IMPROVEMENTS IN SECURING AND CONNECTING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Barlow, of Derby, in the County of
Derby, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SECURING
AND CONNECTING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 26th May 1854, and dated the 20th February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Barlow
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th February 1854.
1, WILLIAM HENRY BARLOW, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SECURING AND CONNECTING THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS" to
be as follows:-
I apply two keys or wedges of cast iron, wood, or other suitable material for
securing a rail or the adjacent ends of two rails in a chair. The wedges are
placed with their narrow ends towards each other, and the side of the chair is
shaped to fit them. A long bolt passes through both wedges, and is provided
with a nut, by screwing up which the two wedges are drawn together, and, the
rail or rails are thus firmly fixed in the chair.
The wedges and the opposite side of the chair may be made to fit close to

page_text: the under side of the upper flange of the rail, and in some cases I cause the
rail or rails to be entirely supported by their upper flanges resting upon the
chair and the wedges. I also apply the two wedges and bolt and nut for
securing the ends of rails in a trough of cast iron or other suitable material,
which is placed between two chairs or other supports of the rails, but which
does not itself rest upon a sleeper or support; or this trough may be made
with a chair or base at each end, so that it may rest upon two sleepers. In
lieu of two wedges I sometimes employ one wedge with a bolt of taper or
wedge shaped form, which is drawn up, tight, by means of the nut as before.
Instead of employing the two opposite wedges, I sometimes apply one long
wedge of cast iron or other suitable material, and I fix this wedge when driven
in by means of a small key, or by running melted lead or other suitable metal
into cavities made for that purpose in the back of the wedge and in the
chair.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters, Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Barlow in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY BARLOW, of Derby, in the County of Derby, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Henry Barlow, Her special licence that I, the said
William Henry Barlow, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Henry Barlow, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 SECURING AND CONNECTING THE RAILS
OF RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Henry Barlow, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in

page_text: 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Barlow, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 accompanying Drawing
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is an elevation, and Figure 2 is a
plan of an arrangement for securing and connecting the rails of railways
according to my Invention. A and B are the rails, and C is a chair. D and E
are two wedges of cast iron or other suitable material, which are fitted between
the rails and the chair. F is a long wrought iron bolt passing through the
two wedges D, E, and secured by a nut G. By screwing up this nut the
two wedges D, E, are drawn towards one another, and both rails are thus
firmly secured. Even if there should be any slight irregularity in the rails or
in the chair, or in the wedges, both the rails will still be firmly secured; for if
either of the wedges be slacker than the other it will immediately be drawn in
farther, and firmly secured by screwing up the nut G. The chair C, as shewn
in the Drawing, is adapted for being secured to a sleeper in the ordinary
manner. Figure 3 is a section through the-line a, b, in Figure 2. Figure 4
is a section through the line c, d, in Figure 2. Each end of the chair is made
to cverhang a little, so that the chair resembles a trough with a base in the
centre of it for resting on the sleeper. In lieu of placing the base in the
centre, the chair may consist of a trough of the sectional form shewn in
Figure 4, with a base at each end for resting upon two sleepers. Or, it may
consist of a trough without any base at all, in which case it is placed between
two chairs or other supports of the rails, and serves for connecting the rails as
before, but does not at the same time support them as in the other arrange-
ments herein-before described.
The chair and wedges shewn in the Drawing are made to fit the bottom
and sides of the rails. They may, however, be made to support the rails by
the upper flange or head only. A thin slip of wood may be introduced
between the rails and the chain or trough, or between the wedges and the
chair or rails, so as to give a little elasticity when metallic wedges are used.
Figure 5 is a section of such an arrangement, in which B is one of the rails
and C. is the chair or trough; E is one of the wedges and F is the bolt; H is
a cavity, or recess in the chair, in which is placed a piece of wood of somewhat: "

page_text: greater thickness than the depth of the cavity. When the wedges are forced
in, this piece of wood becomes compressed.
Figure 6 is a plan of another arrangement for securing and connecting rails
according to my Invention. A and B are the rails, and C is the chair; D is
a wedge of cast iron or other suitable material, and F is a bolt secured by a
nut G. The bolt F is made taper or wedge-shaped at the end f, and is fitted
into a groove in the wedge D. The chair C is made of a form corresponding
to the wedge and taper bolt. By screwing up the nut G, the wedge D is
forced in between the chair and the rail A, while the taper bolt forces the end
of the wedge D against the rail B, so that both rails are thus firmly secured
and connected. This arrangement admits of the same variations as that first
herein-before described.
A small cavity H is made in the
A small key of wrought iron or
cavity H, by which means the
Figure 7 is an elevation, and Figure 8 is a plan of another arrangement for
securing rails according to my Invention. A and B are the rails, and C is
the chair; D is a long wedge of cast iron or other suitable material, which is
driven in between the rails and the chair.
back of the wedge and also in the chair.
other suitable material is driven into the
wedge D is secured in its place. In lieu of the small key, melted lead or
iron, or other suitable metal, may be poured into the cavity H. This cavity
may, in this case, be made larger at the bottom than at the top, or otherwise,
of such form as to prevent the metal which is cast into it, from coming out.
This arrangement admits of the same variations as those herein-before
described.
These modes of securing the wedges may also be applied in lieu of the
bolt F and nut G, in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, for securing two wedges, arranged
as shewn in these Figures. The rails may also be secured in a similar manner
in the intermediate chairs as well as at the joints.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
claim generally the securing the rails of railways' by means of chairs, and
wedges, and bolts, and nuts, but what I claim is,-
Firstly, the mode or modes herein-before described of securing and con-
necting the rails of railways by means of a chair or trough in conjunction with
two wedges and a bolt, or by means of a chair or trough in conjunction with a
wedge and a taper or wedge-shaped bolt, as herein-before described.
Secondly, the mode or modes herein-before described of securing and con-
necting the rails of railways by means of a wedge or wedges, fixed by a small

page_text: key or keys at the back, or by pouring melted metal into cavities made for
that purpose in the back of the wedge or wedges and in the chair, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Barlow, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
WILLIAM HENRY BARLOW. (L.S.)
GEORGE NEWTON BROWNE,
49, Ashbourn Road,
Derby.