IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1854

page_text: Sealed the 26th September 1854, and dated the 6th April 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th
April 1854.
I, JAMES SMITH, of St. Leonards-on-Sea, in the County of Sussex,
Contractor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS" to be as follows:-
My improvements consist in making the iron chair or chairs used in con-
structing a line of railway with the sleeper combined, in order thereby to
produce a firmer bearing and bring the base of the sleeper nearer to the surface
of the ballast; consequently, by so forming what is termed the permanent way,
more facility is obtained in laying such chairs and sleepers, and less thickness
of ballasting material is required, as well as ease in relaying any existing
permanent way that may be required, and also affording better maintenance of
the permanent way at less cost, with greater facility of drainage.
In order that my Invention may be fully understood, reference must be had
to the accompanying Drawing, similar letters of reference referring to the
respective parts throughout. Figure 1 is a plan view of portion of a permanent
way, shewing two joint chairs with ordinary tie-bar and two intermediate
chairs; Figure 2 is an elevation of one side of such permanent way; and
Figure 3 is a transverse section of the permanent way, taken on the line A, B.
a, a, a, a, is the sleeper; b, b, b, b, is the chair belonging to it; these are
either cast or wrought together.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th
October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES SMITH,
of St. Leonards-on-Sea, in the County of Sussex, Contractor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Smith, Her special licence that I, the said James Smith, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Smith,
my executors, administrators, and 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 THE CONSTRUCTION
OF RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Smith, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Smith, do hereby declare 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):-
The improvements in the construction of railways, which form the subject
of my Invention, consists in making the iron chairs used in constructing a line
of railway with the sleeper combined, which combination I effect by having the
chair and sleeper cast together. By such formation of the chair and sleeper a
firmer bearing will be produced, whilst the base of the sleeper is brought
nearer to the upper surface of the ballast.
In constructing with my combined
chairs and sleepers what is usually called the permanent way, more facility
will be obtained in laying them, and less thickness of ballasting material
required. It will also be found that the permanent way can be better main-
tained at less cost and more effectively drained.
In relaying any existing permanent way with my chairs and sleepers, greater
freedom will be experienced by the workmen.

page_text: In order that my Invention may be fully understood, reference must be had
to the accompanying Drawing, upon which similar letters of reference refer to
the same parts throughout.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a permanent way, consisting of two
rails with the chairs and sleepers, forming the line of railway laid with my
combined sleepers and chairs secured by tie-bars, which tie-bars, for facility of
fixing, are joined together in the middle by bolts and keys, as shewn in the
Drawing; Figure 2 is an elevation of one side of the line of railway, shewing
the rail attached to the sleepers and chairs; and Figure 3 is a transverse
section of the permanent way taken on the line A, B.
a, a, a, a, are the
sleepers; b, b, b, b, the chairs; and c, c, c, the tie-bars. Although I have only
shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the form of combined sleeper and chair made
of cast iron, which I prefer, yet there are other forms of chairs in use carrying
different kinds of rails, and which may be easily adapted, if required, to my
sleeper, by an alteration in the form of the bottom surface of such chair, so as
to cause it fit and suit to the upper and inside surface of my sleeper; when such
adaptation of different kinds of chairs is required, the chair may, perhaps,
be separate from the sleeper; in such case the chair and sleeper must be either
firmly secured together by bolts and nuts, or rivetted to the sleeper. Figure 4
is a transverse section of a combined chair and sleeper which are cast together,
suited to the carrying of a bridge rail. a, a, is the sleeper; b, is the chair; and
d is the rail which is screwed to it by bolts and nuts, as shewn in the Drawing.
Having now fully ascertained and described the nature of
my Invention,
and the manner in which the same is carried into effect, I wish it to be under-
stood that I rest my claim to novelty,-
Firstly, in the use of a cast-iron sleeper and chair made and combined
together, whether it be of the form shewn in the Drawing or any other
form that may be productive of the same results, as set forth and described.
And, secondly, in the use of my kind of sleeper alone, whether made of cast
or wrought iron, and used in connexion with the forms of chairs and rails now
in common use, in the way before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Smith, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Sixth day of October, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
JAMES SMITH.
(L.S.)