IMPROVEMENTS IN ARRANGEMENTS OR APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING OMNIBUS TRAFFIC, THE BAID IMPROVEMENTS BEING ALSO APPLICABLE OTHERWISE AND RELATING TO TRAMWAYS, WHEELS, AND CARRIAGES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William McAdam, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ARRANGEMENTS OR APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING OMNIBUS TRAFFIC, THE
BAID IMPROVEMENTS BEING ALSO APPLICABLE OTHERWISE AND RELATING TO
TRAMWAYS, WHEELS, AND CARRIAGES,"
Sealed the 23rd March 1869, and dated the 28th September 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William McAdam at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th September 1868.
I, WILLIAM M° ADAM, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN ARRANGEMENTS OR APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING OMNIBUS
TRAFFIC, THE SAID IMPROVEMENTS BEING ALSO APPLICABLE OTHERWISE AND
RELATING TO TRAMWAYS, WHEELS, AND CARRIAGES," to be as follows, that
is to say:
This Invention has principally for its object the facilitating and
simplifying of the omnibus traffic of large cities, but the improvements
[Price 8d.]

page_text: comprised in it are also applicable otherwise, and they relate to tramways,
wheels, and carriages.
The improved tramway is composed of wrought iron, malleable cast iron,
or steel plates or rails laid in shallow grooves formed for them in the road-
way, whether such roadway is paved with stone or wood o r is macadamised.
The tramway plate is five inches broad with a horizontal surface three
inches broad on one side and a horizontal surface one and a half inches
broad on the other, the latter being three-quarters of an inch higher than
the former, whilst an ogee curve between the two occupies the remaining
half inch of the breadth. These precise dimensions may be varied pro-
vided that similar proportions are retained. The thickness of the plate is
optional, and the under side may be variously shaped, but it is preferred to
make it more or less concave or indented to fit upon a seat or bed strip of
preserved wood or other suitable material. When the roadway consists of
stone or wood blocks it is preferred to fix the plates down by means of split
spikes entered into holes bored for the purpose through the blocks, the
spike fangs being spread at the bottom by being driven against a metal
ball previously dropped into the hole. The plates are to be laid with
the higher surface about level with the tops of the adjacent paving stones
so that the lower surface will form the bottom of a shallow groove. This
groove is intended for omnibus or other wheels of the common
kind.
The improved wheel is formed with what may be termed a stepped tire,
that is, baving one part of one diameter and the other part of a greater
diameter. The part of smaller diameter is for running on the raised sur-
face of the rail, and the larger part acts as a flange to keep the wheel on
the rail. The larger part is not as much larger as to touch the lower
surface of the rail, but it is broad enough for the wheels to run upon it
without injury or inconvenience when on ordinary roads,
The improvement in carriages is more particularly adapted for omnibus
carriages for tram or railways, and consists in making the body of the
carriage separate from the frame or bogie which rests immediately on
the wheels, and in arranging the parts so that the body may be turned as
on a turntable. This will admit of the body of the carriage being turned
round at the end of a transit without having to turn the bogie or
wheel frame.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William M° Adam in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MADAM, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William M°Adam, Her
special licence that I, the said William M°Adam, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William M°Adam,
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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN ARRANGEMENTS OR APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING OMNIBUS
TRAFFIC, THE BAID IMPROVEMENTS BEING ALSO APPLICABLE OTHERWISE AND
RELATING TO TRAMWAYS, WHEELS, AND CARRIAGES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William M°Adam, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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 William M°Adam, 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, that is to say :-
My said Invention has principally for its object the facilitating and
simplifying of the omnibus traffic of large cities, but the improvements
comprised in it are also applicable otherwise, and they relate to tramways,
wheels, and carriages.

page_text: And in order that my Invention and the manner of performing the same
may be properly understood I have hereunto appended a Sheet of explana-
tory Drawings to be herein-after referred to and representing examples of
my improved arrangements.
My improved tramway is composed of wrought iron, malleable cast
iron, or steel plates or rails laid in shallow grooves formed for them in
the roadway, whether such roadway is paved with stone or wood, or is
macadamised. This tramway plate is shown full size in transverse
section in Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings; it is five inches
broad with a horizontal surface A three inches broad on one side and a
horizontal surface B one and a half inches broad on the other, the latter
being three-quarters of an inch higher than the former, whilst an ogee
curve C between the two occupies the remaining half inch of the
breadth. These precise dimensions may be varied provided that similar
proportions are retained. The thickness of the plate is optional, and the
under side may be variously shaped, but I prefer to make it more or less
concave or indented as shown to fit upon a seat or bed strip D of
preserved wood or other suitable material. I fix the tramway plates by
means of split spikes E entered into holes bored for the purpose through
the underlying stone blocks or other material, the spike fangs being
spread at the bottom by being driven against a metal ball F previously
dropped into the hole. These spikes may be made of various lengths to
suit the nature of the material into which they are driven.
The plates
are to be laid with the higher surface B about level with the tops of the
adjacent paving stones, so that the lower surface will form the bottom of
a shallow groove. This groove is intended for omnibus or other wheels of
the common kind.
My improved wheel is shown in section in Figure 2 as drawn to a scale
of three inches to the foot, and is formed with what may be termed a
stepped tire G, H, that is, having one part G of one diameter and the
other part H of a greater diameter. The part G of smaller diameter is
for running on the raised surface B of my improved rail (Figure 1), and
the larger part H acts as a flange to keep the wheel on the rail. The
larger part H is not as much larger as to touch the lower surface A of
the rail, but it is broad enough for the wheels to run upon it without
injury or inconvenience when on ordinary roads. The position of the
wheel tire on the rail or tramway plate is indicated by dotted lines in
Figure 1.

page_text: My improvement in carriages is more particularly adapted for omnibus
carriages for tram or railways, and consists in making the body of the
carriage separate from the frame or bogie which rests immediately on the
wheels, and in arranging the parts so that the body may be turned as
on a turntable. This will admit of the body of the carriage being turned
round at the end of a transit without having to turn the bogie or wheel
frame. Figure 3 is a perspective view on a small scale showing this im-
proved arrangement, the body J of the omnibus or carriage being repre-
sented as partly turned upon its wheeled supporting frame or bogie K.
Flat iron rings are fixed to the top of the bogie and to the under side of
the frame to slide on each other in turning, or antifriction rollers may be
interposed if preferred, whilst the parts are kept in their relative positions
by a strong centre pin fixed in one part and entered into an eye in the
frame of the other part.
Having thus described my said Invention, and the manne. in which the
same is to be performed, I have to state that what I claim as secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1. The making, laying, and fixing of tramway plates or rails in the
improved manner, substantially as herein-before described.
2. The making of the tires of wheels to run both on tramways and on
common roads with two cylindrical surfaces of different diameters,
substantially as herein-before described.
And, 8. The constructing of omnibus or carriage bodies separate from
and turntable-upon their carrying bogies or wheel frames, substantially as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William M°Adam, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
WILLIAM MADAM. (L.8.)