Improvements in and connected with Automatic Railway Signalling.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Oct., 1898-Accepted, 10th Dec., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Automatic Railway Signalling.
We, CHARLES WOOD and FREDERICK EDWARDS, both of Balls Cross, Petworth,
in the County of Sussex, Engine Driver and Farmer respectively, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
-
Our invention relates to an improved system of railway signalling, and apparatus
for effecting the same, and has for its objects, to provide a means whereby such
signalling may be automatic and unmistakably accurate, and not generally depen-
dant upon the signalman or any other person for the manipulation of the same,
and to dispense with the need of sonorous signals, and men for operating the same
in foggy weather.
Our invention is intended to operate the distant-signals and not the home or
station-signals, to the latter of which, our invention has no reference, and con-
sists in so arranging a portion of the rails of the permanent way within the station,
that such portion may rise for a given distance, by the action of suitable powerful
springs, when no train is standing thereon, and that such rising, may by the aid of
wires ropes or rods operate to lower the distant signal and place the same at
clear, but when a train enters the station the weight of same will lower the
said raised portion of the track, until this is level with the remainder, and such
lowering of this portion will, by the means of the said wires or the like, operate
to raise the said distant signal to "danger," and adjacent to the said signal we
provide between the rails a jointed platform, adapted to be raised above the level
of the track, simultaneously with the raising of the signal, and operated by the
same means.
For the purposes of our invention each engine will be provided with a rod,
adapted to slide vertically in suitable guides, the lower end of the said rod being
always in such a position, as to collide with, and be raised by the said platform,
when this is in its elevated position, the said rod being so arranged, that when so
raised its upper end collides with an arm in connection with the usual steam
regulator upon the engine, and by throwing over the latter operates to shut the
steam off, and at the same moment manipulate a mechanical, electrical, or other
sonorous signal provided upon the engine, thereby operating to automatically stop
the train and convey to the driver the signal that the line is “blocked," when the
weather is too foggy for him to see the semaphore.
In order that our said invention and the manner of its operation may be fully
understood, we have hereunto appended two sheets of drawings, of which,
Fig. 1 Sheet 1, is a plan view of that section of a railway track according to our
invention, which lies within a station, upon either the up or down line, while Fig. 2
is a plan view of that section of the track, according to our invention, which lies
near to the distant signal.
Figs. 3 and 4, are side elevations of the section Fig. 1, the former shewing the
position of the said section when raised by the absence of a train, the latter shewing

page_text: the same when depressed to the level of the track proper, when an engine or coach
is standing thereon.
Figs. 5 and 6 are like views of Fig. 2, the former shewing the position of this
section, when the section Fig. 1 is raised as at Fig. 3, and the signal is at "clear,"
the latter shewing the position of this section, when the section Fig. 1, is depressed
as at Fig. 4, and the signal is at danger.
Figs. 7 and 8 Sheet 2 are side and back elevation respectively of an ordinary
railway engine, shewing the mechanism and the position of same which is actuated
by the raising of the platform in Figs. 2, 5 and 6.
Fig. 9 is a much enlarged view of the section Figs. 1, 3 and 4, while Fig. 10 is
a section upon the line A B of Fig. 9.
Fig. 11 is a much enlarged view of the lower end of the the vertical rod upon the
engine, shewn in position in Figs. 7 and 8.
Figs. 12 and 13 Sheet 1 are details hereinafter explained.
In carrying our invention into effect we remove from any convenient part of a
railway station, preferably central or thereabouts, and upon, say the up line, four
sections or lengths of the track rails, two upon the near side and two upon the off
side, and referred to in the drawings as A A and B B', and also the sleepers hitherto
employed to support the same, and in lieu of the said sleepers we place and fix
longitudinally upon each side of the line baulks of timber or sleepers C and C+
respectively, the former beneath the position previously occupied by A B, and the
latter beneath that occupied by A¹ B, the said baulks of timber or sleepers being
fixed to the ground, or may be upon concrete foundations in any convenient manner,
and if necessary secured laterally by cross rods or ties D.
The rails A and A' we mount and fix, by any convenient means, upon a metallic
or other plate, or a metallic skeleton frame E, while the rails B B are connected in
like manner to a like plate or frame E¹, the said plates or frames being hinged
together or otherwise pivotally connected to each other at a point «, and the said
plates or frames we then place resting upon the sleepers C and C, so that their
rails A A B B, are in alignment with the permanent tracks rails, as they were
before removal.
Upon the under surfaces of the plate or frames E and E, we bolt, screw, or other-
wise fix vertical metallic or other plates F and F respectively, suitable excavations
or pits being provided in the earth or concrete beneath into which these dip
when E E are resting upon C and C¹, and at each side of F and F1, we provide
one or more plate, spiral or other suitable springs G, the combined tensions of
which serve to raise the connected ends of E and E, a suitable distance above the
sleepers C and C, as shewn in Figs. 3, 9 and 10, this being the normal positions
of these when a train is absent from the station, and in order to accommodate the
longitudinal movements upon C and C₁ of the free ends of E and E¹, consequent
upon the said rise and fall of the hinged portion of these, the said free ends E2, may
be connected by links b to some fixed portion c beneath as at Fig. 12, or to a
plate d adapted to slide horizontally in a slot or groove e as at Fig. 13, or by any
other suitable means which will permit the ends E2 to move horizontally without
displacement vertically
The plate has formed therein an angled slot f, (Figs. 3, 4 and 9) with which
engages one end of a lever H, pivotted at a point g (Fig. 1), beneath the point of
connection a of the plates E and E', the opposite end of which said lever extends
through a slot in, or beneath the sleeper C; and has pivotally connected to its
extremity one end of a wire-rope, rod, or cord h, which extends along the side of
the track rail B, over suitable pulley guides h¹, and terminating near the distant
signal.
At this part of the track we provide, between the track rails, a metallic or other
platform, consisting of two parts J and J¹ (Fig. 2), hinged together or otherwise
pivotally connected at a point j, the free end of J being hinged or otherwise
pivotally connected at k, to a cross piece ¹, fixed to longitudinal sleepers C³ C³,
supporting the track trails. Beneath the said platform we provide a lever H',

page_text: pivotted at a point g¹, the inner end of which is connected by a chain, link, or wire
rope i, to the under surface of the free end of the part J, while the opposite end
of H' extends through a slot in, or beneath the sleeper C³, the extreme point of this
end of H being pivotally connected to the end of the wire-rope or the like h. The
exposed end of H¹ has also connected thereto one end of a chain m, which after
passing around, under, or and over suitable pulleys or guides n, has its opposite end
connected to the rod o, of a signal post, so that by a downward pull upon the said
rod the semaphore or arm o¹ of the signal, may be raised or placed at danger, while
the release of such pull may permit o' to fall by its own weight alone, or by the
use of a weighted lever if needed and the manner of operation as follows.
Upon a train entering the station the normally raised track E and E¹, would
be lowered, until seated upon C and C, by the weight of the engine Z, or one or
the other of the coaches, whichever may be thereon when the train is at rest, and
such lowering of this portion of the track would cause the slot f in the plate F",
to operate the lever H, and change the position of this from that shewn by full
lines to that shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and such movement of the free end
of H would impart a pull upon the wire, rope, rod or the like in the direction of
the arrow Fig. 1, and such pull upon this would operate to change the position of
the lever H', from that shewn by full lines to that shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 2,
and such pull upon the exposed end of H¹, would cause its inner end to impart a
pull upon the free end J of the platform, in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 2),
and so raise its hinged or connected portion J, considerably above the level of the
track rails, or substantially as that shewn by full lines in Fig. 6, and by dotted
lines in Figs. 7 and 8, and such movement of the lever H¹ would also impart a pull
upon the chain o and raise the semaphore o' of the signal, and place the line at
danger, to warn a coming train, that the line is blocked by the train in the station,
but directly the train in the station has passed from the rails of the plates E E',
the latter would be again raised by the tension of the springs G, and such rising
of these would cause the slot f in F, to return the lever H to its original position,
and by thus releasing the pull upon h, the signal arm or semaphore of would be
lowered by its own weight, or by a weighted lever if needed, while the platform J J¹
would sink to its original position by its own weight, assisted by auxiliary means
if needed.
The platform JJ' is intended to operate in foggy weather to impart the necessary
signal to the driver of a coming train, and the operation of this is as follows, illus-
trated by Figs. 7, 8 and 11.
:
Within the cabin of all the engines on the railway system, we provide and fix
rertically a tube K in which slide rods L and L', the lower end of L and the upper
end of L, having extended heads p and p respectively. The rod L' has a pro-
jecting pin 2 which engages with a slot in the tube K (Fig. 11), and serves to
regulate the distance of the up and down movements of L', and keep the wheel or
roller M upon its lower end always in alignment with the track whichever way the
engine may be travelling. The upper end of the rod L is pivotally connected to the
arm N fixed upon or formed integrally with the steam regulator P of the engine.
Assuming that a train is within the station and the platform J J¹ is raised as
previously explained, and that the weather is too foggy for the driver of a coming
train to be able to read the signal o at danger, and that his regulator is on
or substantially as shewn by full lines at Fig. 8, the wheel M upon the lower end
of L' would collide with the end J of the platform, and by riding upon this would
raise the rods Land L' and the latter by raising the arm N, would push over the
regulator P, into the positions shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 8, and so shut off the
steam and stop the train, and to the ear of an experienced driver the shutting off
the steam alone would suffice to make known to him that the signal was up,"
when he would apply the brake in the usual way, but in order to guard against
the possibility of such shutting down of steam escaping the notice of the driver and
stoker, the pin p² may be extended in length, or other well known means may be
*
"

page_text: provided by which the rising of the rod L' may operate a mechanical electrical or
other sonorous signal placed within the cabin of the engine.
As previously stated, it is intended that our invention shall work automatically,
without being dependant upon the home signalman or any other person, and from
the foregoing description it will be understood to do so, but there may be circum-
stances occurring within or near the station, such for instance as a person or pack-
age falling from the platform on to the track, which may necessitate that the
distant signal be raised to "danger" without depressing the plates E and E as
stated. For this purpose (see Figs. 9 and 10) we form certain excavations beneath
the track plates E and E¹, to accomodate the presence of a rod R, depending from
the point of connection a of E and E¹, the lower end of which said rod passes freely
through the eyer upon one end of a lever S, pivotted at a point s, the opposite end
of which said lever is connected to a collar t upon the lower end of a threaded
vertical rod T, passing upward through threaded holes in plates V and V₁, fixed in
or formed integrally with a pillar W, placed adjacent to the track, or may be in
such a position as to be operated from the station platform, the upper end of the
said rod T being provided with a wheel or handle X, by means of which it may
be rotated, or by substituting or adding suitable gearing the oscillating of the
lever S may be effected by and from the cabin of the home signal.
The normal position of the lever S would be that shewn by full lines, which pro-
vides, that during the lowering and raising of the track E E, the said rod R would
move up and down idly through the eye r, but should it be necessary for any reason
to place the distant signal ol at danger, and raise the platform J J, this could be
done by rotating the wheel or handle X, 'in a right handed direction, when the
collar would be raised and the eye r be lowered thereby, and the latter by impart-
ing a downward pull upon the joint a would lower E E', on to the sleepers CC,
when such lowering of E E', would operate upon the distant signal, and the plat-
ferm JJ in the same way as if EE were lowered by the presence of a train, as
previously described, and it will be obvious that by a slight modification in the
construction of T, W, X, that the stated movements of the lever S may be operated
from the home signal box, if desired.
It will be understood that the description of our invention herein given, applies
equally to both the up and down lines.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
(1) The herein described system and apparatus for automatically signalling upon
railways, for the purposes stated, and substantially as herein described and shewn
by the appended drawings.
(2) In an improved system of railway signalling, the combination of a movable
section of the permanent way within a station, such as a pair of connected plates
or frames E and E', carrying sections A A¹ and B B13¹, of the track, the said plates
or frames being adapted to rise by the power of suitable spring such as G, and fall
by the weight of a train when thereon, the said plates having depending portions F
and F, the latter provided with means for operating a lever H, for imparting a pull
upon a rod, wire, rope, or cord h, for operating the distant signal substantially as
and for the purposes herein described and shewn by the accompanying drawings.
(3) In an improved system of railway signalling in foggy weather, and in com-
bination with the apparatus set forth in the preceding claims, the combination of
a jointed platform J and J placed between the track rails near to the distant signal,
and adapted to be raised coincidentally with the placing of the distant signal at
danger by a pull imparted by the rod or the like h operating upon a lever H
connected to J, the said platform when so elevated operating to raise a compound
rod such as L L', upon a passing engine, the said rod when so raised, acting upon
the steam regulating lever of the engine for turning off the steam, and operating
*

page_text: a mechanical, electrical or other sonorous signal substantially as herein described
and shewn, by the drawing annexed.
(4) In combination with the system of signalling and apparatus therefor set
forth in the preceding claims, the combination of a rod R depending from the
joint of the plates or frames E and E¹, and engaging with the eye r of a lever S,
pivotted at s, and operated by the rotation of a threaded vertical rod or shaft T,
mounted within a standard W, the said rod being adapted to be rotated by hand
by the means of a wheel or handle such as X, or by the means of suitable gearing
actuated from the home or station signal cabin substantially as and for the purposes
herein set forth and shewn by the drawings.
Dated this 27th dor of October 1808
GEO. THOS. HYDE,
1, Broad Street Buildings, Liverpool Street, London, E.C.,
Agent for the Applicants.