CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I THOMAS
ELLIOT HARRISON, of Whitburn, in the County of Durham, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His late most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of December, in the seventh year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said. Thomas Elliot Harrison, His especial licence, full power, sole privi-
lege and authority, that I, the said Thomas Elliot Harrison, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Elliot
Harrison, my 'executors, administrators, or 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 'the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also
in all His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Thomas Elliot Harrison, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and. immediately after the date

page_text: of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Elliot Harrison, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to that description of locomotive engines which are used
on railways, as will be hereafter fully described. According to the ordinary con-
struction of the locomotive engines now employed on railways the boiler and
engines are combined together, and form one machine, which is most generally
mounted on four wheels, but there have been some constructions of such
locomotive engines having six wheels, and are such as are described in the
Specification of a Patent granted to Robert Stephenson, the Seventh day of
October 1833. But according to all such modes of construction, in the event
of the boiler, the machinery, or wheels getting out of order and requiring
repairs, the engines, boilers, and indeed the whole combined machine is
obliged to be laid up and become useless till such part is repaired; and further
in order to get at the parts so requiring repair many joints and parts of the
locomotive engines have in most instances to be taken apart, and in some
cases the engine is obliged to be completely stripped, which causes very
considerable cost, and puts out of use many parts of the combination not
wanting repair. Now, according to my Invention, in case of any derange-
ment taking place in the engines and parts connected therewith, the
boiler and its carriage may at once be connected with another engine
carriage; and such is the case in respect to the boiler, should it or the
parts directly connected therewith get out of order and require repair the
engine carriage may have such boiler and its carriage disconnected and be
applied to another boiler carriage, hence much saving will be obtained in the
working of locomotive engines on railways, and fewer spare engines and boilers
be required. According to my Invention the boiler of a locomotive engine is
mounted on four or more wheels suitable for travelling on railways, and the
engine or engines are mounted or carried on a separate and suitable carriage,
and the various four or more wheeled carriages for the boilers, and the
carriages of the engines being capable of connection when they are to work
together, and there being some spare boiler carriages and spare engine
carriages on a line of railway in case of a boiler or its carriage getting out of
order, or in case of an engine carriage getting out of order it will not be

page_text: necessary as heretofore to lay up the boiler and engines, but the one or the
other will in most instances be capable of being used on being connected with
a fresh boiler carriage or engine carriage, as the case may be. I would,
however, here remark that I have been informed that some attempts have
been made to apply the boilers of locomotive carriages to be used on
common roads on two wheels, and capable of being separated from the engine
carriage, though I believe without success; I do not, therefore, elaim such an
necessary as heretofore to lay up the boiler and engines, but the one or the
other will in most instances be capable of being used on being connected with
a fresh boiler carriage or engine carriage, as the case may be. I would,
however, here remark that I have been informed that some attempts have
been made to apply the boilers of locomotive carriages to be used on
common roads on two wheels, and capable of being separated from the engine
carriage, though I believe without success; I do not, therefore, claim such an
arrangement.
I will now proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING,
Which represents a locomotive engine, combined and arranged according to
my improvements; and it will be seen that the boiler is mounted on a carriage
with six wheels, which is a very desirable number when the length of the
boiler is such as to require support to that extent, though under other circum-
stances four wheels may be employed. The construction of boiler shown in
the Drawing is of that kind which is very commonly employed on the various
railways now working, and is an arrangement of boiler well understood, and
consequently in itself forms no part of my Invention, nor do I confine myself
to the use of the precise form or construction of steam boilers shown, as it
will be evident that variations may be made. The supply pump to the boiler
may be worked by an excentric on the axis of one of the pairs of wheels, as
is shewn by dotted lines, or by any other convenient means. The two steam
engines or cylinders are affixed horizontally to their carriage, which according
to the arrangement shown is carried by four wheels, but I do not confine
myself to the use of that number. a is the main axis which turns in suitable
bearings, as is clearly shown in the Drawing. 6 is what may be called
the driving axle, for or on the axle 6 are affixed the driving wheels,
which run on the edge rails of the railway. On to the axle a is affixed
or keyed the wheel c, and the axle a being a cranked axle is driven
by means of connecting rods worked by the pistons of the steam engines
or cylinders, as will readily be understood on an examination of the Drawing,
and on the axle 6 is affixed the wheel d, the wheel c being at all times kept in
close contact with the wheel d, and by the friction of their surfaces produce
rotatory motion to the driving wheels, which work or move on the railway. In
consequence of the wheel c being of greater diameter than the wheel d, a
slower motion of the pistons of the steam engines will obtain the requisite
speed to the carriage, which is a very desirable object to be gained in the

page_text: '
working of locomotive carriages, particularly those which are required to
travel at high speeds. At the same time I would remark that it will be
evident that the driving wheels may be placed on a cranked shaft or axle, and
worked directly from the engine in like manner to that now in general use in
respect to the driving wheels of locomotive engines now used. The nature of
the framing of the carriage and the parts connected therewith being clearly
shown in the Drawing, no further description need here be given, as I do not
claim any of the parts separately, they being well known; and I have only
shewn so much of the parts as will enable me to point out the nature of my
Invention, which only relates to the separating and combining the parts of the
engine carriage and the boiler carriage into two carriages, as herein described.
Having thus directed attention to the arrangement of the parts of the two
separate carriages, I will proceed to describe an apparatus for conducting
the steam from the boiler to the engines, and from thence to the chimney.
This I have shown to be done by having two ball and socket joints, as shown
in section, and marked by the letters e and f on the plan, the one attached to
the boiler, the other to the engine machinery. To make these ball and socket
joints steam-tight they are packed after the usual mode of packing joints, such
packing shewn on the section, and marked g, being pressed against the ball by
the segments h, h, shewn in section, which segments are firmly pressed upon
the packing by screws acting upon them from the outside; it will be further
necessary to have between the ball and sockets joints described above a double
sliding stuffing box to allow for elongation. The above description refers to a
means of conducting the steam from the boiler to the cylinders, and a similar
arrangement will be necessary to conduct the exhausting steam from the
cylinders to the chimney. The tank for containing the water to supply the
boiler may be fixed upon the engine frame either as shewn by the dotted lines
or above the framing, and a connection formed between it and the feed pumps
by a hose, as is now done between the tender and pumps of the ordinary
engines. The fuel for the supply of the engine may be carried upon the
boiler frame.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that what I claim as
my Invention is the separating a locomotive engine for railways into two
carriages, one for the boiler and the other for the engines, each carriage having
four or more wheels, whereby, in case of derangement of the boiler carriage or
engine carriage, the other may be connected with a spare or other engine car-
riage or boiler carriage, as the case may be; great facility is thus offered for the

page_text: aking of repairs, or for replacing new boilers to the boiler carriages, and
y this means much saving of expence, will result in the working of locomotive
ngines on railways, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Elliot Harrison, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
THOMAS ELLIOT (L.s.) HARRISON.