IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CHAIRS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Greenshields, of George Street, Derby, in
the County of Derby, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
CHAIRS."
Sealed the 21st November 1854, and dated tho 2nd June 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Greenshields
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd June 1854.
I, THOMAS GREENSHIELDS, of George Street, Derby, in the County of Derby,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
RAILWAY CHAIRS" to be as follows, that is to say:-
The plan in most general use for holding the wrought-iron rail is a chair of
cast iron, cast in one piece, an opening or space being left wide enough to
admit the bottom part of the rail; when the rail is placed in the chair there
is a space between the side of the rail and the chair (in consequence of the
middle part of the rail not being so thick as the top or bottom part); a wedge
made of compressed wood is driven into this space to hold the rail in position.
The wedge is liable to become loose, and requires frequent supervision to keep
it in place, and it is soon worn out. The above-described arrangement

page_text: enables the rail to be placed in the chair, and by loosening the wedge the rail
can be turned, or a new rail laid.
The improvement consists in constructing a chair that will not require
wooden or other wedge between the side of the rail and the chair, and that
when fixed will not be liable to shift or become loose, and that will allow of the
rail being turned, or a new rail laid.
The improvement is effected by constructing the chair of two or more pieces,
that is to say, of a bottom piece or sole, of the required length and breadth of
the chair, and two bracket pieces. The bottom piece or sole is to be made
thicker at each end than in the middle, to form ledges or butments for one
end of each bracket piece. One face of each bracket piece is made to fit half
or nearly half the transverse section of the rail; the other face of each bracket
piece is to rest and slide upon the sole; the end of the face resting upon
the sole is to be made out of square, that is to say, not at a right angle with
its side, the angle formed by the longest side and the end to be less than a
right angle. The inside bracket piece is to be fixed upon the sole, and secured
with screws, bolts, or rivets before the chair receives the rail; when the rail is
placed in the chair, the other or outside bracket piece is placed, (and from
its construction,) and when driven up it will draw or tighten against the
butment on the end of the sole and the side of the rail, and must be driven
up until the rail is clipped or held firmly between the bracket pieces; a
bolt or pin is then to be passed through the bracket pieces and the sole to
secure the chair to the sleeper, and thus securing the rail firmly in position,
and preventing the bracket pieces from shifting or becoming slack. The
rail can be turned or a new rail laid by removing the outside bracket piece;
the bottom piece or sole and the two bracket pieces to be made or formed
out of rolled, pressed, or hammered iron; or the sole may be made of wrought
iron and the bracket pieces of cast iron; or the sole and one bracket piece may
be made of cast iron, cast in one piece, and the other bracket piece made
of wrought or cast iron; but it is preferred to make the chair entirely of
wrought iron, as before described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Greenshields in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd November 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GREENSHIELDS, of George Street, Derby, in the County of Derby, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, 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 Thomas Greenshields, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Greenshields, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Thomas Greenshields, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CHAIRS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Thomas Greenshields, 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 Thomas Greenshields, 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 (that is to say) :-
The chair is to be made of cast iron, cast in two separate parts; the form and
construction of each part is shewn by the Drawings: the same tint and letters
refer to the same parts in each Drawing. No. 1, a plan of the chair, drawn
full size, to be used for an intermediate chair (that is to say), chairs placed at
equal intervals between the chairs receiving the ends of two rails, called joint
chairs. The lighter tint shews the part of the chair to be cast in one piece.
The pin or bolt hole marked C, is to be made in the casting when the rails are
of one uniformn thickness; but as slight variations occur in the thickness of the
rails, it is preferred to drill the hole C after the moveable bracket piece
has been driven moderately tight; by this means the whole is more securely
fixed. The angle formed by the line E with the side of the chair can be altered

page_text: and adjusted to the variation in the thickness of the rail; but when the rails
are rolled with ordinary care, the angle shewn will be sufficient for slight
variations. The part marked F is always to be made parallel to the line E.
No. 2; a section on the line A, B, on plan No. 1, shewing the parts in
elevation and section; the darker tint shewing the moveable bracket piece, to
be cast separately, the whole K always to be made in the casting. The parts
piece G, marked L, M, on No. 1, is to be made at right angles with the
side of the chair, but the elevation of the face G is drawn to give the rail
a cant or slope; but the rail can be placed upright, or such other cant or
slope given as may be deemed best or circumstances may require. The
face of the moveable bracket piece is to be made parallel to the face of the
bracket piece G. The moveable bracket piece slides between the parts E
and F, on the plan No. 1, and as it slides the face I tightens against the
side of the rail and the face of the bracket piece G, and is driven up
(moderately), until the rail is securely held. A pin, bolt, or compressed
treenal is then driven through the holes K and C into the wooden sleeper,
the hole C in the bottom part of the chair being either left in the casting, or
prepared, as before described. No. 3, the elevation of the end of the chair;
the darker tint shewing the moveable bracket piece, the lighter tint the
butment bracket piece. No. 4, the elevation of the end of the chair, shewing
the fixed bracket piece. The chair can be cast on or otherwise fixed to iron
sleepers, or fixed to stone blocks, but it is preferred to place the chair on
wooden sleepers, as a less injurious effect is produced by concussion at the
points of bearing by the trains passing, than when iron sleepers or stone blocks
are used; the rail being scarcely held by the chair, a more even and easy
transit for trains is secured, with less oscillation, and consequently a saving
both in the wear of the rails and also in the rolling stock and the permanent
way.
The chair for securing the rail when the ends of two rails meet, called
a joint chair, is to be constructed the same as before described for an
intermediate chair, but wider on the base and strengthened on the back
between the brackets opposite, where the ends of the rail meet in the chair.
The chair is drawn to hold a double-headed rail, of eighty pounds to the yard,
lineal measure; but the chair is adapted to secure lighter rails, either double-
headed, single-headed or P rails, by making the face of the

page_text: bracket pieces G and H of the required section to receive the rail. The chair
can be used to key up or secure the rail at crossings. I do not confine myself
to the exact form, shape, or the size of the parts before described, or to cast
iron only. What I claim is, the moveable bracket piece and the corresponding
parts of the chair by which the rail is firmly secured and held in the required
position, in the manner before described. I do not claim the other portion of
the chair as being new; but I do claim the combination with the moveable
bracket piece and corresponding parts, as before described.
In witness whereof, J, the said Thomas Greenshields, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
THOMAS GREENSHIELDS. (L.S.)