IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN PASSENGERS, ENGINE MEN, AND GUARDS IN RAILWAY TRAINS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Galloway, of Craigie, in the County of
Ayr, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN PASSENGERS, ENGINE MEN, AND GUARDS IN
RAILWAY TRAINS."
Sealed the 29th October 1869, and dated the 6th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Galloway at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 6th May 1869.
I, WILLIAM GALLOWAY, of Craigie, in the County of Ayr, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN PASSENGERS, ENGINE MEN, AND
GUARDS IN RAILWAY TRAINS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention, which relates to an improved means or apparatus to be
employed in connection with railway trains for the purpose of enabling
the passengers in any carriage to communicate with the guard or engine
driver, consists in carrying a pipe from the engine, and which pipe
extends throughout the train of vehicles. Suitable couplings or joints

page_text: are formed at the ends of the pipe at the extremities of each carriage, so
that they can be with facility connected or disconnected. To the engine
which draws the train a cylinder with a piston in it is attached. The
spaces in the cylinder on either side of the piston are filled with water,
and water also fills the pipe throughout the train. In the compartments
of the carriages means for opening cocks or valves connected with the
pipe are situated, so that on opening any one of the cocks or valves
some of the water is forced out by the piston, thus diminishing the
quantity of water throughout the pipe and enabling the pressure of the
steam in the boiler acting upon the water situated upon the upper side of
the piston to depress it. The piston being also connected by a link and
lever to the whistle when so depressed opens the steam valve and causes
the whistle to be thereby sounded, thus attracting the attention of the
engine driver. At the same time that the pressure of the water is
withdrawn from the cylinder attached to the engine it is also withdrawn
from a piston in a cylinder situated in the guard's van, which piston
being acted upon by a spring is by the spring pushed out, and being
connected to a bell thereby rings it, thus attracting the attention of the
guard.
In place of arranging the apparatus herein-before described as acted
upon by the steam from the boiler of the engine which draws the train
it may be. attached to a vessel or receiver in which water and air are
compressed to the required extent, the air acting upon the water in the
same manner as the steam would. In place of using water as the liquid
for acting in the cylinder and tubes any other suitable liquid may be
employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Galloway in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GALLOWAY, of Craigie, in the County of. Ayr, North Britain, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the 32nd year 3

page_text: of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Galloway, Her special license that I,
the said William Galloway, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Galloway, my executors, adminis-
trators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COM-
MUNICATING BETWEEN PASSENGERS, ENGINE MEN, AND GUARDS IN RAILWAY
TRAINS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Galloway, by an instrument in writing under band and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 William Galloway, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention, which relates to an improved means or apparatus to
be employed in connection with railway trains for the purpose of enabling
the passengers in any carriage to communicate with the guard or engine
driver, consists in carrying a pipe from the engine, and which pipo
extends throughout the train of vehicles. Suitable couplings or joints
are formed at the ends of the pipe at the extremities of each carriage, so
that they can be with facility connected or disconnected. To the engine
which draws the train a cylinder with a piston in it is attached. The
spaces in the cylinder on one or both sides of the piston are filled with
water, and water also fills the pipe throughout the train. In the com-
partments of the carriages means for opening cocks or valves connected
with the pipe are situated, so that on opening any one of the cocks or
valves some of the water is forced out by the piston, thus diminishing
the quantity of water throughout the pipe and enabling the pressure of
the steam in the boiler acting upon the upper or one side of the piston
to depress it. The piston when so depressed opens the steam valve

page_text: and causes the whistle to be thereby sounded, thus attracting the
attention of the engine driver. At the same time that the pressure of
the water is withdrawn from the cylinder attached to the engine it is
also withdrawn from a piston in a cylinder situated in the guard's van,
which piston being acted upon by a spring is by the spring pushed out,
and being connected to a bell thereby rings it, thus attracting the
attention of the guard.
In place of arranging the apparatus herein-before described as acted
upon by the steam from the boiler of the engine which draws the train,
it may be attached to a vessel or receiver in which water and air are
compressed to the required extent, the air acting upon the water in the
same manner as the steam would. In place of using water as the liquid
for acting in the cylinder and tubes any other suitable liquid may
be employed.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, that is to say:-
Figure 1 is a section, the whistle itself being shown in elevation of
one portion of a signal apparatus which constitutes one part of my said:
Invention; Figure 2 is a part transverse section and end clevation of the
same on the line b, b, Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrow
above Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a part transverse section and elevation
on the line a, a, Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrow below
Figure 1. This part of the apparatus may be fixed on to the locomotive
engine which draws the train, and it may also be applied to the brake
van or compartment of the train wherein the guard is placed in lieu of
the other apparatus herein-before referred to. It consists of a plunger,
ram, or piston a, having the pressure of the water or other liquid on the
one end of it, and conveyed to it by the pipe e, Figure 1, and having
its other end bearing on the rod d and through it on the valve B. B is
a. conical or other valve shutting when pressed against its scat by the
rod d, and opening by the pressure of steam or other elastic fluid, such
as compressed air or carbonic acid gas, when the pressure of the rod d
is removed. The steam or other compressed elastic fluid is conveyed to
the valve B by the pipe F, shown in Figure 1 as a round opening partly
dotted, and in section at Figure 2. While the pressure of the water is
'maintained in the pipe e the plunger a pressing the valve B against its

page_text: seat through the rod d prevents the escape of the steam or other elastic
fluid from the pipe F; but when the pressure of the water is removed
from behind the plunger a by any of the means herein-after mentioned.
the valve B is forced backwards from its seat by the pressure of the
steam or other clastic fluid, which then escapes up through the pipe g
into the whistle C and causes it to sound, at the same time the rod d is
pushed backwards, carrying with it the plunger a, which therefore forces
out the water behind it into the pipe e. When the pressure of the water
is restored on the pipe e the plunger a again closes the valve B, and
the whistle ceases to be sounded. The pressure of the liquid in the
pipe e may be either equal to or greater than or less than the
pressure
the compressed elastic fluid in the pipe f, and the area of the valve B in
its relation to the area of the plunger a must be regulated accordingly.
of
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of an apparatus wherein the ringing
of a bell is the means used for making the signal. a is a plunger or
piston, with one of its ends bearing upon the moveable piece b, c, d; this
piece is kept in position laterally by the studs e & f, and the distance
it may be moved endwise is regulated by the length of the slots through
which the studs e and f project. One end of a coiled spring is fastened
to the stud g, and its other end bears upon the horn h. The springs
are represented by heavy dotted lines. On the side opposite to the
stud g is a stud k with a piece moveable around it, one end of an
arin n is fixed into the moveable piece 1, the other end holds a hammer
or striker. To the stud k is fastened a coiled spring, which presses with
its other end against the arm n, as shown in the Drawing. p is a head on
the end of a spring g', which when the piece b, c, d, to which its other
end is fastened is moved upwards by the pressure of the plunger slips
over the end of the piece at r. When the pressure is exerted on the
plunger a the sliding piece b, c, d, is moved towards and along with the
plunger, and the distance of this movement is so regulated that when
the stop p slips over the point r it is completed. When the pressure is
relieved from behind the plunger a in any of the modes herein-after
explained the spring bearing on h recoils, and is of sufficient strength
to pull round the piece / until the head p of the spring g' slips from its
seat r, and the spring bearing on n being now free to recoil carries
back that arm, and through it causes the hammer to strike a bell, and
thus the desired signal is given.
Figure 5 is a sectional elevation of apparatus arranged nearly similar

page_text: to Figure 1 for sounding a whistle when the pressure is withdrawn in
the pipes. a is a piston working in a cylinder, having at one side the
. rod d bearing against a valve in the same manner as in Figure 1, and
at the other side a spiral spring b. In the piston a is a small hole,
shown by the dotted lines at c. The water or other liquid pressure
communicates with the side of the piston opposite the spiral spring
through the pipe e, and passing through the hole c with the pipes in the
rest of the train through the pipe f. When the pressure of the water in
the pipes of the train is removed in any of the modes herein-after
mentioned, the pressure still continuing on the opposite side of the
piston carries it against the spiral spring b, as the size of the hole c is
so regulated that it cannot at once fill up any vacancy that may be
made, or supply any of the means of letting off the water that are
provided. In this manner the valve, as at B, Figure 1, is relieved and
the whistle sounded. As soon as the vacancy is filled or the outlet pipe
stopped the water passing through the hole at c restores the pressure,
and the spiral spring pushes back the piston and closes the valve, as
at B in Figure 1.
Figures 6 and 7 represent sections of that portion of the apparatus
which is applied to any part of the pipe throughout the train. When
applied to the engine the pipe c communicates with the boiler, and
when applied to any other part of the train the pipe c communicates
to an air vessel wherein water is kept under pressure; in it are the two
valves a and c. When the valve a is opened by drawing out the
handle the water or other liquid contained in the pipes escape
through the opening into the atmosphere or into a close or open
vessel provided for the purpose. is a regulating valve, which may
be used for closing or partially closing the opening through which the
pipe c communicates with the pipe d, e.
When the apparatus shown at Figures 1 to 4 are used the valve b is a
made to partially or almost wholly close the communication between
the pipes c and d, e. c is the pipe communicating with the boiler of
the locomotive engine or with the other vessel in which the water or
other liquid is kept under pressure, d, e, being any part of the pipe
between points to or from which it is wished to transmit signals. If the
pipe c be closed so that only a small stream of water can pass the
valve cand the valve a be opened the pressure in the pipe d, e,
throughout the train is made less, and the portion of the apparatus

page_text: provided for the purpose of signalling recedes, as herein-before set forth.
When this is the case the desired signals are given. If the valve a be
again closed the water passing the valve c soon restores the pressure
in d, e, and the signals cease to be given for the reasons herein-before
mentioned.
Figure 8 represents another arrangement whereby any one in a train
may give a signal. d, e, is either a part of the pipe passing through the
train or a branch from it; a is a glass tube fastened into the nut-shaped
piece c, which is screwed or fastened into the pipe d, e, in the manner
shown. When it is desired to give a signal from the part of a train where
such arrangement is provided for the purpose the projecting part of the
glass tube is to be broken off, and the water escaping by the hole thus
made in the pipe d, e, reduces the pressure on the pipes throughout the
train, and thus the desired signal is given. It may be found expedient
to have the glass tube inside of an air-tight vessel, in which case, after
it has been broken by any means provided for that purpose, the whistle,
bell, or other alarm shall only sound for a given time, that is, until the
pressure of the water cscaping into the air-tight vessel shall be equal to
the pressure required to stop the signals. Thereafter signalling may be
resumed from the various parts of the train.
It is to be understood that means for coupling together the different
pipes throughout a train form no part of this present Invention, but that
any means for effecting such junction may be employed.
In order to render the apparatus herein-before set forth operative in
frosty weather the water in the pipe may be heated by steam from the
boiler, or a non-freezing liquid may be employed by itself, or be mixed
with the water.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine
or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements herein specified,
as variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the main
features of my said Invention; but what I consider novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The employment of a liquid carried in pipes throughout a train
for the purpose of transmitting signals, substantially in the manner
hercin-before described.

page_text: Second. The arrangement of apparatus for communicating signals
by the pressure of a liquid in pipes such as are herein-before described
and shown at Figures 1 to 7 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Galloway, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of October One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
WILLIAM GALLOWAY. (L.S.)