IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRAMWAYS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Charles Shaw, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRAMWAYS."
Sealed the 8th June 1875, and dated the 11th December 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Charles Shaw at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th December 1874.
'I, JOHN CHARLES SHAW, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION Of Tramways," to be as follows:-
-
The great objection to the use of tramways in streets and highways
is due to the difficulty in keeping the iron rail on the same level as the
stone sets or other paving, the inequality in the level causing longi-
tudinal ruts or grooves parallel to the rails, which impede the traffic
of ordinary vehicles across the tramways, and frequently strain the
wheels.

page_text: Now my Invention consists in so constructing tramways that the top
of the rail and the adjacent paving must at all times remain on the same
level.
In performing my Invention I place the rails upon a compound wood,
metal, stone, Val de Travers cement, or other sleeper, which is formed
with a broad longitudinal base supporting the vertical part on which the
rail is fixed; this vertical part of the sleeper is of the width of the rail,
and of such a depth as to bring the sets resting on the base level with
the rail. By this means the objections to the ordinary mode of con-
structing tramways arc. avoided. A layer of asphalto or cement may
be spread on the base of the sleeper for the sets to bear upon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Charles Shaw in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN 1
CHARLES SHAW, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in 2
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Charles Shaw, Her
special licence that I, the said John Charles Shaw, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Charles
Shaw, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time 2
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRAMWAYS," upon the con- a
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Charles Shaw, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to

page_text: 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 John Charles Shaw, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the samo
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say):-
-
The great objection to the use of tramways in streets and highways
is due to the difficulty in keeping the iron rail on the same level as the
stone sets or other paving, the inequality in the level causing longi-
tudinal ruts or grooves parallel to the rails which impede the traffic
of ordinary vehicles across the tramways, and frequently strain the
wheels.
Now my Invention consists in so constructing tramways that the top
of the rail and the adjacent paving must at all times remain on the same
level.
In performing my Invention I place the rails upon a compound wood,
metal, stone, Val de Travers cement, or other sleeper, which is formed
with a broad longitudinal base supporting the vertical part upon which
the rail is fixed; this vertical part of the sleeper is of the width of the
rail, and of such a depth as to bring the sets resting on the base level
with the rail. By this means the objections to the ordinary mode of
constructing tramways are avoided. A layer of asphalte or cement
may be spread on the base of the sleeper for the sets to bear upon.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
Fig. 1 is a transverse section, and Fig. 2, a side elevation of my
improved tramway.
a is the grooved rail, and b, the upright part of the compound sleeper
to which the rail a is secured by spikes or otherwise in the ordinary
manner; c is the broad base of the compound sleeper which is or may
be connected to the vertical part 6 by bolts or otherwise; d, d, are the
stone sets or other paving which rest partly upon the upper sides of
the base c, and partly upon the prepared surface or foundation of the
b

page_text: road. A layer of asphalte or cement may be spread on the base of the
sleeper for the sets to bear upon.
From the foregoing description it will be seen that if the sets are
equal in depth to the depth of the vertical sleeper b, and the thickness
of the rail a, the top of the rail and the top of the sets or paving must
at all times remain on the same level, as the sets adjacent to the rail
bear upon the base c and cannot be depressed or sunk by the traffic
on the road or street. By this means the great objection to tramways
is removed, for as the rails and the adjacent sets or paving are held at
the same level it is evident that no longitudinal ruts or grooves parallel
to the rails can be formed, and consequently the traffic of ordinary.
vehicles across the tramway is not impeded.
The compound sleeper b, c, is shewn in the Drawing as being made
of wood, because I consider that the most suitable material; but I do
not intend to limit myself to the use of wood sleepers, as they may be
made of wood combined with stone or other material, or of the other
materials above referred to; in all cases it is desirable that the joints
of the rail and of the parts of the compound sleeper should not coincide,
that is to say, the joints should be broken, as shewn in Fig. 2.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described a
convenient mode of performing the same, I wish it to be understood
that I do not intend to limit myself to the details given, and that I
claim, supporting the sets or paving joining up to the rail on portions
of sleeper, as shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Charles Shaw, have hereto
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of June One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-five.