Appliances for Transporting and Working Guns on Railways.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Mar., 1890
Complete Specification Loft, 14th Apr., 1000 Accepted, 17th
th May 1800
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Appliances for Transporting and Working Guns on Railways.
I, THOMAS ENGLISH, of Hawley near Dartford, Kent, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to means of transporting guns along railways and working
them at certain places adapted for that purpose.
The gun, which preferably is of the disappearing kind, is mounted on a wheeled
carriage, but instead of the ordinary road wheels, I employ flanged wheels adapted
to the gauge of the railway.
1 provide a four wheeled truck also suited for the railway, and having a hook
that can be lowered by hand, so as to engage with the trail eye of the gun carriage,
and can thereupon be raised lifting the end of the trail and securing the truck to
the carriage, so that both can be run together along the line. At the place where
the gun is to be worked either on the main line or on a siding, I provide a strong and
heavy foundation plate having a pivot projecting up from it, and a circular path
formed between the rails to the same gauge.
I bring the axletree of the gun carriage directly over this pivot and engage on
the pivot a shoe which is rigidly attached to the trail brackets of the carriage. I
also provide outside the rails level circular plate segments on which the trail of the
carriage can slide.
The truck being detached from the carriage, the gun carriage can be traversed
round the pivot its wheels running on the circular path and its trails sliding over the
level plates.
Dated this 27th day of March 1890
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Appliances for Transporting and Working Guns on Railways.
I, THOMAS ENGLISH of Hawley, near Dartford, Kent, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My invention relates to means of transporting guns along railways and working
them at certain places adapted for that purpose.
The gun, preferably of a kind allowing it to recoil under cover or disappear on
firing is mounted on a wheeled carriage, but, instead of the ordinary road wheels, I
employ flanged wheels adapted to the gauge of the railway.
I provide a four wheeled truck also suited for the railway, and having a hook
that can be lowered by hand, so as to engage with the trail eye of the gun carriage,
and can thereupon be raised lifting the end of the trail and securing the truck to
the carriage, so that both can be run together along the line. At the place where
the gun is to be worked, either on the main line or on a siding, I provide a strong
and heavy foundation plate having a pivot projecting up from it and a circular path
formed between the rails to the same gauge. I bring the axletree of the gun carriage
directly over this pivot and engage on the pivot a shoe which is rigidly attached to
the trail brackets of the carriage.
I also provide, outside the rails, level circular plate segments on which the trail of
the carriage can slide. The truck being detached from the carriage, the gun carriage

page_text: can be traversed round the pivot its wheels running on the circular path and its trail
sliding over the level plates..
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a side view of a gun (in this case of the
disappearing kind) and its carriage (with one wheel removed) with truck according
to my invention.
Fig. 2 is a plan shewing the truck and foundation plate.
A is the truck having four flanged wheels adapted to the railway gauge, and in
its middle a hook B (preferably double so as to suit either hand) which can be raised
or lowered by means of a screw and hand wheel C.
The trail D of the gun carriage consists, as usual, of two sides which meet at the
rear where there is an eye E. The hook B being lowered, the truck A is run up
towards the gun, so that the hook comes under the eye E with which it engages on
screwing up the hook stem, thus raising the trail off the ground and coupling the
truck to the gun carriage.
The wheels W of the gun carriage being flanged to the railway gauge and traction
being applied to the truck, both can be run along the line to the point, either on the
line or on a siding, where the gun is to be worked. At this point is fixed in the
ground a strong and heavy foundation plate F, having in its centre a. pivot P, and
around its middle two raised circular faces or treads G on a level with. the rails and
of diameter equal to the gauge of the rails, with passage at g for the flanges.
Also, around the centre of the foundation plate a circular platform H is formed
consisting of segmental metal plates, on which the trail of the carriage can slide.
On the pivot P is fitted to revolve a shoo S, to which the carriage is rigidly attached
by ties L L'. The gun being brought into position and connected to the shoe S,
the centre of which is directly under the axle, the truck A can be uncoupled, and
then the gun can be traversed as desired round P as a centre.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
:―
1. For transporting a gun along a railway, the use of a four wheeled truck with
hook engaging the trail of the gun carriage, substantially as described.
2. For working a gun on a railway, the use of a foundation plate with pivot and
circular faces or treads for traversing the gun, substantially as described.
Dated this 14th day of April 1890.
ABEL & FMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.