AN IMPROVED MODE OF CONSTRUCTING WHEEL CARRIAGES TO BE USED UPON RAILROADS OR FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
SHAW BRANDRETH, of Liverpool, Esquire, Barrister-at-Law, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at His
Palace at Westminster, the Eighth day of November, in the sixth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Shaw Brandreth, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Thomas Shaw
Brandreth, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Shaw Brandreth, my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF CONSTRUCTING WHEEL CARRIAGES TO
BE USED UPON RAILROADS OR FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Thomas
Shaw Brandreth, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
annear

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Shaw Brandreth, in pursuance
of the said proviso, do hereby declare that my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, are contained in the following description, that is to
say:
The bind wheels of my carriage are fixed to a revolving axle in the usual
manner adopted upon railroads; above and upon this axle I place two friction
sheaves, one at each end close to the wheels, both likewise fixed to a single
revolving axle. I make the sheaves with flat faces, say from two to three inches
broad and from one half to two thirds of the diameter of the wheels. They run
upon the axle of the wheels between the nave and an inside collar, as in a
perpetual tram road. The axle of the wheels is kept square in its place under
the sheaves by cast iron stays which prevent it from moving backwards or
forwards, and take the friction in that direction. It is material that they
should not touch or rub in any other direction. I form the stays upon the
principle and in the shape of an inverted roof with rafters, tie beam, and king
post, the latter I make double to contain in the middle the axles both of the
sheaves and of the wheels. I usually place them immediately within the
sheaves, though sometimes I put them next to the wheels and the sheaves
inside. The tie beams of the stays form the main supporting beams of the
carriage, and are each of them fastened by four flanches to four wooden cross
pieces. Sometimes I connect the vertices which are immediately below the
axles with rods like ridge pieces. To steady the stays and strengthen the
carriage I cast the stays with a feather section,say three inches bytwo and three
eighths thick. The strength, however, will depend upon the weight intended
to be carried. The front wheels are constructed in nearly a similar manner,
except that instead of two friction sheaves I use only one, say from three to
five inches broad, and place it upon the middle of the axle of the wheels
where it runs between two collars. The object is to allow the wheels to yield
to the inequalities of the road. For this purpose I provide a vertical slit or
opening in the double king post of the stays in which the axle of the wheels is
allowed to play up and down, say an inch each way, but bridges or checks are
provided above and below to prevent it from moving too far. Sometimes I
slightly round or swell the face of the sheave to prevent it from running upon
an edge. Sometimes I make the face of the sheave flat and set the axle loose
in the nave. The sheaves are cast of iron in iron cases or moulds, which give
great smoothness, hardness, and truth to their faces. It may be mentioned
that it has been found necessary to adopt a known method of putting small
pieces of wrought iron in the nave of the larger sheave to prevent it from
bursting in casting, which are afterwards knocked out, and the nave is then

page_text: hooped. I make the bushes, in which I enclose the journals or gudgeons of
the axles of the sheaves, in the shape of small cylinders of brass or soft cast
iron, about half an inch thick and four or five inches long, and place collars on
the axle at each end. The stays rest freely upon these bushes, the double
king post being joined by another bridge, and as they are only three inches
broad they play upon them for an inch or two from side to side above this
bridge. I make the sides of the double king post to diverge parallel to the
rafters to support the two middle cross pieces. The bushes above described
produce various advantages, they prevent the axle from setting; in case of
any spring or strain they divide the circular and lateral friction, the former
taking place in the inside and the latter on the outside. They increase the
length of bearings and strengthen the journals. They turn round occasionally,
and present a new part to the wear, and they keep the oil in and the dirt out.
The above-described parts are common to all railroad carriages, and may be
applied with much advantage to the locomotive engine where economy is an
object. My contrivance allows the wheels to be made smaller and lighter
than usual, soas at least to compensate for the additional weight of the sheaves.
The single sheaves, by keeping all the wheels in equal bearing upon the rails,
allows the carriages to take a much heavier load and gives great smoothness
of motion. The proportion of the parts will depend upon the strength and
width of the rails, but in all cases the front axles must be made considerably
stronger than the hind; for instance, to carry four tons on a railroad five feet
wide the hind axles need only be three inches and two and a quarter, but the
front axles must each of them be an inch thicker. I usually make the
carriage part a mere frame or platform on which I place bales, bags, casks, or
boxes of merchandize; but for the convenience of discharging coals, corn, and
other similar goods into ships, boats, carts, or depots placed under the rails,
I form the waggons of two equal boxes, open to each other in the middle.
I join the tops together by hinges and the bottoms by bolts and shackles or
other contrivance. Each box is entirely above its own pair of wheels and
extends beyond them on each side. When the bolts are removed the wheels
recede from each other, and the waggon opens in the middle to discharge its
load. To prevent opening too far I provide chains or jointed rods on each
side which should be about equal in leugth to the height of the boxes. The
ends are made to overbalance a little in order to assist in keeping the bottom
close when full, and also to facilitate the shutting again when empty, which is
effected by lifting the chains or rods with the hand. A rope or chain fixed to
the front box, by taking a bight with two turns round the hind axle, and
drawing the carriage along the road, affords a neat and simple mechanical

page_text: power for the same purpose. Another method is, to give the carriage a little
motion along the road, and then suddenly to set down the brake, when the
parts run together of themselves. The accompanying Figures, which are
drawn upon a scale of four feet to an inch, and to which I refer, will continue
to render the description more clear.
My improved mode of constructing wheel carriages consists, then, in the
above described strongand simple mode ofemploying frictionsheaves, of which
the stays or something equivalent are an essential, and the bushes a useful
part; the method of constructing the body, though new, I do not claim as
included in my Patent. My Invention is also applicable to tramroads and
other similar roads, though less beneficially than to railroads.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Shaw Brandreth, have hereto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.