IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LESSENING THE EFFECTS OF COLLISIONS AND OTHER ACCIDENTS ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Clark at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th June
1864. A communication from abroad by Alessandro. Piola,. of 29,
Boulevart St. Martin, Paris."
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR LESSENING THE EFFECTS OF
COLLISIONS AND OTHER ACCIDENTS ON RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
In the management of railways, notwithstanding all the precautions which
may be taken, serious accidents often happen from trains coming in collision.
The slightest forgetfulness or inadvertence may cost the lives of hundreds of
persons. Thus any plan for ensuring the safety of passengers independently
of the supervision of the guards and other attendants and unforeseen circum-
stances would be of especial advantage.
The brakes now in use, even supposing they are always in perfect condition
at the moment of danger may aid in lessening the shock in collisions, but
their effect is almost nil when the trains are too close together at the time
they are put on; while steam brakes for stopping trains instantaneously could
not be used, as they produce the same effects as the collisions themselves.
Under these circumstances the only real remedy lies in the subdivision as
it were of the violent shock caused by the two large masses coming in collision
into partial shocks of less force, at same time preserving after the collision a
progressive movement which lessens by degrees the speed acquired by the two
trains. This double result is ensured by the employment of the apparatus

page_text: herein-after described and represented in Figs. 1 and 2 of the Drawing
annexed. Fig. 3 is a diagram serving to explain the principles on which the
Invention is based. The apparatus is formed of one or more cylinders,
turning on vertical axes. Fig. 1 shows a locomotive furnished at its front
end with a cylinder of great strength, mounted vertically of the same height
as the boiler, and protecting in diameter rather more than half the width of
same.
It is preferable that the cylinder should protect the right half of the engine
in order that (as it is generally admitted that trains bear principally on the
left rail), in case of collision, the train may still bear on the left rail instead
of leaving the line, while the large cylinder which is applied to the end
carriage of the train will cover the left half in order that the train shall run
over on the right-hand side. Thus, supposing that both locomotives be fitted
with this apparatus at their right sides, on meeting each other they would
only undergo an oblique and nearly lateral shock resulting in a decomposition
of force, as indicated at Fig. 3. The primary shock transmitted to the
centres of rotation of the two cylinders C will be divided into two parts, one of
which C, R, tends to keep the train on the line and the other C, N, to run it
off. The combination of forces depends on the angle formed by the direction
of the blow C, C, with that of the trains C, V. Thus by increasing the
angles the component C, R, running parallel to the axis of the line, is
diminished, while the transverse component C, N, is augmented. By this
means the retrograde force C, R, and consequently the shock, may be
diminished two-thirds at same time that the normal force combined with the
previously acquired speed C, V, produces an oblique forward thrust C, O,
which causes the train to leave the rails. It is certain that the lateral shock
taking effect on the rotating cylinders will cause the train to leave the rails;
to be convinced of which it is only necessary to observe that if the direct
shock of the two trains may (as is known) lift one of them as high as the
carriages themselves, an oblique shock would still more easily force them off
the rails, the resistance produced by the flanges of the wheels being at a
minimum.
Similar phenomena also take place in other instances; for example, a
cannon ball fired obliquely against the side of an armour-clad ship, changes:
its direction but continues in motion, while if it is fired directly at its side it
will rebound in the direction whence it came. To take another instance,"
the bones of our bodies often change the direction of a bullet; lastly, two.
balls projected one against another on a billiard table deviate more or less
according to the direction of the blow. It most frequently happens that a

page_text: train at a great speed comes in contact either with a slow train in motion or
one standing on the line. In this case the improved safety apparatus of this:
Invention placed in front of the locomotive of the fast train would strike
similar apparatus applied on the rear carriage of the other train, the
former will thus be forced off the line while the other only receives slight
shocks at its rear end. In the rarer case of two trains meeting each other
direct, it is evident that the heavier one having less speed will be always the
least injured by the shock, while it is further almost certain that if the
difference in the speed of the two trains is very great only one of them will
leave the rails and the other receive no injury. Whatever may happen, the
safety of one train is, always ensured, and that generally of most importance.
I do not, however, intend that by the train leaving the rails it should be
hopelessly sacrificed, as railways are not invariably mounted on high embank-
ments or on precipices, but are often made in cuttings and generally across
plains; in these two latter instances there will be a hope of saving both
trains, especially if all the carriages be furnished with several lateral rows of
cylinders, as represented at Fig. 2. These cylinders should project outsido
the carriages to a sufficient extent to protect all the projecting points of the
train and serve to produce the same effects as the two large cylinders fixed to
the locomotives, that is to say, if they strike against the cylinders carried by
another train they will decompose the force of the blow and cause the devia-
tion of the carriage, and should they strike against a fixed surface the friction
would become diminished and the effects of the blow rendered less dangerous.
Lastly, if the carriage be overturned the cylinders would act as wheels.
These cylinders should be applied at the centre and each end of the lateral
face of each of the carriages. In passenger carriages they may be applied
instead of the usual small windows. Supposing a train furnished with this
improved apparatus to have left the rails and become overturned, the lateral
cylinders would enable it to continue its journey but at a reduced speed, owing
to said cylinders sinking in the ground. Thus this safety apparatus is not only
useful in case of collisions but also when trains leave the lines from unforeseen
or accidental causes. Supposing a train to run off the line in a cutting, the
shocks experienced by the carriages, although repeated several times, are in
fact slighter than in a direct collision, since, as before stated, the problem I
had proposed would appear to have found a sufficiently complete solution;
thus, 1st, the lateral shocks destroy a portion of the speed of the train ;
2ndly, the effort required to cause each carriage in succession to leave the
rails also absorbs a portion of the same speed; 3rdly, the scarps of railways
being parallel to the lines, a train running off the latter will be forced

page_text: obliquely against the said scarps, and being furnished with the cylinders which
are movable on their axes, even in the most unfavorable case the train
would be upset but never stopped instantaneously.
In conclusion I would observe that the improved safety apparatus herein
described is sufficient of itself to prevent the principal results of railway:
collisions, while the small cylinders on the sides of the carriages serve a like
purpose when a train is upset. I also reserve the right to any improvements
in the above-described apparatus which experience may suggest.