IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILS FOR RAILWAYS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Bagot, of Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, South
Wales, Civil Engineer and Mineral Surveyor, for the Invention of
"
Sealed the 8th September 1854, and dated the 25th March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Bagot at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
March 1854.
I, EDWARD BAGOT, of Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, South Wales, Civil
Engineer and Mineral Surveyor, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILS FOR RAILWAYS" to
be as follows:-
I propose to construct each rail of two or more distinct pieces of iron, to bé
held together by bolts or screws; my object being to facilitate the manufacture
and renewal of rails, so that when any one portion, for instance the top, is
worn out, a new piece may be inserted, without disturbing or discarding the
entire rail, as is at present done. The novelty of the Invention consists in the
manufacturing of rails in two or more pieces, instead of rolling them out, as at
present, in one piece, from a single pile of iron.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Bagot in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
BAGOT, of Llanelly, Carmarthenshire, South Wales, Civil Engineer and
Mineral Surveyor, send greeting...
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Bagot, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Bagot,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Bagot, 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 MANUFACTURE
OF RAILS FOR RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,. the
said Edward Bagot, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Edward Bagot, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the Drawings, hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
Whereas it is a well-known fact, that the top half inch of rails upon
railways forms their chief wearing point, and that in some localities of heavy
traffic the wear caused by attrition upon this point necessitates the frequent
renewal and removal of the entire rail, which in all points else except the top
may be quite sound and perfect, and would otherwise last for very many years
fit, for use; and whereas upon all railways this renewal must be effected
periodically, so soon as the said top part becomes unserviceable, which thereby
causes great loss to railway companies, who are obliged to sell as old iron their
rails, thus only partially worn upon their topmost edge, and whose renewal
adds risk to the public safety, as well as a heavy_cost and waste in both

page_text: materials and labour; and whereas a combined rail having a top or wearing
portion, and a base or fixed part, rolled separately, would tend greatly to
remedy these defects: I therefore propose to construct each rail of two or
more distinct pieces of iron, to be held together. by bolts or screws; my object
being to facilitate the manufacture and renewal of rails, so that when any: one
portion, for instance the top, is worn out, a new piece may be inserted without
disturbing or discarding the entire rail, as is at present done. The novelty of
the Invention consists in the manufacturing of rails in two or more pieces,
instead of rolling them out, as at present, in one piece, from a single pile of
iron. I therefore propose to adapt one general principle to the manufacture
of rails of every variety of section, namely, to construct them of two or more
pieces of wrought or rolled iron, so that when put together the component
parts shall form one rail, and preserve the outline of the original, rolled singly,
as nearly as circumstances will admit of. This is necessary, to enable these
combined rails to be introduced upon existing railways without much difficulty
or. difference of section. The principal parts may be called respectively as
distinctive features of my claim; the base or bottom and the top of the rail,
which latter may be made of superior iron or hardened metal, or partly or
wholly steel, or any amalgamation of metal, or consequently of reduced bear-
ing surface to diminish friction; while the former may be of inferior material,
and are to. be held together when in use by bolts or screws or rivets of iron
or other material, where requisite, through oblong or round or other holes,
and fastened to. iron chairs or sleepers, or stone or wood blocks, or timbers
longitudinal or transverse, and with iron or other tie-bars, or laid upon broken
stone or ballasting, or other form of permanent way, in such a manner as may
be found most suitable for the stability of each different description of rail,
the bottom part thus becoming its own continuous chair or sleeper, or both,
but breaking joint severally amongst the component parts when laid down or
otherwise, and with expanding powers where requisite, and boiler plate or
flat or curved iron bed plates or saddles at the joints, if desirable.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1, section of bridge rail in two parts, capped, sides vertical, shewing
outline of original rail, and screw bolt with nut, flanged to various lengths,
and capable of enlargement or diminution in all its dimensions. This remark
applies to every section of rail; 2, elevation or side view of Fig. 1, shewing
one form of bolt hole at junction of two caps or top parts of rail; 3, section of
bridge rail in two parts capped; the tongue and cap-inside bevilled; 3", dotted,

page_text: of reduced size, and of wedge-form of head; 4, same as above, but in 3 parts;
4, dotted shoulders, if desirable; 5, same as above, in 2 parts; the bottom
bridged, to reduce weight; sides bevilled; 5*, dotted, to shew the various
forms it can take; sides bevilled; 6, in 3 parts; sides plain angle iron,
top resting on three points, and reduced to save weight; 6*, dotted, to shew a
stronger form; 6 and 6º, tops of different forms from Fig. 6; 7, ditto, in two
parts, tongued, with side rests square, bottom of tongue convex, and resting on
the base; the 'bolt intended for a cottrell; 8, section of tongue, with sides
and resting points all square; 8%, another form, dotted; 9, the same as Fig. 7,
but bottom of tongue concave; 9ª, dotted, to save weight; 10, ditto, in three
parts, with spur at bottom of the two side pieces; 10, dotted, of reduced size;
11, ditto, in two parts, flanged to twelve inches wide, to rest upon ballasting or
other suitable material, to save the usual intervening sleepers, slightly curved;
11, dotted, to shew a reduced weight; 12, ditto, in three parts for ballasting,
shewing a form for connecting the sides at ; 13, ditto, shewing another form
of self-connecting sides; 14, ditto, side rests and tongue square, and a thick
base or pair of spurs at centre, with or without tongue resting upon it;
14*, dotted, for reduced weight; 15, ditto, plain angle iron, with side rests and
tongue square; 15b, the same, reduced for weight; 15, the same, but much
lower and of reduced weight; 16, ditto, with side rests and tongue bevilled,
and thin base or spurs at centre; 16", dotted, of reduced weight; 17, ditto,
flanged to twelve inches for ballasting, reduced in weight, with a strong top
and basement spurs for holding sides together at "; 17%, dotted, of lessened
width of flange; 17, sides plain angle iron; 18, simple form of self-connection
for sides to save bolts; 19, section of double-bridged wide rail in two parts;
19°, another form of bottom, dotted; 20, section of flange rail in two parts,
shewing original outline, dotted; inside of cap and tongue vertical, and top
square; outside of cap reduced, to save weight; 21, ditto, with all sides vertical,
and top of tongue rounded, and original outline dotted; 22, ditto, sides of
tongue and cap, all bevilled, and top rounded; 22ª, dotted, to shew a swelling
head of the bottom part and diminished weight of top; 23, ditto, in 3 parts,
shewing various forms for cap a and b, being dotted; 24, ditto, in two parts,
and flanged to twelve inches; 24ª, dotted, for another form at *; 25, ditto, in
three parts, sides overlapping; 25, ditto, sides straight and dotted; 26, part
of 25 curved; 27, simple form of self-tie for sides; 28, section of double T
head rail in two equal parts, fitted square and bolted, &c.; 28", ditto, of reduced
size; 29, ditto, outside of cap bevilled, inside square, with top rounded; 29",
reduced weight of top; 30, ditto, similar to 28, but stouter. In this form of

page_text: rail the bolt holes may be punched alternately for an upper and a lower bolt;
30, the same reduced in weight, dotted; 31 and 31, elevation or side view
of a capped rail, shewing at A the ordinary bolt hole through top and bottom,
united at B, the bolt hole at junction of two bottoms at C, ditto, of two tops;
32, sketch of bridge rail in section at A, in elevation or side view at B, shewing
bolt holes and form of uniting the several component parts by breaking their
joints, thereby insuring a more steady track in plan at C and D. Scale of
B and C and D for lengths, ten feet to an inch. The sides and top are
supposed to be rolled to thirty feet long to reduce the number of joints. Bolt
holes supposed every two feet, or less or more, if desirable; the other Drawings
are made to the full size of originals; 33, T head, top supported on plain angle
iron, in three pieces to various lengths of flange; 34, the same, in two parts;
35, another form for flange rails, in two parts, countersunk on base; 86, ditto,
in three parts; 37, ditto, in two parts; 38, ditto, with broader base or toe
at; 39, another section of flange rail, adapted to the double T head form of
junction in two parts; 39, ditto, with spud piece omitted; 40, curved base
with broad toe at *.
4
These Drawings, then, numbered 1 to 40, on three Sheets, shew, in a
general point of view, the variety of forms that can be given to those different
sorts of combined rails, it being impossible to indicate exactly the infinite
number of changes that may be made from the superior judgment or
pleasure of engineers or manufacturers, in adapting the main principle or
novelty of this Patent to the various sections of rails. It is therefore not
here intended to restrict by patent right any one particular section of rail;
to patent every form would be practically impossible, from the numberless
changes that might be made, and to secure any one form would be unsafe, as
it could be so easily evaded; but only the general principle applicable to all
sections, namely, to make them of two or more pieces, called base or bottom
and top pieces, of which, when laid laid down for use, the latter is removeable
without disturbing the former, whereby an important saving in the cost of
renewing rails, both in labor, rail iron, timber, and bolts, is effected, and a
system of broad flange or iron sleeper rail is introduced, to be laid upon
broken stone or ballasting, or the naked roadway, without the intervening
chairs or sleepers. These matters, then, I propose and claim to effect by the
introduction of the economic and novel principle here specified, namely, rolling
rails in two or more parts, top and bottom; which I therefore claim to have
originated, having suggested various modes, though perhaps not all, of carrying
out the same, and consequently to be entitled by virtue of such to the

page_text: advantages accruing from the discovery, whenever and however rails may
hereafter be rolled in two or more distinct parts, top and bottom, instead of
as at present, from a single pile of iron.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Bagot, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our !
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
EDWARD BAGOT. (L.S.)