IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY TRACKS AND CARRIAGE WHEELS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY TRACKS AND CARRIAGE
WHEELS." A communication from abroad by William Wharton, junior,
of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, and United States of
America.
Sealed the 14th August 1860, and dated the 13th March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th March 1860.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY TRACKS AND CARRIAGE
WHEELS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention of improvements in railway tracks and
carriages wheels is to allow one or more of a series of trains that run over a
common railway to pass the switches or other appliances that may be used at
the intersections of branch ways with the common or main railway without
being interfered with or turned out of their proper way by such switches.
The Invention also has for its object to arrange at the crossings or inter-

page_text: sections on railways a switch turnout or appliance in such a way that each
train, although allowed without interference to pass the switches, turnouts, or
other appliances, at the intersections of the branch ways used by other trains,
will be allowed to pass on its own track or way without the aid of switches or
any appliance requiring manual adjustment at such crossing, but will be
switched or turned out of the main line into its proper branch when it
arrives there.
In carrying out this Invention two peculiarities or characteristic features
are necessarily employed, namely, car wheels provided with two or more
treads in connection with auxiliary raised rails, stationary or moveable; and
with these the ordinary flanched car wheels may be employed. The car trucks
may be constructed in the usual way, but the wheels are of peculiar con-
An
struction, having each a central flange, and two or more treads.
additional elevated side rail is secured to the track parallel with the rail of the
main line at that part where the switch is situated; sufficient space is allowed
between the two rails to receive the central flanches of the wheels. The side
rail is considerably more elevated than the rail of the main track, and it
receives the inner treads of the running wheels that pass over it. The ends
of the side rail are gradually inclined, to facilitate the proper passing on and
off of the running wheels, and the main portion of the side rail opposite the
switch is sufficiently clevated to raise the flanches of the wheels above the
switch, and serve as a bridge for the passage of the wheels beyond the switch
or intersection of the branch with the main track. In order to avoid the
casual slipping off of the wheels from the elevated rail, a guard rail is
employed at the opposite side of the track. This guard rail is parallel with
the main line rails, and is placed at such a distance therefrom as to allow the
inner tread of the wheels which pass by it to pass at its outer side, the guard
rail being sufficiently elevated to serve as a bearing for the side of the inner
tread of the wheels, and consequently to prevent the slipping of the wheels off
the elevated side rail.
From the above description it will be seen that a car or train of cars
provided with wheels having a plurality of treads, and the track at the inner
section of turnouts or branch tracks. provided with elevated or bridge rails and
guard rails, may pass direct over the main track irrespective of the position of
the switches, which may be adjusted to suit way trains as occasion may
require, it being understood that the way trains are provided with the ordinary
flanched single-tread wheels; and in case frogs or stationary turnouts are
employed the same remarks are applicable..

page_text: The condition of the parts however above described may be reversed and
the same effect obtained. For instance, a train of cars may be provided with
ordinary flanched single-tread wheels, and the elevated or bridge rail may be
moveable, this latter being made to move parallelly towards and from its
contiguous main rail; the side or bridge rail when moved near its contiguous
rail will elevate the outer tread of the wheels from the main rail, so that its
flanches may cross the main rail and be deflected by a curved ledge on the
elevated rail into the branch track, a guard rail being employed at the opposite
side of the track. It is immaterial on which side of the main rails the
elevated rails are placed, provided the treads of the wheels are correspondently
arranged to be acted upon by the elevated rails.
There is one other feature connected with this Invention which renders it
valuable, and this is the employment or use of elevated rails of greater or less
height with wheels having inner treads of greater or less diameter, so that
each car or train of cars will be able to pass the intersections of all. track
roads other than its own...
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
..on the 13th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord'
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, 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 RAILWAY TRACKS AND
CARRIAGE WHEELS," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instru-
iment in writing under my band 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 William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
The object of this Invention of "Improvements in Railway Tracks and
Carriage Wheels" is to allow one or more of a series of trains that run
over a common railway to pass the switches or other appliances that may be
used at the intersections of branch ways with the common or main railway
without being interfered with or turned out of their proper way by such
switches.
The Invention also has for its object to arrange at the crossings or inter-
sections on railways a turnout or other analogous appliance in such a manner
that each train although allowed without interference to pass the switches,
turnouts, or other appliances at the intersections of the branch ways used by
other trains will be allowed to pass on its own track or way without the aid of
switches or any appliance requiring manual adjustment.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 is a side sectional view of a
railway taken in the line x, x, of Fig. 3; Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the
same taken in the line ¹, a³, of Fig. 1; Figures 3 and 4 are plan or top
views of the railway; Fig. 5 is a side sectional view of the same, taken in the
line
y, y, of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a side sectional view, taken in the line 2, 2, of
Fig. 8; Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional view, taken in the line y', y', of Fig. 6;
Fig. 8 is a plan or top view.
In carrying out this Invention two peculiarities or characteristic features
are necessarily employed, namely, car wheels provided with two or more treads
in connection with auxiliary raised rails, stationary or moveable, and with
these the ordinary flanched car wheels may be employed.
In Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, the Invention is shown with a stationary
elevated rail. A, A, represent the rails of what may be termed the main
track; B, B, are the rails of a turnout or branch track; and C is a switch by
which an ordinary single tread car wheel may be switched off from the main to

page_text: the branch track. The switch C does not necessarily differ from those in
ordinary use, and it may be operated or moved by a hand lever D and bar or
rod E. The above parts being of the usual construction do not require a
minute description. F is a car truck which may be constructed in the usual
manner, but its wheels G are of peculiar construction, having each a central
flange and two or more treads a, a, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. In these
Figures two treads are shown divided by the central flanch b. HI is a rail
which is secured to the track parallel with the rail A of the main line at that
part where the switch is situated. Sufficient space is allowed between the
rails A and E to receive the central flanches 6 of the wheels G. The side
rail H is considerably more elevated than the rail A of the main track, and it
receives the inner treads a of the running wheels G that pass over it. The ends
of the side rail H are gradually inclined to facilitate the proper passing on and
off of the running wheels G, and the main portion of the side rail H opposite
the switch C is sufficiently elevated to raise the flanches 6 of the wheels G
above the switch C, and to serve as a bridge for the passage of the wheels
beyond the switch or intersection of the branch with the main track. In order
to avoid the casual slipping off of the wheels from the elevated rail a guard
rail I is employed at the opposite side of the track. This guard rail I is
parallel with the rails A, A, of the main line, and is placed at such a distance
from the rail A (which is contiguous to it) as to allow the inner tread a of the
wheels G which pass by it to pass at its outer side, the guard rail I being
sufficiently elevated to serve as a bearing for the side of the inner trend a of
the wheels, and consequently to prevent the slipping of the wheels off the
elevated side rail H. The functions of the elevated or bridge rail H at the
side and the guard rail I are shown in Fig. 2.
From the above description it will be seen that a car or train of cars
provided with wheels G having a plurality of treads, and the track at the
inner section of turnouts or branch tracks provided with elevated or bridge
rails H, and guard rails I may pass direct over the main track irrespective of
the position of the switches which may be adjusted to suit way trains as
occasion may require, it being understood that the way trains are provided
with the ordinary flanched single tread wheels, and in case frogs or stationary
turnouts A are employed, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the same remarks are
applicable.
The condition of the parts, however, above described, may be reversed, and
the same effect obtained; for instance, a train of cars may be provided with
ordinary flanched single-tread wheels J, as shown in Figures 3 and 8, and the

page_text: .
elevated or bridge rail H' may be moveable, as shown in Fig. 8, the rail H!
being made to move parallelly towards and from its contiguous main rail A'.
The side or bridge rail H¹ when moved near its contiguous rail A¹ will elevate
the outer tread a of the wheels G from the main rail A, so that its flanches b
may cross the main rail, and be deflected by a curved ledge a* on the elevated
rail Hinto the branch track, a guard rail c being employed at the opposite
side of the track, as seen in Fig. 7. With this arrangement the cars provided
with the ordinary flanched single-tread wheels will pass directly forward on
the main rails A', A', irrespective of the position of the elevated bridge
rail H. When the elevated bridge rail His moved outward from its con-
tiguous rail A, the cars provided with the double-tread wheels G may pass
directly forward on the main rails A'. This plan, however, as before stated,
is simply the former one reversed; in one case the elevated or bridge rail H
carries the wheels G over the switches C, and in the other case the bridge
rail H¹ raises the wheels G above its contiguous rail A of the main track, so
that the flanches 6 may pass over the main rail on the rails of the branch
track, the ordinary flanched single-tread wheels not being affected by the
position of the elevated rail H'. It is immaterial on which side of the main
rails A, A', the elevated rails H, H¹ are placed, provided the treads of the
wheels G, G, are correspondingly arranged to be acted upon by the elevated
rails.
There is one other feature connected with this Invention which renders it
valuable, and this is the employment or use of clevated rails H¹ of greater or
less height, with wheels G, having inner treads a of greater or less diameter,
so that each car or train of cars will be able to pass the intersections of all
branch roads other than its own. This will be readily understood, when it is
considered that the office of the elevated rail His to elevate the flanches 6 of
the running wheels G that pass over the contiguous main rail A', and that
any elevated rail H on the route of a railway will remain inoperative when
not sufficiently elevated to do this, in consequence of its lack of elevation and
the too small diameter of the inner tread of the wheels, and that each elevated
rail may be rendered operative by having the inner tread of the wheels
G made of a diameter bearing a certain proportion to the height of the
elevated rail H', so that the flanches b may be elevated above the main
rail A'.
Having now described this Invention of "Improvements in Railway Tracks
and Carriage Wheels," and having explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, as communicated to nie by my foreign correspondent, I claim, as

page_text: the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the employment
or use of car wheels G, G, provided with a plurality of treads, of the same or
varying diameters, and with a flanch in connection with elevated rails H, H',
either moveable or stationary, and of the same or varying height, placed at
the intersection of branch tracks, for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Seventh day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)