AN IMPROVED METHOD OF OR APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING AND TRANSMITTING OR EXTENDING MOTIVE POWER, BY MEANS WHEREOF CARRIAGES OR WAGGONS MAY BE PROPELLED ON RAILWAYS OR COMMON ROADS AND VESSELS MAY BE PROFELLED ON CANALS
Year: 1834

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
PINKUS, late of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, since of North
Crescent, Bedford Square, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King William the Fourth, did, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date the First
day of March, in the fourth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Pinkus, His special licence, that I, the said Henry Pinkus,
during the term of years therein specified, should and lawfully might use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF OR APPARATUS FOR
COMMUNICATING AND TRANSMITTING OR EXTENDING MOTIVE POWER, BY MEANS WHEREOF
CARRIAGES OR WAGGONS MAY BE PROPELLED ON RAILWAYS OR COMMON ROADS AND
VESSELS MAY BE PROFELLED ON CANALS;" in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said Henry Pinkus, under my hand and
seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and
how the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six months after the date of the said recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, may more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Henry
Pinkus, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention or discovery, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are described and ascertained in
the Drawings hereunto annexed, marked No. I and No. 2, with the diagrams

page_text: or figures and letters therein contained, and the words and letters herein
following (that is to say):-
My improved method consists in the application of a well-known principle
in pneumatics to and in combination with a new apparatus, or new and
improved combination of apparatus and machinery, whereby motive power can
be generated and great velocity may be acquired, with which application and
combination aforesaid construct what I denominate the Pneumatic Railway.
The principle that I apply is, that the action obtained by means of a partial
vacuum, by rarefying or partially exhausting the atmosphere contained in an ex-
tended tunnel, tube, pipe, or conduit having a transmitting and accelerating piston
impelled by the ordinary weight or pressure and elasticity of the atmosphere.
The action last aforesaid I effect by the operation of air pumps worked at stations
along and near to the line of road by fixed steam engines or stationary engines
of any other kind which may be made advantageously available as first movers.
My method of communicating motive power to cars, carriages, or other
moveable bodies consists in transferring the action generated or produced in
manner aforesaid in the interior of a tunnel, tule, conduit, or pipe to its
exterior by connecting a vehicle or machine (herein-after described) situated
within and to be impelled along the interior or on the inner side of the said
tunnel, tube, pipe, or conduit by the piston aforesaid, which vehicle or machine
I denominate the dynamic traveller, with a car (also herein-after described)
situated exteriorly or on the outer side of the said tunnel, tube, pipe, or
conduit, which car I denominate the governor.
And my method of transmitting or extending motive power (herein-after
more particularly set forth) consists, in the propulsion which effect by means
of the combination aforesaid, whereby cars, carriages, and other moveable
bodies may be transferred on railways or common ways, and vessels may be
transferred on canals, by uniting the before-mentioned combination with the
common well-known system of railways, or with a canal.
The combination before mentioned is, however, itself a complete system o
railway when not united with the common system of railway, and this systen
together and in connection with the application of the pneumatic principle by
means of the combined apparatus referred to, forms the more particular subjec
of the following Specification, in which the same letters of reference apply t
all to the Diagrams and Figures in the annexed Drawings numbered 1 and
respectively. construct a tunnel, tube, conduit, or pipe of cast iron, or
any other suitable metal or material or combination of materials, eithe
cylindrical or of any other convenient form, and of any required diameter
dimension, or capacity, according to the nature of its application, whether

page_text: If the pneumatic tube be
be with a view to the formation of a complete system of railway in itself, as
here more particularly proposed, or whether it be with a view to the appli-
cation of the pneumatic power to or in union with a common railway, or to or in
union with a canal. In constructing the pneumatic railway I propose to make
a cylindrical tunnel of about forty-two inches internal diameter, and of the
average thickness of about one inch, (that is to say,) the lower half of its
circumference about one inch and a quarter, and the upper half three quarters
of an inch. If any other kind of materials be used the substance will
necessarily depend on the nature of such materials.
applied to a common railway or to a canal, I, in that case, propose to make
the tube of about thirty inches internal diameter and three quarters of an inch
thick. The length of the pneumatic tube will be equal to the whole length
of the railway or canal to which it may be applied as the medium of a trans-
ferring motive power. The cylinders composing the pneumatic tube should be
cast in lengths of at least fifteen or twenty feet, or of the greatest lengths
possible, and they should be cast on smooth metal moulds so that their inner
sides present surfaces as even as possible. The ends of the cylinders should
be connected by means of the common socket joint, for which purpose a ring
or socket four or six inches deep should be cast on one end of each cylinder,
projecting so as to form a socket to receive the plain end of another cylinder
to be connected with it. In the annexed Drawing No. L., Figure 1. is an
elevation of the pneumatic railway with the governor attached. Fig. II. is a
longitudinal section of the same taken upon and a little on one side of the
medial line, exhibiting the dynamic traveller within, and the governor to which
it is to be attached without, and showing their connexion with each other by
means of an arm passing from the former through a continued longitudinal
chase or lateral perforation in the tube of the railway into the latter.
Fig. III. is a plan of the pneumatic railway with that of the governor drawn
npon it in red color; the dotted lines in the latter indicating those parts of it
which are beneath its floor or bottom, and projecting ends.
In the Drawing No. II., Fig. IV. is a transverse section of the pneumatic
railway when properly constructed, and exhibiting an end elevation of the
governor, its several connections and its position, and also the near wheel of
the dynamic traveller, and its position within the pneumatic tube, together with
its piston in advance. Fig. V. is a transverse section of the pneumatic
railway, as at Fig. IV., through the body of the governor and through the
crutch of the dynamic traveller, with the vertical arm passing from the one to
the other to shew more clearly the connection established by it. Figure VI. A
is a transverse section of a station valve in the pneumatic tube, by means of

page_text: which the operation of rarefaction may he confined to a particular section of
the pneumatic cylinder, and be recommenced after it has been discharged by
the passing of the dynamic traveller in preparation for the train that shall next
follow; B is a section longitudinally of the pneumatic tube, and transversely
of the valve, for the further illustration of the mode of suspending the trap;
C is a plan of the valve frame. Fig. VI
sverse section on a full
scale of the pneumatic valve and the valvu (hereinafter described), by
means whereof the power generated in the anterior of the pneumatic cylinder
is retained until the advance of the dynamic traveller and its attached appa-
ratus effect its application and transference to the exterior or outer side of the
said cylinder. Fig. VIII. is a transverse section of a common railroad with
the pneumatic tube applied in a transverse section, also with an end elevation
of the car for the further illustration of the governor and dynamic traveller.
In constructing the hollow cylinder, of which the pneumatic tube a, a, a, a,
Figs. I, II, III., IV., V., VI., VII., & VIII. is composed, 1 form on one
side of such cylinder, which will be its upper surface when laid in its proper
position, a pneumatic valve b, b, Figs. 1., H., III, IV, V., VI., VII, & VIII.,
having the appearance of a trough or deep groove, whose central line will
be in a line with one passing through the vertical diameter of the cylinder.
This valve is composed of the same metal as the pneumatic tube, and is a part
of the same casting. The sides of the trough or groove c, c. should be about
seven eighths of an inch thick and about four inches high, and on the upper
edge of these sides are projections d. d, Figs. IV. and VII., one and a half
inches wide by one inch thick. The inner side of this trough is of irregular
form, having angular grooves in the bottom with raised sharp edges, as shewn
in Fig. VII. at e, e; and these edges on the other side from the angular grooves
form the borders of a continued slit or chase cut though the bottom of the
trough into the body of the tunnel. The trough or groove on the inner side,
form the top of the edge e, e, of the vertical sides of the chase to the top of the
siles d, d, should be about four inches deep, and the distance between the
opposite sides four inches. And the arrangement generally is such that a
cylindrical tube whose diameter is four inches when laid in the trough shall
rest upon the sharp edges e, e, and touch four other points or parts on the sides.
Through the lower part of the trough or groove, whose length is equal to the
whole length of the pneumatic tube, I form the longitudinal slit chase or con-
tinued aperture, Figs. 111. and VII., above referred to, into the pneumatic
cylinder, and along its entire length. On the two opposite sides of the pneumatic
tube or cylinder, and in a line with the line drawn horizontally through its
diameter, being a part of the same casting, are the rails g, g, Figs. I., III.,

page_text: IV., V., and VI., of the form shewn in Fig. IV. These rails are three inches
wide on their upper and horizontal faces clear of the socket rings, and two
inches deep on their sides vertically, and thence gradually diminishing down-
wards to a depth of six inches in a curve, as shewn in Fig. IV. On the inner
and lowest side of the cylinder, and in a line with a vertical line drawn through
its diameter, and vertically under the slit or chase f is a raised and vertical
tongue or rail h, Figs. II., IV., V., VI., and VIII., four inches high, being two
inches in width or thickness at its base, and gradually diminishing to one inch
at three and a half inches high, above which it is semicircularly convex. This
tongue or rail is also a part of the same casting with the pneumatic cylinder.
Under the rails g, g, at about eight inches below their upper and horizontal sur-
face, are brackets i, i, Figs. IV. & V., one pair near to each end of every length
of the cylinder, and cast with the cylinders themselves, as the rails are, and
these brackets may be about four inches thick and may project four inches,
and each must be bored to admit wrought-iron rods j, j, one inch thick, to pass
through them, and these rods are to be connected at their ends by nuts and
screws for the purpose of firmly connecting the cylinders along the whole
length in which they may be laid. It may be observed, that the rails g, g, and
the tongue or rail h may be either cast with the cylinders or be made of
wrought iron, and put on and fixed in any convenient manner, or case-
hardened plates may be laid on and fixed to the upper surfaces of the rails g,g.
The ends of the rails g, g, should be bored to receive wrought-iron dowels
about three quarters of an inch in diameter and six inches long, since these
will conduce to the firmness of the cylinders and rails, and will tend to keep
them in a true line, and thus prevent shocks such as usually occur on common
railroads, in consequence of the deflection of the rails by the passage over
then of heavy bodies, and of carriages in rapid motion. The rails g, g, must,
moreover, be four inches shorter at one end than the cylinders on which they
are cast, that is, shorter at the ends of the cylinders not having rings upon them,
so that when they are inserted into those that have them the ends of the rails
may just meet. The ends of the rails g, g, may also be made oblique to overlap
about one inch, so that the joints shall be broken within the width of the rail
itself, as indicated by the oblique or bevelled line k, Fig. 3, and thus avoid the
inconvenience arising with joints at right angles from the contraction to which
the metal is liable, and which, by opening the joints, would occasion the rails
to present a broken surface to the peripheries of the wheels when passing over
them. On the extreme end of each cylinder there is a semi-elliptical groove
three quarters of an inch in diameter and about five sixteenths of an inch deep.
The object of this groove is to aid in forming an air-tight joint when the ends

page_text: of the cylinders are brought together, and this object is proposed to be attained
in the following manner-An elastic cylindrical tube of wire half an inch in
diameter may be made by winding wire of about the sixteenth of an inch thick
spirally on what is commonly called a mandril. This spiral forms a series of
rings lying nearly parallel to each other, thus forming a wire tube of the
required length; and upon this propose to put a covering of coarse cotton
or woollen cloth; and again over this a surface of caoutchouc or indian rubber.
The elastic tube thus formed must be rather less than three quarters of an
inch in diameter, and it is to be placed in the concave groove on the ends of
the cylinders before mentioned. When two ends of the pneumatic cylinder
are bolted or drawn closely together upon this tube by means of the nuts and
scrows at the ends of the wrought-iron rods acting against the brackets before
mentioned, they will compress the elastic tube or ring and form an air-tight
joint that will yield to any contraction or expansion of the metal composing the
pneumatic cylinders. Through the bored or mortised brackets i, i, Figs. IV.
and VIII., and in a line parallel to the line of the rails g, g, round wrought-iron
rods, as aforesaid, j, j, Fig. V., one inch in diameter, are to be run or drawn.
Ench rod should be twice the length of the cast cylinders of which the pneu-
matic tube is composed, and the rods should be made square in those parts
that are fitted to the mortises in the brackets, whereby they may be prevented
from turning round when the nuts before mentioned are applied to the screws
on the ends of the rods. The advantages contemplated by the use of wrought-
iron rods, as aforesaid, are, drawing the ends of the cylinders closely together
so as to assist in making and preserving the joints air-tight, and strengthening
the pneumatic cylinder, making a less thickness of metal in the cylinders
suffice. The deflection of the cylinder (if any) will be less, and the effect of
the pressure of great weights passing along the rails will be distributed over a
larger surface by the lateral strain on these horizontal rods. Preparatory to
the laying down or constructing a line of the pneumatic railway the necessary
approximation to a level, and the drainage having been procured and ellected
along the line of the intended road, I propose to make a foundation in the
following manner-1 form a semi-circular trench large enough to receive the
lower half of the cylinder, and admit of the following arrangement: within
the trench may be laid a ballasting of broken stones, or a partial bottoming of
rough close-set pitching stones may be formed, as seen in Fig. IV., the stones
being set with their broadest ends downwards, & over them a coating of
broken stones should be laid in the manner now usually practised in forming
common roads. This foundation or bottoming may be made continuous or be
laid only at intervals, as the nature of the soil may permit or render it

page_text: necessary.
In the trench thus or in any other manner properly prepared the
cylinders should be placed end to end, the flexible rings applied to the grooves
in their ends, and by the application of the wrought-iron rods, with their nuts
and screws, the ends of the cylinders will be bolted firmly together, and the
joints made air-tight. The trench should then be filled in with rubble well
rammed down, and a rough rubble curb to be set along under the rails g, g, as
indicated in the Diagram, Fig. 1V., leaving them clear above the surface, as
in the elevation, Fig. L., with a view to facilitate the operation of transit, and
enable various parts of the same line of the pneumatic tunnel to be used simul.
taneously. I propose to divide it into sections (of convenient lengths, which
may be determined by the stations of the operating engines) by intercepting
traps or station valves which may be constructed and arranged as shown at
Fig. VI., A, B, C, or be made similar in form and construction to the common
gas valves usually applied to gas mains, and the connexion may in this case
also be similar. The action of the station valves is, however, necessarily much
quicker than that of the gas valves, working more loosely and freely in its
frame by means of chains and pullies instead of the screw. The station valve,
as here proposed, may be compared in construction, action, and in the mode of
suspending it, to a common sash and frame with a sill and pulley styles, but
with an open head, the styles and linings being fitted up to the sides of the
cylinder and running down into a chamber constructed under the line of road.
The frame of the valve and its trap or shutter may be of any convenient
material of suflicient strength. The upper half of the trap or sliding shutter
is semi-circular to conform to the shape of the upper side of the pneumatic
cylinder, the lower part being made parallel and square, to run between the
styles and fall down upon the sill. The sliding valve or trap may be sus-
pended by chains fixed by their ends within grooves on its edges, and running
over pullies in the styles of the frame. These chains may be conducted from
the pullies to a windlass, which may be turned by a winch, and the sliding valve
be thus raised or lowered either to open or to intercept the communication be-
tween the several sections of the pneumatic tunnel by a single turn of the winch.
In the Diagram A is a transverse section of the pneumatic cylinder with an
elevation of the frame and sliding valve in the supposed chamber beneath it,
B is a
and shewing the valve or trap drawn up to intercept communication.
longitudinal section of the tunnel, and a transverse section of the frame and
valve; and C is a plan shewing the arrangement of the pulley styles and the
rabbets and grooves for the trap or valve, and inclosing doors. Fig. V. is a
transverse section of the tube or tunnel, as at Fig. IV., transversely through
the body of the governor and through the crutch of the dynamic traveller,

page_text: shewing the vertical arm at its insertion into the latter, passing through
the chase, and through the pneumatic valve, and into the chase or aperture in
the floor of the governor, with the mode of attaching it to the latter, as further
exhibited and clucidated in plan, Fig. III., and also showing the friction
wheels r, r, exclusively attached to the arm as suspended from horizontal
bearers to prevent its sides from coming in contact with the sides of the chase
of the pneumatic valve. In this Diagram, as in Fig. IV., the piston.
is seen in advance of the dynamic traveller within the body of the tube or
tunnel a, a, a, a. The pneumatic railway being thus constructed, I place the
before-mentioned dynamic traveller L, Fig. 11, upon the tongue or rail h
within the body of the cylinder. This vehicle is the bearer of a trans-
mitting piston 1,1, Figs. II., IV., V., and VIII., and is constructed of two
iron wheels m, m, each three feet four inches in diameter, having case-
hardened peripheries, in which are grooves three inches deep, conforming to
the shape of the vertical tongue or rail h. These wheels are mounted in and
attached to a crutch or duplex beam n, n, by their axles, which are case-
hardened and furnished with loose steel washers, and are placed each in a
direct line with the other, after the manner of a common velocipede, and run
in a line on the vertical tongue or rail h, as shewn in Fig. 11., and in the
transverse sections at Figs. IV., V., and VIII, connected with the crutch or
duplex beam aforesaid, and at about midway between the two wheels is a
vertical wrought iron arm p, Figs. 1., 11., III, IV, V., and VIII., about
twelve or fifteen inches broad and about two inches thick, but gradually
enlarging to the thickness of six inches where it is inserted by means of a
tenon into the duplex beam, and diminishing to a half inch in thickness where
it passes through the continued chase or aperture. This flat vertical arm pro-
trudes or projects through the slit chase or aperture made through the upper
side of the pneumatic cylinder before mentioned, and through the trough or
groove, as seen at Figs. IV. and VIII., and more clearly at Fig. V. The top
of the vertical arm projects into a wide mortice in the bottom of the before-
mentioned governor, to which it is attacked, and confined by a holt or pin, as
indicated at Figs. I., II., and V., and thus connects the governor with the
dynamic traveller. Attached to the vertical arm are inflexible horizontal arms,
from which are suspended by pivots or vertical axles, friction wheels r, r; as
seen in Fig. V., and also in the Figs. 1. and III., whose peripheries roll on
the outer sides of the before-mentioned pneumatic trough b. These wheels
guide the vertical arm in its passage along the slit or chase, before mentioned,
and prevent its touching on either side. To the advanced end of the crutch
or duplex beam, and exactly in the same line with it, is attached a wrought-

page_text: iron rod S, Fig. 11., of any convenient length, by any convenient means, and
this rod should be so stout as not to deflect with the weight of the piston /,
Figs. II., IV., V., and VIII., which is firmly secured to its further end in a
transverse position. The piston itself must be a stout and inflexible franic of
any sufficiently strong material, and be covered with a metal plate to secure its
efficiency. It is proposed to form a valve in the lower quadrant of this piston,
as indicated at o, Figs. II., IV., V., and VIII., hung upon pivots, and acted
upon by a chain t, t, t, Fig. II., passing over the pullies u, u, u, and led by any
convenient arrangement up into the governor. The object of this valve is
to assist in retarding or entirely stopping the outward progress of the vehicle
when it may be necessary. The lower part of the piston, and consequently
this valve, must be notched to the form of the vertical tongue or rail h, and the
piston generally must be so much less than the transverse section of the pneu-
matic cylinder as to pass freely through it. On the outer side of the outside
the pneumatic railway, and across it, is placed the before-mentioned car V.,
Figs. I., II., III., IV., and V., with its wheels resting on the rails 9,9. To
the body of this car, which may be of ordinary form but open at both ends, are
attached the four wheels w, w, each of which is made six feet in diameter, and
two inches thick on the tire or at the periphery. The tire bearings and axles
of these should all be case-hardened. The axles a, a, Figs. I., II., III., IV., V.,
and VIII., upon which the wheels w, w, are placed, are made with cranks to
bring the body of the car down to the most convenient height; but axles of any
other convenient form may be applied. The length of the axles must be such as to
allow one inch play between the inner faces or sides of the wheels and the socket
rings on the sides of the pneumatic cylinder. To the axles of the governor I attach
flat metal tengues of the form shewn at y, y, plan, Fig. III., projecting forward.
To the advanced ends of these tongues are affixed friction wheels,=, Figs. I.,
III., IV., and V., suspended horizontally by pivots or vertical axles. These wheels
are made of metal about twenty inches in diameter and one inch thick at the
periphery, and the suspending pivot or axle should be of such a length as
to bring the friction wheels to bear upon the middle part of the sides of the
pneumatic trough or valve b, b, and go in under the projections d, d. The
pivots or axles are placed in slits made in the ends of the tongues y, y, five
inches long and two inches wide, against which are placed strong spiral springs
which cause them to slide inwards and press the peripheries of the friction
wheels against the sides b, b, of the trough. The play which these springs allow
the friction wheels should be so regulated as to prevent the wheels of the
governor from rubbing or coming in contact with the sides of the pneumatic
cylinder, notwithstanding any curves that may occur in the line of the railway.

page_text: The projecting tongues and springs thereto attached should be so adjusted as
to prevent the peripheries of the friction wheels from getting from under the
projections d. d. Similar friction wheels must be attached to all the cars or
carriages used upon the pneumatic railway, their use being to prevent the
carriage wheels from coming in contact with the sides of the cylinder. Within
the body of the governor is suspended in manner shewn in Figs. II., IV.,
and VII, a light wooden wheel P, Fig. 1., I, III, IV., and VIII., five
inches thick at the rim, and three feet six inches in diameter, having a concave
groove in its periphery three inches deep and four inches wide. Projecting from
the front of the governor, in a line with the wheel P, is suspended immediately
over the valvular cord, and about two inches above the rim of the pneumatic
trough, a light wooden wheel C, as shewn at Figs. I., II, and III. The dia-
meter of this wheel at the bottom of its shallow concave groove is equal to the
diameter of the wheel Pin the same part. In conjunction with the pneumatic
trough is a cylindrical, flexible, and elastic tube E, Figs. L., I., VI., and VII.,
which tube I denominate the valvular cord, and it may be formed in the
following manner-On a cylindrical mandril, whose diameter is about two
inches and three quarters of an inch, I propose to wind round wire about one
fifth of an inch thick, in such manner that the wire shall form a series of
spiral rings, each touching the other, and thus produce a spiral wire tube of
three inches and one eighth of an inch in diameter, or thereabouts. Over this
spiral wire tube I lay a surface of common woollen felt, forming a felten hose
of about three sixteenths of an inch thick, and over this felt is to be woven in
the common manner of weaving around cords, and in close contact with the
former, another surface or coating in the form of a hose of any soft flexible
material, such as New Zealand flax, or preserved hemp and flax, or what is
well known in commerce as phorinium tenax, or any other efficient material
that will not absorb moisture or become rigid at a low temperature; over this
latter covering again is to be laid a coating of caoutchouc or indian rubber, of
about one twentieth of an inch thick, this will fill up all the interstices of the
hempen hose, and form a smooth impervious surface. The diameter of the
valvular cord thus formed should be just four inches, and it may be made in
sections of any convenient length, say of fifty yards, and their ends may be
united by union screws, with swivel joints fixed on the inner side of the cord.
The valvular cord thus constructed into a length equal to the whole length of the
pneumatic railway is now to be laid down into the trough b, Figs. I., II., III.,
VI., and VII, and consequently over the slit chase or aperture f, which is
thus closed to put the cord into operation; it is passed under the wheel C, and
over the wheel P of the governor, as seen at Figs. I. and 11. The
purpose of

page_text: this cord being to close the chase or lateral opening into the body of the
cylinder, and it being required to yield freely when acted upon by the con-
nected apparatus, it is advisable to make it as heavy and flexible as possible;
to effect this upon the cord above described, another similar spiral wire tube
of smaller diameter may be drawn loosely into the core of the outer and larger
olle. Besides the mechanical connexion herein set forth between the dynamic
traveller and the governor, for communicating or conveying the power obtained
upon the former to the latter, and transmitting it as before mentioned, I pro-
pose to effect the same object by means of magnetic attraction, and for this
purpose I make the trough b, b, wider, twelve or fifteen inches wide, and the
chase of the whole width between the inner sides of the trough, and I lay
along or fit closely into it along the whole length a plate of copper about a
quarter of an inch in thickness, or any other suitable material, to close the
aperture and make the tube or tunnel completely air-tight, whilst it will permit
the near approach to each other of the magnetic surfaces to be applied without
destroying their efficiency, dispensing with the vertical arm, and the attach-
ments applied externally to keep it in its proper position, and thereby steady
the dynamic traveller itself, and dispensing also with the valvular cord. I
attach friction wheels to a transverse beam affixed to the crutch or longitudinal
tube of the dynamic traveller to act against the inner sides of the cylinder upon
its horizontal diameter, or immediately within the rails upon which the
governor runs. Over the body of the dynamic traveller, and entirely in the
rear of the piston, I propose to erect a frame of fifteen or twenty feet in length,
and to this affix common horse-shoe magnets of large size, and of great
power, set transversely, and with their ends turned upwards and placed as near
to the under surface of the copper or other thin plate as they can be con-
veniently, so as to move along under it without absolute contact, and so far
apart as not to be affected cach by another. On the exterior of the tunnel and
under the body of the governor, I propose to attach or suspend a similar com-
bination of similar magnets inverted, with their poles so arranged as to promote
the greatest degree of attraction between them and those affixed to or borne
upon the dynamic traveller on the inside of the tunnel, and with their ends so
near to the upper or outer surface of the copper plate that they may pass over
it without absolute contact, the object being to bring the surfaces of the two
series of the magnets as near to each other as the nature of the case will allow
of, and by their attractive power to draw or compel the governor and its attach-
ments in conformity with the motion in advance of the dynamic traveller. This
connecting power thus obtained may be increased to any desired extent by
adding to the number of magnets or the amount of magnetic surface. The

page_text: same object may be attained by a similar arrangement to the foregoing, sub-
stituting a surface of soft iron for the magnet above the dynamic traveller, on
the inside of the tube or tunnel; or instead of the first-mentioned system of
ordinary common magnets retained in the arrangement last referred to on the
outside, and attached to the governor, electro-magnetic power may there be
employed. The pneumatic railway being constructed and laid down as herein-
before described, I propose to erect in any convenient situation near to the
line of the road, stationary exhausting engines or air pumps, to be put in action
by attached local steam engines of any other suitable kind or power as first
movers. The exhausting engines are to be connected with the pneumatic tube
to which the railway is attached by means of lateral tubes or pipes of any
required diameter, according to the power of the engines, their distance from
the line of the road, and the degree of rarefaction required. These tubes form a
free communication from the exhausting engine to the interior of the pneumatic
tube of the railway, the connexion with which is to be made in the common
manner upon the lower side of the tube, at the distance of about two hundred
feet from the station valve before described, and on the side of it that lies
nearest to the station whence the governor with its train of carriages is to be
drawn. 1 propose to arrange the stations for the engines last aforesaid on the
line of railway or canal, at five or ten miles apart, or at any other convenient
or suitable distance which circumstances may shew to be necessary consequent
upon the power of the engines, the capacity of the pneumatic cylinder, the
degree of rarefaction necessary, the average weight to be conveyed, the velocity
required, and the height of any inclined plane to be surmounted; similar con-
siderations affect the apportioning of exhausting power upon the application
of the pneumatic cylinder to common railroads or to canals. The power of
the respective stationary engines, with reference to the effect they may be
required to produce. will determine the distance they may be apart under any
circumstances, or rather their powers must be apportioned to the various cir-
cumstances; and it will be a matter of economy to determine whether the
effort required may be better produced by engines of great power at longer
distances, or by engines of smaller power at shorter. On a double line of
railway each stationary engine should be connected, on opposite sides of the
station valves, with both lines of the pneumatic cylinder, and consequently
with two sections, and may thus be made available to operate alternately or
simultaneously upon both sections, and effect transit in both and opposite
directions. As the power to be produced is by the pressure of the atmospheric
acting against the piston in advance of the dynamic traveller, by the rarefaction
within the tube before it, the pressure will depend upon the degree, and the

page_text: degree may be constantly ascertained by means of barometers placed at the
different stations, which will indicate the approach of the governor and its
train, and about its distance from the station. A barometer placed on the
governor and communicating by a small tube with the interior of the pneumatic
cylinder, and through the piston to its vacuum side, will likewise indicate the
degree of rarefaction, and consequently the pressure upon the piston, the
sufficiency of power to propel, and the time for moving off. Operation:-When
it is desired to put the pneumatic railway into operation, its several parts being
properly adjusted, action must be given to the stationary exhausting engines
connected with the section of the tube through which propulsion is to be
effected. The station valve being closed, and the air abstracted from that end
of the section of the pneumatic cylinder, rarefaction will take place throughout
the whole of the included atmosphere contained in the space lying between the
station valve and the piston which is attached to the dynamic traveller. Tho
partial vacuum thus effected at the station will cause the included column of
air to move rapidly towards it, and the incumbent atmosphere pressing upon
the valvular cord, will tend to aid the weight of the cord in making the pneu-
matic valve sufficiently close to prevent the ingress of the external air, and
preserve the required degree of rarefaction on the vacuum side of the piston.
The unincluded atmosphere rushing into the cylinder through the aperture in
the pneumatic valve over the dynamic traveller, which is laid open by the
raising or lifting of the valvular cord over the wheel P of the governor, and
impinging on the plenum side of the piston, will produce a pressure proportional
to the degree of rarefaction on its opposite side. The piston (being situated and
moving always in advance of the wheel C of the governor, whose office it is
to roll on the valvular cord and prevent it from rising until the piston has
passed, if the weight of the cord shall not effect that object,) will consequently
move forward, and draw with it the dynamic traveller, which being attached to
the governor by the vertical arm passing through the before-mentioned chase
or continuous aperture, or by means of the arrangement of the magnetic power
before described, will communicate to it the impelling power thus produced and
applied by its agency to the train of waggons or carriages therewith connected.
As the governor moves forward according to the mechanical arrangement, the
wheel P will roll under the valvular cord and continue to raise it up on the plenum
side of the piston and on that side of the vertical arm nearest to the piston, and
lay it down into the pneumatic trough or groove on its opposite side or in the
rear, forming at all times, during the advance of the dynamic traveller, a clear
opening for the passage of the vertical arm, and for the admission of the
external impelling atmosphere. The diameter of the wheels P and C of the

page_text: governor should be about half that of the larger wheels, with which if necessary
they may be geared, so as to revolve twice whilst the larger wheels revolve
once, if the weight and adhesion of the valvular cord to their peripheries shall
not effect the same object, with a view to prevent friction by effecting a rolling
instead of a rubbing action. The friction wheels z,, attached to the axles of
the governor, act as guides to the wheels, keeping them in their proper path on
the rails, and by their action enable the travelling wheels to conform to any
curves in the line of railway, and prevent contact with the sides of the pneu-
matic cylinder. These friction wheels are applied in lieu of common flange
wheels, and avoid the friction consequent on the action of flanges against the
sides of the rails when used in the common manner. When the stationary
exhausting engine has produced such a degree of rarefaction as to induce a
sufficient pressure on the piston to propel the train with the required velocity, and
which the barometer attached to the governor will indicate, the engine con-
timing or keeping up the required degree of rarefaction, the governor and its
train will be impelled onwards towards the station valve, which, on the near
approach of the dynamic traveller, must be quickly let down so as to permit it
to pass. The valve may then be given raised, and the same engine continuing
to abstract the air as before from the same section of the railway, it will be
again soon prepared for another train in like manner. When the dynamic
traveller has passed the station valve, and entered another section which has
been similarly prepared by the operation of the engine next in advance, it will
be impelled forward in like manner through that section, and so on from one
section to another, throughout the whole line of railway.
In order to apply the pneumatic tube to the propulsion of boats on canals, it
will only be necessary to lay down a line of tube in or along the whole length
of the margin, or what is usually termed the towing path of the canal. The
constructions and dimensions of the tube, and the various apparatus therewith
connected, including the stationary engines, station valves. &c., may be alike
in all their parts to a line of the pneumatic tube when applied as the medium
of a transferring motive power to a common railroad, as shewn in a transverse
section at Fig. The towing line of the canal boat must be attached either
to a governor or to the vertical arm itself of the dynamic; station valves should
be placed at the locks of the canals.
Claim: Now, although my application, Invention, or discovery, herein-heford
related and specified, will admit of various forms and dimensions of the
apparatus and machinery, and of their parts in detail, as well as the use o
other and different materials from those mentioned, I claim the combination
and arrangement herein-before set forth and described.

page_text: I claim the cylindrical tube or tunnel with its various attachments and
ateral perforation; that is to say, the attached or upraised sides in the upper
and outer surface of the tube with its external and internal arrangements
forming the trough or groove of what I term the pneumatic valve, together
with the perforation chase or continued aperture between those sides, and
through the side of the tube, and the attached projecting rails outside upon the
sides and under the horizontal diameter of the cylinder, and also the vertical
tongue or rail which is vertically under the chase of the pneumatic valve.
I claim the application and combination of what I term the station valve
with the pneumatic tube.
I claim the combination of the apparatus or machine which I term the
dynamic traveller, within the laterally perforated cylindrical tube or tunnel,
with the car or carriage on the outside of the same tube or tunnel; and I
claim the vertical arm which is attached to the dynamic traveller within,
and which, passing through the perforation chase or aperture of the tube or
tunnel, conveys the impulse obtained from the power within to the outside,
together with the cylindrical flexible tube or cord which I call the valvular
cord, and its application to and connexion with the pneumatic trough or valve
or continued aperture of the tube or tunnel; and also the application of
the wheels and of the governor, and their use and application in combination
with and application to the valvular cord, and the method in which they raise
and lower it, and the action of raising and lowering the cord.
I claim the application of the principle by which motive power generated
or produced within or on the interior of an extended or lengthened hollow
cylinder or tube, pipe, or tunnel, is or may be communicated to the exterior or
outer side, and made available upon or near to the outside of such tube, pipe,
or tunnel, and of transfering the motive power along on the outside, and con-
tinuing it along the entire length, or any part of the length, of such tube, pipe,
or tunnel as aforesaid, and by means thereof of drawing, compelling, impelling,
or propelling cars, carriages, or waggons, or vessels being on the outside, and
on or near to the said tube or tunnel as aforesaid, which said cars, carriages,
waggons, or vessels may be attached to or connected with the power aforesaid
in any convenient manner, whether the connexion between the internal and
external parts of the apparatus, and the communication of the power from the
former to the latter be made by means of the vertical arm passing through a
pneumatic valve, or by means of magnetic attraction, that is to say, of the
attraction inherent to natural or ordinary magnets of that which exists between
the natural magnet and unmagnetized iron, and of that which may be excited
in iron by means of the voltaic current and unmagnetized iron.

page_text: I claim the application or combination of the pneumatic tube or tunnel with
all or any of its attachments to or with a common railroad, by being laid down
between the rails as aforesaid, or by the side of such railroad, or to any common
road, or to or with a canal, as the medium of communicating and transfering
motive power as aforesaid.
I disclaim being the inventor or discoverer of a pneumatic hollow cylinder
or tunnel, designed for the conveyance of persons or goods, or cars, carriages,
or waggons, or the interior or inner side of such hollow cylinder or tunnel, such
method being old and well known.
And I disclaim all other things which it has been necessary or convenient for
me to mention, and which are not included in the aforesaid claims made by me
as an improved method of or apparatus for communicating and transmitting or
extending motive power, by means whereof carriages or waggons may be
propelled on railways or common roads, and vessels may be propelled on
canals.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal,
this Thirtieth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-four.