotive engines, run from end to end of these barrels
and open into the smoke box on which is the chimney e. The steam is
taken from: the upper part of the steam space over the fire-box, and is led to
the steam engines ff, of which to avoid confusion in the Drawing many parts
are omitted, these parts being of ordinary construction The steam engines give
motion to the crank shaft g carried in bearings on the frame a, and having at
its end a pinion which drives a spur wheel i; this wheel by a clutch is made
fast on the axis k, which is also carried by the frame and has upon it the drum.
This drum. is fitted with nipping or holding instruments, as is well under-
stood, and as is fully described in the Specification of a Patent granted to
John Fowler and others, and dated the 24th day of January 1859 (No. 216).
1, 1, are the wheels of the engine which support the frame in the usual manner,"
and are suitably formed to retain the engine on the rails on which it is
intended to run; m is the rope laid along the railway and made fast at the top
of the incline; it passes first in contact with the grooved guide pulley n on the
axis of the leading wheels 1, then somewhat more than half round the nipping
drum and back to the guide pulley n, which again lays the rope on to the
line between the rails. When the drum is driven by the engines, as the end
of the rope in front is fixed and the nipping instruments on the drum prevent
the rope slipping around it, the engine with the train attached to it will be
wound forward. o is another pinion on the crank shaft 9, and capable of being
made fast upon it by a clutch; it is used when the pinion h and nipping drum
are out of gear, and it enables the engine to move forward without the rope
by driving the spur wheel P which is fast on the axle of the leading wheels l.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, we would bave it understood that what we claim is, the
combining with an inclined railway a stationary rope passing along it, such
rope being made fast at the upper end, and having supports at suitable distances
in its length to keep it to the curve of the line when the strain of the engine
winding itself forward comes upon it, as herein described.
We also claim the combining with a railway locomotive engine a hauling
drum mounted on a horizontal and transverse axis, and having holding or
nipping instruments upon it, as herein described.
We also claim the combining with a railway locomotive engine a hauling
drum so anged on a horizontal and transverse axis driven by the engine
as to wind ti locomotive forward along the rope, laying out the rope behind,
as herein described.

page_text: We also claim the combining with a railway locomotive engine & hauling
drum placed midway between the side frames of the engine and mounted on
a horizontal and transverse axis, as herein described.
In witness whereof; I, the said David Greig, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
DAVID GREIG. (L.S.)