CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE OR STEAM CARRIAGES, AND ALSO IN THE MANNER OF CONSTRUCTING THE ROADS OR WAYS FOR THE SAME TO TRAVEL OVER
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSIAH
EASTON, of Heal Cottage, in the Parish of Braford, in the County of
Somerset, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Thirteenth day of October, One thousand eight hundred
and twenty-five, in the sixth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His
heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Josiah Easton,
His especial licence that I, the said Josiah Easton, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Josiah Easton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of fourteen
years, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE OR STEAM CARRIAGES, AND ALSO IN
THE MANNER OF CONSTRUCTING THE ROADS OR WAYS FOR THE SAME TO TRAVEL
OVER;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso: obliging me,.
the said Josiah Easton, 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

page_text: months next and immediately after the date 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
Josiah Easton, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in manner following, that is to say:-
My improvements in locomotive or steam carriages is for the purpose of
advancing such carriages along those parts of the roads or ways which ascend
with a slope or inclination from the horizontal plane; and the said improve-
ment consist in applying a toothed wheel at the front part of the locomotive or
steam carriage in such a position as that its teeth shall engage with and work
into the teeth of a toothed rack or rail of cast iron fixed upon a raised path
of stone laid along the central part of the road or way over which the
carriage is to travel. The said toothed wheel is connected by suitable wheel-
work with the wheels of the carriage, which may be turned round by the
crank pins and connecting rods of the steam cylinder or cylinders in the usual
manner; and the said toothed wheel will admit of that motion, so as to be
turned regularly round by the power of the engine, whilst its teeth are engaged
with the teeth of the fixed rack in the raised central part of the road or way,
whereby it will cause the carriage to advance and move forward up the ascent of
the road or way; and because the aid of a stationary rack is not required to cause
locomotive or steam carriages to advance along the horizontal or level part of
the roadway, but only up the ascending slopes thereof, I dispose the aforesaid
toothed wheel in such manner that it can be at pleasure disengaged from con-
tact with the teeth of the fixed rack, and for this purpose the bearings for the
axis of the said toothed wheel a è supported in a moveable frame, which is so
fitted at the front of the lower part of the carriage as to admit of raising up
the said axis and toothed wheel to a sufficient height to disengage and separato
its teeth from those of the fixed rack, or of lowering the same, so that the
teeth of the wheel shall act in those of the rack in order to advance the
carriage along the roadway. And my said improvement doth consist in the
aforesaid mode of applying a toothed wheel in the locomotive or steam carriage
to act in the teeth of a rack fixed along the centre of the road, in order to
insure the advance of the carriage over all such parts of the road or way as
are laid on a slope, or with an an ascent, but nevertheless applying the said
toothed wheel in the carriage in such manner that it can be raised up in
order to disengage its teeth from those of the fixed rack whenever it is not
requisite to resort to any other means of advancing the carriage than the ordi-

page_text: nary method of giving motion by the power of the steam engine to the wheels
upon which the carriage runs; and my improvements in the manner of con-
structing the roads or ways for locomotive or steam carriages, or other
carriages to travel over, consists in forming such roads or ways with blocks or
masses of stone suitably bedded upon a solid foundation, in the manner of
masonry, in order to form two parrallel paths at a proper distance asunder,
and sufficiently firm to sustain the wheels of the locomotive or steam carriages;
and broad flat bars of wrought iron are bedded upon the stonework and
fastned down thereto in the proper tracts for the wheels to run upon, but
without forming any projecting sides or flanges, either on the wheels or on the
bars, which can occasion dirt or snow to lodge and accumulate thereon, and
cause obstruction to the passage of the wheels. But to retain the wheels of the
carriage from quitting or deviating laterally from the said iron bars or tracks,
a range of blocks of stone is laid and fixed along the centre of the road or
way, so as to form an eminence in the middle between the two tracks for the
wheels of the carriages, and. small horizontal guide wheels or trucks are fitted
into blocks, which are so fixed beneath the bed of the carriage as that the cir-
cumferences of the said horizontal guide wheels shall apply laterally to the sides
of the central range of stone blocks at the upper parts, and on the opposite
sides thereof, in such manner as to prevent the carriage deviating sideways
from the proper track, and therefore the wheels of the carriage will be confined
to travel regularly along the iron bars which are provided for them. The
lateral friction occasioned by the ca riage will be very small, because the
guidance of the carriage sideways is effected by means of the aforesaid hori-
zontal guide wheels, which are disposed beneath the bed of the carriage, so as
to apply to and roll against the sides of the elevated range of stonework which
occupied the central part of the road or way; and locomotive or steam
carriages, or other carriages which are adapted to travel upon my improved
roads or ways, are also suitable to travel upon common roads or common
pavement, because the wheels a such carriages are cylindrical upon their edges
or circumferences. And when carriages are to be drawn along my said
improved roads or ways by horses, a road or towing path must be formed at
each side of the stone road or way in a suitable manner for horses to walk
upon; and the traces of the harness for the said horses must be attached to the
end of a pole projecting out sideways from the carriage to a proper distance for
the horse to draw fairly therefrom when walking along the said side towing path.
And for the more particular explanation of my said Invention, and of the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I have hereunto annexed a Drawing,
wherein Figure 1 represents a transverse or cross section of a double road or

page_text: way, constructed with blocks of stone covered with bars of iron, according to
my aforesaid improvement; and also shewing how a locomotive or steam
carriage, constructed according to my aforesaid improvement (or other car-
riage) will travel over the said roads or ways. A, A, are the cross sections of
the blocks of stone, which are laid in parallel lines to form the two paths for the
wheels G, G, of the carriages; and a, a, are the sections of the broad flat bars
of wrought iron which are fastened upon the stones A, A, in a proper manner for
the wheels to run upon. B is a cross section of the blocks of stone, which
are laid in a line along the centre of the road or way to form an elevated
ridge, against each side of which the horizontal guide wheels H, H, under the
bed of the carriage, apply, so as to prevent the carriage from departing side-
ways from the proper track, and to retain the carriage wheels G, G, upon the
iron bars a, a. The spaces or intervals between the stone blocks A, A, and B
are filled up with stonework C, C, which retains the blocks. B firmly in the
centre, and the surface of the stonework C, C, is inclined both ways from the
centre towards the outside, in order to carry off the water after rain, and also
to fasten the central stones B more securely in their places. To construct a
road or way according to this improvement, a foundation must first be made
with rough stone, or with gravel well consolidated, so as to form a firm and
nearly level surface b, b, rather wider than the intended road, and upon this
surface the stonework is to be laid. The blocks A, A, and B should be as
long as can be conveniently procured, and they must be carefully bedded and
supported under all their lengths on the level foundation, and well jointed, end
to end, to form continuous ranges or lines, and the joinings of the ends of the
stones should-be-laid upon block of stone, solidly-bedded in the foundation, so
as to form part of the surface b, b. The wrought-iron bars a, a, should be
made in as long lengths as can conveniently be procured, and must be fitted
to the stonework, as shown in the sections. The ends of the different lengths
should be bent and depressed in the manner represented in Fig. 2 at d, d,
so as to admit of a short piece e of the same sized bar to lay over the ends d, d,
and yet range level with the surface of the bars a, a. The short-picce c.is
fastened down by an iron bolt f, with its head countersunk therein, and its
shank passing down through or between the ends d, d, of the two bars into
the stone A. The depressed ends d, d, are let into the surface of that stone,
and an opening is cut sideways in tho thickness of the stone to receive the
nut g, by which the bolt is drawn down and the bars held fast upon the stone,
as shown in Figure 1; and other bolts with countersunk heads are applied in
a similar manner to confine the middle parts of the said bars a, a, and fastened
by nuts let into the stone sideways. D, D, D, D, are the horse paths or

page_text: towing paths formed at each side of each of the stone roads or ways. They are
made in the usual manner of towing paths, with gravel, and the surfaces are
laid so much lower than bars the a, a, upon which the wheels of the carriages
run, as to avoid the danger of stones or dirt being thrown up thereon by the
horse's feet. One of the roads or ways represented in the section, Figure 1,
has a common carriage upon it, whereof G, G, are two of its four wheels, and
E its axle bed. F, the body of the carriage; H, H, two of its four horizontal
guide wheels applying to the stone blocks B; and I, I, the blocks into which
those guide wheels are fitted, and which are fastened beneath the axle bed E.
The other road or way represented in section Figure 1 has a locomotive or
steam carriage upon it; and Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same, to shew
the manner of applying my improvement of a toothed wheel thereto, so as to
act in a rack fixed along the centre of the road or way, in order to ensure the
advance of the carriage when the roadway has a slope or ascent. h is the
said toothed rack, which is made of cast iron in suitable lengths, and bedded
upon the tops of the stone blocks B, B, and fastened down upon the same with
bolts applied in the same manner as before described. K is the toothed wheel
at the front part of the carriage, which acts in the teeth of the rack h when
it is required. N is the boiler of the locomotive engine, and S is its chimney.
G, G, are the wheels upon which the locomotive or steam carriage runs;
L, L, the connecting rods which act upon crank pins fixed in the wheels G, G,
and turn them round so as to cause the carriage to advance on the road or
way where the same is level. M, M, are the steam cylinders; m are the
piston rods; k, k, are toothed wheels fixed to the wheels G, G, at one side of
the carriage; and is an intermediate wheel turning loosely upon an axle,
and causing the fore and hind wheels to turn together, and keeping the piston
of the two cylinders M, M, to work both to one time. 0, 0, is another inter-
mediate wheel, which turns loosely on an axle, and communicates motion to a
wheel P, which is fixed on the extremity of axis Q of the wheel K. (which is
engaged with the teeth of the fixed rack h), so as to turn the wheel K round
with a suitable motion to advance the carriage at the same rate when ascend-
ing a slope as the wheels G, G, would advance the same if they did not slip at
all upon the bars a, a. R' is the moveable frame to support the bearings for
the axis Q of the wheels P and K. This frame is fitted so as to move about
the fixed axle of the intermediate wheel O as a centre of motion, in order that
that the parts of the frame R which support the bearings for the axis Q may
admit of being raised or lowered so much as is requisite to detach the teeth of
the wheel K from the teeth of the rack h, or to engage the said teeth with
each other. r is a handle projecting forwards from the frame R' to enable a

page_text: man to lift up or let down the same; and s is an upright link or rod which
is connected at is lower end with the frame R by a joint; and the upper
end is received through a socket v, which is fastened to the chimney S, and
projects out therefrom, and a pin can be put through suitable holes in the
socket 2, and in the link s, so as to confine the said link in the socket and
retain the frame R', either when it is raised by its handle r, so as to disengage
the wheel k from the rack h, or when the frame is put down so as to engage
the teeth of the wheel with those of the rack, in order to aid the action of
the wheels. G, G, to advance the carriage along a sloping or ascending road or
way, and to ensure that the carriage shall be duly advanced up the slope
without admitting of any slipping of the circumferences of those wheels upon
the bars a, a. The dimensions of the parts may be found by measuring the
Drawing according to the scale of feet thereon; but those dimensions, as well
as the form of the parts, may be varied at the discretion of the person who
shall execute the same, without departing from or altering the essential
properties of my improvements which I have herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Josiah Easton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of April, One thousand cight
hundred and twenty-six.
Inrolled the same Thirteenth day of April, in the year above written.