Improved Construction of Means for Preventing Snow or Sand Drifts, especially applicable to Railroad Tracks.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 7th June, 1899-Accepted, 22nd July, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Construction of Means for Preventing Snow or Sand Drifts,
especially applicable to Railroad Tracks.
I, JOHANNES MEISSNER, of Stargard (Pommerania), in the Empire of
Germany, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:
Drifts are accumulations of masses of snow or sand produced by the wind, and
appear, especially in cuttings of the railway lines when the latter passes through
plains of great extent or through treeless, undulating country after continuous
snow-falls, or when exposed for a long time to currents of air passing crosswise
over the cutting. In such cases a space is formed in the cutting with quiet or
rarefied air in which the snow or sand is deposited. This accumulation begins on
the side next the direction of the wind, and will soon, when the depth of the
cutting is moderate, fill up the whole of the cutting.
As a protection against such drifts on railways, which very much interfere
with the working of the railway, special hedge-like protective devices have been
constructed, or the evil is cured by raising the rail track above the cutting. These
protective devices are made, in the well-known manner of boards or plates about
three centimeters in thickness, which are arranged between two sleepers driven
vertically into the ground. In other cases wicker work is employed, this, how-
ever, is useless unless worked very closely.
The method of protection according to the present invention is especially
marked by the low cost of construction, the material necessary for the con-
struction costing very little.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is a view of a drift protector with the boarding partly removed.
Figure 2 is a top view of a protector in the course of construction, together
with the boarding-up.
Against the standards which may be rails, boards are secured on both
sides by screw bolts c. In the space between the boards 6 cinders or similar
material is pressed, the space being finally filled up with cement d, the boards b
being prevented from lateral displacement by the screw bolts c.
After the
mass has set the screw bolts c and the boards are removed leaving a very
resistent wall, the cost of production of which, owing to the cheapness of the
materials employed, is very little.
Of course when required a layer of wire netting or the like may be placed
inside, which will provide the necessary resistance to thin structures of small
strength.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
A protective device against snow or sand drifts of any desired length and

page_text: thickness, consisting of cinders or like material and cement, provided, if desired,
with a layer of wire netting or the like, the wall being formed by pressing the
material into a space between bars such as b, pressed by screw bolts against
standards such as a, substantially as described.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.