IMPROVEMENTS IN INLAND TRANSIT, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO AND MAY BE COMBINED WITH AN IMPROVED METHOD OF OR COMBINATION OF METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING AND TRANS- MITTING OR EXTENDING MOTIVE POWER, BY MEANS WHEREOF CARRIAGES OR WAGGONS MAY BE PROPELLED ON RAILWAYS OR ROADS, AND VESSELS MAY BE PROPELLED ON CANALS, FOR WHICH IMPROVED METHODS, &C. LETTERS PATENT WERE GRANTED TO ME, THE SAID HENRY PINKUS,TED,T AND T
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
PINKUS, late of Pensylvania, in the United States of America, but now of
No. 76, Oxford Street, 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
Seventeenth day of August, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, in
the sixth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Pinkus,
His special license, 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, and other places
therein named, any Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN INLAND TRANSIT, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO AND MAY BE COMBINED WITH AN IMPROVED METHOD
OF OR COMBINATION OF METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING AND TRANS-
MITTING OR EXTENDING MOTIVE POWER, BY MEANS WHEREOF CARRIAGES OR WAGGONS
MAY BE PROPELLED ON RAILWAYS OR ROADS, AND VESSELS MAY BE PROPELLED ON
CANALS, FOR WHICH IMPROVED METHODS, &C. LETTERS PATENT WERE GRANTED TO ME,
THE SAID HENRY PINKUS, DATED THE FIRST DAY OF MARCH, ONE THOUSAND EIGHT
HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR;" 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 iurolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery

page_text: within six months after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in
and by same, reference being thereunto had, will 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 said Invention or
improvement, and the manner of carrying the same into effect, is contained
in the following Specification (that is to say):-
"
"
CE
My Invention or discovery of "Improvements in Inland Transit, which
Improvements are applicable to and may be combined with an Improved
"Method of or Combination of Method and Apparatus for Communicating
"and Transmitting or Extending Motive Power, by means whereof Carriages
or Waggons may be Propelled on Railways or Roads, and Vessels may be
Propelled on Canals, for which Improved Method, &c. Letters Patent were
granted to me, the said Henry Pinkus, dated the First day of March, One
"thousand eight hundred and thirty-four," and the methods of carrying it into
practice, consists in a method or in methods of constructing the pneumatic
valve and the valvular cord, and in the manner of using the same, one of
which methods, herein-after described, I design to substitute for and in lieu of
the valve and cord described in the Specification to my said former Patent,
sealed as aforesaid, that is to say, when applied to the railway tunnel therein
described, the other methods being more particularly applicable to a mode
of generating power by rarefaction in an extended pneumatic tunnel, pipe, or
main, and communicating such power to a pneumatic engine, herein-after
described, situate on the outside of and transferring the said power along
such tunnel or main, and thereby impelling or propelling cars, carriages, or
vessels along and near to the line of said extended main; in an improved
method of constructing the travelling diaphragm or piston, which is attached
to the dynamic traveller, and improvements in the latter, whereby communi-
cation may be established between the vacuum part of the tunnel and a
pneumatic engine situate in the governor; in the combination and application
of a well-known means of transferring power induced by a fixed first mover to
pneumatic machinery placed at certain distances along a line of railway; in
a combination, being a means of working a line of railway, which I denominate
a reciprocating method; in a further means of opening and shutting the
station valves; in procuring and bringing into available action the adhesive
power of some, or any, or all of the wheels of a train of cars or carriages on
a railway, and thereby to facilitate the impelling of a train on an ascending
plane; in the application of an improved and self-acting brake, whereby the
speed of a train in motion may be retarded; in an improved method of con-

page_text: structing the railway, and fixing and supporting the rails; the whole of which
several parts, when combined in all or in part, form what I deuominate a
pneumatic railway, the details of which are set forth and described in the
following Specification, reference being had to the several Drawings, numbered
from 1 to 6 inclusive, accompanying the same, and in which the letters and
figures of reference apply to all the Diagrams respectively.
I construct the pneumatic valve in the form shewn in the transverse
section, full size, Drawing Number 1, Figure 2, wherein the sides a, a,
are about ths of an inch thick, are parallel on the inner sides, and the
distance between these sides about 2 inches, their height 4 inches on
the inner sides of the valve. I attach by cementing thereto a sheathing of
wood b, b, about ths of an inch thick. This sheathing may be planed
so as to form a more even surface than the metal itself might present, and
it should be so put on or planed as to be in a slight degree wider at
the top than at the bottom of the valve, leaving a clear space in the valve
aperture of 1 inch. The valvular cord d, d, as shewn in transverse section,
Figure 1, inserted into the valve aperture, is formed by a flexible iron-linked
chain d, d, d, shewn also in plan and elevation, Drawing Number 6, Figure 3,
and Drawing Number 1, Figure 2. This chain may be made of cast iron
of an inch thick in the core and top, three inches deep in the core, 4 inches
broad on the top, and from 6 to 9 inches in length, joined at the ends by a
Around on the sides of this core
half lap joint e, e, and connected by a pin f.
is attached by wire stitching a padding, composed of three or four layers or
thicknesses of common felt, or any similar flexible and elastic material,
cemented together, and so put on as to swell and enlarge into a convex curve,
as shewn by the dotted lines in the same section. This padding should be
rendered as nearly as may be impervious to wet or moisture, by boiling it in
linseed oil, or any similar unctuous material, and the felt should be made
compact before the several layers are cemented together, by passing each
layer between a pair of compressing rollers. A surface of the felt should be
continued under and to the outer edge of the top of the chain, so as to lay on
to the top ledges of the valve, and so make an overlap joint. When in use,
the valvular cord should be lubricated by a composition of tar and slush.
In
applying the valvular cord, it is pressed into the pneumatic valve, as shewn in
Drawing No. 2, wherein Figure A 1 is an elevation of the pneumatic tunnel
with the governor attached; BI is a longitudinal section of the same,
exhibiting the dynamic traveller and piston; and CI is the plan. The cord
is laid into the valve aperture, passing under the wheel C, over the wheels
P, P, P, and under the wheel W of the governor. The cord is carried over

page_text: the wheels P, P, P, by an endless band g, g, which revolves with the wheels
when the railway is in operation and the governor is in motion. The wheel
W, which rises and falls by means of a slot in its bearer, rolls on the cord d, d,
and presses it into the valve. When the cord is pressed into the valve, the
convex sides become compressed or flattened, and the cord exerts an outward
pressure, whilst the felt surface lying under the edge of the chain is pressed
against the top ledges of the valve k, k, and is held down by the pressure
on the sides of the cord, and thus makes a sufficiently air-tight joint. The
travelling diaphragm or piston o, o, which is carried by the dynamic traveller L,
and supported by the shaft m, as seen in section B 1, I construct in the fol-
lowing manner, that is to say, the piston is a solid disk o, o, in diameter about
one inch and a half less than the internal diameter of the tunnel. On the
disk o, o, is laid another disk p, p, of less diameter. The surfaces of the disks
in contact must be ground smooth, so as to slide one on the other, and be air-
tight. The disk o, o, is pierced with apertures g,g, and the disk; P.P. is pierced
with similar apertures. The disk p revolves on its axis n, having stops so
placed as, that by turing the disk p, p, in opposite directions, the apertures in
the piston may be either opened or closed. The action of opening and closing
the apertures may be effected by turning the T piece x, section B 1, the lower
end of which has a threaded screw acting on the cog wheel u of the rod t, on
the end of which is a cogged wheel, gearing into another cogged wheel which
is fixed on to the disk p, p. The piston is surrounded by the frustum of a
cone s, s, s, s, composed of thin hardened steel plates, from a twentieth to a
sixteenth of an inch thick, and about nine inches wide, formed into a ring by
bending the several plates into segments of a circle, and making them overlap,
so as to form joints sliding one on the other. These plates have the elasticity
of a spring, and are intended to act as such. The frustum of a cone so con-
structed should be fixed and screwed on to the ring V attached to the edge of
the piston in such manner as that the side of the cone shall lic so nearly
parallel with the side of the cylinder as to form an angle with it, not exceeding
ten degrees; the large end of the cone, for-about one inch and a half of its
length, to be always in contact with the inside of the cylinder, and to be so
adjusted as to press against the sides with a force equal to about one-half
pound weight on each square inch of its surface in contact. The spring or
clasticity of the cone should be made to yield and contract or expand about
one half inch all round. Through the main disk or piston I propose to insert
a pipe, a section BI, about two inches diameter, one extremity of it
opening on the vacuum side of the piston, and the other terminating in
the body of the governor, where it may be connected with a pneumatic

page_text: It projects through the pneumatic valve. The station valve, described in
my said former Specification, may be acted upon by a rack and cogged
wheel and spindle shaft, as shewn at E, Fig. 3, Drawing No. 1, instead of
the cord and pullies. The lower part of the frame of the sliding valvo has a
rack y on its middle part, into which rack the cogged wheel is geared. The axle
of this is the spindle shaft y 2, on the other end of which is another cogged whicel
y 3, gearing into another cogged wheel y 4, which is acted upon by the man
wheels, so that by turning this wheel in one direction or another the sliding
valve may be niade to rise or fall.
RECIPROCATING METHOD.
In order to effect transit in opposite directions by a single line of railway, I
propose to work it on what I denominate the reciprocating method: for example,
let the single track A, B, Fig. 1, Drawing No. 5, be a line or a portion of
a line of railway, say 30 miles in length, divided into sections C, D, ten miles
apart, and these sections subdivided into sections of 5 miles e, f, g; at each of
the intersections is a stationary engine h, h, h, h, communicating by the lateral
tunnels to one side of each of the station valves k, k, k, k; at A, C, D, B, are
several bridges 1, 1, 1, 1, the platforms of which are circles intersecting the line of
the cylinder, similar to the common circular swivel bridges used at railway
stations; into cach of these is laid a length of the railway cylinder, its ends
exactly conforming to and fitting the curve of intersection, the cylinder being
let into the platform to the depth of the outer rails, its inner rail being then in
a line with the inner rail of the railway. When the bridge is adjusted to the
main line or a branch line of way, so that the dynamic traveller, the governor,
and train may pass, as if there were no intersection, the circle of the bridge
intersects in like manner short transverse branches 100 or 200 yards long,
occupying the positions indicated by the lines m, m, m, m; these constitute
depôts, into which the trains may be turned in order to permit other trains to
pass in opposite directions, and may then be returned in like manner to the
main line to continue their journey. The length of the bridges will be equal
to the diameter of the circles, and these may be of a size proper to pass a
whole train at once; the platform may be supported and turn on circular
edge railways of different radii; the bridges may be turned, and the trains
moved off and on, by the action of the steam engine combined with any
simple mechanical gearing. To put the line of railway in operation from
both or opposite ends, we may move alternately with quick and slow trains,
or simultaneously with quick and slow trains.

page_text: The stations of the fixed steam engines or first movers on a line of the
pneumatic railway may be situate five miles apart, but in order to establish
intermediate stations of pneumatic exhausting engines, so as to operate upon
the railway at the distance of about two and a half miles from the said first
movers, and consequently to act upon only a section of the length of two and a
half miles of the railway tunnel at a time, and with a view also of accumulating
power by and during intervals when the first movers may not be employed in
impelling the trains of carriages, I propose to put in action such pneumatic
engines so situated at the intermediate stations by the operation of the said
first movers, by transferring the power generated at the said first movers, by
combining with the pneumatic railway an old and well known method of
transferring pneumatic power to distances from a first mover through the
medium of close tubes, pipes, or mains of any convenient or required capacity
consequent on the amount of power, and the distance to which it may be
transferred and the time within which it should be transferred. For example:
Let the black line A, B, Figure 2, Drawing No. 5, be the line of railway, distance
between A and B ten miles; let C be the intermediate station, five miles from
A and B; let C1, C2, C3, be station valves, two and a half miles apart; let
the red line A, c, d, be a transfer tube at the extremity d, of which the small
vacuum cylinders n, n, are connected by vibrating beams to the large exhausting
cylinders p, p: those communicate with the short section c 1, C, of the railway
tunnel by the lateral tunnel S, on one side of the station valve C 1. Let the
red line C, D, be another transfer tube, connected with similar apparatus at its
end D, communicating by the lateral tunnel S, on one side of the station valve
C3; let there be a train at B, to be moved towards A, the engine at C
keeping constantly in a state of rarefaction the transfer tube C, C, D, will,
through its medium, first, rarefy the section of the railway tunnel C 3, B, before
the load moves; secondly, it will draw on the train to the station valve C 3,
and while doing so it will rarefy the section of the railway tunnel C, c2, c3, so
that when the train arrives at the station valve C 3 it may pass into the section
C, c2, c 3, without losing its momentum. The engine will now draw the train
through the railway tunnel to C, whilst it may at the same time be rarerying the
section C 8, B, preparatory to bringing on another train. Whilst the section C
is thus operating between C and B, the station A may be employed in preparing
to move the train from C to A in like manner. To illustrate this: supposing
the transfer tube be two and a half miles long and its area seventy-two inches,
the small vacuum cylinder at its extremity three feet area, the length of these

page_text: cylinders eight feet, and if the large exhausting cylinders have an area of
twenty-four feet, and if the pressure on the pistons in the small cylinders be
cight pounds on the square inch, and the pressure in the large cylinders be one
pound on the square inch, the force on each of the pistons of the small cylin-
ders will be three thousand four hundred and fifty-six pounds, and the force on
each of the pistons of the large cylinders communicated by the beams will be
the same, three thousand four hundred and fifty-six pounds. The cubical con-
tents of each of the small cylinders will be twenty-four feet, and the cubical
contents of each of the large cylinders will be one hundred and ninety-two
feet, the two small cylinders being therefore forty-eight feet, the two large
ones, three hundred and eighty-four feet: assume the pistons in all the cylin-
ders to have twenty-five double strokes per minute, all the cylinders being
made for double action, and the quantity of air entering the small cylinders
and passing through the transfer tube will be two thousand four hundred cubic
feet, or thereabouts, per minute, and the quantity of air entering the large
cylinders from the railway tunnel and ejected into the ammosphere will be
about nineteen thousand two hundred cubic feet per minute. The engine of
the station C may operate over a section of ten miles from A to C or from B
to C, and it may also operate from C to c 1, and from C to c 3, that is, diverging
from C.
My improvements in inland transit further consist in varying the method of
communicating pneumatic power generated in an extended tunnel, tube, pipe,
or main by the operation of fixed first movers to cars, carriages and vessels,
moving or plying on the outside of such extended tunnel or main, by com-
bining with such extended main a pneumatic engine, which I denominate the
locomotive pneumatic engine, to move on the outside of said main, and by means
of such pneumatic engine to transfer the power so generated along, by, or near to
said main, and by attaching to said locomotive pneumatic engine a train of cars,
or carriages, or vessels so moving to draw, impel, or propel them along with it
on and along a common railway or upon a canal, by combining said extended
main and said locomotive pneumatic engine with a common railway, caual, or
improved railroad or railway, as herein-after described, which, when so com-
bined as aforesaid, I denominate a pneumatic railway (or railroad). In con-
structing the different parts of the apparatus or machinery necessary to forin
the aforesaid combination, I provide a series of sections of the aforesaid mains
or pipes of different diameters, according to the distance apart of the fixed first
movers, that is to say, if the distance between the first movers be five miles, or
any other convenient distance, so that any one of said first movers may operate
through a section of two and a half miles, or other suitable distance, in one

page_text: direction of the line of way, and also through two and a half miles in another
and opposite direction, then I provide a hollow cylindrical main of the internal
diameter of sixteen inches to be laid down and extended to the distance of half
a mile from the first mover, and such main continuing and extending to the
second half to be of the diameter of fifteen inches, and that portion continuing
to and forming the third half mile to be of the diameter of fourteen inches,
and the fourth half mile to be thirteen inches, and the fifth half mile to be
twelve inches, internal diameter; a station valve may be fixed to the main at
this point or extremity of two and a half inches, and from this point or station
the mains should in like manner be enlarged on every half mile, proceeding
towards the next adjoining station or first mover, that is to say, enlarging from
12 to 13, to 14, to 15, to 16 inches internal diameter. The main line may
bo made of cast iron, of the thickness of about half an inch on one side of said
cylindrical main. I form the aforesaid pneumatic valve having the continuous
chase or aperture through into the interior of the main. The width of this
aperture must be two inches, the raised sides of the trough forming this valve
to be of the form shewn in Drawing Number 3, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and the
distance between the inner sides must be four inches. At the bottom of the
trough are projections 1, 1, Figures 1, 2, and 3, Drawing No. 3, one inch wide.
In this trough I construct a valve 2, 2, Figures 1, 2, and 3, of the form shewn,
which may be made of any suitable material, either of metal or more flexible
material, such as felt, or other similar material or combination of materials,
such as felt, kept in form by thin plates of copper attached thereto, or it may be
composed of copper rolled into the required form, and of the lengths of fifteen
or twenty feet, and should be four inches wide and one-sixteenth of an inch
thick at the upper edge, thickening gradually to an eighth of an inch at the base.
This valve must be continued through the whole length of the trough; the
ends of the lengths of the copper may be attached by over lapping and rivetting
them together, and countersinking the rivet holes. The lower sides of the
valve are turned up and screwed down to the projecting ledges 1, 1, by screws
4, 4; after laying a surface of any flexible material under the copper, so as to
make a sufficiently air-tight joint, the holes admitting the screws through the
lower part of the valve, as at 5, 5, 5, 5, in plan, Figure 3, should, if metal be
used, be made in a slight degree oblong, so as to allow for the contraction and
expansion of the metal by changes of temperature; over these holes and under
the screw head should be placed a metal washer, covering the holes. The
upper and under sides of the valve forming its lips should, if made of metal,
be ground smooth and even, so that when the lips are compressed together,
either by the pressure of the external atmosphero or by the spring of the

page_text: valve, or by both these cause, there shall be a sufficiently air tight joint. If
copper or other metal be so used, it should be so put on as to exert an inward
pressure by reason of its spring or elasticity to such an extent of pressure as
that the lips of the valve shall be pressed by a force equal to about one pound
weight on each square inch of its surface in contact, and this surface in
contact should be about one inch deep in the lips of the valve. Another
valve is shown at Figure 3, Drawing Number 3, where the valve Y is attached
to only one projecting lelge 8 of the trough, its upper edge or lip pressing
against the opposite side 9 of the trough, and under a projection 10 on that
side of the trough, and it is pressed against the side 9 by the before-men-
tioned valvular cord, to be carried as aforesaid, which in this case acts as a
wedge pressing against the side 9, which should be smooth, so that the spring
of the valve and the pressure of the cord make an air-tight joint. The raised
sides of the trough are a guard to the valve, protecting it from injury, and
should be half an inch higher than the top of the valve, situated immediately
over the pneumatic main. F is a side elevation of the locomotive pneumatic
engine, Drawing No. 4, and Figure 2 is an end view of the same. Theso
two Figures exhibit the arrangement of the several parts of the engine, and
also the pneumatic main and valve, and the method of connecting the pneu-
matic engine therewith by means of a projecting tongue P, as well as its posi-
tion on the railway. 11, Figure (4), is the end view of the railway, on which
rest the wheels 12; 13, Figure (2), is the axle of the lower wheels on which
is a cogged wheel 14, gearing into another cogged wheel 15. This cogged
wheel may be thrown into and out of gear in the common manner, indicated
by the dotted lines; 16, Figures (1), are the large driving wheels; 17 is the
platform, upon which stand the iron frames 18, supporting the cylinders 19,
Figure (1); 20 are the frames in which the arms and their guide wheels 21 of
the cross head 22 of the piston rod 23 slide; 24 are the throttle valves,
forming a communication between the piston cylinders and a receiver 25,
suspendod partly below the platform of the engine. On the axle 13 is a band
wheel 26. 27 is a beam, having connecting rods 28, which act on the levers
29 to shut off and on the rack valves 30; 31 are shafts, connecting the cross
leads 22 of the piston rods 23 with the crank axles 15* of the cogged wheel 15.
Attached to the receiver 25 is a hollow metal tonguo P, in elevation, Drawing
No. 4, in transverse section, Figure 2, No. 4, connecting the pneumatic
engine with the pneumatic main or tunnel, by passing the extremity of the
tongue through the lips of the valve 2, which press upon it on all sides, so as
to exclude any ingress of air into the main or grooved wheels, whose grooves
conform to the form of the said valve, and assist in compressing the lips of the

page_text: valve at the desired points. The form of this hollow tongue, which I denomi-
nate the conduit arm, is shewn at 32, plan, Figure 4, Drawing No. 3, and
is about four feet broad by one inch thick, having a cavity 34 of the dimensions
of 36 inches long by a half inch wide. The sides of this arm are parallel,
except the edges, which are elliptical and solid for six inches, or thereabouts;
transversely through the middle part of the arm is an arm 35, suspending
friction or guide wheel 36, which maintain the arm in a steady position. On
the ends of the frame of the platform of the engine are bolt holes, which
receive bolts fixed on the ends of the projecting arm of a railway carriage 37;
the bolts may have threads and screws on their non-projecting parts, so as by
forcing the carriages asunder the band may be tightened, being the first of a
strain. The carriage or waggon so attached has on its axle or wheel 38, the
periphery of which should be nine inches wide, having a flange on one edge
and a rib in the middle of the periphery. Around one side of this wheel
there is a band passing from it to and around the band wheel 26, and on the
other side of the periphery, passing around it from its fixed point 39 to its
extremity 40, is a wrought-iron friction band 41, five inches wide, and having
attached on its inner side cleats, into which are driven flat wedges of wood.
The extremity 40 has a hinge joint, connecting it with the end of a pendulum
rod 41, the upper end of which is bent over for about 2 inches, as shewn, so
as to rest on a fulcrum 42, which should be one inch and a half from the joint.
The pendulum should weigh about forty pounds. From the travelling wheel,
on which this band wheel and friction band are fixed, there is a coupling rod
43, also seen at (A 1), Drawing (No. 2), connecting this travelling wheel
with the next wheel 44 on the same carriage. Near to and on and around
one end of this coupling rod is placed a stiff spiral spring, at the extreme end
of which is an eye, by which a bolt connects it with the wheel. This is a
compensating spring, causing the coupled wheels to revolve without slipping,
as is sometimes the case where coupling rods have not springs. In the latter
case, if the coupling wheels are not of exact diameter, which may be caused by
change of temperature or wear on their periphery, the wheels will slip. The
spring should be so adjusted and made stiff, as that if the force, for example,
necessary to turn the wheel be one thousand pounds, and if the force that
would make it slip were fifteen hundred pounds, then the spring should be
made to yield between these two forces. To the aforesaid pendulum may be
attached a chain leading to the platform of the engines. A similar arrange-
ment of band wheel and friction band and conpling rod may in like manner
connect the next adjoining carriage in the train.
In order to construct a more permanent railway on which the locomotive

page_text: pneumatic engine with its necessary connections and attached train of car-
riages may move with less liability to derangement than is now commonly
practised, I design to combine the following mode of formation with the
foregoing method and apparatus, and to use either of them separately
when occasion may require it.
On the usual foundation or ballasting,
I lay a system of rough undressed curbs or sleepers of granite or other stone
45, 45, 45, Figures 1 and 2, Drawing No. 6. If granite be used, the dimen-
sions should be about fourteen inches broad by ten inches deep, and in
lengths of four feet each, the broad side of which must be laid in a line
with the horizon, and the ends should be squared, and a notch cut in them
vertically near the middle of each end, to admit a square iron bolt (46), onc
inch thick, of the form shewn in Figure (3), Drawing No. (6). At the end
of every fourth block or interval of sixteen fect I plant a pile (47) of oak, or
any other wood, about three feet six inches long and ten inches by seven inches,
on the transverse section of one end; the other may be of any form, but not
of less area. These piles before they are set should be placed in a furnace
surrounded by fire, so that their surfaces may be charred to the depth of one
quarter of an inch, and whilst yet hot they should be immersed in coal tar.
This process will render them impervious to the weather, and prevent their
rapid decay; or they may be subjected to any other approved process to the
same effect. On the first-mentioned end of each pile there must be a wrought-
iron ring or band (48) fitting it, one inch wide and half an inch thick. The
pile should be placed vertically in a pit, at the bottom of which there should
be a bedding of broken stones, on which it should stand, and the pit should
then be filled up with similar broken stones, well rammed it, the upper end
of the pile being raised to the height proper to receive the chair (49) and a
rail (50). The piles must be exactly opposite one to the other on the line of
railway, and should be connected by a wrought-iron tic (51), crossing from one
to the other, and bolted to them, the bolt (46) being enlarged at the lower
end and bent over on the upper end, as shewn in Figure (3), and being
placed in the notch; the ends of the blocks rest on the enlarged part, whilst
the upper or bent end lies over the lower side or projection of a parallel rail.
On the top of each pile must be laid a thickness of felt, and on this the chair
must be placed and nailed down to the top of the pile. On the stone blocks
5 or sleepers, laid as aforesaid, forming a continuous bearing, I lay the parallel
wrought or rolled iron rail (50), of the weight of about thirty-five pounds in
the yard run, its length sixteen feet seven inches from the centre of one chair
to the centre of another, the projections of the lower side of the rail lying
under the bent end of the bolt (46), between which and the bent end

page_text: The proportions of the pneumatic valve, Drawing No. 1, Figure 1, will
necessarily depend on the manner of working a line of the railway. If the
aforesaid main be forty inches in diameter, and the speed of the travelling
piston be twenty miles an hour, then the valve aperture should be one and a
half inches in width, the depth of the trough four inches, and the length of the
valve aperture left open twenty feet. If the speed be thirty miles an hour, then
the aperture shoud be open in length thirty feet, and the depth of the trough
should be three inches and a half. When motion is given to the governor
and train the cord will be carried by the endless band, and the wheel W of
the governor will continue to roll on the valvular cord, and press it into the
trough, where it will exert a pressure against the inner sides of the trough,
and thus make a sufficiently air-tight joint. Whilst the travelling piston is
in motion, the sides of the frustum of the cone surrounding the disk o, o,
will by the pressure of the atmosphere be forced lightly against the sides of
cylinder, and, by yielding in its passage to any inequalities in the inner sur-
faces, conform to them sufficiently to prevent any considerable waste of the
impelling air into the rarefied part of the tunnel. When it is desired to
check the speed of the train, the T picce a in the governor may be turned,
when the spiral thread of the screw on its lower end will cause the cogged
wheel U to turn, which, giving motion to the sliding disk P.P will open the
aperture in the disk o, o, and allow the air to pass through, and thus the
pressure on the piston will cease. When the T piece a is again turned in
an opposite direction the valve will be again closed, and the power will be on
the piston. If a piston cylinder be placed in the governor, and its lower part
be connected with the pipe x 1, x2, passing through the travelling piston,
action will be given to the piston of the cylinder, and the manner herein-
before described in the locomotive pneumatic engine, and if a rod connect the
cross head of the piston rod with a spoke of a working wheel, motive force
will be added to the governor. The locomotive pneumatic engine may have
four piston cylinders, or only two if of greater capacity. If four be used,
then two should be adjusted to the two large driving wheels (16), and two
others of larger diameter should be adjusted to the cranks which propel the
cogged wheels (14), (15), and so put into impelling action the band. These
last-mentioned cylinders and piston are more particularly designed to assist
the train over an ascending plane. The sliding disk in the bottom of the

page_text: cylinder moves on another disk, and both are pierced with holes, in the
manner of the disks on the pneumatic travelling piston, aforesaid, and shewn
at plan, Drawing No. 4. The apertures may be of any convenient size, as
the throttle valve, as in the case of a steam engine, regulates the rapidity
of the action of the pistons.
To put the aforesaid varied combination composing a pneumatic railway
into operation, and to exhibit its action on or over a section of five miles
of it, the locomotive pneumatic engine being first placed in its proper
position on the last-mentioned railway, or any other common railway,
and the aforesaid conduit arm being properly adjusted to the lips of the
valve, and the attending carriage, with its band and brake wheel and
coupling rods being likewise attached thereto, and the train of carriages
being connected therewith, action must be given to the steam engines or
first movers, and the air pumps connected with them at the stations, fixed
at the two extremities of a section of five miles of the aforesaid railway, or
any other required distance. A station valve at the middle of the section
may or may not be shut off or on, but station valves at the extremities of the
section must be closed. The exhausting apparatus or air pumps abstracting
then the air from one or both ends of the extended main or tunnel aforesaid,
will by so doing rarefy the included air throughout its whole length to the
required degree of rarefaction, and this degree will depend upon the amount of
the load to be impelled along it, the desired speed, and the nature of the level
or ascending or descending plano. If the throttle valve of the locomotive
engine communicating with the piston cylinder be then opened, and a free
communication be established between the receiver and the extended tunnel or
main, through the medium of the hollow tongue or arm, the air in the receiver
will rarefy and continue to be rarefied so long as the communication is kept
open and the tunnel itself is in a rarefied state, and the degree of rarefaction
in the said receiver (which is intended as a receptacle of power, and calculated
to steady the motion of the engine,) will be nearly equal to the degree of rare-
faction in the said main. When one piston is at the top of its stroke, the
rod (31) of the other will in its descending stroke depress the beam, shewn in
red lines, the opposite end of which will rise, and being connected with a lever
(29), having cogs which gear into the perpendicular rack and slide valve (30),
will close it, whilst its continued motion, acting on the horizontal rack of the
revolving disk, Fig. 3, No. 4, in the bottom of the cylinder, will open it, when
the air in that cylinder will be rarefied, and the piston of the cylinder will
descend, by the pressure of the incumbent atmosphere falling through the
cylinder, which is open at the top. The air which was in the last-mentioned

page_text: cylinder was drawn into the receiver through the throttle valve, and thence
through the hollow tongue or arm, into the extended pneumatic main or
tunnel, and so abstracted from thence by the air pumps at the stations of the
fixed first movers. When the other piston is at the top of its stroke, a
similar action on its valves will take place by the like action of the same
beam; but when the piston is at the bottom of its stroke, then the action
of the last-mentioned valves must be reversed, by a pin fixed on a convenient
part of the connecting rod striking the other levers fixed to the same cogs,
and move the valves in an opposite direction, when the horizontal valve or
disk will be first shut off, and then the continuation of the motion will lift
the perpendicular valve, and, opening it, the external atmosphere will rush
in under the piston and permit it to rise again, and so on for all the
other pistons whose connecting rods being attached either to a spoke of a
driving wheel, or to the cranks which give motion to the cogged wheels
and band wheels and band and coupling rod, thus bringing into available
impelling action the adhesion of the wheels of the carriage or carriages or
cars with the locomotive engine, and by that means facilitating the impulsion
of the locomotive pneumatic engine up or over an ascending plane or level.
The locomotive pneumatic engine will thus be impelled forward or backward,
and will impell an attached train in one or the other direction. The tongue or
arm (P) will likewise be impelled with it, and will open a passage for itself
along and through the lips of the extended valve aforesaid, which impinges
all around on all sides of said arm, making a sufficiently air-tight joint, and as
it moves along through the said valve it opens a passage before it, whilst, as
it passes along, the valve closes upon it, and thus excludes the external atmo-
sphere. The sides of the valve being a polished surface, and being parallel,
except its elliptical edges, will continually keep smooth and even the lips of the
valve, which form by the pressure of the atmosphere an air-tight joint. The
included air of the extended main may so be abstracted either from one
extremity of a section or from another, or from both at the same time, as that
the external air entering the main through the cylinders and arm may move
either in the direction of the moving engine and train, or in an opposite direc-
tion, or in both and opposite directions at the same time. The power of the
engine or first mover will depend upon the amount of the load and degree
of speed, and the state of rarefaction will be always greater near to the first
movers, and as the train approaches the middle of the section the locomotive
pneumatic engine will be more equally acted upon by the first movers at the
extremities of the section, and for this reason I diminish the main towards the
middle of the section. The cylinders of the engine have all a single action,

page_text: but may be made of double action with a similar arrangement of valves as are
applied to the cylinders of a high-pressure steam engine. When the engine
and train are about to descend a plane, the self-acting brake will be brought
into action by reason of the platform of the carriage to which it may be
attached bearing down towards the inclined plane, and in consequence of the
pendulum tending always to a perpendicular position, the pendulum rod will
bring tlie friction band in contact with the periphery of the band and brake
wheel, and so retard the motion of the train. Thus one brake will retard the
six wheels connected with it by the band and coupling rods. A similar brake
may be attached in like manner to any of the axles of any of the carriages or
cars of a train, and should be so adjusted as that the friction band of the
brake shall press more or less hard in proportion to the degrees of inclination
of the plane. A chain, attached to any of the pendulums and leading to the
engine may assist this force of contact if required.
I claim, as my "Improvements in Inland Transit," the following particulars
or things, some of which may be substituted for or combined with the means
described in my former Specification, and the others may be combined with a
similar main to that described in that Specification :-
First, the valve and cord, as above described, and also the valves in Drawing
No. 3, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and the conduit arm therewith connected, as above
described.
Secondly, the piston surrounded by a frustum, as above described.
Thirdly, the new combination with pneumatic railway by the well-known
method of transferring pneumatic power, through the medium of a pipe, to
fixed places, and the method of transferring motive power from the main
to the governor, as above described.
Fourthly, the method of the reciprocating line on a single line of railway, as
above described.
Fifthly, my pneumatic engine for the purposes of locomotion, as above
described.
Sixthly, the brake and band wheel, for arresting the velocity of wheels, in
conjunction with the coupling rod, as above described.
Seventhly, my method of constructing the way of railroad, as above
described.
I claim all these things as improvements upon my former Patent, by which
I used the power obtained by exhausting the air out of a main to move
carriages or vessels, by transferring the power externally from the main; and

page_text: I also claim to vary the forms and dimensions, as well as the materials of
which they are made; but I disclaim all the common mechanical means and
contrivances known to mechanics which I have been obliged to mention above
in order to make my description clear and intelligible.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Pinkus, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of February, One thousand