Improved Method of and Appliances for Lighting Railway Trains by Electricity.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Dec., 1893-Accepted, 17th Feb., 1894
[Communicated from abroad by PASCUAL DE YSASI YSASMENDI, of
Bilbao, Spain.]
Improved Method of and Appliances for Lighting Railway Trains by
Electricity.
1 RIDLEY JAMES URQUHART of 57, Barton Arcade, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly.
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to the lighting of railway trains by electricity and consists
in an improved system of effecting such lighting and means for connecting the
conductors of the several carriages.
Several attempts have been made to effect the lighting of trains by means of
electricity without much practical success. The first of these consisted in driving
a dynamo from the axle of the engine or one of the carriages and conveying the
current to arc or incandescent lamps.
This
This system has the obvious defect that at each stoppage of the train, the light
in the carriages was extinguished, which was of course most objectionable and
dangerous when a stoppage occurred in a tunnel. In order to remedy this defect,
accumulators were then added which were charged with electricity when_the
train was in motion by means of a dynamo rotated as in the former case.
system has proved too complicated. Another method employed consisted in the
use of accumulators charged at special stations by means of stationary dynamos
and engines and transferred to receptacles arranged under the under-frames of the
carriages. Although this system is complicated and expensive, it nevertheless
effected some saving compared with oil lighting, though only a small one, and the
cost of maintaining the accumulators is considerable. The objects of this invention
are to simplify the plant required for electrically lighting trains and reduce the
cost of plant and working expenses to a minimum while retaining all the advantages
of this system.
These objects are attained by using some of the steam power the locomotive
always possesses in excess of its own requirements for driving a small steam
engine combined with a dynamo, and conducting the current generated by them
along the train and to the lamps in the compartments by means of wires provided
with special connecting or coupling devices between the several carriages.
As regards the generator, it is as stated composed of a steam engine which may
be a high speed reciprocating or rotary engine fixed upon the base plate of the
dynamo, the crank-shaft of which engine carries a spur wheel of somewhat large
size gearing with a pinion on the dynamo shaft, which at its outer end carries a
small flywheel for regulating the movement. The whole is on a cast iron base-
plate fixed at any convenient spot on the platform according to the arrangement.
of the locomotive. A steam pipe supplies the engine directly with steam from the
locomotive boiler and is provided with a stop valve or cock within reach and under
control of the driver.
The engine can thus work when the locomotive is stopping. The exhaust pipe
from the engine is connected to the condenser of the locomotive if there is one or
to the blast pipe. Preferably the engine is arranged with an expansion valve.
The dynamo and engine should be of a size somewhat more than sufficient to
supply the light for the average number of carriages composing the train. With

page_text: this arrangement a turn of the handle of the stop valve suffices to start the
lighting when required and to stop it, so that the train may be lighted temporarily
in its passage through tunnels.
The circuit may be arranged in any convenient manner but preferably the
connection of the wires is made in the manner hereinafter described, reference
being made to the drawing appended hereunto, on which
Fig. 1 represents a lantern with lamp,
Figs. 2 and 3 plan and side view of the ends of the connecting wires or
couplings,
Fig. 4 a sketch plan of part of the train,
Fig. 5 an end view of the contact box,
Fig. 6 a view of a cover for the same,
Fig. 7 a section of the contact box.
The connections or couplings between the carriages requiring to be sheltered
against the weather, which might interfere with the contacts or even short
circuit them, a box is arranged at the front end and back of each carriage, herein-
after called contact box. On the bottom a of each box are fixed two bent copper
springs 6 insulated from each other and connected respectively to the forward and
return lead in the carriage. The carriage end is cut out opposite each spring and
has copper blades c c attached to it each of which is connected to the opposite
spring by means of screw pivots or otherwise, so as to be in conductive connection
with the same. The blades c are each pierced by a rectangular slot c¹ formed
with a circular opening at the upper end.
The leads in each carriage at their exit therefrom are jointed insulated from
each other into a pliable cord e with protective cover and are connected to small
terminal rods d d, Figs. 2 and 3, fixed in a triangular frame 1, which slide with
friction in the rectangular slots c¹ and terminate in small copper spheres of the
same diameter approximately as the circular openings in the blades c. In order
to avoid the connection of the positive terminal sphere of one carriage with the
negative blade c of another the terminal sphere of the positive wire is made of a
different size from that of the negative wire, and the circular openings in the blades
are of different correspónding sizes. The spheres are pushed through the circular
openings and slide down behind the rectangular slots c', and are pressed strongly by
the springs 6 against the blades c.
b
A pivoted cover f may be arranged to close
the box and let the conducting wires e which as stated above are insulated from
each other and enclosed in a protective tube, pass out through a notch in the
bottom edge. Or, instead thereof a sloping hinged cover g, Figs. 6 and 7 may
be arranged to protect the blades, which can be readily turned up as shewn in
dotted lines. The terminal cord e comes out of the carriage at the right hand
lower corner of the box, the length of wire hanging down outside being about
half as long again as the distance between the ends of the carriages when coupled
in a train. Each end of the carriages is preferably provided with a contact box
and wires so that each carriage can be connected to the other at either end. The
circuit is thus doubly closed which is of advantage in assuring the connection even
if one of the contacts is defective, and the disadvantages of making the contact
between the hanging ends of the wires as is done at times are avoided.
The incandescent lamps are conveniently fixed with the reflectors used for oil
lamps to a wooden support closing the opening intended for these lamps. They
may be mounted in parallelism or in series according as it is intended to allow
the travellers themselves to light and extinguish the lamps or to effect this by
the guard.
The lamps of the locomotive can naturally also be converted into electric lamps
placed into the circuit, so that they are lit simultaneously with the others. In
case of accident through shocks, breakages, etc. a temporary connection may be
made by the use of auxiliary wires kept in reserve, as long as the engine continues
working.
The system of lighting hereinbefore described will be cheap compared with

page_text: others previously used and effect a considerable economy compared with lighting
by oil.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The lighting of railway trains by means of electricity generated by a single
dynamo combined with a steam engine receiving steam from the locomotive boiler.
2. The use of the electricity generated by a dynamo driven by a steam engine
supplied with steam from a locomotive boiler for lighting trains externally and
internally.
3. The construction or arrangement of contact boxes and terminals substantially
as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the drawings.
Dated this 8th day of December 1893.
R. J. URQUHART,
57, Barton Arcade, Manchester, and 5, Clayton Square, Liverpool,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent.