A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR SHUNTING OR MOVING RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER ROLLING STOCK
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Forbes, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS
FOR SHUNTING OR MOVING RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER ROLLING STOCK."
ealed the 1st June 1877, and dated the 8th December 1876
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Forbes at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th December 1876.
"A NEW
DAVID FORBES, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain.
OR IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR SHUNTING OR MOVING RAILWAY
CARRIAGES AND OTHER ROLLING STOCK."
This Invention has reference to, and consists generally in a new or improved
construction of implement or hand lever and pròp combined, for the purpose of
shunting or moving railway trucks, waggons, and carriages, from place to place on
their rails by manual labour, in a more simple and convenient manner than
heretofore.
And the nature and novelty of the Invention, or shunting implement, consist in
the construction and use of a long simple lever of the first order (preferably made of
hard wood for strength, lightness, and comfort of handling in all kinds of weather,
and of, say, from four to seven feet in length), with the upper front end made of
iron, and having a fulcrum prop piece (of wood or iron, or both) attached and
jointed or hinged to the under front end of the lever, with this joint forming the
fulcrum of the lever placed at a short distance (as from eight to fifteen inches) back
from the front acting end, and having the lower end of this prop hollow or of a
fork shape to rest and slide along the top surface of the rail, when hung to one
of the buffer beams or spindles, and under and on the inside of the buffer head or
end, by a link or other equivalent jointed to the extreme front end of the lever, all
so that when the person carrying up and working the back free end of the lever, in
raising and pushing it down with one or both hands (like the handle of a common
pump well) at or while walking behind the carriage, the upper front end of the
lever acts on the under back edge of the buffer heads or ends of the buffer beams or
other equivalent back part of the carriage, so as to push the waggon or carriage
forward, at every down stroke of the lever and fulcrum post or prop resting on the
rail below the buffer as stated, all as easily and as quickly as the person can walk
.

page_text: behind the waggon. The upper front end of the lever being curved or angled to a
proper or convenient shape to act. and glide freely on the under back edge of the
buffer to press it and the carriage forward in rising or lifting, all substantially as
herein-before stated; the head of the prop and fulcrum piece lying and moving
forward in advance of the lower end resting on the rail, so as to resist the strain
without slipping while shunting or moving the carriage forward; while the act of
raising the back free end of the lever allows the lower end of the prop to fall
forward on the rail ready for the following successive rest and downward forward
pressure of the lever.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said David Forbes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th June
1877.
DAVID FORBES, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain.
"A NEW
OR IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR SHUNTING OR MOVING RAILWAY
CARRIAGES AND OTHER ROLLING STOCK."
My said Invention has reference to, and consists ġenerally in a new or improved
construction of implement or hand lever and prop combined, for the purpose of
shutting or moving railway trucks, waggons, and carriages, from place to place
on their rails by manual labour, in a more simple and convenient manner than
heretofore.
And in order that the nature, novelty, and mode of performing my said Invention
may be properly understood, I shall now proceed to describe the several Figures on
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, which I have hereunto appended for the
purpose of showing the best means I am at present aware of for putting the
Invention into practice, the reference letters indicating the same or like parts in
all the Figures.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of one modification of my said new or improved con-
struction of hand implement or combined lever A and prop B for shunting or
moving railway carriages, trucks, and waggons on their rails z, and shown as in the
acting position of pushing a carriage Z forward by acting on one of its spring buffer
heads Z Figures 2 and 3 are a front or end view and plan respectively of the
same shunting implement corresponding to Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a detached
plan of the gripping or holding heel, shoe, or slipper b jointed to the foot of the
prop B for resting or acting on the top of the rail below the buffer Z on which the
lever head A¹ is acting; Figure 5 is a side elevation of the same implement A, B,
corresponding to Figure 1, but shown as in the act of shunting a common mineral
waggon Z by lifting and pushing it forward by the buffing end Z" of one of its
trams or side beams of its frame.
Referring to these Figures 1 to 5, the nature of the Invention and construction
and action of the implement consist in the use of a long simple hand lever A of the
first order (preferably made of ash or other hard wood for strength, lightness, and
comfort of handling in all kinds of weather), and of, say, from four to seven feet in
length, with the upper front end A¹ made of iron, and hinged or fulcrumed near the
front end to a prop B (formed of a bar of wood or iron, or both), one limb of the
hinge piece A is preferably attached to the under side of the lever A, by the same
bolts which secure the upper acting iron end A¹, and the other limb is screwed to
the upper end of the prop B with the joint A", which forms the fulcrum of the
lever placed at a short distance (as from eight to fifteen inches) back from its front
end, to form the short powerful acting arm A¹ of the lever. The lower end B¹ of
the prop B is preferably made of an inverted U or open fork shape transversely, as
seen in Figure 3, to rest and slide along the top surface of the rail z when hung by
the light chain a at the front end A³, to the spindle of and under one of the

page_text: buffer heads Z¹ or end of one of the buffer beams or trams Z¹¹, as seen in Figures 1.
and 5 respectively, the chain being linked. to either of the hooks a¹ formed on the
front end A¹ of the lever A for the purpose, all so that when the person carrying up
and working the back free end of the lever at A, in raising and pushing it down
again with one or both hands (like the handle of a common pump well), at and
while walking behind the carriage; the upper hollow curved front end A¹ of the
lever acts on the under back edge of the buffer heads Z¹, as seen in Figure 1, or
the upper rounded part under the end of the buffer beam Z", or it might be other
equivalent back part of the carriage, as seen in Figure 5, and lift and push the
carriage or waggon forward on its wheels and rails at every down stroke of the
long arm A of the lever and fulcrum post or prop B, which rests and holds on
the rail below the buffer as stated, the head of the prop being carried forward with
the carriage or waggon by each downward action of the lever, all nearly as quickly
as the person can walk behind the waggon, with less than the exertion of his own
weight on the lever. The lower forked end B₁ of the prop B has jointed to it a
holding slipper piece b curved and fitted with a sole of india-rubber, leather, or other
equivalent b rivetted to its under side, so as to fit and gripe on the rail z, as seen
in Figures 2 and 4, to prevent the slipping of the lower end of the prop B when
the lifting and forward pushing action of the lever comes on it, and the upper front
end A¹ of the lever A is as stated, and shown formed hollow or round and angled
to a proper or convenient shape to act and glide freely on the under edge of the
buffer Z or back end of the beam Z¹ to press it and the carriage forward in rising
or lifting, all substantially as herein-before stated; the head and fulcrum piece Ai
of the prop B lies and moves forward in advance of the lower end B¹ resting and
gripping on the rail z by the slipper piece b, so as to resist the strain without
slipping while shunting or moving the carriages or waggons forward, and the act of
raising the back free end of the lever A, allows the lower end B₁ of the prop B to
fall forward on the rail ready for the next or following successive rest and down-
ward forward-pressure of the lever A, which as stated pushes forward the carriage
or waggon.
In some cases, as in good weather, when the rails are dry and clean, or the
carriages or waggons are lightly loaded or empty, it may be found unnecessary to
have a loose shoe piece b at the bottom of the prop B to gripe on the rails; the foot
of the prop being made broad enough with a rounded heel of india-rubber or made
of steel and roughened to hold on the rail sufficiently to prevent it from slipping,
and one or both of the side prongs B₁ may, when preferred, be bent inwards so as
to catch a little under the head of the rail when desired.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I have to state that I do not confine myself to the precise
details herein described or delineated, 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, the construction and use of a hand lever and fulcrum prop
combined for shunting or moving trucks, carriages, and waggons forward on their
rails, and acting under the back end of the buffers or carriage frames. over the rails,
all substantially as herein described in reference to and shown in the accompanying
Drawings, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Forbes, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
Witness,
W. R. M. THOMSON,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
DAVID FORBES. (L.S.)