IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY CROSSINGS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Thomson, of the Railway Foundry,
Normanton, in the County of York,, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY CROSSINGS."
Sealed the 4th September 1866, and dated the 7th March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Thomson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th March 1866.
I,. WILLIAM THOMSON, of the Railway Foundry, Normanton, in the County
of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS. IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY CROSSINGS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists, first, in improvements in cast-steel crossings.
These crossings as hitherto made are, liable to fracture and crumble away at
certain points, caused by honeycombing and want of tenacity in the castings.
Attempts have been, made to obviate this by hammering them into dies or
moulds, but this only partially succeeded, it being found difficult to put the
requisite amount of work on the crossing to give it sufficient strength and
tenacity and at the same time to preserve the shape and angle of the crossing.
According to the present Invention the castings are made in outline to the:
shape.or nearly so of the crossing required, the top and bottom being left
plain, or without the grooves for the wheel flanges, proper allowance- being

page_text: made in the casting that the crossing may be the proper size when finished:
The casting after being beated is either rolled or hammered until it is brought
to the proper thickness (the metal being thus rendered dense and tenacious),
the ends are then split into two by sawing or otherwise, and suitably formed
to join to the ends of the ordinary rails. Afterwards the grooves for the
wheel flanges are formed by planing. or otherwise. These improvements
apply to crossings with wing and point rails combined, and also to crossings
made with the two-point rails only, the wings being made from ordinary rails.
Instead of making the castings to the outline of the crossing required they
may be made parallel or nearly so, and then after being rolled or hammered
they are brought to the requisite shape by sawing, cutting, slotting, or planing;
after which the wheel grooves are formed in the manner before described.
The Invention consists, secondly, in making a railway crossing of hammered
or rolled iron. A plate of iron being rolled to the proper thickness, the
crossing is sawn out to the proper shape, the ends split into two and suitably
formed to fit up to the ordinary rails, and the grooves for wheel flanges formed
as before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of. the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Thomson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I WILLIAM
THOMSON, of the Railway Foundry, Normanton, in the County of York,
send greeting.
פיי
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord' One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for, Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and, grant unto me, the said
William Thomson, Her special licence that the said William Thomson
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Thomson, 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY CROSSINGS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Thomson, my executors or adminis
..
44. T
A
"
3
2

page_text: trators, 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 Omce within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Thomson, do hereby declaré
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 fol
lowing statement thereof, that is to say:
This Invention consists; first, in improvements in cast-steel crossings.
These crossings as hitherto made are liable to fracture and crumble away at
certain points, caused by honeycombings and want of tenacity in the crossings!
Attempts have been made to obviate this by hammering them into dies or
moulds, but this' only partially succeeded; it being found difficult to put the
requisite amount of work on the crossing to give it sufficient strength and
tenacity and at the same time to preserve the shape and angle of the crossing:
According to the present Invention the castings are made in outline to the
shapë or nearly so of the crossings required; the top and bottom being left
plain, or without the grooves for the wheel flanges, proper allowance being
made in the casting that the crossing may be the proper size when' finished!"
The casting after being heated is either rolled of hammered until it' is
brought to the proper thickness (the metal being thus rendered dense and
tenacious),, the ends are then split into two by sawing or otherwise;" and
suitably formed to join' to' the ends of the ordinary rails! Afterwards the
grooves for the wheel flanges are formed by planing or otherwise cutting' away
the metal. These improvements apply to crossings with wing and point rails
combined, and also to crossings made with the two-point rails only, the wings'
being made from ordinary rails. The steel which employ is that known as
Bessemer, metal, and this material I cast into an ingot, say, of the form shown
at Figure 1, somewhat less than two-thirds of the length of the crossing to be
made, and wider and 'thicker in proportion. This ingot I forge under a steam?
hammer until it is brought about to the form'shown at Figure 2, and of "the"
thickness throughout of the crossing which it is desired to produce, usually
about 5 inches. I drill holes in the forging" at the points a, d, add in a
planing machine I cut the metal through vertically along the linesa, b; then
I bend the divided' ends" outwards' to the inclination they take in the finished
crossing, which is shown at Figure 8, and I form hollows in-the extremitie
of the divided ends of the 'proper form' to 'receive the fish plates, and this I do,
by preference, by forging them between dies or swages' worked with the steam

page_text: "
hammer. The crossing being so far formed I place it in a planing machine,
and plane away the grooves for the wheel flanges and all the superfluous
metal, so as to reduce it to the form shown at Figure 3. In order to give a
free entrance to the wheel flanges the ends of the wing rails are bevilled off,
as the Drawing shows, by a shaping machine or otherwise. .c, c, in Figure 3,
are the cast-iron chairs in which the crossing is held. In place of extending
the ingot under the hammer it may be rolled, but when working an ingot,
cast to form hammering is more convenient.
.
In some cases I make the wing rails of the crossing of separate rails in
place of in one piece with the point and point rails and distance pieces.
Figure 4 shows the forged casting which I make for this purpose. It is
drilled and split along the line a, b, the ends of the point rails are bent out-
wards and formed to receive the fish plates, and the crossing is finished
planing machine as already described, so as to complete in one piece the point
and point rails with the distance pieces on each side.
.
:
:
in
the
Instead of making the castings to the outline of the crossing required they
may be made parallel or nearly so, and then after being rolled or hammered
(but in this case I prefer rolling), they are brought to the requisite shape
such as is shown at Figure 2, by sawing, cutting, slotting, or planing; after
which the wheel grooves are formed in the manner before described.
In some cases I employ hammered or rolled iron in place of cast steel. In.
making a railway crossing of hammered or rolled iron a plate of iron is formed.
to the proper thickness, corresponding with the depth of the finished crossing,
from this plate, which in this state resembles an armour-plated slab, the
crossing is sawn out to the shape as at Figure 2, the ends are split into two,
and suitably formed to fit up to the ordinary rails as already described, and
the grooves for wheel flanges are formed as before described.
11.
"
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the exact forms shown in the Drawings, as the shape and angle of the
crossing may be varied; but what I claim is the producing railway crossings
from steel castings by rolling or hammering the same, and then planing or
cutting away the metal to form the grooves for the flanges of the wheels and
to complete the crossing as above described.
I also claim the splitting or dividing the end or ends of the hammered or
rolled steel casting to form the rails or ends to be attached to the ordinary
rails.as above described.
I also claim the producing a railway crossing from a plate or slab of
hammered or rolled iron by splitting the ends of the slab and planing or
"

page_text: cutting away the metal to form the grooves for the flanges of the wheels and
to complete the crossing as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Thomson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
W*. THOMSON. (L.S.)