IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAYS OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1856

page_text: Sealed the 6th May 1856, and dated the 27th February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Ellis Allen at:
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th February 1856.
I, EDWARD ELLIS ALLEN, of 376, Strand, do hereby declare the nature of
the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAYS OF RAILWAYS," to be.
as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the permanent ways of
railways. For this purpose the rails of a railway are so formed as to be.
supported and sustained by longitudinal projecting plates or wings, one on:
each side of a rail, such projecting plates or wings being in different planes
on the two sides of a rail, that is, the projecting wing or plate on one side of
a rail is near the upper part or head of the rail, and the projecting wing or
plate on the other side is near the lower part of the rail. In constructing a
permanent way of a railway, according to my Invention, rails with projecting
wings or side plates for this purpose may be made in various forms, and the
parts in putting or bolting a permanent way together may be made to break

page_text: joint. Convenient forms of rails are produced for carrying out my Invention,
by making two angle irons, with an enlargement at the angle of each to form
the heads of a rail when two such are reversed in their positions and are
bolted and combined together. It should; however, be stated that, although
it is preferred thus to use two similar angle irons, as above mentioned, in
order to have the advantage of turning the rail over when one side is worn,
only one of the two angle irons may have a head or enlargement produced
thereto. Or, in place of thus making continuous rails, a double-headed or
other form of central rail may be used, and the projecting wings or plates
may be produced thereto by fixing or bolting angle iron on either side; the
projecting plates or wings thereof being fixed at different levels or in different
planes on the two sides of such central rail.
SPECIFICATION.in- pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Ellis Allen in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
ELLIS ALLEN, of 376, Strand, send. greeting..
"
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Edward Ellis Allen, Her special licence that I, the said Edward
Ellis Allen, my executors, 'administrators, and assigns; or such others as I, the
said Edward Ellis Allen, 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 Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAYS OF RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edward Ellis Allen, 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 Inven-
tion; 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 calendár, months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
2.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Ellis Allen, 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 general objects of this Invention are, to dispose the metal of which a
rail is formed in the strongest form consistent with its construction, to resist
wear and tear, also to render.such rail more easily laid..down and renewed
than heretofore, by placing the bolt nuts, when bolts are employed, in a
favourable position-for.examination, and also to construct a rail, so that upon
the upper flange or table being worn out, the lower one may be used in its
place. To effect these objects, I construct a rail of one or more parts, and
connect the lengths together by suitable joint pieces, or. where the rail is in two
or more parts, it may be done by what is understood as "breaking joint. The
characteristic feature of this. Invention is, that the rail is supported or sus-
tained. by longitudinal projecting plates or wings, one on each side of the-rail;
such projecting, plates. or wings being in different planes on the two sides, that
is, the projecting plate on one side is at or near the upper part or. head of the
rail, and the projecting plate on the other side is at or near the lower part or
head of the rail.
r.
A rail of this kind in its simplest form is shown in the accompanying
Drawing at Figure 1; the two side wings giving the necessary amount of
bearing surface, and the whole structure being of. great strength. It will be
seen that the rail is precisely the same when reversed; a modified..form is
shown in Figure 2, retaining the usual form of head.. In Figure 3, the
section is adapted to be used with longitudinal timber sleepers; Figure 9 also
shows a modification of this form, with ordinary shaped heads. The bearing
surface of a rail being necessarily from twelve to thirteen inches, it may be
more convenient to construct the rail in two parts bolted together, and various
forms are shewn in Figures 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, and 13, the differences merely
being in the mode of uniting; the four last-named showing the mode of
relieving the bolts from undue strain. In these arrangements it will be seen
that provision is made to prevent the bolt head from turning, and also that
easy access can be had to the nuts of the bolts as they are always uncovered,
and thus removable. Figure 6 shows a modification of a rail for longitudinal
sleepers, being also reversable. Figures 7 and 10 show the principle of this
Invention carried out when the rail is made as it were in three parts, i.e., a
central rail with double heads and two side flanges; the lower side flange may
be in this case made of greater strength than the upper, because in reversing
the rail itself no necessity would exist for changing the side flanges, and the

page_text: strength of the rail would be greatly increased by having the greatest amount
of metal in the lower flange. The same observations, as have been made
already, apply to the facility of removing or screwing up the ball heads. It
should be stated, that in all the forms of rails shown the intention is to work
the flange of the wheels of engines or carriages on that side of the rail upon
which the lower plate or wing is placed; this arrangeinent being made so as
to get the upper plate as near the top of the rail as possible, just allowing for
wear, as also to get the plates or wings as far distant as possible, as the strength
of the rail would increase considerably as this distance increases. The rails
are united or tied together to preserve the guage, either by bars or rods bolted
to or passed through the rail in any way most convenient, and these guage
rods or bars may occur as often as is found necessary, and may be, if preferred,
placed at the junction of two lengths of the rails, so as to serve at the same
time for joining the two lengths together, or assist in so doing. The vertical
web of any of the forms of rails shewn in the Drawings, may be placed at an
inclination instead of vertically, an example being given in Figure 14. The
tie bars would be constructed so as to give what is known as the set of
the rails.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the mode of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that the forms may be varied;
but what I claim is, the construction of the rails of railways in one or more
parts, in such manner that each rail is supported by continuous longitudinal
plates or wings, one on each side, such plates or wings lying in different
horizontal planes, as herein explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Ellis Allen, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
GEO. PITT,
4, Old Square.
EDWD E. ALLEN. (L.S.)