Improvements in Portable Frogs or Car Replacers for Railways.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 31st May, 1887.
Specification Accepted, 1st July, 1887.
Improvements in Portable Frogs or Car Replacers for Railways.
I, WILLIAM OSCAR COOKE a citizen of the United States, residing at Providence,
County of Providence and State of Rhode Island in the United States of America,
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 :-
Car replacers as heretofore made, are subject to disadvantages either from being so
cumbrous and ponderous that they cannot be brought into use quickly and with
facility when required, or, when made of such small dimensions as to permit them to
be readily carried from end to end of a long train by the train men they are generally
unavailable for all conditions and requirements of derailed cars.
The subject of my invention is a pair of portable frogs adapted for the right and
left rails, consisting of two flanged plates or bars, one forned with a converging base
or bridge-piece to extend over the tread of the rail and a side flange having a convex
crown terminating in front in an inclined tongue to conduct the tread of the wheel to
the top of the rail, and a projecting heel to rest against the side of the rail and
engage against the vertical face of one of the ties, while the other member consists of
a bar mortised or perforated to receive projections, studs, bolts or tenons, by which it
is firmly keyed or fastened to the first member and constituting the second converging
flange by which the flange of the derailed wheel is conducted to its place on the inner
side of the rail, said second member having moreover a projecting heel-piece corre
sponding with the first, resting against the inner side of the rail and engaging against
the face of the tie.

page_text: In order that my invention may be fully understood I will proceed to describe it
with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 represents a plan of a short section of a railroad track, with my invention
applied.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the car replacer for the right hand rail.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the same showing the parts detached.
Figure 5 is a vertical transverse section on the line 5-5 figures 1 and 2.
R represents railroad rails and T ties of customary form. A, B represent two
castings or forgings which when united as shown in Figure 3 and applied as illus-
trated in figures 1 and 2 constitute the portable frog or car replacer for the right
hand rail, a similar portable frog or replacer being provided for the left hand rail by
the counterpart castings A¹, B'. The casting or forging A or A', consists of an arch
or crowning bed or bridge-piece 1, adapted to fit over the rail and a side bar 2
projecting below the bridge piece 1 so as to rest on the ties T as shown in Figure 2
and extending above it so as to form a vertical projecting flange, as represented in
figures 3, 4 and 5 with a crowning upper surface of the form shown in Figure 2
which is nearly parallel with the surface of the bridge piece 1.
The said bar 2 rests closely against the side of the rail as represented in Figure 5
and tapers in front to an edge 3 as shown at Figure 2 corresponding in width with
the tread of the rail on which it rests. The heel 4 of the bridge-plate 1 projects
downward at the side of the rail as shown in figures 1 and 2 and is formed with a
downwardly projecting vertical flange or shoulder 5 which engages against the vertical
face of one of the ties as shown in figure 2 to prevent the longitudinal displacement
of the apparatus. The casting or forging A is furthermore provided with lateral
projecting tongues or studs 6 which however may be replaced by bolts. These
tongues, studs or bolts fit in corresponding apertures or mortises 7 in the casting B.
The casting or forging B consists of a bar 8 perforated with the holes or mortises 7
as already described and fitting against the inclined edge of the bridge piece 1 so as
to form a vertical flange converging relatively to the bar or flange 2 and having a
heel piece 9 adapted to rest against the inner face of the rail as shown in Figure 1,
and with a downwardly projecting vertical shoulder 10, corresponding with the
shoulder 5 on the casting or forging A. It will now be understood that the rail R is
clamped between the two members A, B, which are firmly held together by the
tongues or bolts 6 and keys 11, (see Figure 1), driven therein, or suitable nuts may
be employed instead of the said keys. The castings or forgings A', B¹ are formed
as counter parts of the castings or forgings A, B, adapted to the left hand rail so that
the description of one of the paired portable frogs or replacers answers for both
and the corresponding parts in each are accordingly marked with same reference
numbers.
By making the device in two parts it is rendered easily portable and may be
readily carried from end to end of a long train and placed in position whenever
required. It is so constructed that a direct draft applied to the derailed car will
draw it up the incline and deflect the leading wheels by direct contact against the
flanges 2 or 8 of one or the other side, so as to turn the wheels into the line of the
rails until the wheels, resting on their flanges having climbed to the summit of the
convex bridge-piece 1 and reached the converging throat between the upward ends
of the flanges 2, 8, the tread of the wheel is thrown directly over and upon the tongue
piece 3 forming the forward extremity of the bar 2. The tread of the wheel then
descends this inclined tongue piece and is thereby conducted to the rail R. The same
effect occurs on both rails and any number of derailed cars may thus be replaced in
succession.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The two part portable frog or car replacer consisting of the block A, constructed
as herein shown and described with a flanged bridge piece extending over the rail,
and the guide bar 8 converging with the flange of the block A and secured to said
block substantially as set forth.
2. The block A consisting of the convex base or bridge piece 1, the convex
upwardly projecting flange 2, terminating in an inclined tongue piece 3, and an
inclined heel 4 in combination with the separate flange bar 8 secured to the bridge
piece 1 substantially as herein shown and described.
3. The combination of the bridge piece 1, longitudinal flange 2, heel piece 4,
vertical shoulder 5, separate flange bar 8, heel piece 9, and vertical shoulder 10,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.