IMPROVE- MENTS IN COMMUNICATING OR SIGNALLING ON RAILWAY TRAINS AND IN WARMING RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Sanders, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Attorney and Solicitor, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COMMUNICATING OR SIGNALLING ON RAILWAY TRAINS AND IN WARMING
RAILWAY CARRIAGES."-A communication from abroad by Richard
David Sanders, of Bombay, in the Empire of British India,
Engineer.
Sealed the 8th August 1873, and dated the 19th February 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Sanders at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th February 1873.
Do
I, FRANCIS SANDERS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Attorney and Solicitor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMMUNICATING OR SIGNALLING ON RAILWAY TRAINS, AND
IN WARMING RAILWAY CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of the arrangements or combinations of
parts herein-after described for effecting the said signalling or com-
munication by means of condensed air, which said arrangements or

page_text: combinations of parts may by the modifications or additions herein-after
described be made available for the warming of railway carriages.
For the purpose of communicating or signalling on railway trains an
air receiver or cistern for containing condensed air and provided with a
safety and escape valve is fixed by preference under the tender of the
engine. Air is condensed in this receiver by means of a condensing air
It is
pump, which may be driven by the engine or worked by hand.
preferred to employ a receiver having a capacity of not less than six
cubic feet. In communication with the receiver described is a vertical
hollow cylinder, having within it a disc or piston of somewhat smaller
diameter than the internal diameter of the cylinder. The communication
between the air receiver and the said cylinder is made near the bottom
of the latter, that is, below the disc described. This disc or piston is
fixed on a light rod passing through a stuffing box at the bottom of the
cylinder and working in guides. The bottom of the said rod is connected
to a lever of a cock or tap, by opening which a communication between
the condensed air receiver and a steam whistle or other alarm is made.
The top of the hollow cylinder described is in communication with a
pipe running underneath the middle of the carriages, suitable flexible
or other connections being formed between the carriages.
A vertical branch pipe at the end of each carriage communicates with
the pipe under the carriages, and the said vertical pipe is connected with
another pipe running along the middle of the top of the carriage. From
the said top pipe branch pipes descend into each carriage, each branch
pipe being connected to a cock or valve placed in the partitions between
the compartments of the carriage, so that access to one cock or valve
can be obtained from two compartments.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:- -When the apparatus is in
its normal condition there is no escape of air from the pipes fixed to the
carriages except by leakage, and the quantity of air necessary to replace
this passes between the disc described and the cylinder without raising
the said disc, but if by accident the train is divided and the pipe under-
neath the carriages ruptured, there is a free passage into the atmosphere
for the condensed air from the ruptured pipe. The pressure of the air
in the receiver being no longer counterbalanced the air now rushes from
the said receiver through the cylinder and raises the disc or piston in the
latter, thereby opening the stop-cock of the steam whistle or alarm and
permitting a rush of compressed air to the said whistle or alarm, or when

page_text: the train remains intact and a passenger opens one of the stop-cocks in a
carriage a like escape of the compressed air from the pipes takes place,
and the whistle or other alarm is brought into action. The disc or
piston in the cylinder is weighted so as to bring it to its lowest position
when the apparatus is in its normal state. A small hole may be drilled
through the said disc or piston to allow the pipe to fill rapidly after
closing the stop-cocks.
In order to indicate the compartment from which the signal is made
the stop-cock may terminate in a horizontal lateral tube. In this tube
is a flag rolled up, which is blown out at the side of the carriage on the
opening of the stop-cock, or the escaping air may actuate any other
arrangement having a like object. To prevent the stop-cocks being
improperly interfered with each stop-cock is situated in a box over which
is pasted a paper having upon it the required instructions. Access can
only be had to the stop-cock by tearing away or rupturing this paper.
In order to adapt the arrangements described for the purpose of
warming railway carriages the following changes are made:-The con-
densed air is made to pass through a coil of pipes in the smoke box of
the engine whereby it becomes heated. The pipe underneath the carriage
is connected with shallow cast-iron boxes which form a portion of the
floor between the seats and act as foot warmers, the heat arising from
them also warming the carriages. A small hole may be made in each
box or pipe to allow a little of the warm condensed air to escape into the
carriage.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Francis Sanders in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th August 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
SANDERS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Attorney and
Solicitor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Francis Sanders, Her special license,

page_text: -
that I, the said Francis Sanders, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Francis Sanders, 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 5
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COMMUNICATING OR SIGNALLING ON RAILWAY TRAINS, AND IN WARMING RAILWAY
CARRIAGES," a communication to me from abroad by Richard David
Sanders, of Bombay, in the Empire of British India, Engineer, upon the 1
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis Sanders, 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 j
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Francis Sanders, 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 a
the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
The said Invention consists of the arrangements or combinations of
parts herein-after described for effecting the said signalling or com-
munication by means of condensed air, which said arrangements or
combinations of parts may also be employed in connection with rarified
air, and by the modifications or additions herein-after described be
made available for the warming of railway carriages.
For the purpose of communicating or signalling on railway trains.
an air receiver or cistern for containing condensed air and provided
with a safety and escape valve is fixed by preference under or on the
tender of the engine. Air is condensed in this receiver by means of
a condensing air pump, which may be driven by the engine or worked
by hand. Or the condensed air may be obtained by the use of a steam
jet. In communication with the receiver described is a vertical hollow
cylinder having within it a disk or piston of somewhat smaller diameter
than the internal diameter of the cylinder. The communication between
the air receiver and the said cylinder is made near the bottom of the
latter, that is, below the disc described. This disc or piston is fixed

page_text: on a light rod passing through the bottom of the cylinder. The bottom
of the said rod is connected to the lever of a cock or tap, by opening
which a communication between the condensed air receiver and a steam
whistle or other alarm is made. The top of the hollow cylinder
described is in communication with a pipe running underneath the
middle of or along the carriages, suitable flexible or other connections
being formed between the carriages.
A vertical branch pipe at the end of each carriage communicates with
the pipe under or on the carriages, and the said vertical pipe is connected
with another pipe running along the top of the carriage. From the
said top pipe branch pipes descend into each carriage, each branch pipe
being connected to a cock or valve placed in the partitions between the
compartments of the carriage, so that access to one cock or valve can be
obtained from two compartments.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-When the apparatus is
in its normal condition there is no escape of air from the pipes fixed to
the carriages except by leakage, and the quantity of air necessary
to replace this passes between the disc described and the cylinder with-
out raising the said disc, but if by accident the train is divided and the
pipe underneath the carriages ruptured there is a free passage into the
atmosphere for the condensed air from the ruptured pipe. The pressure
of the air in the receiver being no longer counterbalanced the air now
rushes from the said receiver through the cylinder and raises the disc
or piston in the latter, thereby opening the stop-cock of the steam
whistle or alarm and permitting a rush of compressed air to the said
whistle or alarm. Or when the train remains intact and a passenger
opens one of the stop-cocks in a carriage, a like escape of the compressed
air from the pipes takes place, and the whistle or other alarm is brought
into action. The same effect takes place if the pipes on the carriages are
exhausted by the pump or steam jet. The equilibrium of the disc valve
is destroyed by the opening of any of the stop-cocks in the train or by
the rupture of any of the flexible pipes. The disc or piston in the cylinder
is weighted so as to bring it to its lowest position when the apparatus
is in its normal state. A small hole may be drilled through the said
disc or piston to allow the pipe to fill rapidly after closing the stop-
cocks.
T

page_text: is a flag rolled up, which is blown out at the side of the carriage on the
opening of the stop-cock, or the escaping air may actuate any other
arrangement having a like object. To prevent the stop-cocks being
improperly interfered with each stop-cock is situated in a box over
which is pasted a paper having upon it the required instructions. Access
can only be had to the stop-cock by tearing away or rupturing this
paper.
In order to adapt the arragements described for the purpose of
warming railway carriages the following changes are made :-The
condensed air is made to pass through a coil of pipes in the smoke box
of the engine whereby it becomes heated. The pipe underneath or on
the carriages is connected with shallow cast-iron boxes, which form a
portion of the floor between the seats and act as foot warmers, the
heat arising from them also warming the carriages. A small hole may
be made in each box or pipe to allow a little of the warm condensed
air to escape into the carriage.
Having explained the nature of the said Invention I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in elevation a portion of a railway train provided
with the new or improved signalling apparatus and also with apparatus
for warming the carriages of the train. Figure 2 represents a cross
section of one of the carriages of the train. Figure 3 represents in
section drawn to a larger scale the alarm apparatus detached. Figure 4
represents in front elevation and section drawn to a larger scale the
stop-cock or valve and box containing it for sounding the alarm, and
Figure 5 represents an arrangement of coupling for the pipes of the
apparatus.
The same letters indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the
Drawings.
I will first describe the signalling apparatus.
Attached to and worked from some convenient part of the engine is
a condensing air pump T, shown in Figure 1 as worked from the left
hand cross head gudgeon, which position becomes available by the
introduction of injectors, or the air can be supplied by an independent
pump or by the use of a steam jet from the locomotive boiler. The air
from the condensing air pump T or steam jet is conducted by the pipe A

page_text: into the receiver B, which is placed underneath the tender or in any
other convenient position on the engine. From the receiver B the air
passes into the cylinder C, in which is a plain metal disc or valve D
of a diameter a little less than the internal diameter of the cylinder. This
disc is connected by a light rod passing through the bottom of the
cylinder C to the lever of the stop-cock E, which is for the purpose of
opening direct communication between the receiver B and the whistle P
or other alarm which is place close to the driver.
From the cylinder C the air is conducted to the carriages and brake
vans by the pipes F which run underneath the said carriages and vans
along the middle, connections being made between the pipes under the
several carriages by flexible pipes or other suitable connections.
From the pipe F a branch pipe G is carried up at the end of the
carriages and along the roof from which pipe G the branch pipes H
descend into the interior of the carriages to the cocks or valves K, one
of which is shown detached in Figure 4. These cocks or valves are for
the purpose of permitting the escape of the condensed air from the
pipes F and are placed in boxes or cases in the partitions between two
compartments of the carriages so that access to them is provided from
both compartments.
I do not limit myself to the position represented of the pipes F nor to
the construction and position of the cocks or valves K as the same may
be varied without affecting the action of the apparatus.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-So long as the pipes F on
and between the carriages are complete and the cocks or valves K are
closed the current of air passing to the said pipes from the receiver B
is very feeble and passes by the disc valve in the cylinder C without
raising it, but should any rupture take place in consequence of the train
becoming accidentally divided, or should any of the cocks or valves K
in the carriages or brake vans be opened the pressure on the top of the
disc valve D is immediately diminished, and the pressure of the air in
the receiver B acting on the under side of the valve D forces it up to its
seat at the top of the cylinder C, thereby shutting off communication
between the air receiver B and the carriages, and by opening the cock E
turns the condensed air in the receiver direct to the whistle P. A like
effect is produced by the pressure of the atmosphere when the apparatus
is worked by exhaustion.

page_text: Instead of making the rising motion of the valve D open the cock of
a whistle forming part of the apparatus as represented, it may be made
to open the cock of the steam whistle of the locomotive.
The valve D is weighted so that it always falls to its lowest position
when the pressure of air is equal on both sides of it. A small hole
is drilled through the valve D in order to allow the pipes on the
carriages to be readily filled after the closing of the cocks in the
guards' vans. From the action described it will be understood that
when any of the cocks K in the carriages are opened by the passengers
or the pipe F is broken by the train becoming divided the whistle sounds
continuously, but when sounded by the guard it will sound only so long
as he keeps the cock Q in his van open, but when the cock Q is
closed the air passing through the small hole in the valve D refills the
pipes F and equilibrium is restored. The valve D then falls and closes
the cock E and shuts off the air from the whistle P. The same arrange-
ment can of course be made for passengers as for guards if thought
desirable.
In order to indicate the compartment in which an alarm is sounded
a flag which is rolled up is placed in the pipe H and is blown out and
unfurls itself on the exterior of the carriage by the escaping air from
the cock or valve k, as indicated in Figure 2.
Instead of the flag represented a small semaphore arm by day and
a light by night or other suitable signal may easily be worked by the
escaping or entering air, but the flag can be seen at all times by the
guard even at night from the light of the carriages. By this means the
guard can detect an alarm from his brake van, and by going along the
foot boards of the carriages can satisfy himself as to the necessity for
stopping the train.
In order to prevent an alarm being sounded by mischievous persons
the cocks K are protected by a wooden box over which is pasted a
paper with the necessary printed instructions for passengers, as repre-
sented on a large scale in Figure 4.
Before access can be obtained to the cocks K this paper must be torn
off, and its removal indicates the compartment in which an alarm has
been given. A single cock or valve in any of the pipes worked by a
cord or other suitable appliance will answer the same purpose.

page_text: In employing this apparatus as a means for warming. carriages the
air from the pump instead of passing direct to the receiver B is made to
circulate through the pipes L in the smoke box of the engine where it
becomes heated, it then passes into the receiver B and through the
pipes F to the carriages as before. From the main pipes F the heated
air is conducted by branch pipes into the shallow boxes M, which form
a portion of the floor between the seats and act as foot warmers. The
heat arising from them also warms the interior of the carriage. The
pipes containing the heated air may be made to circulate through the
carriage, or the air may be admitted direct into the carriage as con-
sidered desirable. The boxes or pipes M are not removed during the
summer months but remain permanent fixtures, so that the carriages
can be heated when required, which is a necessary provision for variable
climates. A very small hole or perforation is made in each box or
pipe M to allow a little air to escape into the interior of the carriage
in order to keep up a circulation from the receiver. These escape holes
are however not necessary, as leakage in the pipes answers to some extent
the same
purpose.
By the arrangement of cocks or valves represented in Figure 1 the
air from the pump T can be made to pass through a coil of pipes in the
smoke box before proceeding to the receiver B or may be passed direct
from the pump to the said receiver. When the alarm communication
only is used the cock N must be opened and the cock O' closed. If
in addition it is required to warm the carriages the position of these
cocks must be reversed. A stop-cock may be fixed in each of the pipes
conducting air to the boxes or pipes M, so that the warm air may be
admitted to the boxes or pipes M of any carriage or carriages or shut off
therefrom at pleasure.
In case of goods trains in which it is only required that an alarm
should be sounded in the event of their becoming accidentally divided or
be sounded by the guards in charge of them, the pipes may be carried
underneath the carriages.
A convenient and effective form of coupling for the flexible pipes
between the carriages is shown full size in Figure 5, and consists of a
male and female cone, the former is faced at R to form the joint. The
cone is pressed home by a loose collar, the lugs of which follow the
inclined slots as shown.

page_text: When the coupling is together it may be secured by an ordinary
thumbscrew as shown. Any other form of coupling if required can be
used.
As a means of signalling and communicating between passengers,
drivers, and guards, this Invention possesses the following advantages.
It is simple in construction and use, and in the event of a train becoming
accidentally divided the whistle continues to sound so long as the engine
continues to run, or in other words until the attention of the driver is
attracted.
In the event of an alarm being given from any of the carriages the
guard is able to ascertain by observing the flag or signal from his brake
van the compartment from which the alarm has been given.
As a means for heating carriages combined with the alarm com-
munication, this Invention possesses great advantages, inasmuch as
no attention is required on the part of any of the railway station servants
as in the use of the ordinary foot warmers, and no special appliances
are necessary at stations.
All that is required when it is wished to warm the carriages is to open
the cocks on the engine in the manner described, by which means the
waste heat of the smoke box is made available for a useful purpose.
It is necessary to provide each brake van with dummy halves of the
coupling for the purpose of closing the extreme end of the pipes F on
the rear brake van. Or this can be effected by an arrangement of
stop-cocks.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood
that I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and
represented, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of the said Invention; but I claim as the said Invention of
improvements in communicating or signalling on railway trains and in
warming railway carriages,-
Firstly. The construction and arrangement or combination of parts
substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings for communicating or signalling on railway trains, by making
an escape of condensed air from the pipe or pipes charged therewith,
and extending along the carriages or the admission of atmospheric air

page_text: passenger
into the said pipes to cause a whistle or other alarm at or near the
driver or guards to be sounded or exhibited, and in the case of
trains at the same time to operate a signal at the carriage where the
escape is established, whether the said escape be effected by the rupture
of the train or by design on the part of a passenger.
Secondly. The warming of railway carriages by combining with the
signalling apparatus the appliances necessary to warm the air of the
said apparatus, and cause it to warm the floor of or foot warmers in
the carriages and where required to introduce a current or currents
of warm air into the carriages, substantially as herein described and
represented in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Sanders, have hercunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
GEORGE SIIAW.
FRANCIS SANDERS. (L.S.)