IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William John Cockburn-Muir, of Westminster,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
AND TRAMWAYS."
Sealed the 15th February 1870, and dated the 25th August 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William John Cockburn-
Muir at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 25th August 1869.
I, WILLIAM JOHN COCKBURN-MUIR, of Westminster, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PERMANENT WAY
OF RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of certain
parts or members of the permanent way or track of railways and
tramways whereby greater safety is secured in the use of metallic
sleepers or chairs by increasing their stability and their efficiency to
preserve the accuracy of the guage or distance between the rails fixed
in them.

page_text: The Invention consists in the first place of making the tie bar which
connects a pair of sleepers of a profile transversely, having on one or
other or both sides, or at the top or bottom of the vertical web, one or
more projections in the nature of a flanch, bead, or bulb, as shown by
these figures following 7779, the form
known as the T section of rolled bar iron being that which I prefer
as best fulfilling all the conditions of strength and of facility of fasten-
ing, as hereafter to be described; or alternatively of a profile transversely,
in which some portion of the tie bar shall be wider than some other
portion, as shown by these figures following ▼, which tie bars
may be of iron or steel, and of making the sleepers or chairs, whether
of malleable or cast iron or steel, with a socket or channel of the same
form or approximately of the same form in its internal transverse section
or profile as the tie bar to be used, so that the tie bar may slide freely
into or through the socket or channel with the least amount of play
practically attainable.
In the second place it consists of a mode of securing or fastening the
tie bars here described in the sleepers or chairs, so that they may have
no motion in their sockets by a key, pin, wedge, or spike driven
vertically through an opening in the top of the sleeper or chair into a
chamber of the same size and form approximately as the key, which
chamber forms part of the socket above described, and is a widening out
of the narrow part of the socket transversely to the width of the wider
part. On the other hand, the chamber may be a single groove in the
thickness of the metal which forms the side or wall of the socket.. To
the side of the key furthest removed from the tie bar a slight draft or
taper is given, and a corresponding draft or taper to the corresponding
inner side or wall of the chamber or groove extending nearly to the top
of the chamber or groove, the remainder of that side of the chamber or
groove to the top thereof being made vertical, so that the key in being
driven down shall be forced or bent slightly forward at or near the head,
and thus made to bind itself in its place. The key, pin, wedge, or spike
has a projection at the top on the side opposite to the chamber, by which
purchase can be obtained to draw it out when required. The key holds
the tie bar by passing through a notch, slot, or groove corresponding to
the transverse section or profile of the, key punched, slotted, or cut out
of the projecting member or members or wider portion or portions
already described of the tie bar, which notch, slot, or groove is brought

page_text: to coincide with the inside of the key chamber or groove before driving
the key. The key when driven forces the tie bar against the opposite
side of the socket or channel, so that the tie bar is retained in position
not only by the key, but also by the friction between its side and the
side of the socket. There may be only one key and key chamber, or
more than one may be used in each sleeper, and when only one is used
the notch or groove at one end of the tie bar is made on the side opposite
to that of the notch or groove at the other end, so that the tie bar may
fit any sleeper reversed.
In the third place it consists of the use of the key, pin, wedge, or
spike herein-before described driven into a key chamber or groove
forming an adjunct to the tie bar, socket, or channel with a tie bar of
plain or rectangular section or transverse profile, such as is commonly
used with metallic sleepers. In this case the tie bar is held in place,
and prevented from travelling in the socket or channel by the entrance
of the key into a groove, slot, or notch punched, slotted, or cut in the
thickness of the tie bar at the side thereof. The form or forms of tie
bar and key, pin, wedge, or spoke, with corresponding key chamber or
groove, with or without the corresponding socket, as described, separately
or in combination, may be applied to or used in combination with the
metallic sleeper or chair described in the Letters Patent granted to me,
and bearing date Seventeenth July One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-eight, and numbered 2252, or any other metallic sleeper or
chair.
5 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William John Cockburn-Muir in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 25th February 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JOHN COCKBURN-MUIR, of Westminster, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
33rd year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William John Cockburn-Muir, Her

page_text: special license that I, the said William John Cockburn-Muir, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William John Cockburn-Muir, my executors, administrators, or as-
Bigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at 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 CONSTRUCTION
OF THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William John Cockburn-Muir, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
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 Cockburn-Muir,
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, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say:
My said Invention relates to improvements in the construction of
certain parts or numbers of the permanent way or track of railways and
tramways whereby greater safety is secured in the use of metallic
sleepers or chairs by increasing their stability and their efficiency to
preserve the accuracy of the gauge or distance between the rails fixed in
them.
The Invention consists in the first place of making the tie bar which
connects a pair of sleepers of a profile transversely, having on one or
other or both sides, or at the top or bottom of the vertical web, one or
more projections in the nature of a flanch, bead, or bulb, as shown by these
figures following 77229 + the form known as the T
section of rolled bar iron being that which I prefer as best fulfilling all
the conditions of strength and of facility of fastening, as herein-after to
be described, or alternatively of a profile transversely in which some portion
of the tie bar shall be wider than some other portion, as shown by these
ficates following
which tie bars may be of iron or steel,

page_text: and of making the sleepers or chairs, whether of malleable or cast iron or
steel, with a socket or channel of the same form or approximately of the
same form in its internal transverse section or profile as the tie bar to
be used, so that the tie bar may slide freely into or through the socket or
channel with the least amount of play practicably attainable.
In the second place it consists of a mode of securing or fastening.
the tie bars herein-before described in the sleepers or chairs so that they
may have no motion in their sockets by a key, pin, wedge, or spike
driven vertically through an opening in the top of the sleeper or chair
into a chamber of the same size and form approximately as the key,
which chamber forms part of the socket above described and is a
widening out of the narrow part of the socket transversely to the width
of the widest part. On the other hand the chamber may be a simple.
groove in the thickness of the metal which forms the side or wall of the
socket. To the side of the key furtliest removed from the tie bar a
slight draft or taper is given, and a corresponding draft or taper to the
corresponding inner side or wall of the chamber or groove extending
nearly to the top of the chamber or groove, the remainder of that side of
the chamber or groove to the top thereof being made vertical so that the
key on being driven down shall be forced or bent slightly forward at or
near the head, and thus made to bind itself in its place. Still further
to ensure that the key shall retain its position when driven into its place
it may be made with a curve or bend, as herein-after more fully described,
so that it shall be straightened in the act of being driven into its place
its tendency to revert to its original form causing it to bind & press
more firmly against the surfaces between which it is driven. The key,
pin, wedge, or spike has a projection at the top on the side opposite to
the chamber, by which purchase can be obtained to draw it out when
required. The key holds the tio bar by passing through a notch, slot,
or groove corresponding to the transverse section or profile of the key
punched, slotted, or cut out of the projecting member or members or
widest portion or portions already described of the tie bar, which notch,
slot, or groove is brought to coincide with the inside of the key chamber
or groove before driving the key. The key when driven forces the tie
bar against the opposite side of the socket or channel, so that the tie bar
is retained in position not only by the key but also by the friction
between its side and the side of the socket. There may be only one key
and key chamber, or more than one may be used in each sleeper, and
when only one is used the notch or groove at one end of the tie bar is

page_text: made on the side opposite to that of the notch or groove at the other
end so that the tie bar may fit any sleeper reversed.
In the third place it consists of the use of the key, pin, wedge, or spike
herein-before described driven into a key chamber or groove forming an
adjunct to the tie bar, socket, or channel, with a tie bar of plain or
rectangular section or transverse profile such as is commonly used with
metallic sleepers. In this case the tie bar is held in place and prevented
from travelling in the socket or channel by the entrance of the key
into a groove, slot, or notch punched, slotted, or cut in the thickness
of the tie bar at the side thereof. The form or forms of tie bar and key,
pin, wedge, or spike, with corresponding key chamber or groove, with or
without the corresponding socket as herein-before described, may be used
separately or in combination with the metallic sleeper or chair described
in the Letters Patent granted to me and bearing date Seventeenth
July One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, and numbered 2252,
or with any other metallic sleeper or chair.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I have
appended hereunto as one example a Sheet of Drawings illustrating the
employment of a tie bar of section or profile held in a sleeper or chair
of the form specified under Letters Patent granted to me bearing date
the Seventeenth day of July Eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, and
numbered 2252, that is to say :-
On the appended Sheet of Drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse section
of a sleeper or chair showing the socket or channel formed in the sleeper
or chair to receive the tie bar, and the tie bar together with the key in
position therein; Figure 2 is a transverse section of the tie bar and channel
or socket; Figure 3 a transverse section, and Figure 4 a plan of the key
chamber showing the method or manner of securing the tie bar in the
socket or channel; and Figures 5 and 6 are respectively a side and front
elevation of the key, pin, wedge, or spike which is employed to secure
the tie bar in the said socket or channel. On the different Figures
corresponding parts are indicated by the same letters of reference.
The tie bar A shown in the Drawing (which tie bar is employed in
connecting two opposite sleepers or chairs together) is made of iron or
steel of T section, that being the form which I prefer as best fulfilling
all the required conditions of strength and of facility in fastening, and
it is held securely in the correspondingly shaped socket or channel B by
means of a key, pin, wedge, or spike D. The key, pin, wedge, or spike D

page_text: is driven down through an opening in the top of the sleeper or chair C
into a chamber E (more particularly seen at Figure 3), which chamber
is of dimensions and form corresponding to the key, pin, wedge, or
spike D, and it forms part of the socket or channel B and is a widening
out of the narrow part of the socket B transversely to the width of the
widest part, or the key chamber E may be a simple groove in the thick-
ness of the metal which forms the side or wall of the socket or channel B.
The side F of the chamber E furthest from the tie bar A is formed with
a draft or taper extending nearly to the top thereof, as shown particu-
larly at F in Figure 3, the remainder thereof being made vertical or
approximately so, and the key, pin, wedge, or spike D having also a
draft, as herein-before set forth and shown in the Drawing at Figures 3
and 5, before being driven into the chamber E is of a curved or bent form,
as shown at Figure 5, so that the key D on being driven down into the
chamber or groove E is to some extent straightened, thus binding itself
in its place, that is, between the faces of the tie bar and chamber or
groove. The key, pin, wedge, or spike D is formed with a projection a
at the top, as shown, by which hold or purchase is obtained to draw it
out of the chamber or groove E when required. The tie bar A has a
slot, notch, or groove punched, slotted, or cut out of the projecting
member or members or widest part or parts marked G in Figures 1 and 3
of the tie bar A, and which slot, notch, or groove corresponds to the
transverse section or profile of the key D, and is brought to coincide
with the key chamber E before the key D is driven in. The key when
driven forces the tie bar A against the opposite side of the channel or
socket B, so that the tie bar is not only retained in position by the
entrance of the key D into the notch, slot, or groove G of the tie bar A,
but also by the friction between its side and the side of the socket or
channel B. In lieu of employing one key for each sleeper or chair, as
shown on the appended Drawings, two or any other suitable number of
keys may be similarly used. When one key only is used, as shown,
the slot, notch, or groove at one end of the tie bar is made on the
opposite side to that of the slot, notch, or groove at the other end of the
tie bar, so that the tie bar may fit any sleeper or chair reversed. The
key, pin, wedge, or spike D herein-before described may be used in
conjunction with a tie bar of plain or rectangular section, such as is
commonly employed with metallic sleepers. In this case the tie bar is
held in position and likewise prevented from travelling in the socket or
channel (as in the preceding arrangement, wherein a tie bar of T section

page_text: is described) by the entrance of the key into a groove, slot, or notch
punched, slotted, or cut in the side of the said tie bar.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be used
or practically carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that
what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the In-
vention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
is, the combination of tie bar, socket, and one or more keys, pins, wedges,
or spikes, the socket forming part of a metallic sleeper or chair having
the said tie bar retained in the said socket by means of one or more
keys, pins, wedges, or spikes driven vertically or approximately so, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William John Cockburn-Muir,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of
February One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
W. J. COCKBURN MUIR. (L.S.)