IMPROVEMENTS IN CON- STRUCTING THE PERMANENT WAYS OF RAILWAYS, AND IN PREPARING PARTS THEREOF TO PREVENT OXIDIZATION
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hugh Greaves, of 5, Victoria Street, Westminster,
in the County of Middlesex, and of West Hartlepool, in the County of
Durham, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CON-
STRUCTING THE PERMANENT WAYS OF RAILWAYS, AND IN PREPARING PARTS
THEREOF TO PREVENT OXIDIZATION,"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hugh Greaves at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
October 1859.
I, HUGH GREAVES, of 5, Victoria Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, and of West Hartlepool, in the County of Durham, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONSTRUCTING THE PERMANEN. WAYS OF RAILWAYS, AND IN PREPARING PARTS
THEREOF TO PREVENT OXIDIZATION," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in an improved description of longitudinal
wood sleeper road, the object of which is to give a more efficient bearing
surface with a smaller amount of material than heretofore. For this purpose
I make use of two longitudinal sleepers, in combination with wrought or cast
iron chairs for supporting each rail.
Secondly, in a new adaptation of what are known as Greaves' surface-packed

page_text: sleepers, which consists in the employment of two such sleepers of smaller
dimensions, connected together by a wrought or cast iron chair, or by a piece
of metal or wood on which the chair for supporting the rail rests, instead of
the single sleepers now used.
Thirdly, in a new arrangement for securing the tie bar, whereby the gauge
and angle of the rails are maintained.
Fourthly, in new forms of chairs, constructed respectively in cast and
wrought iron, and in the method of moulding the former. The improvement
in chairs constructed of cast iron consists in casting the jaws of the chairs or
sleeper chairs hollow, thereby giving greater strength with the same amount of
material. The improvements in moulding such chairs or sleeper chairs consists
in withdrawing from the sand the whole of the two jaws at one movement;
or part of the jaw may be withdrawn first. and the other part afterwards, and in
producing the hollow print in the pattern from which the top box or flask is
moulded. In some cases the pattern is lowered before the flask is removed
from the moulding table; but in other cases I employ what I call a "lever
barrow," previously protected by me, to remove the flask from the pattern and
moulding table (without lowering the said pattern) to the place of casting.
The wrought-iron chair is made from a piece of flat bar iron, bent in a form to
receive the rail, and fastened by iron rivets to the sleeper.
Fifthly, my Invention consists in heating sleeper chairs, and while so
heated, dipping them in a preparation of gas tar, petroleum, or other
bituminous material.
Sixthly, in a new form of cast-iron sleeper, which may be cast vertically,
and which holds the rail by its own clasticity without the intervention of wood
keys, the gauge and angle of the rail being maintained in the usual way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Hugh Greaves in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HUGH
GREAVES, of 5, Victoria Street, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex,
and of West Hartlepool, in the County of Durham, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Hugh Greaves, Her special licence that I, the said Hugh Greaves, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Hugh
Greaves, 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 CONSTRUCTING
THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS, AND PREPARING PARTS THEREOF TO
PREVENT OXIDIZATION," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Hugh Greaves, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 1, the said Hugh Greaves, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My Invention consists, firstly, in an improved description of longitudinal
wood sleeper road, the object of which is to give a more efficient bearing
surface with a smaller amount of material than heretofore. For this purpose
I make use of two longitudinal sleepers in combination with wrought or cast
iron chairs for supporting each rail.
Secondly, in a new adaptation of what are known as Greaves' surface-packed
sleepers, which consists in the employment of two such sleepers of smaller
dimensions, connected together by a wrought or cast iron chair, or by a piece
of metal or wood on which the chair for supporting the rail rests, instead of
the single sleepers now used.
Thirdly, in a new arrangement for securing the tie bar, whereby the gauge
and angle of the rails are maintained.
Fourthly, in new forms of chairs constructed respectively in cast and
wrought iron, and in the method of moulding the former. The improvement
in chairs constructed of cast iron consists in casting the jaws of the chairs
or sleeper chairs hollow, thereby giving greater strength with the same amount
of material. The improvements in moulding such chairs or sleepers chairs
consists in withdrawing from the sand the whole of the two jaws at one move-
ment, or part of the jaw may be withdrawn first, and the other part after-

page_text: wards, and in producing the hollow print in the pattern from which the top
box or flask is moulded. In some cases the pattern is lowered before the
flask is removed from the moulding table, but in other cases I employ what
I call a "lever barrow," previously protected by me, to remove the flask from
the pattern and moulding table (without lowering the said pattern) to the
place of casting. The wrought-iron chair is made from a piece of flat bar
iron, bent in a form to receive the rail, and fastened by iron rivets to the
sleeper.
Fifthly, my Invention consists in heating sleeper chairs, and while so heated
dipping them in a preparation of gas tar, petroleum, or other bituminous
material.
Sixthly, in a new form of cast-iron sleeper which may be cast vertically,
and which holds the rail by its own elasticity without the intervention of wood
keys; the gauge and angle of the rail being maintained in the usual way.
The manner in which my said Invention may be carried into effect is more
fully explained with reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings;
Fig. 1 of which is a transverse section of a double-headed rail, supported by
means of two longitudinal sleepers. According to the first-mentioned part of
my Invention, a, a, represent the sleepers, which in this instance are triangular
in form, but may be of other section to suit circumstances, and are tied
together at intervals throughout their length by tie bars b (which may be
either of wood or iron), to which they are firmly secured by bolts c passing
through them, as shewn. The whole or a portion of the cross sleepers or tie
bars may be extended across, and similarly bolted to the sleepers of the
corresponding rail, thereby serving to maintain the gauge of the line and angle
of the rails. The rail is attached to and held between the sleepers by
means of the chair e secured to them by the bolts c, and constructed of flat
bar iron bent to the form represented, and constituting the wrought-iron chair
referred to under the fourth head of my Invention. The downward bend c
over the edge of the inner sleeper assists in securing the chair from lateral
movement. The sides of the central bend of the chair are slightly inclined
from the perpendicular, the rail being held between them by metallic keys or
wedges f, which, owing to the form and elasticity of the chair, are pressed
against its web with increased power during the passage of carriages over
them. These longitudinal sleepers are beat up or packed, both between the
sleepers, and externally. It is to be observed that the wrought-iron chair
above described may be similarly used in connection with iron sleepers, or
upon single sleepers either of wood or iron.
Fig. 2 is a transverse section of a double-headed rail, supported according

page_text: to the second part of my Invention. The rail d, secured in an ordinary or
other chair, is supported by means of pairs of Greaves' surface-packed sleepers
a, a, placed at suitable intervals along its length, and connected together by a
cross bar or beam b, which rests upon and is attached to them, and carries the
chair e. These cross bars or beams b are at certain distances carried across
and similarly connected to the opposite pair of sleepers of the corresponding
rail, and thereby maintain the gauge of the line and angle of the rails. The
object of this arrangement is to obtain a more extended bearing laterally.
Fig. 3 is a section, shewing the mode of securing the tie bars, which con-
stitutes the third part of my Invention. In this case the surface-packed
sleeper (a) is formed with a compound curve, and the tie bar b is passed
through it in such manner as to project somewhat above the upper surface of
the concave portion, where it is secured by means of the key or wedge g, held
between lugs cast on the sleeper, and dropped into a notch cut in the upper
part of the tie bar, as shewn.
Fig. 4 is a section of the form of hollow cast-iron chair, which forms part of
the fourth head of my Invention, shewing also (in blue lines) the method of
moulding it, previously referred to. c represents the chair, formed with curved
jaws, cast hollow underneath; and h, the spike or trenail holes for securing it
to the sleeper. The position of the rail when keyed into the chair is repre-
sented in red lines.
The arrangements I make use of for moulding the chair, and represented in
blue lines, are as follows:-The pattern is divided into two portions at the
line i. Each of these portions is carried by a lever j, having its fulcrum at kin
the moulding table. To each lever is jointed a connecting link 1, meeting and
jointed to the lever m at n. This lever is keyed on the shaft o, the outer end
of which carries the lever p, situated at the side or end of the moulding table.
In moulding the chair the flask or moulding box is placed over the pattern
and rammed up. The two portions of the pattern are then simultaneously
drawn downward out of the sand by means of the lever p, which, during the
process of ramming, is retained in its position by a catch or notch, into which
it is sprung. The flask or moulding box may then be removed and inverted,
to receive a corresponding flask or box in which the sand cores for taking out
the under side of the jaws have been moulded from a separate pattern, and
which forms the top box. There are prints on the pattern from which the
mould is produced for the bottom part of the chair, corresponding to the spike
or trenail holes, which leave holes in the sand, through which the iron or sand
cores are inserted. When a chill plate is employed instead of a top box of
sand, holes are left in for the insertion of the cores. Chairs of this form admit

page_text: of being withdrawn by hand, without the aid of the machine, but the work
would not be so accurate.
Fig. 5 is a section, through the central linc, of one of Greaves' surface-
packed sleepers, shewing the application thereto of the improved hollow form
of jaws, and the method of moulding the same by a similar arrangement to
that described with reference to Fig. 4. In this, as in the other instance, the
moulding apparatus is shewn in blue lines, and in the pattern the jaws form-
ing the chair divide at. the line i, and separate from the body of the sleeper
at q. The action of the levers for drawing down the patterns of the jaws
is identical with that of those in Fig. 4, though I do not confine myself to this
method only of effecting the object.
In carrying into effect. the fifth part of my Invention, which has for its
object to prevent the oxidization of sleeper chairs, I cause the same to be
heated to a moderate temperature; and dip them into a preparation of gas tar,
petroleum, or other bituminous material. In some cases I prefer to use a
mixture of tar and lime.
Fig. 6 of the Drawings is a transverse section of a double-headed rail d,
supported by means of a cast-iron sleeper, constructed according to the sixth
part of my Invention. a, a,. are the wings of the sleeper, having cast upon
them the jaws e, connected together beneath the rail by the web r. The
sleeper is slipped or threaded endwise upon the rail, which, as will be readily
understood, will be held between the jaws with increased firmness during the
passage of trains. These sleepers may be employed as joint sleepers without
the intervention of bolts, nuts, or other fastening, their own elasticity being
sufficient for maintaining a firm joint. These longitudinal sleepers are intended
to be as long as they can be cast vertically.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same may be performed, I would have it
expressly understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details repre-
sented, but that I claim,-
Firstly, the producing a more efficient bearing for the sleepers and support
for the rail by extending the base, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 2.
Secondly, the method of securing the gauge, as shewn and described in
Fig. 3.
Thirdly, the box-jawed chair, as shewn and described, and the method of
moulding such chairs, but I do not claim the making the chair pattern in two
halves.
Fourthly, the box-jawed chair, as applied to Greaves' patent sleeper chair,
and the method of moulding the same.

page_text: Fifthly, the coating sleeper chairs as described, to prevent oxidization.
Sixthly, the form of iron sleeper, as shewn at Fig. 6, and the casting such
or other sleepers vertically.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hugh Greaves, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
FRANCIS WISE, Patent Agent,
Chandos Chambers,
Buckingham St., W.C.
HUGH (L.S.) GREAVES: