IMPROVEMENTS IN EFFECTING COMMUNICATIONS OR SIGNALLING BETWEEN DISTANT OR DISTINCT PARTS OF RAILWAY TRAINS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Linmere Dowie, of Glasgow, in the County
of Lanark, North Britain, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN EFFECTING COMMUNICATIONS OR SIGNALLING BETWEEN DISTANT OR DISTINCT
PARTS OF RAILWAY TRAINS."
Sealed the 4th May 1860, and dated the 7th November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Linmere Dowie
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th November 1859.
I, ANDREW LINMERE DOWIE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN EFFECTING COMMUNICATIONS OR SIGNALLING BETWEEN DISTANT
OR DISTINCT PARTS OF RAILWAY TRAINS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to a simple, economical, and most effective means
of enabling the guards and engine drivers, and the passengers in railway trains,
to signal to or effect communications with different parts of railway trains.
In carrying out this Invention in practice, there is attached along the upper
part of the side, and beneath the eaves or overhanging roof of each carriage
or vehicle in a railway train, a gutta percha tube as a permanent fixture or
attachment to the carriage. Each carriage carries a section of this tubing so
arranged that when a train is made up, the contiguous ends of the sections
can be joined together with facility by a union, bayonet, or other easily adjust-

page_text: able joint, so that the combined sections are thus made to form a solid and
continuous air-tight line of communication along the entire length of the train.
The last section of this line at one or both ends is formed or fitted with a
mouth-piece, by which either the engine driver, fireman, or guard can blow into
the line of tubing; each terminal portion of the tubing is also fitted with a
removable whistle or sounding apparatus. Each division or compartment
of the carriages composing the train has a flexible tube in open com-
munication with the main tube passed into it through the side of the
carriage, terminating in the interior thereof in a flexible ball or chamber.
This is in each case for the use of the carriage passengers. In a train thus
fitted up, if the guard wishes to signal to the engine driver he removes
the whistle from his end of the tubing, and blows in at his mouth-piece,
so as to sound the whistle at the other end, which reaches to the driver's
foot plate. On hearing this premonitory signal, the driver removes the whistle
from his end of the tubing, and the guard can then converse freely with him
through the open tubing, and thus give and exchange instructions. For
powerful signals to be used in cases of extreme emergency, there may be fitted
up at one or both ends of the tubing a pump, flexible bellows, or other air
forcing apparatus which is effective in giving more powerful signals than the
lungs; and a simple code of signals being arranged, provision is thus afforded
for arresting the motion of the train, or otherwise acting as the imminence of
the affair may require. Similarly if a carriage passenger desires to commu-
nicate with the attendants in charge of the train, all that is necessary is to
compress the flexible chamber which is passed into each compartment of the
carriage, and is in direct connection with the main tubing, when the whistle at
each end thereof will be sounded. In such a case the guard will pass along
the train until he reaches the compartment whence the signal came, when he
will act as may be necessary. In this way a simple, cheap, and most effective
means is provided for signalling or conveying information between any part of
a railway train.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Andrew Linmere Dowie in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
LINMERE DOWIE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Merchant, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Andrew Linmere Dowie, Her special license that I, the said
Andrew Linmere Dowie, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Andrew Linmere Dowie, my executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN EFFECTING COMMUNICATIONS OR SIGNALLING BETWEEN
DISTANT OR DISTINCT PARTS AND OF RAILWAY TRAINS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Andrew Linmere Dowie, 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 Andrew Linmere Dowie, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
My said Invention relates to a simple, economical, and most effective means
of enabling the guards and engine drivers, and the passengers in railway
trains, to signal to or effect communications with different parts of railway
trains. In carrying out this Invention in practice, there is attached along
the upper part of the side, and beneath the eaves or overhanging roof of each
carriage or vehicle in a railway train, a gutta percha tube as a permanent
fixture or attachment to the carriage. Each carriage carries a section of this
tubing so arranged that when a train is made up, the contiguous ends of tho
sections can be joined together with facility by a union, bayonet, or other
easily adjustable joint, so that the combined sections are thus made to form a
solid and continuous air-tight line of communication along the entire length
of the train. The last section of this line at one or both ends is formed or
fitted with a mouth-piece, by which either the engine driver, fireman, or guard
can blow into the line of tubing. Each terminal portion of the tubing is also
fitted with a removable whistle or sounding apparatus; each division or com

page_text: partment of the carriages composing the train has a flexible tube in open
communication with the main tube passed into it through the side of the
carriage, terminating in the interior thereof in a flexible ball or chamber;
this is in each case for the use of the carriage passengers. In a train thus
fitted up, if the guard wishes to signal to the engine driver he removes the
whistle from his end of the tubing, and blows in at his mouth-piece so as
to sound the whistle at the other end, which reaches to the driver's foot
plate. On hearing this premonitory signal, the driver removes the whistle
from his end of the tubing, and the guard can then converse freely with him
through the open tubing, and thus give and exchange instructions. For
powerful signals to be used in cases of extreme emergency, there may be fitted
up at one or both ends of the tubing a pump, flexible bellows, or other air-
forcing apparatus, which is effective in giving more powerful signals than the
lungs; and a simple code of signals being arranged, provision is thus afforded
for arresting the motion of the train, or otherwise acting as the imminence of
the affair may require. Similarly, if a carriage passenger desires to commu-
nicate with the attendants in charge of the train, all that is necessary is to
compress the flexible chamber, which is passed into each compartment of the
carriage, and is in direct connection with the main tubing, when the whistle
at each end thereof will be sounded. In such a case the guard will pass
along the train until he reaches the compartment whence the signal came,
when he will act as may be necessary. In this way a simple, cheap, and most
effective means is provided for signalling or conveying information between any
part of a railway train.
And in order that my said Invention of improvements in effecting com-
munications or signalling between distant or distinct parts of railway trains
may be properly understood, I shall now proceed to describe the several illus-
trative Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings, which I have hereunto
appended for the purpose of showing certain modifications under which my
improvements may be judiciously carried out in practice, that is to say,
Figure 1, on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, is a partially sectional
elevation of the guard's van and a passenger carriage forming part of a rail-
way train, and showing one modification of my improved signalling apparatus
applied thereto; Figure 2 is an end view of the van corresponding to
Figure 1; Figure 3 is an elevation of the mouth-piece and whistle end of the
signalling apparatus; Figure 4 is an elevation, showing the mode of con-
necting the ends of adjacent tubes; Figure 5 an elevation showing the
arrangement for enabling passengers to communicate signals to the guard;
Figure 6 is a partially sectional elevation taken at right angles to Figure 5,

page_text: so as to show the arrangement for indicating the particular carriage from
which the signal has been made by means of a visible indicator; Figure 7 is
a plan corresponding to Figures 5 and 6.
According to the modification delineated in the accompanying Drawings,
the apparatus is arranged so that the guard is enabled to communicate either
moderate or powerful signals to the engine driver, or the signal tubes may be
used by either of the officials as a means of verbal communication. The
passengers in the several carriages are also provided with the means of com-
municating instantly with the guard, when from any emergency it is necessary
to attract his attention. The apparatus as arranged in the break or guard's
van A consists of a tube B, by preference formed of gutta percha; this tube
terminates at one extremity in a mouth-piece C, which is fitted so as to be
within convenient reach for use as a speaking tube. The other portion of the
tube is carried upwards and passes out at the side of the van beneath the
overhanging part of the roof, the extremity of the tube B projecting outwards
just beyond the end of the van. To the projecting end of the tube B is
secured a piece of vulcanized india-rubber tubing D; this material is chosen
on account of its elasticity, which admits of the carriages being drawn apart
to the utmost extent without interfering with the continuity of the signalling
tube. The free extremity of the india-rubber tube D has fitted to it a metal
ring E, which has a stud F projecting from its periphery to admit of its
attachment to the end of the adjoining tube. The stud F is passed into the
slot G of the ring H, and is turned partially round in the right angled portion
of the slot, thus forming what is known as a bayonet joint, which is very easily
attached and detached, and is at the same time secure when put together.
The ring H is fast to the end of the tube I, which is by preference formed of
gutta percha; it is carried along the side of the carriage under the projecting
cave of the roof, and is fastened thereto. The free extremity of the tube I
has attached to it a length of india-rubber tubing J, similar to the arrange-
ment before described, for the purpose of attaching it to the neighbouring
carriage. In this way the tubes are connected and continued throughout the
train until they join the signalling tube on the engine, which tube is provided
with a mouth-piece C and whistle K corresponding to that shown in the break
van in Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings. Ordinary signals may be
passed between the engine driver and the guard, either by means of the
whistle, a simple succession of sounds being arranged to form a code of signals,
or the tubes may be used to convey short verbal instructions. Where, how-
ever, a more powerful signal is required, as upon a sudden emergency or
accident occurring, the whistle is then caused to sound with increased loudness

page_text: by means of a bellows arranged beneath the seat of the van, and actuated by
a hand lever. The tube B is made with a laterally projecting branch, as shown
in Figure 3; and the end of the tube being left free, this part is readily fitted
into the stationary vertical tube L, which is fixed to the side of the van A, as
delineated in Figure 1; the side of the van next the signalling apparatus is
supposed to be removed. The tube L passes down through the seat of the
van and enters the bellows M, which is arranged beneath and fastened at the
upper part to the under side of the seat. To the lower part of the bellows is
fitted a wooden bottom with the usual valve opening internally; in the sides of
this bottom piece are fixed two vertical rods which are connected at the top
by the cross head M'. This cross head is connected by a link to the hand
lever N, which is centred upon a stud projecting from the side of the van; by
working this lever in the manner of a pump, a considerable body of air is
immediately propelled through the signalling tubes. Under ordinary circum-
stances the lateral branch of the tube B is intended to be kept closed by
means of a plug, and the whistle retained in the mouth-piece, so that a signal
from the engine end of the train may at a once heard. But when the
bellows M is required, the plug is removed from the lateral branch and slipped
into the mouth-piece end, so as to stop the emission of air in that direction,
the extremity of the lateral branch is slipped on to the end of the tube L, and
the connection is instantly made; or the application of the finger to the
whistle will serve the same purpose. The arrangement for the ready operating
of the bellows admits of a very powerful whistle being used in conjunction
with the signalling apparatus on the engine, so that the attention of the driver
cannot fail to be drawn to it when required.
The means provided for enabling the passengers to give signals is shown in
the compartment of the carriage in Figure 1, and in the enlarged detail
Figures 5, 6, and 7. From the tube I, which passes along the carriages, a
lateral branch O is carried into each compartment of the carriage; this tube is
carried downwards a short distance, and terminates in an air vessel or ball P,
which is partially sunk in an opening made in the woodwork or lining of the
carriage. The simple pressure of the hand against the ball P causes a
sufficient quantity of air to be forced through the signalling tubes to sound
the whistle in the break van and tender, and so attract the guard's and
driver's attention; and in order that they may readily know the carriage from
whence the signal has been given, a visible signal or indicator is actuated
simultaneously with the operating of the whistle. The back part of the air
vessel or ball P, where it projects through the lining of the carriage, presses
against the pendent end of a bell-crank catch Q, which is jointed to a small

page_text: bracket piece fastened to the woodwork of the carriage. The upper face of
the horizontal arm of the catch Q is pressed downwards by the blade spring R,
which causes the free extremity of the catch to retain its hold on the nib S
of the numeral indicator T. This indicator T is hinged to, and sunk, or let
into the outside part of the carriage. Under ordinary circumstances the
indicator is shut to against the side of the carriage, as shown in Figure 1, and
serves as the ordinary number of the carriage; but upon a signal being made by
a passenger, the compression of the air vessel against the arm of the catch Q
releases it from the nib S, on the inside of the indicator T, and the indicator
instantly moves outwards at right angles to the side of the carriage. This
outward movement of the indicator is effected by the pressure of the blade
spring U against the back of it; this spring is screwed to the framing and
panelling of the carriage as shown in the plan, Figure 7. The attention of
the guard being attracted by the audible signal, by looking along the train he
is at once enabled to proceed to the proper carriage, and ascertain the cause
for giving an alarm. These visible signals may also be arranged and coloured
so as to be readily observed by the guard or driver during the night. In
order to admit of the carriages being reversed without interfering with the
attachment of the signalling tubes, the carriages may be fitted with tubes on
each side, care being taken to reverse the arrangen:ent of the india-rubber
connecting tubes. In this way whether the carriages move in one direction
or the other, the same facility is afforded for readily connecting the signalling
apparatus from one end of the train to the other. This mode of signalling
thus provides a safe, efficient, and extremely economical means of communi-
cation between different parts of a train, which at all times is an important
desideratum, and in frequent cases would be the means of preventing
accidents.
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 effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of apparatus for effecting
communications between distant or different parts of railway trains, as herein-
before described and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the system or mode of communicating or signalling from one part
of a railway train to another by means of the apparatus herein-before described
and shown in the accompanying Drawings, or any mere equivalent therefor.
Third, the system or mode of indicating the particular carriage from which

page_text: a signal has been made, by means of a numeral indicator or other visible signal,
which is actuated simultaneously with the transmission of the audible signal
to the guard or driver by the means herein-before described, or any mere
modification of the same.
Fourth, the system or mode of communicating powerful audible signals
from one part of a railway train to another by means of the pneumatic appa-
ratus herein-before described and delineated in the accompanying Drawings,
or any mere equivalent therefor.
Fifth, the system or mode of communicating signals by means of the appa-
ratus herein-before described, and its application to such purposes in railway
and other tunnels, in mines, and on board ship, and other similar places where
it is required to make signals from one part to another.
In witness whereof, I, Andrew Linmere Dowie, bave hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty.
A. L. DOWIE. (L.S.)