AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR LAYING SINGLE LINE ARTICULATED RAILWAYS, AND A METHOD OF PROPELLING THEREON, PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Winder, of Abingdon Street, in the City
of Westminster, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OF AND APPARATUS FOR LAYING SINGLE LINE ARTICULATED RAILWAYS, AND A
METHOD OF PROPELLING THEREON, PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE FOR AGRICULTURAL
PURPOSES
Sealed the 10th November 1865, and dated the 12th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Winder at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th May 1865.
I, RICHARD WINDER, of Abingdon Street, in the City of Westminster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR LAYING SINGLE LINE ARTICULATED
RAILWAYS, AND A METHOD OF PROPELLING THEREON, PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE FOR
AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the employment of a jointed way, consisting of
lengths of sleepers and rails forming a single road, on which a portion of
the weight of a travelling boiler and engine is supported; and in a method
of propelling engines and carriages, or implements attached or connected
to it along such road.
My Invention further consists in a method of and apparatus for raising
the road after the engine leaves each portion thereof, and for placing the
road in readiness for the next journey or course of the engine. My Inven-
tion is intended more particularly for agricultural purposes.
Price 8d1

page_text: I prefer to employ a vertical boiler supported upon a frame, having a
central and two ordinary wheels and an engine, by preference with a pair of
cylinders upon a similar frame and wheels.
I lay down my articulated
sleepers and rails and form a single line, which is central between the ordinary
wheels of the frames carrying the boiler and engine. I connect two mitre
wheels to a central double-mitre wheel keyed upon the main shaft of the
engine. The two mitre wheels are keyed upon vertical shafts extending
downwards, and carrying at their lower ends two grooved pulleys made to
grip the sides of the rail, and kept in contact therewith by means of a right-
and-left screw thread on a rod working into collars, through which the vertical
shafts pass. I connect to the rear of the engine the fore part of a triangular
frame, the fore end of which is kept raised from the ground by resting upon
a bent axle carried by small wheels; the rear of the straight side of the
triangular frame carries an axle, upon which a disc wheel is free to revolve.
The side of the frame just alluded to follows in a central line, and immediately
behind the line of railroad. The frame is bent or angled at right angles or
nearly so to the side before described, and is carried out laterally to any
required distance, say five feet; its outer end is armed with a friction roller,
and the third side of the triangle forms a shoe, and extends from the laterally
projecting end to the fore part of the triangular frame. The frame is pro-
vided with a travelling wheel, and the shoe carries friction rollers. The action
is as follows:-The central wheels of the boiler and engine frames travel upon
the rail on propulsion being given by the engine through the grooved clip
pulleys. As soon as the first jointed portion of the rail and sleeper is
liberated or freed from pressure, the point of the triangular frame raises the
rear end of the sleeper, when the shoe takes the sleeper and rail, and so on
for each succeeding length of sleeper and rail until the first length leaves the
farther end of the shoe, and the others following in succession are placed in a
straight line assisted by the friction roller on the lateral arm of the triangular
frame, whereby a line of railroad is provided for the next course or return
journey. The agricultural implement, carriage, or weight to be drawn is
connected to the engine frame, and follows the triangular frame.
Instead of using the method described of propelling carriages on the
articulated single line railway, I sometimes adopt the system of rope or
chain traction described in the Specification of an Invention for which Pro-
visional Protection was granted to me the 9th February, 1865, No. 366.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Winder in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
WINDER, of Abingdon Street, in the City of Westminster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Winder, Her special licence, that I, the said Richard Winder,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Richard Winder, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at auy
time agree with, and no others, from time to time, and at all times there-
after 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 "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR LAYING SINGLE LINE ARTICULATED
RAILWAYS, AND A METHOD OF PROPELLING THEREON, PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE FOR
AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Richard Winder, 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 Richard Winder, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :--
My Invention consists in a jointed way consisting of lengths of sleepers
and rails forming a single road, on which a portion of the weight of a tra-
velling boiler and engine is supported; and in a method of propelling engines
and carriages or implements attached or connected to it along such road.
My Invention further consists in a method of and apparatus for raising the
road after the engine leaves each portion thereof, and for placing the road in

page_text: readiness for the next journey or course of the engine. My Invention is
intended more particularly for agricultural purposes.
I prefer to employ a vertical boiler supported upon a frame, having a
central and two ordinary wheels and an engine, by preference with a pair of
cylinders upon a similar frame and wheels. I lay down my articulated
sleepers and rails, and form a single line which is central between the ordinary
wheels of the frames carrying the boiler and engine. I connect two mitre
wheels to a central double mitre wheel keyed upon the main shaft of the
engine. The two mitre wheelsare keyed upon vertical shafts extending down-
wards, and carrying at their lower ends two grooved pulleys made to grip
the sides of the rail, and kept in contact therewith by means of a right-and-
left screw thread on a rod working into collars, through which the vertical
shafts pass; or instead of grooved pulleys I use spiked wheels, the spikes
on which take into the sides of a flexible jointed rail. I connect to the rear
of the engine the inner part of a triangular frame, the inner end of which is
kept raised from the ground by resting upon a bent axle carried by small
wheels; the outer end of the straight side of the triangular frame carries an
axle, upon which a disc wheel is free to revolve. The side of the frame just
alluded to follows in a central line and immediately behind the line of rail-
road. The frame is bent or angled at right angles or nearly so to the side
before described, and. is carried out.laterally to any required distance, say
five feet; its outer end is armed with a friction roller, and the third side of the
triangle forms a shoe, and extends from the laterally projecting end to the
fore part of the triangular frame; the frame is provided with a travelling
wheel, and the shoe carries friction rollers. The action is as follows:-The
central wheels of the boiler and engine frames travel upon the rail on pro-
pulsion being given by the engine through the grooved clip pulleys or spiked
wheels. As soon as the first jointed portion of the rail and sleeper is liberated
or freed from pressure the point of the triangular frame raises the rear end
of the sleeper, when the shoe takes the sleeper and rail, and so on for each
succeeding length of sleeper and rail until the first length leaves the further
end of the shoe, and the others following in succession are placed in a
straight line assisted by the friction roller on the lateral arms of the
triangular frame, whereby a line of railroad is provided for the next course
or return journey. Two of the above-described frames are used, one at
each end of the engine and boiler frames. The agricultural implement,
carriage, or weight to be drawn is connected to the engine frame and
follows the triangular frame.
Instead of using the method described of propelling carriages on the

page_text: articulated single line railway, I sometimes adopt the system of rope or chain
traction described in the Specification of an Invention for which Provisional
Protection was granted to me the 9th February, 1865, No. 366.
The accompanying Drawings shew more fully the manner in which I carry
my Invention into effect.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Figure 2 a plan of oue of my apparatusės.
complete; Figure 3 is an elevation of the jointed sleepers and flexible central
rail, shewing one of the spiked pulleys working therein; Figure 4 is a plan
shewing both spiked wheels set for working the machine forward along the
flexible central rail; Figure 5 is an elevation of one of the jointed lengths of
the sleeper; Figure 6 is a plau of the same; Figure 7 is an e levation of one
double link and one single link of the flexible central rail; Figure .S is a
plan of the same; Figure 9 shews the complete apparatus at work.
A,A,is the central rail formed of links, with lateral spaces between them.
The rail is fastened by countersunk bolts to the jointed sleepers O, one bolt
in the centre of each length of sleeper. It is likewise fastened at each head-
land to anchors of any simple kind travelling upon wheels or discs as shewn
in the view Figure 9, where X,X, are the anchors. The central rail carries
the chief portion of the dead weight of the machine upon the grooved wheels
L, L, L, Figure 1. B, B, are two pinions or wheels having projections or
spikes upon their peripheries; these spikes fit in between the links of the
flexible central rail, and being caused to revolve propel the machine forward.
C is the main shaft of the machine; D, D, are the cylinders of the engine;
E is the boiler; F, F, is the steam pipe leading from the boiler to the
cylinders; G,G, are the high wheels that carry a portion of the dead weight
of the apparatus when ploughing, and the whole of the weight when it is used
as a traction engine; these wheels run loosely upon their axles. H, H, H,
are cog wheels, which drive the spiked wheels B,B, by the vertical shafts I, I.
These shafts are fitted with long feathers or keys, so that they can work freely
up and down through the horizontal cog wheels H, H, in order to com-
pensate for any unevenness of the ground passed over. The shafts are also
coupled together, the coupling having in the centre a right-and-left handed
screw, so that by turning the screw one way the spiked wheels are forced
further apart, and thus thrown out of gear with the rail,and by turning it the
reverse way the spiked wheels are brought closer together and placed in gear
with the sides of the rail, and by screwing together still closer additional
friction is obtained by pressing the wheels against the sides of the flexible
rail; and in place of the coupling above described I sometimes use an elastic
or spring coupling. K,K, is the frame of the apparatus, made in two parts,

page_text: the more equally to distribute the dead weight to be carried over the land,
and to allow of its accommodating itself to the inequalities in the surface of the
ground. One part of the frame carries the boiler, the other part the engines,
main shaft, and other working parts. L, L, are the grooved wheels, which
run on the top of the central rail A. Springs are provided to allow these
wheels to adapt themselves to the unevenness of the ground passed over.
M is a grooved pulley on the lower part of the boiler, around which the
rail may be coiled for transport; this pulley can be made either to take
off altogether, or be raised up outside the boiler out of the way when not
required for use. It is either worked by a cog wheel attached by a con-
necting rod to the engine, as shewn in the Drawings, or it can be worked by
hand. N is the frame for shifting the central rail and sleepers to the new
position ready for the apparatus to travel upon in the return journey. The
frames are raised alternately out of the way, and lowered into their work,
according to which way the machine is travelling. At N, Figures 1 and 2,
the frame is shewn in work, and at N¹ it is shewn raised up out of its work.
When the apparatus is at work the frame N in work is shifting the central
rail at the same time the apparatus is travelling across the field, drawing the
plough or other implement after it. Upon arriving at the headland this
frame N is raised up out of the way, and that on the opposite end of the appa-
ratus is lowered ready to shift the central rail to the required new position
while the machine is making the return journey; thus the frames N and N
are raised and lowered alternately, shifting the rail each time to the required
distance sideways until the whole field is finished. Neither engine nor any
other part of the machine turns at the headlands. O, O, are jointed sleepers,
to which the central rail is fastened. Play is left at the joints to allow the
sleepers to adapt themselves to the unevenness of the ground. P. P, are
standards and gearing for raising the guide frames N and N¹ when not in use.
Q, Q, are guides fitted with a recess to hold up the inner end of the guide
frame free of the central rail when not in use. S is the cultivator or plough
frame fitted with steering apparatus at each end and with rocking bars,
to which are fixed tines or shares. This implement does not turn at the
headlands.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my improved
method of and apparatus for laying single line articulated railways and method
of propelling thereon,―
First, the method of and apparatus for laying single line articulated rail-
ways, herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Second,propelling engines for agricultural and other purposes on articulated
railways by means of grooved pulleys or spiked wheels caused to grip or take
into such rails, substantially in manner and for the purpose herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Winder, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
RICH. WINDER. (L.B.)