IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS, AND IN WHEELS TO RUN ON RAILWAYS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR CLEARING THE RAILS
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Baron'
VICTOR de WYDROFF, of Old Bracknell, in the County of Berks, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-ninth day of December, in the sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Baron Victor de Wydroff, Her especial licetice, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Baron Victor de Wydroff, my exors, adiñiors,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said Baron Victor de Wydroff, my
exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein men-
tioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS, AND IN WHEELS TO RUN ON RAILWAYS, AND
IN APPARATUS FOR CLEARING THE RAILS;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso obliging me, the said Baron Victor de Wydroff, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
samic, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Baron Victor de Wydroff, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon, that is to say:―
To construct a railway according to my plan, I place, every two yards, on
well-rammed ground or on a prepared foundation, according to the nature of
the soil), round blocks (a, a, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, in the accompany-
ing Drawings,) and transverse sleepers (b, b,) of cast iron, made hollow, in
which there is a slope or cutting of 90° destined to receive the longitudinal
bearers (c, c,) at a right angle. These longitudinal bearers are twelve inches
square, and are placed at a right angle in the slope of those blocks or iron
sleepers in such a manner that one of the diagonals of the square is perpen-
dicular to the surface of the earth. I prefer a six-feet gage between the rails,
as the carriages would be far more secure, and adhere better to the rails, and
be better proportioned by size and width to the rapidity of the motion. These
longitudinal bearers thus fixed are elevated about three inches above the
ground, and the rails about eighteen inches. Thus the longitudinal bearers
and the rails are above the soil. The blocks are kept in their places by
means of wrought-iron bars d, d, which extend across them and the longi-
tudinal bearers from rail to rail. These bars are fastened by pins e, e,
inside, and nuts f, f, outside. The transverse sleepers of cast iron are
hollow, and generally placed at the joints of the longitudinal bearers, and are
kept in their places like the blocks by means of iron bars d', d', which are
held in their places by pins e, e, and nuts f, f, on the inside, thus forming
together a perfect framework above the ground, and thus all the parts of the
railway may readily be examined and repaired. The advantage of this mode
of construction consists in its uniting simplicity and strength, economy of
workmanship and material, and a saving in repairs; because the wood, being
above the ground, does not rot, as it is exposed only to the action of the air;
the turpentine or sap contained in it does not evaporate, especially if the pre-
cantion is taken of covering it with a coat or two of white paint. In my
plan, if one or more blocks or cast-iron sleepers give way, it is at once per-
ceptible, and the same may easily and speedily to be replaced on its level by
ramming beneath them some stones or earth without any further trouble.
If a longitudinal bearer requires to be changed, it is replaced very casily by
unscrewing the nuts f. f, and removing the iron bar d, d, that preserves the
gage, and by throwing off the old one, the new longitudinal bearer being

page_text: brought alongside, may be fastened with little labour. The longitudinal
bearers placed on the angles, and the hollow rails being fixed on the top of
one of the angles or upper surface, gives great strength, and the rails cannot
bend by the weight of a train; and even if they did bend at all, by the natural
elasticity of the wood they would return immediately to their primitive form
and place, whilst solid iron rails, if bent too much, do not so easily, if at all,
return again to their level. The rails so laid and fixed cannot have any jolt-
ing, as the longitudinal bearers repose upon an angle and the two sides of
their square, and to bend one angle and the two sides of its square must
break, whilst the opposite surfaces must contract. On the top angle of the
longitudinal bearer, slightly squared, is laid down the hollow rail g, g, which
being thus placed. presents at all points of its surface the same elasticity of
resistance; that is to say, that there is not more elasticity or hardness where
the blocks or transverse iron sleepers support the longitudinal bearer than in
the places where there are no blocks at all underneath them. I have two
systems of rails: the one presents outside three parts of a circle, and is hollow
inside, see Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8; the other is a perfect circle or tube
(the diameter of which may vary from three inches upwards (see Figures
5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14). This form of rail will resist considerable pressure,
and cannot readily be flattened. The pressure of a wheel being perpendicular
towards the earth, it presses on the solid part of the rail until it meets the
hollow, where it divides upon the arch or angle right and left without being
able to flatten the rail; whereas, if a solid rail is compressed by the wheels,
which affect every grain throughout the volume of the iron, the pressure must
flatten it; and it is known by experience that an old rail taken up is not
materially diminished in weight, (but its shape is altered; it is flattened, and
therefore I use a rail which will not flatten. The felloe of my construction
of wheels is concave (see Figure 11), or partly so (Figures 15 and 16), with
one or two flanges, and the concavity of the felloe is of a greater radius than
the circle of the rail. The two surfaces of the felloe and the rail touch one
another in a mathematical point. The wheels will thus continually slip until.
the rails are in the middle of their concavity, or till the rails come in contact
with the smallest diameter of the wheels; and in passing over a curve on the
rails the felloe of the front or leading wheel will touch the rail, in one point
of its concavity, when the hind wheel will touch it in another point of the
radius of the concavity of the felloe; because the axletrees being parallel in
the same carriage cannot take in their course the radius of the curves of the
railway, and are prevented following the impulse of the zigzag motion of the
locomotive engine. Thus, the train can never quit the rails, as to do so it

page_text: would be necessary to work up half a circle of the felloe of the wheel, which would
lift up the engine and the train an inch or two above their usual level upon
the rails. I prefer to make my rails sixty or seventy pounds in weight per
yard measure, and I fasten them to the longitudinal bearers by means of
screws or bolts of iron, see Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, leaving a certain
.space between each length of rails for the contraction of iron, according to the
climate. My wheels are solid, and without spokes, from four to five feet in
diameter, as shewn at Figures 15, 16, the sides of the wheel being made
concave to enable them to resist the lateral motion of the carriages. The
wheels will then have an uniform rotation by pressing equally on the rail
without hammering it, as the felloe of the wheel will present at every point
of its surface the same elasticity of resistance. These wheels are loose on
'the axletrees in order that each of theni may make its own revolution, though
the axletree turns in the ordinary bearings of the springs which suspend the
carriage. Thus, both axletree and wheels are loose and independent of each
other in their revolution. The grease box which suspends the apparatus for
cleaning the rails is represented in Figures 15, 16. Its peculiar construction
allows the oiling of wheels and axletrees at the same time.
The apparatus for clearing the rails is composed of large iron frames, con-
structed on inclined planes on six or four wheels, of which two are small ones h, h,
as shewn by Figures 15, 17, in front, and two or four wheels i, i, of ordinary size
behind, Figures 15, 16, 17. Both frames are covered with an iron apron j, j,
composed of inclined surfaces, which in its course will throw on each side of
the rails snow, earth, or anything else which may obstruct the free passage
of the locomotive engine and its train. The cleaning of the rails is effected
by means of moveable scrapers k, k, hung from the great frame, which are
retained in their position by means of springs 1, 2, that permit them to give
way at the junction of the rails without lifting them up. Immediately behind
these scrapers follow little ploughs m, m, which are fixed and do not touch
the rail, but gliding gently above it they receive and cast behind, in their
progress, the snow, ice, or other matter.which the moveable scraper may have
turned up. The ploughs are followed by a wire brush n, n, which completes
entirely the clearing of the rails. This brush descends by its own weight to
allow for wear.. A carriage or box o, o, containing dry sand, is supported on
the two or four hind wheels of this apparatus, which throws sand by means of
a pipe p, p, placed at its lowest extremity, as it is required, upon the rail or
wheel, to enable the wheel to bite the rail, as it sometimes turns on its axles
without advancing when the rails are slippery. The bottom of the sand
carriage or box is constructed on an inclined plane towards the pipe p, p, to

page_text: make the sand run out, and the sand may be prevented running out of the
box by a sliding door q, q, worked by a handle r, r. This apparatus bearing
the sand box is suspended, by means of guard plates. and springs, on the
extremities of the axletrees. The guard plates may be mounted with brass at
the concavity which supports the whole weight of the apparatus, to prevent the
great friction, which renders the iron very brittle. The preserving guard
plate s, s, Figures 16 and 18, is fixed inside of the wheels of the apparatus.
This guard plate has no duty to perform under ordinary circumstances. They
do not touch the axle, but are placed and fixed underneath the apparatus to
receive the axletree if it should happen to break, and thus prevent the over-
turn of the apparatus. These guard plates may be applied to all sorts of
carriages with great security and advantage. On the back of this apparatus
is fastened or suspended a powerful buffer, composed of a certain system of
springs t, t, and t¹, t, which are so constructed, by means of regulators u, u,
that whatever part of the iron plate v, v, is struck, all the springs will yield
at the same moment, the power of these springs being proportioned to the
velocity and resistance they may encounter. I join the apparatus to the train
by means of ball sockets, Figure 19, fastened together by a socket ring
w, w, to which is suspended heavy weights x, x, to keep the ring shut by its
own gravity. Thus, by means of these ball sockets, immediately the appa-
ratus enters a curve upon the railway it takes the radius of that curve.
have also constructed two other hooks, which I intend to use to detach the
apparatus from the locomotive in case of a shock or other accident, to allow
the locomotive to run out of the way. See Figures 20, 21, 22, and 23.
I
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details shewn and described; but what I claim is,-
First, the mode of constructing hollow or tubular railways above the surface
of the ground, as above described.
Secondly, the mode of making the wheels of railway carriages solid and
concave upon their sides, and also the mode of attaching them to the axle-
trees, by which means the wheels can turn independently of each other when
combined with an axletree, which is also capable of turning freely; and,
Thirdly, I claim the mode of making an apparatus for clearing the rails, as
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Baron Victor de Wydroff, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eight day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
BARON VICTOR (L.S.) DE WYDROFF.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-eighth day of June,
in the year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid Baron Victor de Wydroff came
before our said Lady the Queen in Iler Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.