A NEW OB IMPROVED SAFETY OR MOVEABLE SELF-ACTING CROSSING FOR RAILWAYS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Nock, of Brierley Hill, in the County of
Stafford, Steel and Iron Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW OB
IMPROVED SAFETY OR MOVEABLE SELF-ACTING CROSSING FOR RAILWAYS."—A
communication from abroad by Joseph Wood, of Jersey City, New
Jersey, in the United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Nock at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,, on the 30th
July 1862.
I, GEORGE NOCK, of Brierley Hill, in the County of Stafford, Steel and Iron
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said. Invention for
NEW OR IMPROVED SAFETY OR MOVEABLE SELF-ACTING CROSSING FOR RAILWAYS," to
be as follows:-
In the crossing for railways ordinarily employed the ends of the rails on
either side the crossing point or frog are fixed. In the said Invention the
Isaid ends of the rails are made moveable, that is, they have a slight motion
about a centre or point at the chair, six feet, more or less; distant from
the ends of the rails. The two ends of the rails are clipped. and bolted
together to suit, the curve of the road, and sufficient play is left in the chair
and in the holes through which the spikes pass, to allow of the slight motion

page_text: required. When the flange of the carriage wheel comes in contact with the
guard rail, the carriage wheel on the crossing point or frog presses the move-
able rails outwards, to accomodate the curve of the line. The periphery of the
wheel thereby obtains a greater bearing, and the crossing points wear much
longer than crossing points of the ordinary construction. The motion of the
carriage is very steady, and the passing from one line to another is not attended
with the jarring motion which occurs when the ordinary crossing point is
employed.
The said new or improved safety or moveable self-acting crossing is much
safer than an ordinary crossing point.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Nock in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th
January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
Nock, of Brierley Hill, in the County of Stafford, Steel and Iron Manufac-
turer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Nock, Her special licence that I, the said George Nock,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Nock, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED
SAFETY OR MOVEABLE SELF-ACTING CROSSING FOR RAILWAYS," a communication to
me from abroad by Joseph Wood, of Jersey City, New Jersey, in the United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George
Nock, 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
Putent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Nock, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say :-
In the crossing for railways ordinarily employed the ends of the rails on
either side the crossing point or frog are fixed. In the said Invention, the said
ends of the rails are made moveable, that is, they have a slight motion about
a centre or point at the chair, six feet, more or less, distant from the ends of the
rails. The two ends of the rails are clipped and bolted together to suit the
curve of the road, and sufficient play is left in the chair and in the holes
through which the spikes pass, to allow of the slight motion required. When
the flange of the carriage wheel comes in contact with the guard rail, the
carriage wheel on the crossing point or frog presses the moveable rails out-
wards, to accommodate the curve of the line. The periphery of the wheel'
thereby obtains a greater bearing, and the crossing points wear much longer
than crossing points of the ordinary construction. The motion of the engine
and carriage is very steady, and the passing from one line to another is not
attended with the jarring motion which occurs when the ordinary crossing
point is employed.
The said new or improved safety or moveable self-acting crossing is much
safer than an ordinary crossing point.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which
the same is to be performed.
The accompanying Drawing represents in plan a portion of a railway pro-
vided with the said new or improved safety or moveable self-acting crossing.
a and represent one pair of the rails, and c and d represent the other pair of
rails. The rails a and dare provided respectively with guard rails e and f, of the
ordinary kind, excepting that they are a little longer. The crossing point g
is also of the ordinary kind. The ends b, c, of the rails b, c, are not fixed as
in the ordinary crossing, but are capable of moving simultaneously from the
position represented in the Drawing to that indicated in dotted lines, and the
reverse. The said rail ends 62, c², are bolted together at h and i; the pieces h
and i, in which the ends b, c, of the rails b, c, are fixed, being capable of a'
lateral motion on the chairs k, l, by which they are supported. The blocks or
pieces h, i, are capable of moving from the positions represented in the
Drawing to those indicated in dotted lines, and the reverse. The rails b, c, and
the ends b, c, abut against each other in the chair m; those parts of the ends
b, c, which are supported by the chair m having sufficient play in the said

page_text: chair to permit of the required motion of the ends 62, c. When.bridge.rails
are used, the ends.b,c, join the rails b, c, in a chair on a transverse sleeper, tho
holes through which the spikes pass by which the said ends b, c, are connected
to the said sleeper near the chair must be sufficiently large to allow of the
required play necessary for the motion of the ends b, c. The ends b, c, are 5
bolted together by a bolt.n, which passes through a hole in the point g. The
methods described of fastening the moveable ends of the rails together answer
well in practice, but the said ends may be fastened together .in various other
ways with the same effect. When a train or engine passes from o top on the
pair of rails a, b, the flange of the outer wheel passes between the guard rail e
and the rail a, while the flange of the inner wheel coming between the end c
and the point 9 moves the ends 62, c, into the positions indicated in dotted
lines, the part 6 being brought close to the point g, as the periphery of the
inner wheel passes from the said point g to the end of the rail b. There is
thereby provided a broad and firm bearing for the wheel as it passes from the
point g to the end 2 of the rail b.
"
Suppose a train or engine to be passing from 9 tor on the pair of rails c, d,
if the ends and were in the positions represented in the Drawing, no change
would take place in the positions of the said ends b, c, but if the said ends
,, were in the positions indicated in dotted lines, then, as the flange of the
outer wheel passes between the guard rail f and rail d, the flange of the inner
wheel coming between the point g and the end b, as indicated in dotted lines,
the said 'flange of the inner wheel would bring the ends b, c, into the positions
represented, and the periphery of the inner wheel on passing from 9 to c
would have a firm and broad bearing. When trains or engines pass in direc-
tions opposite to those described, the flanges of the inner wheels act in the way
explained on the ends b, c, excepting that the said flanges commence to act
on the said ends b, c, at those portions of the said ends nearest the chair,
as will be readily understood by an examination of the Drawing.
The motion of carriages on a crossing constructed according to this Inven-
tion is very steady, and is not attended by the jarring motion which occurs
when the ordinary crossing is employed; and the new or improved safety and
moveable self-acting crossing wears. longer, and is much safer than an ordinary
.crossing.
.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated in the
Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
the said Invention; but I claim as the said Invention, a new or improved

page_text: safety or moveable self-acting crossing for railways, constructed substantially
in the manner herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Nock, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventeenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
GEORGE NOCK. (L.S.)