IMPROVE- MENTS IN TRAMWAYS
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Thomas McNeale at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th November 1878.
HENRY THOMAS M'NEALE, of Paris, in the Republic of France. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TRAMWAYS."
This Invention relates to improved means or devices for securing the rails of
tramways to longitudinal wooden sleepers, and also for connecting together the
ends of the rails, whereby all liability to the loosening or displacement of the
fastenings is obviated.
In carrying out my Invention I connect the rails to the sleepers by means of
spike plates arranged at intervals at each side of the rail and sleeper, and provided
at the upper end with one or more knobs or spikes, which are inserted in a hole or
holes in the sides of the rail, and at the lower end with one or more spikes, knobs,
or points driven or inserted in the sleeper, in which holes may or may not be pre-
viously prepared, the two spike plates being connected together by screw bolts or
screws which pass through the spike plates and the sleeper, or being attached to the
sleeper by screws, nails, or spikes screwed or driven into the sleeper. The lower
spikes, knobs, or points of the spike plates may be made wedge shaped, or of any
convenient form, or, if desired, in some cases they may be dispensed with.
spike plates may be made of a square, triangular, quadrangular, pentagonal, or
other convenient shape, and either convex, concave, or flat towards the side of the
sleeper, and the fastening bolts may be formed in one piece with one of the spike
plates if desired.
The

page_text: The spike plates are applicable to any form of rail, as for example, to the ordinary
tram rails or to flat bottom rails, in which latter case the knobs or spikes may
overlap the foot of the rail.
The spike plates may be utilized after the manner of fish plates for connecting
together the abutting ends of two rails, the upper knobs or spikes being inserted
in either perforations or slots made in the ends of the two rails which are to be con-
nected together, and the lower knobs, spikes, or points being driven or inserted in
the sleeper in the manner herein before described. The spike plates when used at the
joints thus serve the double purpose of connecting the rails together and securing
them to the sleeper.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry Thomas McNeale in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th May 1879.
HENRY THOMAS MCNEALE, of Paris, in the Republic of France. " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TRAMWAYS."
My said Invention relates to improved means or devices for securing the rails of
tramways to longitudinal wooden sleepers, and also for connecting together the ends
of the rails, whereby all liability to the loosening or displacement of the fastenings
is obviated.
In carrying out my said Invention I connect the rails to the sleepers by means
of spike plates arranged at intervals at each side of the rail and sleeper; these spike
plates are provided at the upper end with one or more knobs, projections, or spikes
(which may be formed, if desired, by bending over the ends of the plates) inserted
in a hole or holes in the sides of the rail, and are provided at the lower end with
one or more spikes, knobs, or points driven or inserted in the sleeper, in which holes
may or may not be previously prepared, the two spike plates being connected
together by screw bolts or screws which pass through the spikes, plates, and the
sleeper. The spikes, knobs, points, or projections of the spike plates may be made
wedge shaped or of any convenient form, or, if desired, in some cases they may be
dispensed with at the lower end. The spike plates may be made of a square, tri-
angular, quadrangular, pentagonal, or other convenient shape, and either convex,
concave, or flat towards the side of the sleeper, and the fastening bolts may be formed
in one piece with one of the spike plates if desired.
The spike plates are applicable to any form of rail, as for example, to the ordinary
tram rails, or to what are known as " flat bottom rails," in which latter case the
knobs, or spikes, or ends bent over may overlap the foot of the rail.
The spike plates may be utilized after the manner of fish plates for connecting
together the abutting ends of two rails, the upper knobs or spikes or their equiva-
lents, as before mentioned, being inserted in either perforations or slots made in the
ends of the two rails which are to be connected together, and the lower knobs,
spikes, or points, or their equivalents, as before mentioned, being driven or inserted
in the sleeper in the manner herein-before described. The spike plates when used
at the joints thus serve the double purpose of connecting the rails together and
securing them to the sleeper.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to the several
Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating
corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings represent respectively transverse
vertical sections of an ordinary tramway rail secured to a longitudinal wooden
sleeper, according to different modifications of my said Invention; and Figures 3, 4,
5, and 6 are side elevations of the same, either of which may correspond either to
Figure 1 or to Figure 2; Figures 7 and 8 are transverse vertical sections, illus-
trating respectively the application of my said Invention to tramway rails of two
other forms; and Figures 9, 10, and 11 are side elevations, shewing the application
of my said Invention to the connecting together of the abutting ends of the rails.
A is the tramway rail supported upon the longitudinal wooden sleeper B, to which
it is secured by spike plates C, arranged at intervals at each side of the rail and
sleeper. These spike plates are provided at the upper end with one or more knobs
or spikes a inserted in a hole or holes in the sides of the rail A, as indicated in
Figures 1 to 7, and they may be also provided at the lower end with one or more
spikes, knobs, or points b, driven or inserted in the sleeper B, as shewn in all the
Figures, excepting Figures 5 and 7, in which the lower spikes, knobs, or points are
assumed to have been dispensed with. The two opposite spike plates C, constituting

page_text: a pair of plates, are also connected together by screw bolts or screws c,
through the spike plates and the sleeper.
which pass
The spike plates may be made of various forms, examples of which are indicated
either by full lines, or by full lines and dotted lines in the several Figures. The
form of the spikes, knobs, projections, or points may also be varied in the manner
shewn in the several Figures or otherwise, and the fastening bolts c may be formed
in one with one of the spike plates, as shewn in Figures 2 and 8. When the spike
plates are applied to what are known as " flat bottom rails," as illustrated in Figure 8,
the knobs or spikes a or bent extremities of the plates may overlap the foot fof the
rail, as shewn in that Figure.
Figures 9, 10, and 11 illustrate the application of my said Invention to the con-
necting together of the abutting ends of two rails, the spike plates being employed
after the manner of fish plates. The upper knobs or spikes a or their equivalents,
as before mentioned, are inserted either in perforations respectively made in the
ends of the two rails, as indicated in Figures 9 and 10, or in slots respectively made
in the ends of the two rails, as shewn in Figure 11, and the lower knobs, spikes, or
points or their equivalents, as before mentioned, are driven or inserted in the
sleeper, as hereinbefore described. The spike plates when used at the joints thus
serve the double purpose of connecting the rails together and securing them to the
sleeper, a filling piece of metal being introduced at the joints in the hollow beneath
the rail, as shewn at g in Figures 9, 10, and 11, and indicated by the dotted line at
g in Figure 1.
The longitudinal wooden sleepers may be supported upon chairs secured to
transverse sleepers, as is well understood.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, I
would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein before in part recited
Letters Patent is,―
First. The employment for securing the rails of tramways to longitudinal wooden
sleepers of spike plates, constructed, arranged, fastened together, and applied sub-
stantially in the manner herein-before described.
Secondly. Utilizing the spike plates both for connecting together the abutting
ends of two rails, and securing the said rails to the sleeper, substantially as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Thomas McNeale, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine