Improved Railway Vans for Passengers' Luggage, for Letters and Parcels, and for Luggage and Goods in General intended to pass over Sea and afterwards over Railway.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Mar., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 7th Apr., 1887.
Improved Railway Vans for Passengers' Luggage, for Letters and
Parcels, and for Luggage and Goods in General intended to pass
over Sea and afterwards over Railway.
.
I, ROBERT GRAY B.A. of Frodingham Vicarage, County of Lincoln, Clerk in Holy
Orders of the Church as by Law Established in England, do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for CERTAIN NEW & USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY VANS and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being made to the accompanying drawing
in which:
Figure 1, is a side elevation of a Railway Van & Truck embodying my invention.
Figure 2, shows the Van separate, detached and raised from the Truck.
Figure 3, shows the Truck left separate on the rails and detached from the Van.
The first part of my invention relates to Railway Vans made separate & constructed
in such a manner that they shall be capable of being detached and separated from the
Trucks to which they have been hitherto attached, or have formed part, that in the
case of passengers' luggage, of letters, of parcels, and of all packages and goods that
have to pass over sea & afterwards over railway and then, perhaps, again over sea, this
luggage and these letters, parcels &c., may be packed in these Vans, separate &
detached from their Trucks & brought on board ship, so that e.g., we will say, on a
vessel arriving from Liverpool or, other English port at a Canadian port, instead of
cach package having to pass through porters' hands, involving much loss of time &
the employment ef extra men, the Vans, with all the luggage undisturbed, would be
raised by windlass or crane & transferred from the vessel to their trucks awaiting
their arrival at the railway wharf on the Atlantic side, this supposes the rails to be laid
to the water's edge, and so again, in the same manner transferred from railway on
board ship on the Pacific side, if intended for China or India, Australia or New Zealand,
where they, after their contents were discharged, would be refilled for the return
journey.
The second part of my invention relates to the Trucks made with high front &
high back and low sides in such a manner that the Vans shall fit in so as to do away,
as far as possible, with the necessity of employing bolts or other fastenings, the inten-
tion being that everything may be done with the utmost expedition.

page_text: In the drawing V. V. is the Van, seven yards long (half an inch representing one
yard), which being constructed as light as possible consistent with the requisite strength
& in form similar to the bodies of those now in use, has a frame of wood covered with
thin sheet iron, zinc, or wood strengthened by a few bands of iron, represented by the
double lines b. b. b. b. b. b. b. b., which pass under the bottom & up the two sides of the
Van & are secured by being rivited to a stronger & broader iron band represented
by the double lines between B, and B., running horizontally close to the roof of the
Van and bordering the upper part of the two sides this strong broad band is con-
tinued in a straight line along the front & back of the Van to connect with those on
the two sides, to form, indeed, one band.,
To the strong band lying between B. B., on each side of the Van & opposite to cach
other is welded a strong iron bead c c, which, in order that the roof R. of the Van may
not be injured by the clams or slings, stand out a little beyond the edge of the roof,
and, that the clams or slings may take hold of & firmly grasp them, these iron
beads are in form triangular & on the outward edge something like the projecting edge
of a roof, this edge being inclined downwards.
The clams or slings somewhat resemble two hay-rakes with the teeth facing each
other & linked at the end of each stock to a ring for the crane hook to take hold of;
the teeth are represented either by a number of broad iron teeth, or by a piece of
steel or iron with an edge like cc, which they are intended to hold by or clasp.
d d, are the doors. PP, are panels.
TT is the Truck, with high front h, & high back h, & low sides, or in the place of sides
the part S. & S. made for the Van V. V. to fit & so, as far as possible, to do away with
the necessity of employing bolts & other fastenings-the intention being, as already
stated, that everything may be done with the utmost expedition: the parts S. & S. are
really strong supports for the high front h. and the high back h. and useful to keep the
Van in position.
Having now particularly described & ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
& in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:
1. The Van V. V. (Fig. 2) separate & detached made to form a combination with
the Truck T. T. (Fig. 3), substantially as & for the purpose hereinhefore set forth.
2. The Truck T. T. (Fig. 3), separate & detached, made to form a combination
with the Van V. V. (Fig. 2), substantially as & for the purpose hereinbefore, set forth.
3. The combination (Fig. 1) of the Van V. V. with the Truck T. T., substantially
as & for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.
Dated this Fifth day of Mar 1987