IMPROVED MEANS OF APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING SIGNALS FROM PASSENGERS TO GUARDS AND DRIVERS OF RAILWAY TRAINS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to. John Macneill, Knight, of Brompton, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS OF
APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING SIGNALS FROM PASSENGERS TO GUARDS AND
DRIVERS OF RAILWAY TRAINS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Macneill at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th August 1872.
I, JOHN MACNEILL, Knight, of Brompton, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS
OB³· APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING SIGNALS FROM PASSENGERS TO GUARDS AND
DRIVERS OF RAILWAY TRAINS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improved means or apparatus for communi-
cating danger or distress signals when requisite from the passengers to
the guards and drivers of railway trains in motion. For this purpose
each passenger carriage of a railway train is furnished with a strong
metal chamber or vessel which can be charged with compressed air in
the usual manner.

page_text: •
.
A pipe or pipes from the air vessel communicates with a bell, trumpet,
gong, or other sounding instrument, or with an explosive or illuminating
instrument, so as to produce a distinct sound or other alarm that will be
heard or seen by guards and drivers on an opening or orifice being
opened between the compressed air vessel and such sounding and
explosive instrument placed on the roof or back of the carriage; the
opening of the aperture of the air vessel is effected by pulling or com-
pressing one of the handles or bell pulls placed in cach compartment,
which are casily accessible to every passenger, which handles acting
upon a rod, wire, or chain communicating with a compressed air
chamber opens the orifice or valve, thus allowing the compressed air to
act upon the sounding or explosive instrument before mentioned. At
the same moment that this takes place by the pull or compression of
the handle or lever in the carriage two arms aro raised, one on each
side of the carriage, so as to indicate to the guards or driver the
particular carriage from which the distress signal is made, and by night
a light or lamp signal will be given from the carriage for the same
purpose. By this means the signals of cach carriage are quite inde-
pendent of those of adjoining carriages of a train, and by a simple
mechanical arrangement the pulley or compressed handle cannot be
replaced in its normal state from the inside of the carriage, so that the
guard will be able to detect the compartment from which the distress
signal is made.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent-and-of-an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said John
Macneill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th February
1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN.
MACNEILL, Knight, of Brompton, in the County of Middlesex,_send_
greeting.
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WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Macneill, Her special license that

page_text: I, the said John Macneill, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Macneill, my executors, adminis
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term thercin
5 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 "IMPROVED MEANS OR Apparatus
FOR COMMUNICATING SIGNALS FROM PASSENGERS TO GUARDS AND DRIVERS OF
RAILWAY TRAINS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
O John Macneill, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
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 montlis
5 next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Macneill, do hereby declaro
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object the means of enabling passengers in
railway carriages to communicate with the guards and drivers of railway
trains when in motion whenever danger or alarm arises, in order to stop
the train by giving notice by means of a sound or other signal produced
by compressed air acting on a bell, gong, trumpet, or other sounding
instrument, or on an explosive substance, which sound or report is
sufficiently loud to be heard by the guards and drivers.
According to my improvements each passenger carriage is furnished
with a strong metal chamber or vessel, which may be placed at the end
_or_on the roof of the carriage and charged with compressed air, and
having a pipe or pipes communicating with the 'sounding or other
signalling instrument, which communication is effected by opening an
orifice or by turning a cock by means of a cord, wire, chain, or other
means communicating with the handles or pulls, placed in a convenient
position in each compartment, as will be herein-after described.
5- In place of compressed air the sound or other signal may be effected
by a succession of currents of air, produced by an apparatus similar to
that used in a concertina or accordion, worked by means of a weight and

page_text: pulley acting upon the air vessel of such apparatus, the weight being
released by means of a cord, chain, wire, or other communicating means,
with the pulls or handles in each compartment.
The sound required to give notice or to signal to the guards and
drivers of a railway train in place of being made by air, in accordance
with either of the above described methods, may be produced, according
to my improvements, by means of an explosive substance, and the
method I employ for this purpose is as follows:-A tube of brass or
other metal, two or three feet in length and three or four inches in
diameter, is secured to a board which is attached to the back of the
carriage, the upper end of the tube being nearly level with the roof.
The bottom of the tubo, which is closed, has a valve opening upwards.
To the under side of the valve is secured a projection of iron, steel, or
other metal, of about half an inch in thickness and an inch square,
which when the valve is closed will touch a bracket of similar materials 1
and dimensions firmly and securely fastened to the board or piece of
wood to which the tube is affixed, so as to be readily attached to the
back of the carriage. In the tube a piston is placed of sufficient weight
when disengaged at the top to allow it to descend to the bottom of the
tube, compressing the air before it so as to close the valve, and forcing
the metal attached to it against the bracket. The piston when it reaches
the bottom will act upon or ignite the percussion cap or tube resting
upon the bracket, which will cause the cap or tube to explode the
detonating compound and also light an illuminating substance placed
close to the bracket. The explosion will produce the sound required to 2
attract the guard's and engine driver's attention, and the light will
point out the particular carriage that has made the signal. The weight
or piston will be discharged from the top of the tube by the cord, chain,
or wire (as will be herein-after described) drawing out a bolt or pin
from the side of the weight from which it will be suspended when at 3
rest.
In order to replace the piston after it has been used a chain or other
contrivance is attached to it which will enable a vorter to lift it up from

page_text: . The explosive substance is placed in a bracket or holder of cast iron,
having a closed top and perforated sides, protected from the weather and
external violence but allowing the explosion to be heard at the desired
distance. This metal case is secured to the piece of wood to which the
tube is fixed, as before described.
The mode of communicating with the sounding apparatus is as
follows:-In each compartment one or more knobs, handles, or pulls,
are arranged similar to the old-fashioned bell pulls. These pulls are
to be placed in the roof of the carriago near the centre lamp or other
convenient position out of the way, but within easy reach when required.
These pulls are in all cases connected with a wire, belt, chain, or cord,
which is carried along the top of the carriage outside to the apparatus
before described, which may be placed at either end of the carriage or in
some convenient situation. These cords, wires, or other connections, are
to be covered or enclosed within a thin strip of wood or other suitable
material, about two or three inches in width and about three quarters of
an inch thick, chamfered off at each side so as to obviate inconvenience
to porters or others passing along the roof of the carriage. These strips
of wood or other material have a groove cut in the under side. to give
ample room for the cords, chains, wires, or other contrivances to pass
freely within them.
.
...
In the aperture,which is cut in the roof to allow the handle, or pulls
to be connected with the cords, wires, or chains, as above described, a
small pulley of brass or other metal is to be inserted which will convey
the said cord, wire, or chain, to the apparatus before referred to. This
pulley is placed so that its upper edge does not rise above the level of
the roof of the carriage. The handle or pull is allowed to extend when
drawn down two or three inches inside the carriage; and as this con-
nection will be flexible it cannot be restored by any person inside to its
normal condition until some person at the external end of the carriage,
at or near the apparatus, pulls up the slack of the line, chain, or cord,
which has been pulled down from the inside for the alarm signal to be
effected. This simple arrangement will assist in identifying an individual
who has availed himself of it, who in some cases would be liable to
punishment by the bye laws of the railway company.
--In order to ascertain the particular carriage from which the signal is

page_text: by a vibrating instrument or explosive substance attached to each and
every carriage of a train, without requiring any connection or communi-
cation between the carriages, and which will always be ready without
needing the attention of the railway officials.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed or carried into practice, what I claim
the improved means and apparatus for communicating signals from
passengers to guards and drivers of railway trains, substantially in the
männer herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Macneill, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
EDWARD BLAKE,
34, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane,
W.C.
JOHN MACNEILL. (L.S.)