Novel Means or Apparatus for Facilitating the Ascent of Engines or Trains Up Steep Gradients, and for Facilitating the Movement of Tram Cars or other Vehicles, or of Parts of Machinery.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 5th May, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 5th Feb., 1892-Accepted, 5th May, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Novel Means or Apparatus for Facilitating the Ascent of Engines or
Trains Up Steep Gradients, and for Facilitating the Movement of
Tram Cars or other Vehicles, or of Parts of Machinery.
I, GERALD HYDE CHARLES STRACEY, of Framingham in the County of
Norfolk, late Captain in Her Majesty's Army, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
The primary object of my invention is to provide means or apparatus for
facilitating the ascent of railway engines or trains up more or less steep gradients.
The invention is however also applicable to facilitating the moving of tramcars or
other vehicles and of parts of machinery, such for example, as elevators which
travel along rails, tracks, or ways.
The invention essentially consists of a grooved wheel or pulley on the driving
axle or driving shaft of the railway engine, tram car or other vehicle or travelling
part of machinery, in combination with a fixed or non-travelling cable, rope, or
band, which is passed under the said grooved wheel or pulley and then around the
same.
This cable, rope or band is practically taut and its ends are secured at the
respective terminations of the line of travel or at any other suitable points.
At one or
I will describe my invention as applied to a mountain railway, or a railway
having steep gradients. Along the centre of the railway, that is to say, midway
between the two rails upon which the wheels of the engine and carriages run, I lay
a cable which extends from end to end of the railway, or for so much of it as my
invention is to be applied to. At intervals of say 100 yards, or less where the line
is curved, (or as experience may dictate), the cable is gripped or firmly held by
automatic clips, preferably of the construction hereinafter described.
both ends of the cable I can provide if found necessary drums for winding up any
slack or relieving any undue tension, it being understood that the cable is to be
practically taut after it has been passed round the grooved wheel or pulley on the
engine. This grooved wheel is firmly fixed to the centre of the driving axle so
that it must necessarily rotate therewith and its diameter should be as large as
practicable. The cable is passed under the said wheel and then completely around
it. The result is that as the driving wheel and axle, together with the grooved
wheel, rotate, this wheel continuously picks up the cable in front and gives it off
behind and in so doing it materially assists in drawing or propelling the engine,
seeing that it acts upon the cable with a leverage equal to its radius. When the
grooved wheel reaches the automatic clips it pushes them open but they immediately
close and again grip the cable when the wheel has passed them. The length or section
of cable along which the wheel is for the time being travelling is therefore always
kept taut by the clips next in front and those next behind. The clips I preferably
employ, are scissor-like clips set vertically, and normally kept closed upon the cable
by weights which readily yield to the pressure of the wheel when it comes between
the clips. For special reasons it may be thought desirable to have two parallel
cables and two grooved wheels at equal distances from the centre of the line but I
consider one cable and wheel sufficient.
In the case of tramcars or other vehicles which run along a given track, my
grooved wheel or pulley will similarly be fixed at the centre of the driving shaft
and my non-travelling cable will be passed around it as hereinbefore explained.
Dated this 5th day of Mor 1001
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agent.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Novel Means or Apparatus for Facilitating the Ascent of Engines or
Trains Up Steep Gradients, and for Facilitating the Movement of
Tram Cars or other Vehicles, or of Parts of Machinery.
I, GERALD HYDE CHARLES STRACEY, of Framingham in the County of
Norfolk, late Captain in Her Majesty's Army, 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 :-
The primary object of my invention is to provide means or apparatus for
facilitating the ascent of railway engines or trains up more or less steep gradients.
The invention is, however, also applicable to facilitating the moving of tram
engines, tramcars, or other vehicles, and of parts of machinery, such for example
as elevators, which travel along rails, tracks, or ways.
The invention essentially consists of a grooved wheel or pulley on the (or on a)
driving axle or driving shaft of the railway or tram engine, tramcar or other
vehicle or travelling part of machinery, in combination with a fixed or non-
travelling cable or rope which is passed completely around the same, being in the
case of an engine, tramcar, or other vehicle travelling on a track, passed under the
said grooved wheel or pulley and then over and around the same. This cable or
rope is practically taut, and its ends are secured at the respective terminations of
the line of travel along which it is used.
I will now proceed to describe and illustrate my invention as applied to a
mountain railway or a railway having steep gradients, when its application to the
other purposes mentioned will be obvious without need for detailed description or
further illustration.
Figure 1 illustrates, in longitudinal section, a locomotive and short length of
railway track with my invention applied thereto.
In this view only as much of the locomotive as is necessary to shew the
application of the invention is illustrated, and the locomotive is shewn in position
near to one end of the cable where provision is made for engaging it therewith.
The track at this point is shewn to be on a level, partly for convenience in
illustration, and partly because it is preferable (where such can conveniently be
arranged) that the locomotive shall stand on level rails while being engaged with
the cable. The locomotive may, in the illustration, be supposed to be at the foot
of an incline.
Figure 2 is a transverse section through the track, shewing the driving axle on
which the grooved wheel or pulley for the cable is fixed.
Figure 3 is a vertical section of a cable-guide carried by the locomotive.
Figure 4 is a plan, to a reduced scale, of a portion of a curve of the track,
shewing the provision by which the cable is carried around the curve.
Figures 5 and 6 are, respectively, an elevation and plan, to an enlarged scale, of
one of the guard rollers used in keeping the cable properly within a curved portion
of the track.
Figures 7 and 8 are, respectively, a sectional elevation and plan of a turning
guard by which the cable may be kept down at a depression formed by a sudden
and increased change in an upward gradient, but which will be moved on one side
by the locomotive and allow the same to pass, and will automatically return to its
normal position.
Figure 9 is a sectional plan, to an enlarged scale taken on line of Figure 1,
shewing an arrangement of side guards for preventing the turning guard from
automatically returning to its normal position until after the grooved wheel or
pulley of the locomotive has passed it.
Figures 10 and 11 are, respectively, longitudinal and transverse sections of an
arrangement of gripping jaws for holding and maintaining the tension upon a cable

page_text: while the end thereof is disengaged and remains disengaged from the grooved
wheel or pulley of the locomotive.
Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, a grooved wheel or pulley A is fixed upon
the driving axle B, preferably in the centre of the axle, as shewn at Figure 2,
when such is convenient, but this is not essential. A cable, rope or band C, which
normally lies along the track, and is fastened at the end towards which the loco-
motive is about to travel, has the other end passed under and then around the grooved
wheel or pulley A, and such end is then fastened at a point a within the track
which is to the rear of such wheel or pulley. The wheel or pulley A should
obviously be of such diameter that when the cable is passed therearound the mean
diameter of the coil thereof around the wheel will be the same as the diameter of
the driving wheels, as otherwise some slip would take place between the driving
wheels and rails, or between the wheel A. and cable therearound, or between both
the driving wheels and rails and the wheel A and cable, as the locomotive
travelled. It will be seen that, when the cable C is engaged with the grooved
wheel A in the manner described and shewn, the frictional hold between the
periphery of the wheel A and cable, which is very considerable, adds enormously
to the propelling effect of the engine up a steep incline, and enables a heavy train
to be propelled up gradients on which the wheels of a locomotive would simply
slip round without rolling forwards if the entire frictional hold between the engine
and track depended on the grip of the wheels upon the rails. The tail end c of
the cable may be fastened to the upper end of an L-lever D having a weight E
at, or suspended from, its shorter arm, and thus the tension on the tail end of the
cable will be constant notwithstanding any slight stretching or lengthening of the
rope on account of varying temperature or otherwise; and the other end of
the rope may be also connected in the same manner, if desired. For the purpose of
connecting the tail end of the cable c with the upper end of the lever D, a caplin
(such as shewn in plan Figure 1A) may be fixed on the end of the cable. The end
of the lever is formed with an inclined part d immediately below which is formed
a notch at the point a, and a spring b is fixed to the lever as shewn. When it is
desired to connect the caplin to the lever, the elongated eyee of the caplin is pushed
down over the end of the lever until it comes into the notch a; and, to facilitate
this being done, the spring 6 may be sprung back by hand to allow the caplin to
pass down into the notch. The spring 6 tends to hold the caplin securely within the
notch. For the purpose of enabling the cable to be readily disconnected from and
connected with the lever D when the cable is around the wheel A, the upper end of
the lever is connected, by means of a chain f, with a windlas F, so that it may readily
be drawn forwards whilst the disconnection or connection of the cable therewith is
effected. When the cable has been connected with the lever, the windlas is of
course turned back to slacken the chain and allow the lever D to work freely.
As the connection of the tail end c of the cable with the lever is conveniently at a
point below the level of the track, a pulley g over which the cable passes from the
lever is mounted in the top of the windlas frame. It is not, of course, essential
that the end of the cable be connected with any automatically adjusted holder, as
it may be fixed to a rigid holder. In the latter case, however, means, such as a
tightening screw, should be provided for moving back the holder after the connec-
tion of the cable therewith, in order to make the cable taut.
b
In order to direct the cable to pass in the proper position under the wheel A
(especially as the locomotive is passing round a curve), and thus avoid any
liability which might otherwise exist of the cable binding itself by overlapping
or crossing as it passes around the wheel, a guide G, through which the cable
passes, is carried by the locomotive near the front thereof, and a similar guide
may be fixed immediately behind the wheel A for use when the engine runs
backwards. A sectional view of the lower or operative part of such guide is shewn,
to an enlarged scale, by Figure 3, being taken transversely to the direction of the
track. This guide consists conveniently of a stem or shank h which is fixed to

page_text: the buffer plank or other convenient portion of the locomotive, of a couple of
pins fixed to a cross-head on the end of the shank h and provided with
surrounding friction rollers k, and of a cross pin fixed in the heads of the pias i
and carrying a vertical friction roller m. The cable C passes between the rollers k
and above the roller m, and the rollers must of course be wide enough apart to
allow the caplin on the end of the cable to be passed between them. It is an
advantage to use the friction rollers to avoid unnecessary wear of the cable, but
they may be dispensed with if it is desired to simplify the construction of the guide,
and in such case the operative part of the cable may be a plain head with a proper
opening therethrough for the passage of the cable, care being taken to leave no
sharp edges exposed to the cable.
For the purpose of maintaining the cable properly in position around a curve of
the track, a number of guide rollers n are fixed to the sleepers, as shewn in plan by
Figure 4, and one of the rollers is also shewn in elevation in Figure 2, and in detail
elevation and plan by Figures 5 and 6. Each roller is mounted to be capable of
turning easily on a vertical pin o which is held at the bottom in a plate p fixed
to the sleeper, and at the top in a bridle-piece or stay fixed at its lower end to
the plate p, and each roller has preferably a broad flange r around its lower end.
The rollers are in position just sufficiently out of the centre of the track to allow
the cable-guide G to clear them as the locomotive passes. The cable is con-
sequently a little out of the centre of the track when it bears against the rollers,
but it is notwithstanding guided properly to the wheel A, by means of the guide G.
The means by which the cable may be prevented from rising at a depression or
angle in the track, formed by a sudden alteration in the gradient, are shewn by
Figures 7 and 8, in which H is a horizontal arm or lever pivoted vertically at s within
a bearing t of a plate J which is fixed to a strong piece of timber K, which passes
underneath the rails. On the lower end of the shanks, which forms the pivot pin
of the arm H and is itself formed with or fixed to such arm, is keyed a cross-head u
(shewn by broken lines only in Figure 8), in the hinder end of which is mounted
a pair of rollers v. A cross-head w, which is set up by means of a spring a
within a box b¹ fixed to the underside of the timber K, presses normally against
both the rollers v, and thus maintains the arm H in position crosswise of the track
and over the cable C. As the locomotive passes, however, the arm H is moved
sideways by the guard G, and is maintained in such position by means of one of a
pair of guards L which extend from the guard G to the wheel A (see Figures 1
and 9) until the end of the arm is caught by the side of the wheel A. Immediately
the wheel A has passed beyond the end of the arm the arm is automatically returned
by the spring a¹ into its former position over the cable. In order to give a flat surface
of the wheel A for the end of the turning arm H to bear against as is held out
by the wheel while the latter passes the arm, inward flanges c' are formed around
the rim of the wheel, as shewn by Figure 1, and by Figure 1B which represents, to
an enlarged scale, a section through the wheel rim.
When the cable is disengaged from the grooved wheel A, it is desirable to main-
tain the main length of cable taut, as otherwise it would under some circumstances
have a tendency to shrink or shorten and make it difficult to reconnect the uncon-
nected end. An appliance for this purpose, illustrated by Figures 10 and 11,
consists, conveniently, of a pair of jaws M mounted in guides N, along which they
may be moved towards and from one another by means of a right-and-left-handed
screw operated by means of a hand wheel Q. In Figure 10 the jaws are shewn
to be drawn together tightly gripping the cable C between them. When, after
the cable has been removed from the wheel A, it is again passed therearound and
the end connected up, the jaws are moved back from one another into the position
shewn by broken lines Figure 10, so as to allow the cable guide G and wheel A to
pass between them. The cable should always be gripped by the jaws, and the
main length thus held taut, whilst it remains disengaged with the wheel A; and an
appliance for the purpose may be placed near each end of the cable so that the

page_text: cable may be readily engaged at either end with the wheel A, and be disengaged
therefrom. The guides N which carry the jaws M are fixed to a frame, plate, or
block, P which may be fixed in a bed of concrete or be otherwise firmly fixed to
resist the pull of the cable.
The cable, or rope may be of any suitable character. It may, for instance, be
formed of steel links, or of steel wire strands. Probably a rope formed of raw hide
will be found as convenient as any for the purpose.
The application of the invention to the other purposes indicated above will now
be readily understood, without need for further illustration; and the illustrations
may themselves be taken as equally applicable to the movement of a tram engine
or tram car, or other vehicle running on a track.
In the case of a lift, a single rope fixed at or near the top of the lift, passes
completely round a grooved wheel or pulley carried by the cage or travelling
portion, and thence down to a point of fixture at or near the bottom of the lift;
and the cage is raised by rotating the wheel or pulley by a suitable windlas handle
or otherwise.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination of a wheel or pulley on the (or on a) driving axle or shaft
of a railway or tram engine, tramcar or other vehicle or other part of machinery
(such as the cage of a lift) which travels along rails, tracks, or ways, with a fixed
or non-travelling cable, or rope, which is passed around the said wheel or pulley,
substantially as described, for the purpose of facilitating the ascent of such railway
engine (and of any train drawn thereby) up an incline or rising gradient, or of
facilitating the moving of such tram engine, tramcar or other vehicle or part of
machinery.
2. The combination with a railway or tram engine or tramcar or other vehicle
for running on a track, of a wheel or pulley fixed on the or a driving axle thereof,
and of a non-travelling cable, or rope, which is passed under and then around the
said wheel or pulley, said wheel or pulley being of a diameter (approximately)
which will cause the mean diameter of the coil of cable, or rope, therearound to be
of the diameter of the driving wheels, substantially as described for the purpose
set forth.
3. As a device to be used with the combination claimed in Claim 2, the cable
guide G carried by the engine or tram car or other vehicle, substantially as
described, for the purpose set forth.
4. The means, substantially as described, by which the cable, or rope, used in the
combination claimed in Claim 2 is carried around a curve of the track, that is to
say, guards spaced along such portion of the track in position to allow of the
passage of the engine or tramcar or other vehicle past them.
5. As a device to be used with the combination claimed in Claim 2, the turning
arm H normally in position across the top of the cable, or rope, and capable of
being moved sideways by the engine or tramcar or other vehicle and of automatically
returning to its normal position, substantially as described for the purpose set
forth.
6. As a device to be used with the combination claimed in Claim 2, the appliance
for gripping the cable, or rope, to maintain the tension thereof while an end is
disengaged and remains disengaged from the grooved wheel or pulley of the engine
or tramcar or other vehicle, substantially as described for the purpose set forth.
7. As a device to be used with the combination claimed in Claim 2, the weighted
lever appliance by which a compensating or self-adjusting tension is maintained
on the end of the cable, or rope, to which it is applied, substantially as described.
8. The means, substantially as described with reference to the drawings herewith,
by which the ascent of a locomotive (and of any train drawn thereby) up a steep

page_text: gradient, or of the movement of a tram engine or tramcar or other vehicle running
on rails, tracks, or ways, is facilitated.
Dated this 4th day of February 1892.
STEPHEN WATKINS,
Wolverhampton, Agent for the Applicant.