IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Mudge Marchant, of Wellington, New
Zealand, but now temporarily of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 1st April 1869, and dated the 16th October 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Mudge
Marchant at. the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 16th October 1868.
I, ROBERT MUDGE MARCHANT, of Wellington, New Zealand, but now
temporarily of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the combination of steel or wrought iron
with cast iron, as hereafter described, for the formation of an uniform
continuous rail in which the portion subjected to wear shall be of steel
or wrought iron, and the continuous scat for this portion shall be of cast
iron.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a transverse section of

page_text: a continuous rail constructed according to my Invention. A is a rail
of steel or wrought iron in 16 feet or other convenient lengths, and B
is a cast-iron seat in 8 feet lengths or other submultiple of A. The rail
A is attached to the seat B by screw bolts C, which are, say, two feet apart,
except at the joints, where it is preferred to have two bolts nearly close
together, one at each side of the joint. D is a groove in the seat B which
is packed at the joints. The scat B is enlarged or bellied, as shown at E,
where the slots or apertures are formed in it for the passage of the
bolts C. F is a shoe employed as a junction at the joints of the cast-iron
seat B; G is a washer interposed between the head of each bolt C and
the cast-iron scat B. In some cases I fit in the groove D a longi-
tudinally divided or split tube H, shown separately in Figure 2; the lips
of this tube are drawn together by the screws C, and when the tube is
in its place its upper surface is about, say, a twentieth of an inch above
the upper edge of the groove D, but when a locomotive passes over the
rail the tube gives and assumes an elliptical form, thereby allowing the
rail A to take its seat on the bearer B.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Mudge Marchant in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 2nd April 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MUDGE MARCHANT, late of Wellington, New Zealand, then temporarily
of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, but now of Torrington
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-cight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert Mudge Marchant, Her
special licence that I, the said Robert Mudge Marchant, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Mudge Marchant, 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

page_text: 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 PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Robert Mudge Marchant, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain tho
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 Robert Mudge Marchant, 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, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in the combination of steel or wrought iron
with cast iron, as hereafter described, for the formation of a uniform
continuous rail in which the portion subjected to wear shall be of steel
or wrought iron, and the continuous seat for this portion shall be of cast
iron.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a perspective view of a short
length of permanent way constructed according to my Invention ;
Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken at the point A of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is
a transverse section taken at one of the screw bolts hereafter mentioned;
Fig. 4 is a side view of a portion of the compound rail shewing the
apertures hereafter referred to; Fig. 5 is partly a plan view, with the
surface rail removed, and partly a horizontal section taken through
the web of the cast-iron seat.
a is the surface rail, which is of steel or wrought iron in 16 feet or
other convenient lengths, and b is a cast-iron bearer and seat for a in
8 feet lengths or other submultiple of a. The rail a is attached to the
seat by screw bolts c, which are, say, two feet apart, except at the
joints, where two bolts are used, one at each side of the joint; the screw
bolts c may go either quite through the surface rail a, as seen in the
Figures, or only half through. R is a groove in the seat b in which
the springs i are placed. The bearer 6 is enlarged or bellied below its
seat, as shewn at e, where the apertures fare formed in it for the passage
of the bolts c. 9, 9, are shoes employed as a junction at the joints of
the cast-iron seat b. A washer should be interposed between the head

page_text: of each bolt c and the cast-iron seat b. h, h, are tie rods of wrought
iron. I fit at intervals in the groove R, as springs to lessen the wear
on the rail and give an elastic road adjustable at will, short split tubes i,
one of which is shewn separately in Fig. 6. The lips of these short
tubes (about 1 inches long) are drawn together by the screw bolts c,
so that when the tubes, which can be of any required strength, are in
place the lower surface or seating portion of the rail can be set at will
to any spring, say to a twentieth of an inch, clear of its seat in the
bearer over R, but when a locomotive passes over the rail the tubes
spring, and either by further play of the lips or by assuming an elliptical
form, they allow the rail a to take its seat on the bearer b.
According to my Invention the cast-iron seat or bearer is made of
such form (as shewn clearly in the Drawings) that any substructure
of wood or timber is unnecessary; sleepers may therefore be dispensed
with, as the longitudinal seat of the surface rail or bearer may itself be
bedded in the ballast.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as
my improvements in the permanent way of railways,―
First. The construction of a uniform continuous rail by scating a
surface rail of steel or of wrought iron on a longitudinal bearer of cast
iron as hercin-before described, the said cast-iron scat being substantially
of the form represented in the accompanying Drawings, and the attach-
ments as shown.
Second. The employment of the steel spring tubes i in the manner
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Mudge Marchant, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
ninc.