IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William John Jennings, of Little Bowden, in
the County of Northampton, Permanent Way Inspector, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 17th July 1868, and dated the 24th January 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William John Jennings
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th January 1868.
I, WILLIAM JOHN JENNINGS, of Little Bowden, in the County of
Northampton, Permanent Way Inspector, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF
RAILWAYS," to be as follows, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction and
methods of securing together the several parts of which the permanent
way of railways is composed, and consists, first, in a new chair or
chairs by which the rail is secured and maintained in position, and
consists in bringing both cheeks of the chair close up to the sides of
the rail, and making them fit accurately to it. My improved chair is
formed of two or more parts, the bottom or base being in all cases in

page_text: one piece. This is made with a groove into which the parts which
form the cheeks of the chair slide. The groove is made wider at the
bottom than at the top, or what is usually understood as dovetailed
shape, so that the sides incline inwards. The bottom of the casting
of which the cheek forms a part is made to fit into this groove, and
to extend under the rail, so that one part of the chair cannot be
withdrawn from the other except endways or in the direction of its
length. This inner part of the chair is kept in position by means of
a round screw bolt of the required dimensions. This bolt is bevelled
or made taper from the top to the required length downwards, so that
when screwed home it acts upon the casting so as to force the cheeks
of the chair close to the rail and secures them there. I also propose
to fit into the cheeks of the chairs a lining of wood where necessary,
so as to ensure the greatest adhesive power upon the rail. For ordinary
chairs only one sliding cheek is required, the other cheek being cast
in one piece with the base; but in applying the Invention to chairs
used in the construction of points and crossings I use two or more
sliding cheeks in the manner before described.
Secondly. My Invention relates to improved chair fastenings, and
is intended to supercede the present defective method of fixing railway
chairs to their bearings, and applies only to that description of permanent
way where the bearings are of wood, and consists in the application of
screw bolts of the required thickness and length to the above purpose.
The bolts have a deeply cut thread so as to increase the grip of the
fastening upon the wood. They are made to pass through the holes
in the chair, and are screwed tightly home into the bearing until the
head of the bolt forces the chair into as perfect contact with the wood
as possible. I use any required number of these bolts.
Thirdly. My Invention relates to a nut and bolt lock, and consists
of a piece of thin iron or other metal of any required dimensions. In
this piece of metal recesses are cut which fit into grooves formed by
reducing the thickness of the nuts or bolt heads round their edges to
the required. depth on the sides next the plate, casting, or other
substance against which they act. When the lock plate is fixed into
these grooves it clasps the sides of the nut or bolt heads, and by this
means two or more nuts or bolt heads are bound together, so as to
mutually check or lock each other, and are thus held fast. When
this lock is applied to single nuts or bolt heads, as in a fish chair, 'the

page_text: nut or bolt head is placed in a square recess, and the lock is made.
to fit the space between the grooves in the nut or bolt head and the
sides of the recess.
Fourthly. My Invention relates to. an improved method of fastening
fish plates in permanent way, and consists in tapping one of the fish
plates with a thread corresponding with that which is used for the bolts,
the holes in the other fish plate being left plain. The bolt is passed'
through the plain fish plate and the rail, and is screwed tightly into
the other fish plate by a spanner in the usual way. By this means
no mub is required, and when the above-described lock plate is used
the fish plates are held tightly in contact with the rails and cannot
work loose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William John Jennings in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd July 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JOHN JENNINGS, of Little Bowden, in the County of Northampton,
Perma ient Way Inspector, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William John Jennings, Her special
licence that I, the said William John Jennings, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William John
Jennings, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and 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 PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William John Jennings, 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

page_text: to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great sear
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William John Jennings, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, that is to say :-
The nature of my Invention consists in and relates to improvements
in the construction and methods of securing together the several parts
of which the permanent way of railways is composed, and consists,
firstly, in a peculiar kind of chair or chairs by which the rail is secured
and maintained in position, bringing both cheeks of the chair close
up to the sides of the rail and making them fit accurately to it. My
improved chair is formed of two or more parts, the bottom or base
being. in all cases in one piece. This is made with a groove into
which the parts which carried the moveable cheeks of the chair slide.
The bottom of the casting of which the cheek forms a part is made
to fit into this groove and to extend under the rail. This part of the
chair is kept in position by means of a round screw bolt or bolts of
the required dimensions. The bolt or bolts to be bevelled or made
conical from the top to the required length downwards in order to act
when screwed home upon the castings, so as to force the cheeks of
the chair close to the rail and secure them there. I also purpose to fit
into the cheeks of the chairs a lining of wood when necessary, so as to
insure the greatest adhesive power on the rail. For ordinary chairs
only one sliding cheek is required, the other cheek being cast in one
piece with the base; but in applying the Invention to chairs used in
the construction of points and crossings, I use two or more sliding cheeks
in the manner before described. I use either of two varieties of
construction of the screw bolt aforesaid, the conical head being common
to both, namely, Number 1, in which the shank is made in the form of
a wood screw of any required thread. In use it is screwed directly
into the bearing, and its holding power depends upon the grip of the
screw upon the timber. When extra strength is required I use bolt
Number 2, in which the shank is an iron screw, and this is screwed
into an iron cylinder tapped to receive it; this cylinder is made of any
length that may be found most convenient in practice. It is of greater
external diameter at one end than the other, and is tapped to receive

page_text: the screw bolt at the smaller end. The larger end is so made that it
cannot turn round in the bearing; this may be done by giving it an
oval or any other form that may answer the purpose. In use the
bearing is fast bored with an auger somewhat less than the cylinder in
diameter; into the hole thus made the cylinder is then driven from
the under side of the bearing, the small end first; the bearing is then
turned over and the chair fixed in its place by passing the screw bolt
through the holes in the castings into the cylinder, which is drawn
upwards as the screw tightens until the thick end is brought into
tight contact with the bottom of the bearing, when it becomes firmly
fixed, so as to admit of the screw bolt being tightened to the required
extent. I purpose to use this bolt (Number 2) as a fastening for flat
bottom rails when no chair is used, and the rail is fastened direct to
the bearing, for which purpose it possesses great advantages over the
fang bolt and other fastenings now in use for this purpose.
Secondly. My Invention relates to improved chair fastenings, and
is intended to supersede the present defective method of fixing railway
chairs to the bearings, and applies only to that description of permanent
way where the bearings are of wood, and consists in the application
of screw bolts of the required thickness and length to the above purpose.
The bolts have a deeply cut thread so as to increase the grip of the
fastening upon the wood. The heads of these screw bolts are made
conical, so that they may fill the chair holes without becoming iron
bound. They are made to pass through the holes in the chair, and
are screwed tightly home into the bearing until the head of the bolt
forces the chair into as perfect contact with the wood as possible. I
use any required number of these bolts.
Thirdly. My Invention relates to a nut and bolt lock, and consists
of a piece of thin iron or other metal of any required dimensions, in
which piece of metal recesses are cut that fit into grooves formed by
reducing the thickness of the nuts or bolt heads round their edges
to the required depth on the sides next the plate, casting, or other
substance against which they act, and this is what I claim as the
distinctive peculiarity of this part of my Invention. When the lock
plate is fixed into these grooves it clasps the sides of the nuts or bolt
heads, and by this means two or more nuts or bolt heads are bound
together, so as to mutually check or lock each other, and are thus
held fast. When this lock is applied to single nuts or bolt heads, as in

page_text: a fish chair, the nut or bolt head is placed in a square recess, and the
lock is made to fit the space between the grooves in the nut or bolt
head and the sides of the recess.
Fourthly. My Invention relates to an improved method of fastening
fish plates in permanent way, and consists in tapping one of the fish
plates with a thread corresponding with that which is used for the bolts,
the holes in the other fish plate being left plain. The bolt is then
passed through the plain fish plate and the rail, and is screwed tightly
into the other fish plate by a spanner in the usual way. By this means
no nut is required, and when the above-described lock plate is used the
fish plates are held tightly in contact with the rail and cannot work
loose. The fish bolt is to be made of such length that when screwed
home no part of its thread shall project beyond the surface of the
fish plate, but shall terminate inside the hole into which it is screwed.
The object of this is to prevent the thread rusting outside the plate,
which would make the bolt liable to break when being unscrewed.
The screw end of the bolt is also made of less diameter and conical
beyond the thread so as to make it pass easily into the hole in the
tapped fish plate. I may here state that I am aware that the tapping
of the fish plate has been proposed by other persons, but this appears
to have failed to recommend itself to use, possibly in the fear that
the bolt would break in the fish plate when required to be unscrewed;
by adopting the above described arrangements this defect will be
removed and the bolts easily applied.
In applying the said Invention to points and crossing chairs there
may be a necessity that both cheeks of the chair shall slide as often
as may be requisite, therefore in such cases this must be provided for.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, I now
proceed to describe in what manner the same is to be performed, for
the easier comprehension which I shall refer to the illustrative Drawings
accompanying this Specification as follows:-

page_text: against castings at a and b forces the moveable cheek (C) against the
rail (R), and thereby secures the rail.
Sheet 2, Figure 1, elevation of my improved fish joint; Figure 2,
transverse section of same. R, the rail; A, the bolts; B, B, the fish
plates; C, C, nut and bolt lock; Figure 3, section of chair fastening
which is also adapted to T-rails or when the rail is fastened direct to the
bearings it is intended to be used in cases when great holding power is
necessary. A, bolt (iron screws); B, bracket; S, sleeper; C, cylinder
tapped to receive screw bolt (A) and fixed into sleeper and provided with
head at d to prevent it from turning round; Fig. 4, cross section shewing
wood linings applied to the cheeks; Fig. 5, plan, full size. R, the rail;
W, the wood; C,.the chair.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be put into operation,
I hereby declare that I claim the Invention, the nature whereof is set
forth in and by the words preceding the words Description of the
Drawings, and the illustrative Drawings are thereafter described with
reference to such description, but I do not claim the constituent details
herein described taken per se and apart from the objects of my said
Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William John Jennings, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.