Improvements in Railroad Crossings.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Apr., 1892-Accepted, 14th May, 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railroad Crossings.
I, THOMAS SMITH of Oak Lane Station in the City and County of Philadelphia,
State of Pennsylvania, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to improvements in railroad crossings and has for its objects
the provision of a crossing for railroads which will be simple in its construction,
easy of operation and which will permit trains to pass thercover safely at a high
speed without jarring. This object I accomplish by the use of the mechanism
illustrated in the annexed drawings and the invention consists in certain novel
features of the same which will be hereinafter first fully explained and then pointed
out in the claims.
In the drawings referred to,
Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved crossing set for the main track.
Fig. 2 is a similar view showing it set for the intersecting track and
Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line - of Fig. 1.
"
The
For convenience of description, I will refer to the track as the main track which
I have marked "A on the drawings, and the track which I have marked "B" I
will refer to as the cross or intersecting track. The main and cross tracks are
connected in the usual manner and the ends of the rails are brought closely together
so as to present an unbroken surface over which the car wheels may pass.
ends of the rails of the tracks are supported on bed plates 1 which are secured on
the ties at the corners of the crossing, and also serve to support the ends of the
inner rail sections 2 and the corners of the guard rails 3. The inner rail sections 2
are arranged in alignment with their respective tracks and have their ends beveled
as shown at 4, for a purpose which will be hereinafter set forth. The guard rails
form an unbroken parallelogram having its corners secured on the bed plates 1 and
its sides connected with the inner rail sections by the check plates 5 which maintain
it at the proper distance from the rail sections.
At each corner of the crossing I provide a pair of angular movable rail sections 6
which are adapted to slide on the bed plates I to and away from the track rails and
thereby present a continuous rail or track on one road and simultaneously break
and close the track on the other road. The end of one arm of each of these
movable rail sections is beveled so as to engage the beveled end of the inner fixed
rail section and be thereby guided into its proper position when the crossing
is operated. The end of the other arm of each one is turned slightly outward,
as shown at 7, so that the said section will serve as a guard rail. The members of
each pair of movable rail sections move in opposite directions so that when one of
said sections is moved into position to form a part of its track, its mate will
be moved against the guard rail so as to close the intersecting track and thereby
prevent travel thereon as well as to form a continuous guard rail for the track
which has been opened.
The movable rail sections that are moved in the same direction are connected by
rods 8 which have their ends secured to the bases or flanges of the said sections and
extend diagonally across the crossing, one of said rods being extended beyond the
crossing and connected to a target and signal to permit a switchman to operate the
crossing and properly signal the state of the crossing to approaching trains. At
the centre of the crossing I provide a plate 9 on which I secure a pivot bolt
or pin 10 upon the upper end of which I pivot the links 11 which have their ends
pivoted to the rods 8, thus connecting the said rods so that the rods which are
parallel will move in opposite directions. At one side of the centre of the crossing
D
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page_text: and the pivot bolt 10 I provide a pivot bolt 12 on the upper end of which I mount an
angle lever 13, the ends of which are pivoted to the adjacent rods 8, as shown.
These rods are thus connected so that the operation of the target (not shown) will
operate all the rods simultaneously.
If it be
The operation of the switch is thought to be apparent from the foregoing
description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. As shown in
Fig. 1, the crossing is arranged to permit trains to travel over the main track, A,
and to prevent travel over the cross track. It will be observed that the movable
rail sections lying between the rails of the cross track are abutting against the said
rails and that their inner arms form a part of the main track, while the movable
rail sections lying between the rails of the main track have been moved up against
the inner guard rail and form extensions or continuations of the same.
desired to permit the passage of a train over the cross track the target is operated
so as to draw the rod 8 to which it is attached, outward. The movable rail sections
to which the said rod is attached will be thus moved away from the guard rail and
against the track rails while the parallel rod will be set in motion by the connecting
link 11 to move the corresponding movable rail sections away from the track rails
and against the guard rail, as will be readily understood upon reference to Fig. 2.
At the same time the angle lever will impart motion to the other pair of parallel
rods and the movable rail sections at the remaining corners of the crossing will be
adjusted.
It will be seen from the foregoing description that I have provided a railroad
crossing which is very simple in its construction and which will be easily operated
to permit the passage of trains on one track while preventing travel on the inter-
secting track. Inasmuch as the movable rail sections are connected, through
intermediate devices, and are operated simultaneously, it is impossible for both
tracks to be left open at once; consequently all danger of collisions is overcome.
Furthermore, as the movable rail sections are moved close against the guard rail and
the track rails a continuous unbroken track and guard rail is provided along the track
that is open and trains can therefore pass over the crossing at a high rate of speed
without any jarring. The operating mechanism is very simple in its construction
and is consequently not liable to get out of order and is positive in its action so that
there can be no misapprehension of the state of the crossing at any time.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The combination of the track rails, the guard rail, the fixed rail sections, and
the movable rail sections adapted to move from the guard rail to the track rails
between the track rails and the fixed rail sections.
2. In a railroad crossing of the character described the movable rail sections,
having one end turned slightly outward, substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
3. The combination of the movable rail sections, the rods connecting the same in
pairs, links connecting the rods in pairs, an angle lever connecting the pairs of rods,
and means for operating the said lever.
Dated this Ninth day of February 1892.
THOMAS SMITH.
H. B. Barlow,
Agent for Applicant.