IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND THEIR PERMANENT WAYS, APPLICABLE FOR STEEP GRADIENTS AND ALPINE LOCOMOTION
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Page, of the Adelphi, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND THEIR PERMANENT WAYS, APPLICABLE FOR STEEP
GRADIENTS AND ALPINE LOCOMOTION."
Sealed the 10th May 1867, and dated the 14th November 1866
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Page at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th November 1866.
I, THOMAS PAGE, of the Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND THEIR PERMANENT WAYS, APPLICABLE FOR STEEP GRADIENTS
AND ALPINE LOCOMOTION," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in locomotives and their permanent
ways, having for their object to obtain a tractive power in locomotives used
for steep gradients greatly superior to that of locomotives and lines of railway
as ordinarily constructed.
In a line of railway I adopt the ordinary locomotive and permanent way
on the levels or on slight gradients, but for steep gradients I dispense with
the ordinary locomotive and employ a locomotive running on a broad
tramway of stone, wood, or other material, such tramway being roughened or
serrated or otherwise surfaced to afford the bite required for the driving wheels
of the locomotive engine. These driving wheels I make with peripheries

page_text: of wood or other material adapted to hold or bite the tram, and serrated or
otherwise roughened for that purpose; thus at steep gradients, in addition
to the ordinary lines of rail forming the continuation of the levels and on
which the train runs, I dispose outside or it may be inside the ordinary rails
the broad trams before mentioned on which the locomotive engine rests on
its corresponding broad wheels. In order to keep the engine on the track I
employ guide wheels which may be disposed, say, at an angle of 45 degrees and
bearing on the inner edges of the rails; or the said guide wheels may approach
more nearly to a horizontal position; in either case they should bear. no
portion of the weight of the locomotive engine which rests entirely on the
trams. In locomotives so applied I couple or drive all the wheels carrying
any weight, and I prefer to make the radius of the cranks nearly. approaching
or it might be greater than the radius of the wheels driven thereby, but which
should be regulated somewhat according to the bite of the wheels obtained
on the. trams. Instead of a separate locomotive engine being used the
ordinary locomotive might be fitted with additional tram wheels, and the
tramway provided for their bearing and running at the steep inclines; for
Alpine locomotives I believe however it will be better to employ a separate
and independent locomotive engine. In such locomotives also I provide a
platform or receptacle for the accommodation of luggage, which I pile thereon
to increase the weight and adhesive force on the trams. The trams if of
wood might be studded with nails or hard projections, as also the tread of the
wheels; where the trams and wheels are of comparatively soft substances they
should be broader, and in proportion to the weight they have to carry.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Page in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
May 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
PAGE, of the Adelphi, in the- County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of November, in the year of our.
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Thomas Page, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Page, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the

page_text: said Thomas Page, my executors, administrators, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES AND THEIR PERMANENT WAYS, APPLICABLE FOR
STEEP GRADIENTS. AND ALPINE LOCOMOTION," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Page, my executors or administrators,..by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, 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 Thomas Page, 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 Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon. (that is to say) :-
My Invention relates to improvements in locomotives and their permanent
ways, having for their object to. obtain a tractive power in locomotives used
for steep gradients exceeding that of locomotives and lines of railway as
ordinarily constructed.
In a line of railway I may sometimes adopt the ordinary locomotive and.
permanent way on the levels and even on slight gradients, but preferably.
throughout I dispense with the ordinary locomotive and employ a locomotive
running on a broad tramway of stone,, wood,, or other material, such tramway
being, if desirable, roughened or serrated or otherwise surfaced to afford the
bite required for the driving wheels of the locomotive. These driving wheels
I make with peripheries of iron, wood, or other material adapted to. hold or
bite the tram, and plain, serrated, or otherwise roughened for that purpose;
thus at steep gradients, in addition to the ordinary lines forming the continuation
of the levels and on which the train runs, I dispose outside or inside the
ordinary rails the broad trams before mentioned on which the locomotive
engine rests on its corresponding broad wheels. In order to keep the engine
on the track I use flanged wheels or guide wheels, which may be disposed, say,
at an angle of 45 degrees, and bearing on the inner edges of the rails; these
guide wheels may approach more nearly to a horizontal position; in either
case they should bear no portion of the weight of the locomotive engine which
rests entirely on the trams. In locomotives so applied I prefer to couple all

page_text: the wheels carrying any weight. Instead of a separate locomotive engine
being used the ordinary locomotive might be fitted with additional tram
wheels, or the wheels may be increased in breadth and the tramway provided
for their bearing and running at the steep inclines; for Alpine locomotion I
believe it will be better to employ separate and independent locomotive
engines, one for the inclines and another on the levels. In such locomotives
also I provide a platform or receptacle for the accommodation of luggage, which
I pile thereon to increase the weight and tractive hold on the trams.
Invention to be applied to Common Roads so as to permit of Ordinary
Traffic Crossing.-In preparing ways and locomotives for traction and loco-
motion on turnpike roads I follow the general levels and gradients, and even on
average ground I dispense almost entirely with cutting and embanking. For
a cheap line of railway the trams may be of wood properly seasoned, and
creosoted or otherwise treated to prevent decay. This tram must be of con-
siderable substance, and of, say, ten inches or a foot in breadth, by a depth of
say, six inches. The trams are connected by transverse ties disposed at intervals,
and the whole bedded in ballast in the manner of ordinary railway sleepers. On
the inner edge of these broad trams I fix flat steeled iron or steel as rail surfaces
on which the carriages carrying passengers, or it may be goods, are to travel,
which is therefore so far similar to ordinary railway locomotion; but instead
of running the locomotive to produce the tractive force on the metal rails I
adapt it to run on the trams, and provide it with wheels of corresponding
breadth. For wood trams metal wheels will answer admirably, but instead of
making such wheels with smooth peripheries I form them with roughened
surfaces, so as to afford the required bite on the trams. The peripheries of
the wheels although roughened must be truly cylindrical, and the roughing
should be of a uniform character, and not such as to cut or abrade-the trams,
but merely or principally to slightly indent; such roughing may be produced
in the lathe; shallow intersecting grooves formed at angles with each other
producing, say, diamond-pointed projections of slight elevation resembling the
cutting of a file over the entire periphery, may also be used. In using stone
(granite or sandstone, for instance) trams I fix the light metal 'rail on the inner
edge, which however is more troublesome, having to bore the stones to apply
the fastenings thereto. For such trams I prepare the locomotive wheels with
peripheries of wood or other suitable substance of a hard and enduring
character, say, horn beam, for instance; these surfaces may be applied and
fixed in the manner of fixing wooden cogs in toothed gearing, or it may be
hooped on or otherwise applied and fixed, as will be readily understood without
any particular description. The surfaces of the trams and the peripheries of

page_text: the locomotive driving wheels may be varied, but in all cases should be such
as to afford a great breadth of bearing to reduce the wear as much as possible,
and at same time of such a nature as to afford great frictional contact and con-
sequent power of traction in the locomotive. The locomotive I prefer to be
such as to work only at, say, quarter power on the levels, whereas full power
might be required on the inclines; in practice the steam may thus be cut off
at quarter stroke on the levels. Railways as above described will be of cheap
construction, and although not adapted for the high velocities attained usually
on railways will be competent for moderate velocities and at same time pro-
viding great tractive force in the locomotive, while the carriages will so far as
the running surface is concerned travel as easily as on an ordinary line of
railway. The tramways may even be faced with iron plate vermiculated or
otherwise roughened to offer the necessary bite to the driving wheels, whose
peripheries in that case I prefer to make of wood. The trams and rails must
of course in all cases be suitably tied by cross sleepers and otherwise bedded,
more or less, in the ordinary permanent way of railways.
Figure 1 represents a cross section of a rail and tramway as applied to the
ordinary H rail; while Figure 2 is a like section having a flat rail fixed on the
edge of the tram.
a, a, represent the metal rails; while b, b, are the wheels running thereon and
belonging to the carriages; while c, c, are the tractive and bearing wheels of
the locomotive engine.
Having described the nature of my said Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected
by the herein-beforo in part recited Letters Patent is, combining tramways,
such as herein before described, for the running and tractive hold of locomotive
engines with metal rails or ways for the running of carriages to be propelled
by such locomotive engines, as and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Page, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.