IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Neilson, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES."
Sealed the 27th June 1856, and dated the 24th April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Neilson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
April, 1856.
I, WALTER NEILSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of locomotive
steam engines as more particularly suited for working mineral lines of railway,
or for goods traffic. These engines have each a single cylinder only, disposed
horizontally in the framing beneath the fire-box end of the boiler, being bolted
to the under side of a flat frame plate, which is itself attached by parallel edge
flanges to the inner sides of the two main framing bars. The engine is
carried on four coupled wheels, and the cylinder end is just clear of the
hind axle. The piston rod works out beneath the foot plate of the driver in
the longitudinal centre line of the engine, the stuffing box being in the
after cover of the cylinder. The projecting end of the piston rod carries a
long cross-head, the two ends of which are entered into parallel guide slots in

page_text: bracket pieces depending from the framing; and to each end of this cross-head
is jointed the after end of a long outside connecting rod, which passes forward
outside the framing to a crank pin in the after driving wheel. The wheels
are coupled to work in concert, and provision is made for securing a better
action on passing the dead centres, by arranging the coupling pins on one
side of the engine a quarter of the circle round in advance of the same parts
on the other side; with this arrangement the connecting rods can never act
in opposite directions as might occur without this contrivance. The piston
rod may be guided in various ways, still preserving the position of the cylinder
herein-before described, and in cases where increased power is required, a
second cylinder may be placed at the forward end of the engine in the same
axial line as the after cylinder, or otherwise. The slide valve is on the upper
side of the cylinder, and it is worked by a single eccentric on the front axle
fitted with a double forked eccentric rod for reversing. The brake action is
worked by a hand wheel or lever handle on the after end of an inclined shaft,
which is carried in bearings attached to the boiler; the opposite end of this
shaft is screwed to work a nut in the upper end of the brake lever, the rocking
shaft of which carries a pair of pendant levers actuating a pair of brake blocks
placed just behind the front wheels. The boiler is a plain even cylinder, and
the water tank is in the form of a saddle upon its front portion. For the
regulation of the feed supply from the tank, a lever is arranged on the top of
the boiler within convenient reach of the driver, the opposite end of this
lever being jointed to a pendant rod passing into the tank, and having at its
lower end an elastic disc piece guarding the open end of the water pipe. The
fire-box is prolonged to a considerable distance into the barrel of the boiler,
and it is fitted with a brick bridge a short distance from the tube plate.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Walter Neilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
NEILSON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said

page_text: Walter Neilson, Her special license that I, the said Walter Neilson, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Walter Neilson,
my executors, administrators, or 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 LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Walter Neilson, 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 Walter Neilson, 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
in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said invention relates to the arrangement and construction of locomotive
steam engines as more particularly suited for working mineral lines of railway,
or for goods traffic. These engines have each a single cylinder only, disposed
horizontally in the framing beneath the fire box end of the boiler, being bolted
to the underside of a flat frame plate, which is itself attached by parallel-edge
flanges to the inner sides of the two main framing bars. The engine is carried
on four coupled wheels, and the cylinder end is just clear of the hind axle.
The piston rod works out beneath the foot plate of the driver in the longi-
tudinal centre line of the engine, the stuffing box being in the after cover of
the cylinder. The projecting end of the piston rod carries a long cross-head,
the two ends of which are entered into parallel guide slots in bracket pieces
depending from the framing; and to each end of this cross-head is jointed the
after end of a long outside connecting rod, which passes forward outside the
framing to a crank pin in the after driving wheel. The wheels are coupled to'
work in concert, and provision is made for securing a better action on passing
the dead centres, by arranging the coupling pins on one side of the engine a
quarter of the circle round in advance of the same parts on the other side;
with this arrangement the connecting rods can never act in opposite direc-
tions as might occur without this contrivance. The piston rod may be guided
in various ways, still preserving the position of the cylinder herein-before
described, and in cases where increased power is required, a second cylinder

page_text: may be placed at the forward end of the engine in the same axial line as the
after cylinder, or otherwise. The slide valve is on the upper side of the
cylinder, and it is worked by a single eccentric on the front axle, fitted with a
double forked eccentric rod for reversing. The brake action is worked by a
hand wheel or lever handle on the after end of an inclined shaft, which is
carried in bearings attached to the boiler; the opposite end of this shaft is
screwed to work a nut in the upper end of the brake lever, the rocking shaft
of which carries a pair of pendant levers actuating a pair of brake blocks
placed just behind the front wheels. The boiler is a plain even cylinder, and
the water tank is in the form of a saddle upon its front portion. For the
regulation of the feed supply from the tank, a lever is arranged on the top of
the boiler within convenient reach of the driver, the opposite end of this lever
being jointed to a pendant rod passing into the tank, and having at its lower
end an elastic disc piece guarding the open end of the water pipe. The fire
box is prolonged to a considerable distance into the barrel of the boiler, and it
is fitted with a brick bridge a short distance from the tube plate.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I have
hereunto appended, and shall now proceed to describe a Sheet of explanatory
Drawings. Figure 1 on the said Sheet being a side elevation; Figure 2, an
end elevation looking on the smoke box; and Figure 3, a plan, one-half in
horizontal section, of a locomotive engine constructed according to my improved
system. The single steam cylinder A, with which this engine is furnished, is
placed horizontally and longitudinally in a central position within the framing
and immediately below the fire box B, being bolted to a flat plate C which is
itself attached by flanges to the two main framing bars D. The front end of
the cylinder is just clear of the hindmost of the axles of the four coupled
wheels E upon which the engine is carried, and the piston rod F works out
beneath the foot plate G through a stuffing-box in the after cover of the
cylinder. The piston rod F is fitted with a long cross-head H working in
guides I, bolted bracketwise to the frame bars D, and having jointed to its
laterally projecting ends a pair of outside connecting rods J passing forward to
crank pins K, N, in the after wheels E. The front and back wheels E are
coupled by means of connecting rods L, M ; the rod L on one side being jointed
upon the pin K on the after wheel, and upon a pin in a corresponding position
upon the front wheel; whilst the rod M, on the other side, is jointed upon the
outer end of the pin N, cranked to bring the said outer end into a position a
quarter of a circle round from the point of connection of the connecting rod J,
and upon a pin in a corresponding position upon the front wheel on that side,
a quarter of a circle round from the pin on the front wheel on the other side.

page_text: With this arrangement the connecting rods L, M, can never act in opposite
directions as might otherwise occur. The slide valve of the cylinder A and
the valve casing O are upon the top of the cylinder, and the valve is worked
by a single eccentric on the front axle, the rod P of the eccentric being formed
with two forks or gabs, and being raised or lowered for reversing the engine
by means of the bell-crank lever Q and rod R. The weigh-shaft S carries
on one end a lever T extending in opposite directions, each end being fitted
with a pin, with one of which pins the eccentric rod P is in gear accordingly as
the engine is going forwards or backwards. The weigh-shaft S works in
brackets bolted to the transverse frame bar U, and is fitted with two levers V,
to which are jointed rods W passing back on each side of the valve casing O
to a cross-head X on the valve rod, which last works out through a stuffing-
box at the back. The feed pump plunger is attached directly to the piston-rod
cross-head H at Y, the pump being below the plate C, but the feed pipes are
not shown in Figures 1 and 3, to avoid complexity. The steam enters the
valve casing by a pipe Z at one side, and the exhaust steam is conveyed to the
chimney by a bent pipe a. The barrel 6 of the boiler is cylindrical, as also
is the smoke box c, and the fire box B is flattened on its upper side. A saddle-
shaped tank dis placed upon the forward part of the boiler, and an open
extensive e over the fire box of this chest or tank forms a receptacle for coals.
The engine is furnished with brakes f, which are arranged to act on the front
wheels, being hung upon pins in the frame bars D, and being actuated by
pendant levers g upon a transverse shaft h fitted at one end with a bent lever i ;
the end of this lever i is forked, and carries a swivel nut tapped to receive
the end of a screwed rod ; which passes to the back of the engine and is there
fitted with a handle k by means of which it is turned by the engine man, so
as to put the brakes into or out of action when required. The various minor
details of the engine may be arranged in a variety of ways, and may be con-
structed as in common engines, so that it is unnecessary to particularise them
herein. It will also be obvious to the practical engine builder that the various
details more particularly described herein may be modified to suit the circum-
stances and special requirements of particular cases. If, for example, it should
be objectionable to have the cylinder or cylinders so far behind, these details
may be carried forward more to the front end of the engine, and for wide
guage engines, where a long cross-head worked by a central piston rod would
be objectionable, two parallel cylinders may be used; the piston rods of such
cylinders being attached to the single cross-head so as to act simultaneously.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into

page_text: effect, I may observe, in conclusion; that I do not confine or restrict myself to
the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the system or mode of constructing locomotive steam engines with
one or more steam cylinders placed in. the longitudinal centre line between the
sides of the framing, as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of connecting the piston rod of a central
steam cylinder, or the rods of a pair of steam cylinders set side by side and
acting on a single cross-head with the driving wheels by means of a cross-head
and horizontal connecting rods.
Third, the system or mode of attaching the connecting rods, wherein the rod
on one side of the engine has its driving crank pin, in advance of the corre-
sponding crank pin on the opposite side, for the purpose of preventing the
possibility of antagonistic action, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Neilson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-six.