IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILS FOR RAILWAYS OR TRAMWAYS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Parry, of Croydon, in the County of Surrey,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILS FOR
RAILWAYS OR TRAMWAYS."
Sealed the 23rd February 1858, and dated the 25th August 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Parry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th August 1857.
I, HENRY PARRY, of Croydon, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
RAILS FOR RAILWAYS OR TRAMWAYS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists principally in forming the ends of rails employed on
railways or tramways in the following manner:-I form the ends of the rails
for a few inches either of a solid rectangular shape, so as to lap over each
other, or in one end of some of the rails I form a mortice and other rails
I form with tenons fitting thereinto; or I connect the ends of the rails together
after the manner of a puzzle joint. The ends of the rails may be securely
held together by bolts and nuts passed through the same, due allowance being
made in the bolt holes for expansion and contraction of the rails. The
section of the other part of the rails may be similar to that ordinarily
employed, so as to get as little weight of metal in said rails as is consistent
with the strength thereof.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Parry in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th February 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
PARRY, of Croydon, in the County of Surry, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Parry, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Parry, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Parry, 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 THE
CONSTRUCTION OF RAILS FOR RAILWAYS OR TRAMWAYS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Parry, my executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Parry, 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 in forming the ends of rails employed on railways or
tramways in the following manner :-I form the ends of the rails for a few
inches either of a solid rectangular shape, as shewn in Figures 1 and 2, so as
to lap over each other and form a joint, as shewn in Figure 3, or in one end
of some of the rails I form a mortice, as shewn in Figure 4, and other of the
rails I form with tenons fitting into the rails with mortices, as shewn in
Figure 5, so as to form a joint; or I connect the ends of the rails together
after the manner of a puzzle joint, as shewn by Figures 6 and 7; the ends of
the rails may be securely held together by bolts and nuts passed through the
same, due allowance being made in the bolt holes for expansion and con-

page_text: traction of the rails. The section of the other part of the rails may be similar
to that ordinarily employed, so as to get as little weight of metal in the rails
as is consistent with the strength thereof.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I claim the Invention
of making rails used for railways and tramways with the ends solid for a
few inches instead of grooved or hollow; and I also claim the Invention
of connecting the ends of rails for railways by the arrangements above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Parry, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
JAMES SULLIVAN,
22, Chancery Lane, London.
HY PARRY. (L.S.)