IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY JOINTS FOR RAILWAYS."
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Ebenezer Talbot at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th August 1880.
EDWARD EBENEZER TALBOT, Engineer and Iron Manufacturer, of Westbourne
Park Crescent, Paddington, in the County of Middlesex. IMPROVEMENTS IN
SAFETY JOINTS FOR RAILWAYS."
The nature of my Invention is to secure for railway joints greater safety than
has yet been accomplished. It is adapted more especially for steel rails, which are
now taking the place of iron rails, and for the special reason that steel, unlike iron,
being compact and homogeneous will not laminate, but on the contrary gradually
wear down, so that when new steel rails are laid upon railways and my Invention'
is applied thereto, both will remain together, and will need no attention of the
platelayer until the rail is absolutely worn out, which, with steel as the material
and an enlarged substance as forming the head of the rail, should not require a
change for a very indefinite period indeed.
The object sought to be accomplished by my said Invention is to abolish the
present system of joining the ends of rails by means of fish plates, bolts, and nuts,
which are always getting loose, require the vigilant care of the platelayer, and are
a source of weakness to the joint. My Invention obviates all this, and gives to the
joint a strong but permanent character, simple in its construction, but thoroughly
practical in its application.
The advantages arising from my Invention when compared with fish plates,
bolts, and nuts, may be stated as follows, videlicet :-
-
1st. The substitution of my Invention in place of the present system which
yields unsatisfactory results.
2nd. The security afforded by the principle involved.
3rd. The economy effected by the continuance of the joint as long as the rail
lasts, and requiring no attention of the platelayer.
4th. The certainty that, consequent on the insertion of a wrought iron lining as
forming part of my Invention, corrosion cannot take place.
5th. The application of my Invention will not exceed the cost of the present
system of fishplates, bolts, and nuts, but on the contrary may be a little less.
6th. The facility afforded by the modus operandi for fixing the joint, which
altho' somewhat mechanical, can be applied with ease and dispatch, and to any
extent.

page_text: In carrying out and applying my Invention, the steel rails before leaving the
hands of the maker require a slot to be made in the end of each rail three inches
long and one inch and a half deep, placed either at the extreme ends or within one
inch thereof, so as in the first instance to form a united space of six inches long
and one and a half inches deep, or in the second case the said space may be divided
so as to afford an opening of three inches long and one and a half inches deep as
above described. In either case I afterwards fill up the spaces so created with
liquid cast iron, in such a manner as to effectually bind together the two ends of
the rails.
I provide for the contraction and expansion, which in steel rails will be
somewhat less than iron, the latter being more porous, by the insertion of specially
prepared wrought iron plates, so made as to admit of the rails having free action to
give and take, as the effect of atmospheric influence may determine, so that in
attaching my joint to the ends of the rails none of the liquid metal is allowed to
touch them, but passes through the spaces in the ends of the rails already referred
to, which are protected by the wrought iron lining as already described, and firmly
adhering to the entire outer surface of such wrought iron lining grasps the latter
containing the ends of the rails and holds them in a strong, irresistible, impressable,
but permanent position.
The method I adopt in applying my joint is as follows:-
When the new steel rails are laid down or placed in their permanent position, I
affix to the ends of such rails the wrought iron plates as previously described, which
extend to the full length of the joint; I then apply to the latter a pair of clams or
moulds having a recess on each side of such dimensions as will meet the necessary
requirements for the said joint; I then, by means of a small travelling cupola and
a small portable fan (for supplying the said cupola with the requisite air), melt in
such cupola a special mixture of pig iron, draw off in a suitable ladle the liquid
metal, and pour into the said clams or moulds sufficient to form the intended joint.
When the metal has cooled (a circumstance that soon occurs), the clams are removed
and the joint is complete. Whilst this operation is going on other joints may be
prepared to undergo the same treatment, and the cupola moved forward to give the
requisite quantity of metal for each succeeding joint, or aditional cupolas may be
employed, especially where the length of railway is such as to demand great
expedition.
What I claim therefore as my Invention and as absolutely new are,—
First. The nature, description, and principle of the joint.
Second. The mode of application of the joint described.
Third. The insertion of wrought iron plate intended to regulate the contraction
and expansion of the rails, but without interfering with the solidity or structure of
said rails, such wrought iron plates to be used on the sides or web of rails or
continued underneath said rails with liquid metal attached thereto.