Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Dec., 1887.
Complete Left, 11th May, 1888
Complete Accepted. 15th June, 1888.
I, JAMES YATE JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this Invention which has been communi-
cated to me from abroad by Paul Moncharmont of Paris in the Republic of France,
Engineer and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The improved permanent way for railways constructed according to this Invention
is composed of metal. The rails are supported upon a framework arranged as
hereinafter described forming a species of transverse sleeper. The two extremities
of this sleeper form chairs for the reception of the foot of the rail which is supported
upon a flat or other table or surface between two undercut ridges or jaws on the
top of the chair. One side of the foot of the rail engages with the groove in one of
the ridges and the other side of the foot is held down by a key or wedge driven in
between the foot and the corresponding undercut ridge on the top of the chair.
This, key is prevented from working out by a pin inserted in the chair at right angles
to the wedge and engaging in a notch in the side of the latter. This pin may be
secured by a small pin inserted in its extremity. The lower part or base of the chair
is hollow with a central web and open on two sides. The bottom of the chair is
attached to a flat plate which may be bent at right angles to form a projecting edge
or edges for engaging with the ballast. The two sides of the chair at right angles
to the axis of the rail are provided with recesses for the reception of the vertical
flanges of a pair of shaped angle irons by which the chair on one side of the line
is connected to one end of a transverse tie bar or plate the other end of which is
similarly connected to the chair on the other side of the line. This bar or plate may
be a trough shaped angle iron or tie bars of LT or other suitable section may be
employed and these tie bars may be rivetted directly to the sides of the chair or to
the flat plate under the chair.
The upper part or jaws of the chairs are made of suitable shape to suit the form
of rail with which they are to be used. When wood keys are employed to fix the
rail being inserted between one of the jaws and the web of the rail they may be
prevented from working out by means of wood screws passed through a hole in the
jaw and screwed into the key.
Dated this 28th day of Decombo.
1931
47,
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.,
Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Construction of Permanent Way for Railways.
I JAMES YATE JOHNSON of 47 Lincoln's Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention which has been com-
municated to me from abroad by Paul Moncharmont of Paris in the Republic of
France, Engineer, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
In the improved permanent way for railways constructed according to this
Invention the rails are supported upon a metallic framework arranged as hereinafter
described forming a species of transverse sleeper. The two extremities of this
sleeper form chairs for the reception of the foot of the rail which is supported upon
a bed or surface between two undercut ridges or jaws formed on the top of the chair.
One side of the foot of the rail engages with the groove in one of the ridges and the
other side of the foot is held down by a key or wedge driven in between the foot and
the corresponding undercut ridge on the top of the chair. This key is prevented from
working out by a pin inserted in the chair at right angles to the wedge and engaging
in a notch in the side of the latter. This pin may be secured by a small pin inserted
in its extremity. The lower part or base of the chair is hollow with a central web
and open on two sides. The bottom of the chair is attached to a flat plate which may
be bent at right angles to form a projecting edge or edges for engaging with the
ballast. The two sides of the chair at right angles to the axis of the rail are provided
with projections or shoulders forming recesses for the reception of the vertical flanges
of a pair of shaped angle irons by which the chair on one side of the line is con-
nected to one end of a transverse sleeper or tie bar the other end of which is similarly
connected to the chair on the other side of the line. This bar or sleeper plate may
be a trough shaped angle iron or tie bars of LT or other suitable section may be
employed and these tie bars may be riveted directly to the sides of the chair or to the
flat plate under the chair.
The upper part or jaws of the chairs are made of suitable shape to suit the form of
rail with which they are to be used. When wood keys are employed to fix the rail
being inserted between one of the jaws and the web of the rail they may be prevented
from working out by means of wood screws passed through a hole in the jaw and
screwed into the key.
These general principles of construction may be modified in various ways as
regards the structural details in carrying out the invention in practice.
And in order that my said invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to the several
figures on the annexed 5 sheets of drawings the same letters of reference indicating
corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in section a single headed or
vignolles rail supported according to this invention the section being taken along the
line 1-2 Figure 6.
"

page_text: Figure 2 shows the support in vertical section on the line 3-4-5-6 Figure I
and Figure 3 reprosents another vertical section taken along the line 3-4-7-8-9-6
Figure 1.
Figure 4 represents a section taken along the line 10-11-12-13 Figure 1
and Figure 5 is a section along the line 14-15 Figure 1.
Figure 6 represents the support in horizontal section on the line 16-17 Figure 1.
and Figure 7 shows the rail and its support in plan.
This support is composed of seven principal or essential parts hereinafter described
namely.
1. A transverse or tie bar a Figures 1, 6 and 7 in the form of a rolled plate of U or
trough shape in section as indicated in Figure 5 riveted at both ends to a sole plate d
(one only of these latter being shown in the drawing) and to two angle irons c.
2. Two chairs (one only being shown in the drawing) of similar shape and
similarly situated relatively to the line of rails.
Each of these chairs is made in one piece and is placed between the two angle
irons e aforesaid being provided at each side with a shoulder or projection forming a
recess which rests upon the upper edge of the vertical flange of the angle iron as
indicated in Figures 2, 3 and 4. Each chair is made as shown in the drawing in
the form of a block presenting hollows or recesses on the sides which are parallel to
the axis of the line of rails so as to form on each side of a central web a cavity
corresponding to the form of a parallelo-pipedon or a pyramid with rounded corners
or angles the two external vertical sides ending in vertical planes or in inclined planes
(as represented in the drawing).
The upper part of the chair presents a flat surface or table forming the bed of the
rail the central or middle portion of which is flat and inclined according to the incline
of the foot of the rail being provided at each side with grooved or undercut ridges
or projections forming jaws between which the foot of the rail is secured by means of
a key or wedge e. The minimum width of the opening between the projections is
made greater than the width of the foot of the rail in order to enable the rail to be
placed in position in the chair & before, the key or wedge is introduced. One edge of
the foot of the rail is inserted into one of the grooves in the chair and the rail is
secured in position by means of the key e which is driven in between the projection
and the edge of the foot on the, other side of the rail. On the side at which the key
is driven in, the upper part of the chair and the corresponding jaw are perforated by
a circular transverse hole for the reception of a pin f for locking the said wedge. This
hole is formed solely for receiving the locking pin of the wedge e.
Provided that
or
it coincides with a notch or groove in the outer side of the key or wedge e the said
hole may be situated at any part of the bearing surface of the table of the chair
may even be formed in a boss or projection formed on the chair outside the actual
table. The two vertical sides external to each of the two hollow spaces on each side
of the central web of the chair bare riveted to the vertical limbs or flanges of the
angle irons and the horizontal side of each of the said spaces is riveted to the
corresponding sole plate d.
3. Four supporting angle irons c which are riveted in pairs to each chair and to
each sole plate d'respectively as stated.
irons c.
4. Two flat or sole plates d supporting respectively each chair with its two angle
These two sole plates dare riveted to the lower sides of the two hollows
and to the horizontal limbs or flanges of the two angle irons c. The extremity of
each sole plate d which forms the two extremities of the support or sleeper is curved
or bent downwards at right angles with a rounded angle so as to penetrate into the
ballast.
5. A key or wedge e Figures 1, 2 and 7 for securing the rail in the chair b. This
key shown drawn to a larger scale in transverse section (on the line 18-19 Figure 9)
in Figure 8 and in plan in Figure 9 is made with the side which acts against the jaw
of the chair inclined to the axis of the rail. On the other hand that side of the key
which bears against the rail is made parallel to the axis of the latter. On the side

page_text: which bears against the jaw of the chair the key is provided with a semicircular notch
for the reception of the locking pin f hereinafter more fully described. The position
of this notch is ascertained at the time of using the key that is to say after tlie key e
has been driven in between the jaw of the chair and the foot of the rail to the
position which it is intended to occupy. The position of the notch being ascertained
the said notch can be made in either of two different ways. The first method consists
in putting the key e in position before the notch has been made by forcing it into the
chair against the rail to its final position and then making the notch in the said
keye by means of a suitable tool without removing the key. The second method
consists in driving in the key e as before to the definite position which it ought to
occupy in use between the rail and chair and then marking on the key the position
of the notch, the key being afterwards taken out in order to cut the notch.
The key thus notched is again placed in the chair band driven in at the side of the
rail, so as to make the notch coincide with the hole in the chair band to allow the
fastening pinto pass through and fill the notch in the key e and the hole made
in the chair b.
6. A locking pin f, Figures 10, 11, 12 and 13 which engages with the notch in the
key and with the hole in the chair simultaneously. This pin represented in elevation
in Figures 10 and 11, in plan in Figure 12 and in section Figure 13 prevents the
key from working out and consists of a cylindrical shank with a square head which
takes its bearing on the corresponding jaw of the chair. A hole is made in the lower
end of the shank for the reception of a safety pin. This hole is shown in section in
Figure 13 which represents a section taken along the line 20-21 Fig. 10.
7. A safety ping shown in elevation in Figures 1, 2 and 3 and in plan by dotted
lines in Figure 7 which being inserted in the aforesaid hole in the locking pin f
prevents the latter from leaving its position.
This arrangement may be modified as regards the details of construction as herein
after described for example.
Figure 14 Sheet II represents a vertical section of a chair for single headed rails
the section being taken along the line 1-2-3-4 Figure 16.
Figure 15 is a vertical section on the line 5-6 Figure 14.
Figure 16 is a horizontal section along the line 7-8 Figure 14.
According to this arrangement an angle iron h in the form of an inverted T in
section is substituted for the transverse trough shaped tie bar hereinbefore described
being riveted by its bottom flanges to the flat sole plate d as indicated in the
drawing.
Figures 17, 18, 19 and 20 illustrate a second modification.
Figure 17 represents a vertical section of one of the supports with a transverse
tie bar formed by two angle irons the section being taken along the line 9-10
Figure 19.
Figure 18 represents a vertical section of the angle irons the section being taken
on the line 11-12 Figure 17.
Figure 19 represents a horizontal section on the line 13-14 Figure 17 and
Figure 20 represents a vertical section along the lines 15-16-17-18 Figure 14
and 19-20-21-22 Figure 17.
In this case the angle irons are connected to the sole plate d and to the sides of
the chairs in a similar manner to the angle irons e in the preceding arrangements.
According to a third modification the rivets employed to connect the vertical
flanges of the two angle irons to the vertical sides of the chairs in all the preceding
arrangements are dispensed with. In this case these two angle irons and the clair
form one body that is to say they are cast in one piece and this piece is attached to
the sole plate by rivets which pass through the flanges and through the lower wall or
bottom of the two hollows precisely in the same way as the rivets in the horizontal
flanges of the angle irons and in the bottom of the chair described in the preceding
arrangements.
A fourth modification consists in employing a single plate Z (Figures 26 to 39) of

page_text: an inverted trough shape in place of the transverse tie bar, the four angle irons c and
the two sole plates d the said trough shaped plate or sleeper being closed at both ends
and rivetted to the chairs which are modified as hereinafter described.
Figure 26 represents in section a chair n employed according to this modification
for a single headed rail being riveted to the sleeper Z. This section is taken along
the line 31-32 Figure 29.
Figure 27 represents a vertical section taken on the line 33-34 Figure 26 of the
chair n.
Figure 28 is a vertical section on the line 35-36 Figure 26 the rail being
removed.
Figure 29 represents the chair n in plan.
Figure 30 represents a vertical section on the line 37-38 Figure 33 of a chair m
arranged for a double headed rail the chair being riveted to the sleeper Z.
Figure 31 represents a vertical section on the line 39-40 Figure 30 of the
chair m the rail being removed.
Figure 32 is an elevation of the chair m viewed from the outside of the line and
Figure 33 shows the said chair in plan with the rail in position.
According to this fourth modification the central web the bottom and one of the
vertical sides of the chair are removed. The remaining vertical side is caused to
assume the form of an inclined flange or lug and the two sides parallel to the axis of
the line are prolonged to admit of fixing the chair to the sleeper Z.
This chair marked n in the drawing (Figures 26 to 29) is connected to the
sleeper by means of rivets. The outside rivets are arranged vertically and bave
rounded heads; the intermediate rivet situated underneath the rail is also vertical but
its head is countersunk flush with the surface of the chair. The lateral rivet which
connects the flange or lug of the chair to the sleeper is perpendicular to the direction
of the said flange, and has rounded heads. Any suitable number of such rivets may
be employed. The hole for the reception of the locking pin for the key is formed in
a projection formed on a prolongation of the jaw of the chair. The said locking pin
is in the form of a bolt o provided with a nut.
The chair m Figures 30 to 33 is similarly attached to its trough shaped sleeper Z
but is made of a somewhat different shape to enable it to take double headed rails
and is combined with a special arrangement for securing the key as hereinafter
described with reference to Figures 21, 24 and 25.
In certain special cases and in particular when this improved sleeper or support
is employed in the construction of tramways the chair may be made in the forin
illustrated in Figures 34 to 39.
Figure 34 is a vertical section (on the line 41-42 Figures 38 and 39) of a chair
which may be employed for tramway rails.
P
Figure 35 is a vertical section on the line 43-44 Figure 34 with the guard
plate the key e and the locking pin o removed.
Figure 36 represents a section on the line 45-46 Figure 34.
Figure 37 is a section on the line 47-48 Figure 34.
Figure 38 is a plan the guard plate being removed and the key and locking
pin in position and Figure 39 is a plan showing the guard plate in position.
This form of chair which is more particularly suitable for rails such as are used on
tramways differs from the other forns described chiefly in the absence of the lateral
lug and in the arrangement of the locking pin which is placed in the middle
of the jaw and is covered and held down by a guard plate thus dispensing with
the safety pin g and with the nut employed' with the chairs b and n respectively.
With this object the jaw of the chair is cut or grooved perpendicularly to the
direction of the key e in order to receive the head of the locking pin o.
This groove
or recess also admits of the introduction of a claw under the head of the said pin to
facilitate the extraction and removal of the latter.
The guard plate r of angle iron with two flanges. One of these flanges rests on
the corresponding jaw of the chair p also upon the key e and on the foot or

page_text: flange of the rail whilst the other flange is applied against the web of the rail to
which it is attached by means of one or more bolts s.
By suitably modifying the shape of the chair the arrangements herein before
described in connection with single headed rails may evidently be combined with
double headed rails. This modification in the form of the chair will be readily
understood by the following description with reference to Figures 21 to 25 of the
drawings.
Figure 21 represents a vertical section taken along the line 23-24 Figure 23.
Figure 22 is a vertical section on the line 25--26-27-28 Figure 21.
Figure 23 is a horizontal section on the line 29-30 Figure 21.
Figure 24 is a plan.
Figure 25 is an elevation of the chair viewed from the side of the line.
The entire shape of the chair j below the table or bed of the rail is identical with
that part of the chair for single headed rails except with regard to the number and
distribution of the holes for the rivets as shown in Figures 21 to 25 of the annexed
drawings. The table or bed of the chair for double headed rails has two jaws between
which are lodged the rail and a key or wedge which is placed on the outer side of
the rail. The rail is pressed directly against the jaw of the chair j on the inner side
of the rail and is kept in position on the other side by the wooden wedge k, driven
against the other jaw whose acting surface is inclined to the axis of the rail. The
jaw of the chair against which the wedge is pressed is bored or perforated transversely
by a hole which receives a metal set screw which retains the wedge in position.
This hole is solely made for the screw of the wedge and can be placed at any part
of the jaw of the chair. The screw is passed through this hole and screwed into the
wedge k.
The position of the hole to be made in the wedge k for the reception of the set
screw will be ascertained when the wedge is in position that is to say after the wedge
has been driven in between the chair and the rail to the definite position which it will
occupy in use.
'
When the position of the screw hole in the wedge k has been found as above
described the hole can be made in one of two methods."
The first method consists in first driving the wedge between the chair j and the
rail to the position it will occupy in use and then to make the hole in the wedge by
means of some suitable instrument without removing the wedge. The second method
consists in driving the wedge between the chair j and the rail to the position it will
occupy in use and marking the position of the hole, the said wedge being afterwards
removed in order to make the hole. The wedge thus perforated will be replaced in
position between the rail and the chair so as to make the hole in the wedge correspond
with that in the chair and allow the screw 1, after passing through the hole in the
chair to be screwed into the hole in the wedge.
In this arrangement the screw replaces the locking pin with its safety pin g
herein before described used with the single headed rails; the pin and the screw being
employed solely to prevent the key or wedge from working loose.
In this application for double headed rails every part of the chair situated below the
bed or table receiving the rail is identical with that employed for the single headed
rails except the number and distribution of the rivet holes in the vertical and
horizontal sides of the hollows.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In the construction of the improved support for single headed rails the form of
the chairs having a hole in the upper part or bed for the reception of the locking
pin fand having two lateral shoulders or projections resting on the vertical flanges of
the angle iron c or of the angle irons the said chairs having lateral hollows in the
base and being connected to the sole plates d and to the angle irons c (or i) by means

page_text: of rivets the heads of the said rivets taking their bearing against the inner surface
of the vertical walls and bottoms of the said hollows substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, and 17, 19 and 20 of the
accompanying drawings.
2. In the construction of the improved support for double headed rails the form of
the chair having a transverse hole in the outside jaw for the reception of a screw or
stop screwed into the key and having two lateral shoulders or projections resting on
the vertical flanges of the angle irons c or the angle irons i the said chair having
lateral hollow spaces in the base of the chair and being attached to the sole plate and
to the angle irons by means of rivets, the heads of the said rivets taking their bearing
against the vertical sides and bottom of the said hollow spaces substantially as herein-
before described in connection with the chair illustrated separately in Figures 21,
22, 23, 24 and 25 sheet 3 of the drawings and in connection with the chair b illustrated
in combination with the angle irons and sole plate in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 the
lower part beneath the bed of the chair being connected to the sole plate d and to the
angle irons c by means of rivets substantially as hereinbefore described with reference
to the drawings.
3. In connection with the arrangement for single headed rails the system of locking
the wedge or key e by means of a pin f'inserted in a-hole in the chair b and partly in
a notch in the outer edge of the key e and the method of ascertaining the position
of the said notch by driving in the said key at the side of the rail to the position
which it is to occupy when in use all substantially as herein before described with
reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 of the accompanying.
drawings.
4. In connection with the arrangement for double headed rails the system of
locking the wood wedge or key k by means of a screw or stop inserted in a transverse
hole in the chair and screwed into a hole previously formed in the wood key k, the
position of the hole in the key being determined by driving the key into the chair to
the position which it is to occupy when in use substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to Figures 21, 24 and 25 of the accompanying drawings.
5. In connection with either single or double headed rails the arrangement in
which the rivets employed to connect the vertical flanges of the supporting angle
irons to the vertical sides of the hollow spaces in the base of the chairs band jaro
dispensed with the two angle irons c and the chair bor the chair being made in one
casting forming a single piece which is connected to the sole plate by means of rivets
in precisely the same way as the chairs and j are connected to the angle irons c in
the arrangements illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 sheet 1 and 14, 16, 17, 19, 20
sheet 2.
6. In connection with either single or double headed rails the three arrangements
differing with regard to the shape of the transverse tie bar the said tie bar being made
in either of the three forms described namely (1) In the form of a U or trough
shaped bar a rivetted at both ends to the sole plates d and to the vertical flanges of
the angle irons c of the support or sleeper as illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
and 7 of the accompanying drawings (2) In the form of a plain inverted T iron h
having both ends rivetted to the sole plates d of the support or sleeper as illustrated
in Figures 14, 15 and 16 of the accompanying drawings or (3) In the form of two
angle irons i extending between the rails from one chair to the other of the same
support or sleeper as represented in Figures 17, 18, 19 and 20 of the accompanying
drawings.
7. In combination with either single or double headed rails the arrangement of the
chairs n and m consisting in the employment of the trough shaped tie bar or sleeper Z
in combination either with the chair n comprising a sole or base and a projection for
the reception of the locking pin o and a vertical or inclined lug or flange substantially
as indicated in Figures 26, 27, 28 and 29 or with the chair m comprising a sole or
base and a vertical or inclined lug or flange substantially as indicated in Figures 30
to 33 of the accompanying drawings.
8. In combination with single headed rails the form of the chair p made in one

page_text: piece presenting a hole for the reception of the locking pin o and a notch for the
reception of the head of the said pin which is prevented from rising by an angular
guard plate having one of its flanges attached to the web of the rail by means of
bolts substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 34 to 39
sheet 5 of the accompanying drawings.
9. With reference to the construction of permanent way in which single headed
rails are employed the general arrangements and combinations of parts constituting
improved supports or combined chairs and sleepers substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
10. In connection with the construction of permanent way in which double headed
rails are employed the general arrangement and combinations of parts constituting
improved supports or combined chairs and sleepers substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.