IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWIXT THE GUARD OR PASSENGERS AND THE ENGINE DRIVER ON RAILWAY TRAINS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John O'Neill, of Liverpool, in the County, of Lan-
caster, Billiard and Bagatelle Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWIXT THE GUARD OR PASSENGERS AND
THE ENGINE DRIVER ON RAILWAY TRAINS."
Sealed the 29th June 1858, and dated the 30th December 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John O'Neill at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th December 1857.
I, JOHN O'NEILL, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Billiard and
Bagatelle Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWIXT THE GUARD OR PAS-
SENGERS AND THE ENGINE DRIVER ON RAILWAY TRAINS," to be as follows:-
By an arrangement of apparatus I obtain a neat, simple, cheap, and almost
instantaneous mode of communicating as described in the title. Reference*
being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which similar letters of
reference are used to represent the same parts in the different views, a full
understanding will be obtained.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of railway carriages and engine tender, with my..
improvements shewn affixed; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of a railway carriage,
also with my improvements shewn; Fig. 3 is an enlarged side view of the.
catches or hooks marked'd; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged side view of the
arms marked f. a; railway carriages and engine tender; b, levers or rods,
made of malleable iron or other substance, and fastened to the carriages at c;

page_text: d, catches or hooks, one of which is attached at each end of the carriages;
e, guides, also fastened to the carriages, and one at each end to prevent the
arm (which is attached by a joint to the lever or rod 6) being put out of
its place by the rocking motion of a railway train. The outside part of these
guides at e' is made of gutta percha or other like substance, so that it can be
taken out and put in easily as required. These arms f are always fixed to the
levers or rods on the ends of the carriages nearest to the engine, and the
levers or rods 6 are placed into the catches or hooks d when a train is about
to start. Suppose the guard wants to communicate to the driver, all he has
to do is to unfasten or slightly raise the catch or hook d on the lever of his
own van, or at any other part of the train he may chance to be, and the levers
having weights g attached to them will be weighed down at the ends of the
carriages furthest from the engine, and consequently raised at the other end,
and as it rises, the arm f will strike against the catch or hook d on the carriage
preceeding it, and will throw the 'lever 6 out of the catch, consequently the
lever will strike the catch or hook on the carriage again preceeding it, and
so on in an almost incredible short space of time, until the last which is fixed
on the engine or tender strikes a spring attached to a common clock alarum ;
by these means the engine driver's attention is drawn to it. Should any of
the passengers wish to communicate to the driver, they will only require to
give a small rope or such like material a pull, and by its being attached to
the lever on the carriage it will communicate to the driver by setting the
alarum a-going. And again, should any of the carriage couplings break and
leave a few of the carriages behind to the danger of the following trains,
which is sometimes the case, this would be altogether avoided by the use of
my apparatus, for should a train separate, the arm f, as shewn in Fig. 4, will
lift the catch or hook d, allowing the lever or rod to fall out of the catch or
hook, and will therefore communicate to the driver as before described. In
the event of a train running the opposite way to what it had done, that is, that
the ends of the carriages which in the former train followed nearest to the
engine will be furthest from it, it is only necessary to unfasten the arms f, and
weights g, and place them on the opposite ends of the carriages, the arms
nearest to the engine and the weights on the other end, and the apparatus is
again in working order. By these my improvements, which are neat, simple,
cheap, and instantaneous acting, a great advantage will be obtained; many
serious accidents will be avoided by the driver getting timely notice; and in
the event of fire in any of the carriages from friction or otherwise, the
gers can communicate to the driver at once, all as described.
passen-

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John O'Neill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th June 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
O'NEILL, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Billiard and Bagatelle
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of December, in the year of. our Lord'
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John O'Neill, Her special licence that I, the. said John
O'Neill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such. others. as I,
the said John O'Neill, 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 APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWIXT THE GUARD OR
PASSENGERS AND THE ENGINE DRIVER ON RAILWAY TRAINS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John O'Neill, 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 John. O'Neill, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
My Invention consists of an arrangement of machinery or apparatus by.
which the passengers in a railway train can communicate with the guard, the
guard with the engine driver, and also the passengers and guard can.commu--
nicate to the engine driver. I use one line of communication from the
passengers to the guard on the one side of the carriage, and another from the.
guard to. the engine driver on the other side, by which plan, with the necessary
arrangement for carrying out the same; many serious accidents may be pre-.
vented, by the engine driver getting timely notice. The whole apparatus is.
neat, light, and so simple that any one can understand how to apply it.

page_text: My said improvements will be clearly understood by reference to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings and the letters of reference thereon, the
said letters representing the same parts in the different views.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of railway carriages and engine tender, shewing
my improvements attached; Fig. 2 is an end view of a railway carriage, also
shewing my apparatus attached; and Fig. 3, a view of my apparatus where
the carriages are coupled.
a represents the railway carriages and engine tender; b, the bar or lever, made
of malleable iron or other suitable material, fixed by a pin or pivot c to each
carriage a little from the centre, so that the one end may be heavier than the
other; d, bridles or guides, attached at, each end of the carriage in which the
lever b moves, to prevent it from getting out of its place by the rolling motion
of a railway train; e, a steel tongue or lever, which slides on the lever b, held
in its place by the band or bands f, which lever or tongue is raised at the end
or point by a loose rivetted joint or other similar contrivance, and reaches
under the latch 9, holding the lever b on the carriage preceding it. These
latches I propose attaching to, the bridles or guides d, which are made to hold
the lever b, by a small spring h pressing on the top of them. Should any of
the carriages take fire, or a necessity occur for stopping the train on account
of sudden indisposition of any of the passengers, or other causes, it would
only be necessary for the passengers in the carriage to pull a handle, attached
by a wire or chain to the latches g., On the said latch being withdrawn, that
end of the lever would fall, consequently the other would be raised, and in its
rising would strike against the latch on the next carriage, ungearing it, and so
on to the guard's van, where the motion would be given to a common alarum
or such like machine or apparatus that would attract his attention. If neces
sary, the guard can instantly communicate to the engine driver by the other
line of communication, or he can do so from that part of the train where he
may have gone, by simply unslipping the catch g; the driver's attention is
arrested in the same way, namely, by the motion to a clock alarum or similar
instrument..
:
Danger by the breakage of coupling chains would be altogether avoided by
the use of my apparatus, because the raised part of the tongue or lever would
strike against the catch and communicate to the driver in the manner already
described. .
Where only one line of communication is used the motion will only be had
one way, either to the engine driver from the passengers and guard, or from
the passengers and engine driver to the guard. In this case the levers would
require to be suspended about midway, and weights, sliding or otherwise;

page_text: latches, and tongues would be required at each end of the bars, so that should
a train run the contrary way to what it did formerly, the tongues could be put
in gear and the weights removed to the other end of the lever. After com-
municating either way, it would be necessary to gear the apparatus for the
next time it might be required; that I do by hand, simply lifting the end of
the levers they will fall into the latches and thus be geared. Many modes
might be used to accomplish this object, such as levers convenient to the
guard or engine driver, by which the whole could be geared at once, or a
motion from the carriage axles that would gear them, and then throw itself
out of action until again required.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
distinctly understood that I do not confine myself. to the precise details herein
set forth, as such may be varied or modified without departing from the
principle thereof; but I claim as my Invention, and which to the best of my
knowledge and belief has not been hitherto used within the realm, the
arrangement, construction, and combination of the several parts of apparatus,
which consist of the lever or bar, kept in their places by bridles and latches,
so that motion can be given from carriage to carriage in either direction, as
herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John O'Neill, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named John O'Neill, in the presence of
GEORGE SMITH, Patent Agent,
Liverpool.
JOHN O'NEILL. (L.S.)