IMPROVEMENTS IN PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th April 1869.-A communication from abroad by Daniel Rice
Pratt, of Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Patent Agents, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," a communication, to be as follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists chiefly in a novel method of
securing the rails upon the sleepers or cross ties, whereby I am enabled
to give to the rail a firmer support than has heretofore been practicable,
while at the same time I diminish the cost of the manufacture of the
rails, and am enabled to lay down the rails and take them up and replace
them by new rails without removing the chairs from the sleepers. I thus
effect a saving of expense and time and prevent the injury to the sleepers
occasioned by withdrawing the spikes or nails whereby the chairs are
secured. The said Invention also consists in the peculiar construction of
the chairs which I employ for supporting the rail, and in the combination

page_text: of the said chairs with the rail, whether the same is of my improved
shape or of any ordinary form. My said Invention may be used in con-
nection with any ordinary system of constructing the permanent way,
but I prefer in all cases that the same should be combined with an
improved method of joining the rails which I have described in the
Specification of a former Patent granted to me, and bearing date the
Twenty-second day of August, in the year of our Lord 1868, No. 2621.
Railway rails as most commonly constructed have two heads or flanges
of equal width, connected by an intermediate thin web. The object of
constructing the rails in this manner is, that when the bearing surface of
the rail is worn or destroyed by the traffic the rail may be turned over or
reversed, so that the rails will last doubly as long as if they were formed
with only one working surface, I have therefore, as will be seen from the
following description, adapted my improvements to suit such rails, and
the said improvements are therefore applicable upon all lines of railway
whereon the permanent way is constructed in this manner. It has been
found, however, that the system of reversing the rails does not answer in
practice, as the under side of the rail at those portions which rest in the
chairs is by the weight on the road, and the effects of oxidation, and from
other causes worn away below the other parts of the rail, so that when
turned over it presents an uneven bearing surface, which is very injurious
to the engines and carriages and very unpleasant to the passengers. I
am aware that rails have also been made with a broad under flange, upon
which the said rails are very firmly supported, but such rails are costly
of manufacture, and the flange is often found imperfect at the edges,
which, being thin, and spread so far from the body of the metal, are very
liable to split or crack. I therefore prefer to use a rail whose upper flange
or bearing surface is of the ordinary width, or nearly so, while its lower
flange is considerably smaller than the said upper flange, being only of
such dimensions as are necessary to give the required strength to the
rail, whereas the metal in the flange of an ordinary double-headed rail is
much more than is required merely for the purpose of strength. By thus
constructing the rail I cheapen its manufacture. And in order that the
rail, though having such a small bottom flange, may be firmly supported
I secure the same in my improved chair, which is constructed in the
following manner :-The said chair has a broad base which is formed to
rest upon the sleeper, and which is secured thereon by ordinary spikes or

page_text: nails; upon this base are two sides or cheeks between which the rail lies,
with its lower flange resting on the base; these sides extend up to the
under side of the rail head, and in one modification of my Invention they
are both cast solid or in one piece with the base, the space between them
being rather more than the width of the lower flange, so that the rail
will drop freely into the chair; and to make the rail tight in the chair I
insert on each side of it a plate which fills the space between the side of
the chair and the web of the rail. A bolt is passed through the chair,
the rail, and the packing plates to secure all of the parts together, and
though simple bolts and nuts may be used, if desired, I prefer to employ
with each bolt an elastic cushion or spring fitted in a cup or socket
through which the bolt passes, as described in my former Specification
herein-before referred to. I sometimes construct my improved chair
with one of the sides or cheeks loose, the said loose side having a flange
or foot which rests upon the base of the chair. In this case the packing
plates will not be required, as by means of the bolt passing through the
chair the two sides are drawn together, and the rail is held tightly
between them. The elastic cushion in the cup or socket is very advan-
tageously applied to this chair, as the rail is thereby held securely but
yet in such a manner as to permit its free expansion and contraction
under variations of temperature. The holes in the rail through which the
bolt passes are made larger than the bolt to allow of this expansion and
contraction. It will be seen that with my improved chair the rail is
secured in such a manner that all the parts are bound together, and the
fastenings are not affected by changes in the temperature or weather;
whereas in the ordinary method of securing the rail by driving a wooden
wedge between the chair and rail there is a tendency to force one part
away from the other, and (if the wedge is driven too tight) to split the
chair. The wedge which forms the only fastening is also continually
liable to expansion and shrinkage in varying conditions of the atmosphere,
so that it is impossible to ensure its remaining uniformly tight in the
chair. My improved chair also prevents the continual working of the rail
in the chair, which is so injurious when the ordinary chairs are employed.
I also obtain the advantage of additional height of rail, as the same rests
upon the base of the chair, which may be of any desired thickness.
The said improved chairs though, as before stated, more especially
designed to be used for rails of the improved form herein-before described

page_text: may yet obviously be readily adapted to rails of any ordinary sectional
form. The form of the chair may be made to correspond with the rail, so
that all of the parts may be bound together by passing the bolts through
them, and the rails may be removed and replaced without disturbing the
chair in the same manner as when the said improved rail is used.