CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORMATION OF TIDADE OR PATEROANG AND CARRIACTS THAT RION THEREON OF TRAMROADS OR RAILROADS, AND CARRIAGES THAT RUN
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Joseph Curtis, of Grafton Place,
Euston Square, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORMATION OF
TIDADE OR PATEROANG AND CARRIACTS THAT RION THEREON
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Joseph
Curtis at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 27th November 1852.
I, WILLIAM JOSEPH CURTIS, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORMATION OF TRAMROADS
OR RAILROADS, AND CARRIAGES THAT RUN THEREON," to be as follows:-
The peculiarity of this tram or rail road is, that no flange is required
either on the rail or wheel; it is likewise inmaterial that the guage
should be exact, a considerable variation in the guage making no differ-
ence to the working of the carriages along it.
In countries where railroads on the ordinary construction are used,
this tramroad will be used to fill up the interstices or spaces within the
main lines, or to be carried through those parts of the country which

page_text: are too poor or inconsiderable to warrant the outlay required by the
ordinary mode of constructing railroads; also it will be applicable to the
common roads of the country, and streets of cities and towns, as car-
riages will run as light upon this tram road as upon an edge railway.
But the greatest value of this tram road will be in its application to the
colonies, and in rough and thinly populated countries, in which case the
trams will be made of the timber of the country. Then, after a country
has been opened up by means of this tramway, and its wealth and popula-
tion has increased, by placing iron rails in the ordinary way upon the
wooden trams, locomotives can be used, as in the ordinary railroad.
The mode of laying the timber trams is to lay the trees, either the
top end of one resting upon the butt end of the other, as in Figure 1, and
Figure 2; or as shown in Figure 3, and Figure 4. Figure 5, is a cross
section of Figure 4. All that is necesary is, that the transverse levels
should be adjusted as in ordinary railroads. It is immaterial that the
trees should be straight, excepting on the surface side in the case of iron
trams being used. As they would be in most cases in connexion with
railroads, the trams or rails may be, like the ordinary rails, fixed on either
cross longitudinal sleepers or bars of iron about 2 inches wide, as shown
in Figure 6, full size, or other width, if found necessary, projecting about
an inch above the surface, so that the wheel may run free of the ground
when upon the tram. In the case of wooden trams, one to two inches
will be found the best space for the tram to project above the surface.
The carriages to be used upon this tramroad may be made in the
ordinary mode for carriages upon common roads, either as carts with two
wheels, or as waggons or carriages for 4 wheels; but the wheels must be
made as will be hereafter explained. The best mode of making the
carriage is to place the pivot of the carriage for the forewheels about
2 feet or 30 inches behind the centre, as in Figure 7, so that the car-
riage may be dragged with equal facility either backwards or forwards;
besides which, this arrangement will cause a train of carriages upon
this construction to follow better round curves.
The wheels are made either as rollers, with gudgeons in them, as in
Figure 8, or each wheel may be detached, as in ordinary carriages, as in
Figure 9. The wheels or rollers are bevilled at each end, in order to

page_text: facilitate their passing on or off the trams with facility. The carriages
being worked by animal power, so long as the animal keeps the center
of the track, the carriages will keep upon the trams; but when the
carriage is required to be dragged off the tram, the animal will be
guided off it, and the carriage will thus be as easily dragged on and
off the rail or trams, as carriages are dragged on and off the common
granite trams in general use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Joseph Curtis, in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 27th May 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM JOSEPH CURTIS, of Grafton Place, Euston Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Joseph Curtis, Her special
licence, that I, the said William Joseph Curtis, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Joseph
Curtis, 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
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FORMATION OF TRAMROADS OR RAILROADS
AND CARRIAGES THAT RUN THEREON," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Joseph Curtis, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said William Joseph Curus, ao
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 (that is to say):
The trams or rails forming the railway may be made out of the
rough trees of the forest, as shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3; in which Fig. 1, is
the plan; Fig. 2, elevation; Fig. 3, cross section. In this instance the
smaller end of one tree rests upon the butt end of the one before it,
the batt being notched down to receive it; the trees are buried, or sunk
in the ground, leaving about one and a half inches of the upper side
above the ground, and the knobs or irregular parts being taken off with
the adze or other tool, or a slab cut off, so as to make the upper surface
straight. It is of no consequence if the trees are crooked sideways, as
the broad wheels or rollers to be hereafter described must be wide
enough to compensate for such irregularity. Sometimes the trees are
laid side by side, as shewn in Fig. 4, and 5, in which Fig. 4, is a cross
section and end view; Fig. 5, the plan. As shewn in Fig. 5, the trees
break joint; the irregular dotted lines are intended to denote the irre-
gular trunks of the trees, the upper side being made straight, as before
explained; also in some cases flat planks, scantling, round poles, or
small trees, are used for temporary purposes, sucli as for getting off a crop
from soft land, for getting timber out of forests, or other purposes, in
which case the timber is simply laid upon the ground; and in some cases
a stake or peg is driven into the ground by the side of the timber, to
keep it in its place whilst the load passes over it. In cases in which small
trees are used as a permanent railway, it may be necessary to supply
cross sleepers, in which case the better mode will be to notch out the
butt, or larger end of the rough sleeper, as shewn in Fig. 6, and to
lay the sleepers the large and small ends alternately. The trams will
be thus perfectly sustained, both vertically and horizontally. Some-
times it may be desirable to form the trams of scantling, as shewn
in Figs. 7, and 8; Fig. 7, being the side view, and Figure 8,
cross section. The best way to form the joint in this case will be
by an union joint, as shewn in Fig. 7, in all the instances in
which the timbers are buried or sunk in the ground; and, if no

page_text: iron rail be used, the surface is kept about an inch and half
above the ground. I employ, likewise, iron rails, which may.be the
same as those usually employed in ordinary railways, as is shewn. in
Figure 9, which is the full size of the rail, and the longitudinal sleeper
upon which it rests; A', being the sleeper; a, the rail, which may be as
shewn, or a flat bar, bevilled off at the edges, or other suitable shape.
b, is a partial section of the periphery of a wheel, shewing the manner
in which the bevilled edge of the wheel takes the rail; the horizontal
dotted line denotes the position of a wheel when running on the rail.
When a flat rail with a bevilled edge is used, then the bevilled edge of
the wheel may be reduced in breadth; the upper surface of the iron
rail may be an inch, more or less above, the surface of the ground.
The carriages adapted for the railway may be of any suitable form,
like those in common use on the common roads, as shewn in Figure 2;
C, representing a cart, and C', a waggon on the ordinary construction,
but with broad wheels, the edges bevilled off as shewn in Fig. 3. If
the rails are laid down accurate, then the parallel part of the wheel
may be about 9 inches wide, and the bevilled parts about 3 inches;
but, if the trams are of timber, and not accurately laid down, the
parallel parts of the wheels must be wider, so as to be within the range
of the greatest irregularity of the trams. Fig. 4, is an end view of a
cart or waggon adapted for getting out timber from forests, as in cases
where the timber is very irregular, or in other cases.
useful in new countries, where the rollers may be
trunk of a tree, two iron gudgeons being inserted in
ing bearings like ordinary railway wheels. The ends of the roller are
bevilled off, as shewn, for the same purpose as the wheels before
described. The rollers may be used for carts or waggons indifferently.
This will be very
made out of the
the rollers, form-
The same letters refer to the same parts in each of the Figures.
a, is the tram or rail; b, the wheels or rollers; c, a cart; c', a waggon;
d, d, the spikes used to fasten the rails to the trams or sleeper; A', the
longitudinal sleeper for the iron rails a. The Drawing is made upon
half-inch scale, excepting Fig. 9, which is drawn upon the full scale.
1. I claim as my Invention the wide wheels, bevilled or not at the
edge, without a flange, running upon rails or trams without a flange,

page_text: the surface of the rails or trams being raised above the level of the
ground.
2. I claim the use of wide rollers with gudgeons, as shewn and
described, running upon iron rails or trams, formed out of round or
rough timber, as scantling buried in the ground, as described and
shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
3. I claim the combination of broad wheels or rollers, and railway,
when the rails or trams are laid upon the ground as described and
shewn in Fig. 5.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Joseph Curtis, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
W. J. CURTIS.
(L.8.)