IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Evan Leigh, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PERMANENT WAY OF
RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 12th July 1870, and dated the 13th January 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Evan Leigh at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th January 1870.
.
I, EVAN LEIGH, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PERMANENT
WAY OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
In order to make the permanent way of railways more durable and
at the same time more economical in the construction, instead of using
wood sleepers and metal chairs, as now generally adopted, I fix the rails
between two slabs of artificial or natural stone, but the former in
preference, moulded or carved at the top so as to fit the rails of the
ordinary section. These stone or concrete slabs may be made about six

page_text: inches wide and about ten inches deep of any convenient length for laying
longitudinally along the line.. I place each rail, if of the ordinary double
head form, between two of the artificial stone or concrete slabs as between
the jaws of a vice, then screw them up tight by means of bolts and nuts,
holes being left in the artificial or other stone about three feet apart to pass
the bolts through. I prefer to have these bolt holes countersunk to receive
the bolt head on one side and the nut on the other to be protected from the
weather, and so that the nuts can only be got at by a box key made for
the purpose. I also propose to place a strip of sheet lead between the rails
and the jaws of the stone or some other soft substance. For new lines
of railway or where new rails are being laid down I prefer a single
headed rail having a dovetail projection on the under side which is firmly
gripped by the stone jaws that both hold the rails down and join them
together instead of fish plates and bolts, care being taken that the
stones are made of such length in reference to the rails that no joints
come together. In screwing the slabs together the joints are also
broken, which makes it similar to a continuous block of stone for each
line of rails. If these blocks or slabs are buried in the earth for about
two-thirds of their depth no tie rods between the two lines will be
necessary. Where there is not sufficient ballast a-tic of artificial stone
may be placed about every twenty feet, so formed as to dovetail: in the
under side of the longitudinal slabs. -
Instead of fixing the rail between two slabs as described it may be
fixed on the top of a single slab by bolts or otherwise, and the slabs
be joined at the ends by cramps, or overlap or artificial stone frames may
be made to carry the two lines of rail, and these frames may be joined
together in convenient lengths.
For the above purpose I prefer that kind of artificial stone in the
manufacture of, which Portland cement is used. The proportion of
cement may be varied according to its strength, and the nature of the
aggregate. These stone slabs may be laid transversely for the double
headed form of rails and made to grip the rails at each end instead of
the timber sleepers, metal chairs, and fish plates now usually employed.
For this purpose I turn up the artificial stone sleeper at each end to
the form of the rail and then bolt a loose block to it to grip the rail. .

page_text: :
'
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Evan Leigh in Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th July 1870..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EVAN
LEIGH, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Evan Leigh, Her special license that I, the
said Evan Leigh, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Evan Leigh, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, 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 Evan Leigh, 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 per--
formed, 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 Evan Leigh, do hereby declaro
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 thereof, reference being had to the Figures
on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters of reference.
marked thereon,, that is to say -
In order to make the permanent way of railways more durable,, and.
at the same time more economical in the construction, instead of using
wood sleepers and metal chairs, as now generally adopted, I fix. the rails
between two slabs of artificial or natural stone, but the former in.
preference, moulded or carved at the top so as to fit the rails of any

page_text: ordinary section; thus, a, Figure 1, represents in section an ordinary
double-headed rail; b, b, the longitudinal sleepers screwed together by
the bolts and nuts c, c. The bolts may either pass through the rail as
shewn or immediately under it. I leave an indent in the stone as shewn
at d, to receive any suitable soft substance, such as wood, vulcanised
india-rubber, or lead to come between the rail and the stone. When
wood is used I prefer to place it endway of the grain, and when
vulcanised rubber or lead are used I make the indent smaller with the
stone conforming more to the shape of the rail as shewn at Fig. 3 I also
place the same soft substance under the rail as shewn at e. These stones
may be cast or moulded with projections at the bottom side, as seen at f,
so as to drain the line through the hole g, which is by preference formed
partly by the outer and partly from the inner stones as shewn. A
convenient size to make these stones is about four feet long with two
bolt holes in each stone, and about cight inches wide by about nine
inches deep, as shewn in Fig. 1 for ordinary double-headed rails, the
form being varied to suit single, double-headed, or any other form of rail,
as may be seen from Figs. 2, 3, and 4, which represent two different
forms of single-headed rail. It will be seen that in all these cases the
rails are held as in the jaws of a vice, when the bolts c, c, are screwed
up. I prefer to leave recesses in the stone or concrete slabs, as seen
at h, h, Fig. 1, for the bolt heads and nuts, to protect them from the
weather, and I place under the washers some soft substance such as
vulcanised rubber, wood, or leather. I also prefer to lay the stone
or concrete sleepers upon piles, as shewn at i, i, Fig. 1.
these piles fit in holes formed in the under side of the
In laying down these stones I first level and stamp down the earth; I
then take a wrought-iron plate, Fig. 6, of about the length and breadth
of the stones. This plate has suitable handles k, k, screwed in it, to
lift it by; it is formed on the under side the same shape as the stone
and has four holes with paps projecting about an inch high. These
holes are a little larger than the diameter of the piles which are driven
down through them and then sawn off level with the collars on the plate
which being lifted leaves the piles projecting about an inch from the
earth. The holes in the under side of the stone or concrete sleepers
being just the same depth receive the heads of the piles and rest on 'them
as well as on the stamped earth, which gives a uniform solid bearing all
over the line and renders the conditions the same throughout, any
required clasticity being obtained from the 'wood, india-rubber, or other
The heads of
stone at j;j.

page_text: packing used as shown. If these blocks or sleepers are buried some
distance in the earth it will scarcely ever be necessary to put tie rods.
Where, however, tie rods are needful they may be made from blocks
of the artificial stone laid transversely and dovetailed into the sleepers,
as seen at Figs. 4 and 10. They may also be made hollow to take away
the water and more thoroughly drain the line, or they may be iron rods
by an elongation of the bolts at intervals, as seen at n, Fig. 9. Fish
plates may be used if preferred in the ordinary manner, the stone sleepers
being left off for about eighteen inches where the fish plates come, as
shewn in Fig. 9, or fish plates may be placed at the rail joints between
the stones and rails instead of the wood packing.
For the above purposes I prefer that kind of artificial stone in which
Portland cement is used, the proportion being varied according to its
strength and the nature of the aggregate.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be
understood that I claim, the improvements in the construction of the
permanent way of railways as herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings or any modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Evan Leigh, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.