IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYB
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James M°Farlane and George
Barker at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 27th November 1867.
We, JAMES MCFARLANE, of 47, North Albion Street, Glasgow, and
GEORGE BARKER, of 218, St. George's Road, Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYB," to be as follows:-
In constructing the permanent way of railways according to this Invention
we cast longitudinal sleepers or bearing plates in one piece with a rail, the
upper or wearing surface of which is "chilled" to produce a good wearing
surface. We prefer to make the cast sleeper or bearer of an arched form or
hollow on its under side, so that it may rest on the ballast without shifting,
and to form along the centre of its upper surface a vertical web or rib, having
a head upon it which is to form the rail, the upper surface of the head being
chilled to produce a good wearing surface. The vertical web or rib is
strengthened by flanges which connect it with the top of the sleeper or
bearer.
In order to connect together such combined rails and sleepers end to end,
a piece of T or other iron may be employed, the T-iron being placed on the
under side of the sleepers so as to overlap their ends, and being affixed
thereto by bolts. Lugs or flanges may also be cast on the under side of the
sleepers or bearers to hold the fish plates from moving laterally. The rails
may be kept to gauge by wrought-iron tie bars at intervals, the tie bars being

page_text: passed through slots in the web of the rail, and fixed with gibs and cotters, or
the tie bars may be made with return ends, and suitable openings be formed
in the rails to receive the same, and so keep the rails to gauge, or the tie bars
might be otherwise connected to the rails; or the ends of the rails may be
connected together by tapered iron fish plates of a dovetail section which are
driven between corresponding dovetail projections on the web at the ends of
the rails; these side fish plates may either be used separately or together
with the bottom fish plate, or the ends of the rails may be connected together
by side flanges cast at both ends of the rails, holes being formed through each
end flange so that bolts may be passed through the end flanges. The rails
may be so cast that when the ends of two rails are brought together the end
flanges may be a short distance apart from one another, so that wood packing
may be placed between them, and the end flanges are then drawn together by
screw bolts so as to nip the wood packing tightly between them, or the
common fish joint may be employed for connecting together the ends of the
rails,
Gutter holes may be formed in the arched sleeper at convenient intervals
for draining the ballast so as not to interfere with the continuous bearing of
the rail on the ballast. When laying a line of rails with sleepers and rails
cast together, as above described, they may be laid so that the joints do not
come opposite one another as they must by the present system. In place of
a sleeper and rail being both of cast iron, as above described, the rail only
may be of cast iron, having the wearing surface "chilled," as before described.
Plates of wrought iron may be bolted to opposite sides of such chill cast rails
so as to form longitudinal bearing plates or sleepers to rest on the ballast, or
other means might be adopted for supporting a cast rail having its wearing
surface chilled. The lines of rails of rail or tramways laid along streets may
similarly be constructed of rails of cast iron with the wearing surface chilled,
as above described.