IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING BETWEEN PARTS OF A TRAIN OF CARRIAGES ON A RAILWAY
Year: 1855

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Joseph Jesty at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th March 1855.
J, ROBERT JOSEPH JESTY, of the Great Northern Railway, King's Cross, in
the County of Middlesex, Station Master, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING BETWEEN PARTS
OF A TRAIN OF CARRIAGES ON A RAILWAY" to be as follows:
The Invention applies to cases where communication is obtained between
parts of a train of carriages, for the purpose of sounding a bell or other alarum
or indicator by means of, à cord, chain, or other suitable instrument; and I
would remark: that in the use of such apparatus considerable difficulty has
been experienced from the constantly varying length of a train in its progress
along a line of rails, the carriages being at, one time closer and at another
time more, distant from each other, whereby, the cord; or other instrument used
is found at one time to be hanging loose, and thereby subject to being caught

page_text: by any other object, and at another time so tight as to cause an indication
when none was desired.
And my improvements consist in the application of a weight to the cord,
chain, or other means of communication employed, which weight shall be
allowed range to take up the slack of the cord or other means of communi
cation, and let out the same as may be needed without effecting an indication.
And when it is desired to indicate between one part of the train and another,
the guard or other person in charge of one end of the cord or other means
of communication releases the cord, till the weight supported thereby, in
descending, comes in contact with a stop or other releasing means, by which
the signal is effected.
In starting a train, the guard or other person in charge of the apparatus, by
a suitable stop, places the weight midway to allow of sufficient range for
contraction and extension in the running of the train, and then having
arranged the cord or other connecting means accordingly, he releases the stop,
in order that the weight may be left free to act.
In some cases I apply longitudinally of each carriage a tube, to enclose a
length of wire or other rod, with a short length of chain at each end of such
rod, and a hook or other coupling means, so that when several carriages are
connected together to form a train, a communicating means may be obtained
by coupling their several parts together.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Joseph Jesty in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th September 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
JOSEPH JESTY, of the Great Northern Railway, King's Cross, in the County of
Middlesex, Station Master, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Joseph Jesty, Her special licence that I, the said Robert Joseph
Jesty, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Robert Joseph Jesty, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times

page_text: 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING BETWEEN PARTS OF A TRAIN OF CARRIAGES ON
A RAILWAY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert
Joseph Jesty, by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Joseph Jesty, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 thereof (that is to say):-.
The Invention applies to cases where communication is obtained between
parts of a train of carriages, for the purpose of sounding a bell or other
alarum or indicator by means of a cord, chain, or other suitable instrument;
and I would remark, that in the use of such apparatus considerable difficulty
has been experienced from the constantly varying length of a train in its
progress along a line of rails, the carriages being at one time closer and
at another time more distant from each other, whereby the cord or other
instrument used is found at one time to be hanging loose, and thereby subject
to being caught by any other object, and at another time so tight as to cause
an indication when none was desired.
And my improvements consist in the application of a weight to the cord,
chain, or other means of communication employed, which weight shall be
allowed range to take up the slack of the cord or other means of communi-
cation, and let out the same as may be needed without effecting an indication;
and when it is desired to indicate between one part of the train and another,
the guard or other person in charge of one end of the cord or other means
of communication releases the cord, till the weight supported thereby, in
descending, comes in contact with a stop or other releasing means, by which
the signal is effected.
In starting the train, the guard or other person in charge of the apparatus,
by a suitable stop, places the weight midway to allow of sufficient range for
contraction and extension in the running of the train, and then having arranged
the cord or other connecting means accordingly, he releases the stop, in order
that the weight may be left free to act.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a side view of a short train with my improvements applied;
Figures 2 and 3 show some of the parts separately on a larger scale. By the
arrangement'shewn, the alarum to which my improvements are applied consists
of a bell affixed to the engine A, and is capable of being acted upon by the
guard or other person travelling in the luggage van B; but the character of
the alarum used and its position upon the train may be varied, according to
the position of the person carried thereby, whose attention it may be desired
to excite, or of the person whose business it may be to put the apparatus in
motion. a is the bell, which is capable of being struck by a clapper set in
motion by a spring and apparatus enclosed in the box b; but as such alarums
are various and well known, and form no part of my Invention, I have not
thought it necessary further to describe the parts of it in detail. c is a lever,
which by being depressed will set the parts of the alarum free to sound; d is
a cord extending along the train, by which the guard or other person at. B sets
the parts in motion. This cord d, in place of being connected directly to the
lever c, as in arrangements heretofore adopted, is, according to my improve-
ments, connected at one end to the weight e in the tube e'; it thence passes
up over the pulley. f, under the pulley g, attached to the weight e, up again
over another pulley at f, down under another pulley at g, and up over another
larger pulley atf, by which, when the cord is kept distended, the weight e will
be supported so as to admit of a considerable variation in the length of the
cord, with but slight variation, in the position of the weight e in the tube e',
and thereby compensate for variations in the length of a train in motion.
The cord d thence passes down to guide pullies h, and it is also supported
by hooks or other suitable means at intervals along the carriages of the train
to the guard's van B, and at that end it is connected to the reel j. The lever c,
by depressing which the alarum or other signal apparatus used is set in
motion, is connected to a rod k, which at its upper end is connected to another
similar rod, which together support the plate l, which, when depressed by the
descent of the weight e, consequently sets the alarum in action.
In forming a train of carriages with my improvements applied, I either
employ a cord sufficiently long to extend from one end to the other; or I form
the cord in separate lengths, adapted to each carriage, and capable.by hooks or

page_text: other means of being connected together, so as to form: one continuous line;
and supposing the train to be complete, and the line connected, I first raise the
weight e, by pulling the cord d at a point of it near the engine, till it is in a
middle position, where, until the length of the cord is adjusted, I support it by
the stop m, shewn in position by dotted lines in Figure 3. I then pull the
cord tight by turning the windlass (by the handle n), upon which is affixed
the ratchet wheel n', the teeth of which are taken into by the stop o, by which
the windlass
ss will be prevented unwinding, and the cord d kept distended.
The stop m may now be removed, when the weight e will be sustained simply
by the cord d, and be free to act upon that cord to take up any slack, or to
effect a letting out thereof, thereby to compensate for any variation in the
length of the train produced by the contraction or extension of its parts. When
the guard or other person in charge desires to effect a signal to attract the
attention: of. the engine driver at A, he releases the stop o by the handle.o',
when the weight d will descend upon the plate l, and by means of the rods k,
act upon the lever c to sound the alarum. After an indication has been given
by the sounding of the alarum, it will be desired to reset the apparatus. In
order to this, it will only be necessary to lift the weight e by pulling the
cord d, as already explained, when springs p, p, will, by raising the rods k, k,
raise the lever c and the plate into position for again being acted upon by
the descent of the weight e.
In some cases I apply, longitudinally of each carriage, a tube to enclose a
length of wire or other rod, with a short length of chain at each end of such
rad, and a hook or other coupling means, so that when several carriages are
connected together to form a train, a communicating means may be obtained
by coupling their several parts together.
One great advantage of these improvements is, that in the event of any
carriage of a train furnished with the apparatus getting off the line (which is
the primary cause of the majority of railway accidents) from any cause, either
obstruction on the line, breaking of an axle, or otherwise, the severing of the
cord, wire, or other means of communication consequent thereon will release
the weight, which by its descent will cause the signal to be given to the driver,
even if the guard or other person in charge of the train be not at the instant
cognisant of the accident.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, I would have it
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein shewn and
described, as variations may be made therein without departing from the
peculiar character of my improvements; but what I do claim is, the arranging

page_text: and combining parts in connection with a weight for taking up the slack of
the cord, or to admit of a letting out thereof, or other medium of communi-
cation, and acting thereby upon parts to sound an alarum to indicate between
parts of a train of carriages on a railway, as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Joseph Jesty, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
WILLIAM BROOKES,
78, Chancery Lane, London,
Patent Agent.
ROBERT JOS. JESTY. (L.S.)