IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRAMWAYS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry William Hughes, of Liverpool,. in the
County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF TRAMWAYS."
Sealed the 22nd November 1872, and dated the 7th September 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry William Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 7th September 1872.
I, HENRY WILLIAM HUGHES, of Liverpool, in the County of Lan-
caster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRAMWAYS," to be as follows:-
The mode of construction is as follows:-After cutting a narrow
channel six or eight inches wide and about the same depth to admit the
rail, an iron standard is driven into the trench so as to bring the top to
the required height; the top of the standard is made with a slightly
dovetailed mortice in which the rail slips.
The standard is of cast iron about six inches from the top to the foot,
which is about five inches in diameter, having a spike below six inches

page_text: long, which is driven into the bottom of the trench. The standard can
be made of any size or dimension to receive a rail of any other shape
and then pinned through, but by using the dovetail as hercin-after
described pinning or bolting is avoided. Every alternate standard will
have a square cotter which is made to take out so as to allow the rail to
be moved backward and forward so as to take a rail out at any time
without disturbing the road; or this can be left out altogether as the
rail must last as long as the road.
The standard being simply driven into the ground one at each end of
the rail, the broad base or foot resting on or near the bottom of the
trench and being adjusted to the required height, the rail is placed in,
and the trench is filled up with concrete or cement and rough stones or
gravel, finishing off with a layer of the hardest known description of
cement, concrete, or other suitable substances which is then corrugated
or grooved in diamonds to resemble very small setts or bricks, such as
used for stalls in stables, which makes a perfectly safe, road for horses,
and is so hard that a chisel will not cut it. When the cement is poured
in the whole becomes one solid mass.
The present or any other rail can be used, but I propose to lay down
a plain rail one and a half inches wide only and about one inch thick,
with a longitudinal rib beneath about one inch and a quarter deep and
one inch thick at the bottom, rather less next the rail; and by using a
wooden batten (when the cement is poured in). I form a groove for the
flange of the wheel to run in, the batten being removed when the cement
is sufficiently set (say in an hour or so) thus avoiding the expense of
the present broad rail.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry William Hughes in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY 30
WILLIAM HUGHES, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, in the year

page_text: 7. Great economy in laying down, the expense being one-fourth or one-
fifth that of any other system.
8. Increased ease and speed in laying down the road.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improve-
ments in the Construction of Tramways," I will now proceed to describe
more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, and in order that the same may be
clearly understood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illus-
trative thereof, and have marked the same with figures and letters of
reference corresponding with those in the following explanation. thereof.
The mode of construction is as follows:-After cutting a narrow
channel six or eight inches wide and about the same depth to admit the
rail, an iron standard a, a, (see Fig. 1), is driven into the trench so as
to bring the top to the required height; the top of the standard is made
with a slightly dovetailed mortice b, b, in which the rail slips.
$
The standard represented in the Drawing is of cast iron about six
inches from the top to the foot, which is about five inches in diameter,
having a spike a¹, a¹, below, five inches long which is driven into the
bottom of the trench, but I wish it to be particularly understood that the
standard can be made of wrought iron and any size or dimension to
receive a rail of any form, for instance with a rectangular groove instead
of a dovetail, as shown at Fig. 3, (in which case the rail must be secured
by pins as at c, c; or of any other shape such as that shown at Fig. 4,
wherein the dovetail d, d, is on the standard; and the groove e, e, in the
rail, but by using the dovetail as shown at Figs. 1 and 4 pinning or
bolting is avoided; every alternate standard will have a wider groove as
shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1 to receive a cotter which is made to
take out so as to allow the rail to be moved backward and forward so as
to take a rail out at any time without disturbing the road, or if preferred
this can be left out altogether as the rail must last as long as the road.
The standard a, a, being simply driven into the ground one at each
end of the rail, and one in the centre if required the broad base or
foot a, a, resting on or near the bottom of the trench and being
adjusted to the required height, the rail is placed in and the trench is
filled up with concrete or cement, and rough stones or gravel; finishing
off with a layer of the hardest known description of cement, concrete, or
other suitable substance or composition, which is then corrugated or

page_text: grooved in diamonds to resemble very small setts or bricks such as used
for stalls in stables, which makes a perfectly safe road for the horses, and
is so hard that a chisel will not cut it. When the cement is poured in
the whole becomes one solid mass.
The present or any other rail can be used, but I propose to lay down a
plain rail one and a half inch wide only, and about one inch thick with a
longitudinal rib beneath of half an inch deep and five-eighths thick at
the bottom, rather less next the rail as shown at Fig. 2, and by using a
wooden batten (when the cement is poured in), I form a groove for the
flange of the wheel to run in, the batten being removed when the cement
is sufficiently set (say in an hour or so), and thus avoiding the expense
of the present broad rail; but if preferred the rails may be grooved
either in the centre or at the side as shown at Fig. 3.
Figs. 5 and 6, show in elevation and plan view the mode of laying and
securing the rails; f,f, being the cotters used at the joints.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I
claim as my Invention the construction of tramways, substantially as
herein-before set forth and described, without confining myself to the
precise form or dimensions shown in the Drawings, so long as the
peculiar character of my Invention is retained, which consists principally
in forming suitable grooves or channels in the roadway, into the bottom
of which spiked standards are driven, such standards having their heads
so formed as to receive and secure the rails, the grooves or channels
being subsequently filled in with cement or other suitable material or
composition.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry William Hughes, have here--
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
H. W. HUGHES. (L.S.)