IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS, TRAMWAYS, AND IN VEHICLES TO BUN THEREON, PORTIONS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hugh Greaves, of 22, Abingdon Street, in the City
of Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS, TRAMWAYS, AND
IN VEHICLES TO BUN THEREON, PORTIONS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE
TO OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES."
Sealed the 31st January 1861, and dated the 1st December 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hugh Greaves at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st
December 1860.
I, HUGH GREAVES, of 22, Abingdon Street, in the City of Westminster,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS
TRAMWAYS, AND IN VEHICLES TO RUN THEREON, PORTIONS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," to be as follows:→
My improvements in railways and tramways have relation to that class of
railways and tramways suitable for the street traffic of towns as well as for
public roads, and consist in the combination of a flush rail of fixed guage with
a cellular or reticulated cast-iron tram plate for the purpose of accommodating
[P 821

page_text: the traffic of vehicles of varied guage of wheels, and thus combining the
advantages of the edge rail with those of the tramplate; and this I effect in
some cases by casting the edge rail and tramplate in one piece, and in others
by inserting a wrought iron or steel rail in a groove prepared to receive it
in the face of the tramplate and secured thereto by any suitable and convenient
means. I further combine with the before-named rail and tramplate when
desirable, one or more longitudinal sleepers of timber or metal which I attach
thereto by a clamp or clamps, and bolts and nuts. When I employ metal
sleepers I prefer them in the form of pipes, through which fluids or gases
may be conveyed, thus uniting strength and utility, and forming an unyield-
ing road. To insure the perfect bedding of the rail and plate I cause aper-
tures to be made at intervals in the length of the plate through which the
ballast or other suitable material may be introduced and distributed beneath
the plate without disturbing the paving on either side of it. I likewise employ
an edge rail of ordinary form, in combination with longitudinal sleepers of
timber secured thereto by clamps and bolts, the bolts passing beneath and not
through the rail. The junction of the iron rails I secure by thin metal fish
plates interposed between the sleepers and the rails, which are laid so as
to break joint. I some cases I employ timber sleepers of much greater depth
than the rail, and insert between them, beneath the rail, a metal or other pipe
which may be used for any desired purpose, at the same time giving great ver-
tical strength and stiffness to the rail. In employing pipes for this purpose,
or for the ordinary conveyance of fluids or gases, I unite them by means of
conical or cylindrical metal collars, which I heat and shrink on the ends of the
contiguous pipes, and where it is considered advisable to provide for the ex-
pansion of the pipes I introduce at intervals a partially yielding joint, which I
effect by interposing a collar of wood between the pipes and metal collar, in
which case the collars are made slightly taper for the purpose of tightening
them when driven the one upon the other; in such cases the heating and shrink-
ing of the metal collar is dispensed with.
My improvements in vehicles to run on the before-named railways and
tramways consist in applying, in addition to the ordinary wheels, two or more
guides of suitable form, mounted in suitable frames and so attached to the
body of the vehicle that by simply depressing or raising them the vehicle
may be at pleasure confined to and guided by the rail of fixed gunge, or may
be at liberty to leave the track for the purpose of passing other vehicles or
otherwise, which arrangement admits of such vehicles being employed for the
double purpose of rail and road traffic when desired. To the fore part of the

page_text: vehicle I attach bars or scrapers to remove any stones or other obstructions
which may accidentally be thrown into the guiding groove of the guage rail,
and which if not removed would cause inconvenience to the traffic.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Hugh Greaves, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st
June 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HUGH
GREAVES, of 22, Abingdon Street, in the City of Westminster, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the
year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Hugh Greaves, Her special licence that I, the said Hugh Greaves,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I; the said Hugh
Greaves, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUC-
TION OF RAILWAYS, TRAMWAYS, AND IN VEHICLES TO RUN THEREON, PORTIONS Or
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Hugh Greaves, 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 Invention, 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 calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Hugh Greaves do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
My improvements in railways and tramways have relation to that class of
railways and tramways suitable for the street traffic of towns, as well as for

page_text: public roads, and consists in the combination of a flush rail of fixed guage with
a cellular or reticulated cast-iron tramplate, for the purpose of accommodating
the traffic of vehicles of varied guage of wheels, and thus combining the
advantages of the edge rail with those of the tramplate, and this I effect in
some cases by casting the edge rail and tramplate in one piece, and in others
by inserting a wrought iron or steel rail in a groove prepared to receive it
on the face of the tramplate, and secured thereto by any suitable
means. I further combine with the before-named rail and tramplate, when
desirable, one or more longitudinal sleepers of timber or metal, which I attach
thereto by a clamp or clamps, and bolts and nuts. When I employ metal
sleepers, I prefer them in the form of pipes, through which fluids or gases
may be conveyed, thus uniting strength and utility, and forming an unyield-
ing road. To insure the perfect bedding of the rail and plate I cause aper-
tures to be made at intervals in the length of the plate through which the
ballast or other suitable material may be introduced and distributed beneath
the plate without disturbing the paving on either side of it. I likewise employ
an edge rail of ordinary form in combination with longitudinal sleepers of
timber secured thereto by clamps and bolts, the bolts passing beneath and not
through the rail. The junction of the iron rails I secure by thin metal fish
plates interposed between the sleepers and the rails, which are so laid as
to break joint. In some cases I employ timber sleepers of much greater depth
than the rail, and insert between them beneath the rail a metal or other pipe,
which may be used for any desired purpose at the same time giving great ver-
tical strength and stiffness to the rail. In employing pipes for this purpose,
or for the ordinary conveyance of fluids or gases, I unite them by means of
conical or cylindrical metal collars, which I heat and shrink on the ends of the
contiguous pipes, and where it is considered advisable to provide for the ex-
pansion of the pipes I introduce at intervals a partially yielding joint, which I
effect by interposing a collar of wood between the pipes and the metal collar, in
which case the collars are made slightly taper for the purpose of tightening
them when driven the one upon the other, in such cases the healing and shrink-
ing of the metal collar is dispensed with.
My improvements in vehicles to run on the before named railways and
tramways, consist in applying, in addition to the ordinary wheels, two or more
guides of suitable form mounted in suitable frames and so attached to the
body of the vehicle that by simply depressing or raising them, the vehicle
may be at pleasure confined to and guided by the rail of fixed guage, or may
be at liberty to leave the track for the purpose of passing other vehicles or

page_text: and which II not removed, win cause inconvenience to the want.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood, I have here-
unto annexed a Sheet of Drawings, in which the same letters of reference
apply to similar or corresponding parts in the several Figures.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figures 1 and 2 show a section and surface plan of a combined rail and
tramplate cast in one piece, the length being such as convenience may suggest.
A is the rail on which the carriage wheel B runs; C is a tramplate having
flanges or ribs cast on the under side to strengthen it; D is a groove prepared
on the surface of the plate to receive the lip or flange of the carriage wheel;
E are hollows or recesses on the surface of the plate to give foot hold to
horses when crossing or otherwise moving over it, they may be arranged at
right angles to the line of rail, as in Figures 2 & 3, or obliquely to it, as in
Figure 4, I prefer to space them so that those on one side of the rail alternate
with those on the other side for the reason herein-after mentioned; F is an
aperture cast or otherwise formed at convenient intervals in the length of the
plate through which I introduce the ballast or bedding material, which may be
readily distributed beneath the surface of the plate by a bar or other convenient
instrument by which the plate may be securely packed without disturbing the
paving or other road material on either side of it; G are wood sleepers
running longitudinally beneath the plate and breaking joint with it, they are
secured firmly to the plate by a transverse bolt and nut II, with clamps or
washer plates 1; K are thin plates of iron about 12 ins. in length inserted
under the abutting joints of the tramplate to prevent indentation in the wood
sleepers at those places. By this form of rail a large bearing surface, and a
firm hold of the ground is obtained.
Figure 5 is a section of a similar tramplate, with a rail A of wrought iron or
steel inserted in a groove prepared on the surface of the tramplate to receive it.
It may be conveniently fixed to the plate by making the lower part of the groove
dovetailing, or otherwise enlarged, and the rail to correspond, the rail being
secured in its place by keys L inserted at convenient intervals.
Figure 6 shews another move of combining a separate edge rail with a
tramplate, and which may be arranged for a rail of any desired form.

page_text: Figure 7 shews a tramplate with a tubular metal slecper G, when required
to be used for the conveyance of fluids or gases; Figs. 8 and 9 shew the
junctions of the sleepers, that shewn in Figure 8 being simply a cylindrical
wrought-iron collar M, heated and shrunk on, and that in Fig. 9 being
conical, with a corresponding conical wood collar N interposed between the
tube and metal collar; this arrangement will permit of a slight or partial
yielding of the joint without derangement or leakage. In this case the collars
being conical will tighten themselves by driving the one upon the other
without the necessity for heating them. Pipes with joints of the construction
herein shewn may be employed for the ordinary conveyance of fluids and gases.
Strengthening ribs may be cast on the under side of the tubular sleepers when
desired for very heavy traffic, and may be fished at the junctions, as described
in my Patent dated March the Fifth, 1857. When I do not employ the
tubular sleepers for the conveyance of fluids or gases, I make use of them as
receptacles or drains for the dirt and water which may be collected by the
groove D; and I provide openings or slots O at convenient intervals, as shewn
by dotted lines in Figure 7, through which the dirt or water passes into the
tube G, from which it may be conveyed to a series of traps or receptacles
inserted under the line of rail at suitable intervals, from which these accumu-
lations may be periodically removed. It may sometimes be convenient to
adopt an economical form of rail, as shown in Figure 10, where A is the
edge rail inserted between two wood sleepers G, which are conveniently
confined to the rail by bolts & nuts II and clamps I beneath the lower edge
of the rail. When desired tubes or pipes may be combined with such a rail
as shewn in Figure 11, which from its increased depth will constitute a very
strong structure.
In cases where it is not desired to employ a tramway of a width sufficient
to accommodate wheels of various width of guage, a simple grooved tram-
plate may be used on a tubular or other sleeper, as shewn in Figures 12, 13, 14.
In Figure 14 I employ two thicknesses of timber, as shewn, which I so
combine by dowelling with a cast or wrought iron tram rail that the junctions
of the wood and iron shall break joint, by which means I obtain the strongest
possible form of rail.
Figure 15 is another form of tramplate or rail, which may be rolled in
the form shewn by the dotted lines, and closed up by passing them through
rollers, causing it to assume the form shewn. These rails may be seated
upon and combined with wood or metal sleepers, and united at the abutting
joints by a fish plate P, inserted into the end of one rail, to which it is

page_text: rivetted, and forming a projecting tenon, which enters the end of the
contiguous rail, to which it may also be rivetted before being placed upon the
sleeper. In all cases it would be desirable to preserve the guage of the rails
by cross sleepers or retaining bolts.
Figures 16 & 17 shew a mode of constructing the ordinary or bearing
wheels of the carriage or vehicle to run upon the before-described rails, so as
to prevent or deaden as much as possible the noise consequent upon the
contact of metal wheels and rails. R is the body of the wheel; S, the tyre
bolted or rivetted thereto; and T a wood lining, interposed between the rim
and the tyre, having been previously compressed and creosoted (or otherwise
preserved from decay). If the rim of the wheel be made slightly bevilling,
the swelling of the wood lining will prevent its dislodgement by the ordinary
wear and tear. In cases where it is required that carriages or vehicles shall
be at liberty to enter upon or leave the track for the purpose of passing other
vehicles or of adapting themselves to the ordinary road or rail at pleasure,
I employ a wheel, as shewn in Figures 18 and 19, which consists of two
separate bodies without a flange or lip, and so keyed or otherwise confined on
the axle that a space is left between them forming a groove between the
rims. Each of the rims bear upon a portion of the tramplate on either side
of the groove D, and by the arrangement of the recesses E, as shewn in
Figures 3 and 4, the one or the other of the rims bear upon the raised
portion of the plate, and thus a continuous bearing is virtually provided for
the wheels. V is a guide formed as shewn, being a disc or wheel having a
central lip or flange W, which protrudes through the groove between the
bearing wheels, and forms a continuous flange or lip to them. The rim of
the disc or guide wheel takes a bearing on the interior surface of the rims of
the bearing wheels, and on which it revolves by its contact therewith. X is a
frame, through which the main axle of the carriage is passed; it is extended
at one end to receive the pivots or axle of the guide wheel V, and at the other
end is formed as a lever, and connected with a rod or other suitable con-
trivance, so as to enable the conductor of the vehicle to raise or depress the
guide wheels, as may be required. In some cases I simply allow the guide
wheels to rise and fall without any mechanical appliance, the pivots being
guided vertically by slots in the frame X, as shewn by dotted lines at 2,
Figure 20, which also shews the application of a revolving brush Y, or a bar
or scraper Z, to clear away any obstruction which may accidentally occur in
the groove of the tramplate, and where the brush is employed it may be made
to revolve by means of a band worked from a pulley on the main axle to a

page_text: pulley on the axle of the brush, a directing board or plato y being placed
obliquely to the line of motion, so as to project any matter thrown against it
clear of the rail.
Having now described the several parts of my Invention, and the nature of
my improvements, I would have it understood that slight modifications of
detail may be found necessary in applying the same to practical use, and that
I do not therefore confine myself to the precise forms herein described so long
as the main features of my Invention are retained; but that I claim the
several arrangements herein described subject to such modifications.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hugh Greaves, hava hereunto set my
hand and seal, this
in the year of our
day
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
AMBT. H. RENTON,
12, Buckingham Street, Adelphi.
II. GREAVES. (L.S.)