IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE METHOD OF OR APPARATUS FOR LAYING THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles De Bergue, of No. 9, Dowgate Hill,, in the
City of London, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charlès de Bergue at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th
February 1857.
I, CHARLES DE BERGUE, of No: 9, Dowgate Hill, in the City of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE METHOD OF OR APPARATUS FOR LAYING THE PERMANENT WAY OF
RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
My Invention is more especially applicable to that description of permanent
way which is constructed of rails laid upon cast-iron sleepers which do not
require separate chairs to be fixed upon them, but consist of sleepers and chairs
in one. And my said Invention consists in the fixing together (in gauge) the.
different parts of a length (two rails) of permanent way preparatory to the
laying the same on the ballast. And iny said Invention further consists in
the manufacture and use of a framing, which has seatings, notches, pins, .
registering studs (adjustable or otherwise), or other equivalent provision, for
placing a number of tie bars or of sleepers, or of both, in definite positions..

page_text: upon them, the said seatings, &c. being disposed upon the frame at the
required distances apart from each other as regards the length or run forwards,
and as regards the gauge (one or both of them), so that, on placing the rails
upon the sleepers whilst in or upon the seatings, &c., they may be bolted,
keyed, or otherwise fixed together of the required gauge and in proper
positions without the troublesome and tedious adjustment attendant on the
present mode of laying permanent way.
The manner in which I purpose performing my said Invention is as
follows, that is to say:-The framing may be made either of wood or iron, or
a combination of both, furnished-with-four-or-more-broad..wheels for running
upon the ballasting of a railway, so as not only to render it the more easily
removable, but also to support it at a convenient height for the laborers to
work at without stooping to bolt the parts together. The length for a carriage
or lorry of this description should be somewhat longer than the lengths of
rails intended to be used, so as to take two lengths of rail, namely, one on
cach side. Castings. For studs will probably afford the most "convenient
'seatings, &c. After the parts have been bolted or fixed together, I-purpose
employing windlasses, levers, or lifting jacks for bodily raising the two lengthis
of rails with the sleepers attached sufficiently above the seatings or other
registering contrivance so as to allow the carriage to be moved forward from
beneath ready for fixing another length, and I then lower the rails and
sleepers fixed together on to the ballasting.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles de Bergue in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th August 1857.
...
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS, SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DE BERGUE, of No. 9, Dowgate Hill, in the City of London, Engineer, send
greeting.
1
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of February; in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her-reign,
lid för Herself, Her heirs and successors, give, and grant unto me, the said
Charles'de Bergue, Her speciál. licence that .J, the said Charles de:Bergue,
my executors, administrators, and assigns;t or such others as I, the said
Charles de Bergue, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: 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 METHOD OF OR APPARATUS FOR LAYING THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles de Bergue, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or. their,
or one of their hands and seals, 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 Charles de Bergue, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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, that is to say:
My Invention is more especially applicable to that description of permanent
way which is constructed of rails laid upon cast-iron sleepers which do not
require separate chairs to be fixed upon them, but consist of sleepers and
chairs in one: And my said Invention consists in the fixing together (in
gauge) the different parts of a length (two rails) of permanent way preparatory
to the laying the same on the ballast. And my said Invention further con
sists in the manufacture and use of a framing which has seatings, notclies,
pins, registering studs (adjustable or otherwise), or other equivalent provision,
for placing a number of tie bars or of sleepers; or of both, in definite positions
upon them, the said seatings &c., being disposed upon the frame at the
required distances apart from each other as regards the length or run forwards,
and as regards the gauge (one or both of them), so that on placing the rails
upon the sleepers whilst in or upon the seatings, &c., they may be bolted,
keyed, or otherwise fixed together of the required gauge and in proper
positions without the troublesome and tedious adjustment attendant on the
present mode of laying permanent way.
The manner in which I purpose performing my said Invention is as follows,
that it, to say-The framing may be made either of wood or iron, or a
combination of both, furnished with four or more broad wheels for running
upon the ballasting of a railway, so as not only to render it the more easily
removable, but also to support it at a convenient height for the laborers to
work at without stooping to bolt the parts together. The length for a carriage
or lorry of this description should be somewhat longer than the lengths of
rails. intended to be used, so as to take two lengths of rail, namely, one on

page_text: ⚫each' side. Castings or studs will probably afford the most: convenient
seatings, &c. After the parts have been bolted or fixed together, I purpose
employing windlasses, levers, or lifting jacks for bodily raising the two lengths
of rails with the sleepers attached sufficiently above the seatings or other
registering contrivance so as to allow the carriage to be moved forward from
beneath ready for fixing another length, and I then lower the rails and
sleepers fixed together on to the ballasting.
The accompanying illustrative Drawing will clearly explain the construction
and use of an apparatus constructed in accordance with my Invention.
Figure 1 is a plan view, representing my improved lorry for laying permanent
way, and the left half or part of the Figure also represents a half length of, the
piece or portion of permanent way fitted together and resting upon it, and
likewise one of a pair of portable windlasses, situate near to the end for lifting
or raising the permanent way from off the carriage, and for lowering the same
when the lorry has been removed. Figure 2 is an elevation, corresponding
with the Figure 1, excepting that an entire length is represented of the piece
or portion of permanent way which it is designed to lay at one use or opera-
tion. But, for economy of space in the Drawing, the length of permanent
way is represented as broken or divided into two halves or parts, the left half
or part being shewn as resting upon the lorry, and the right half or part as
lifted or raised. And a portable windlass is shewn (in section) at or near this
end also of the Figure. Figure 3 is a transverse section of the lorry and
permanent way, and end view of one of the windlasses, which is represented as
supporting the permanent way in the raised or lifted position.
The description of permanent way shewn in the Drawing is my already
patented permanent way, described in the Specification of Letters Patent
granted to me, bearing date the Nineteenth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-three, and being N° 1245. And the seatings, &c. upon the
lorry are consequently arranged for this special description of permanent way,
but it is distinctly to be understood that they may be arranged, and the lorry
itself may also be altered, if necessary, for laying other descriptions of per-
manent way.
In the Drawing, a and b are two rails, fixed or to be fixed at the desired
gauge or distance apart, and constituting the principal members or parts of
one length, piece, or 'portion of permanent way.which the apparatus is designed
to lay at one use or operation; c, c, are the sleeper chairs to which 'the rails
are or are to be fitted; d, d, are tie bars for obtaining and maintaining the
desired gauge; e, c, holding down pieces or clips, as particularly described in
the Specification above referred to; and f, f, link or eye bolts for connecting

page_text: the parts together; .i, i, is the framing of the travelling carriage or lorry,
which I prefer to construct of wooden sides, ends, and cross pieces, and of iron
tie rods from side to side, and of iron bars or ties placed diagonally. for
stiffening or strengthening it, as shewn in the Figure 1; k, k, k, k, are four
broad cast-iron wheels upon which it is mounted; m, m, are a number of
castings bolted to the framing, and having snugs or projections upon them,
which serve to ensure the correctly placing the sleeper chairs c, c, at the
required distance longitudinally from each other; n, n, are grooves or cuts
made in the framing for receiving and holding the tie bars d, d, in the required
corresponding position, and also for placing and holding the sleeper chairs at
the desired gauge or lateral distance from each other; and o, o, are castings,
which still further ensure a correct register in both directions, being intended
for the reception of the link or eye bolts'f, f, which slide upon the tie bars, and
the upper ends of which pass through the sleeper chairs and their clips e, e;
p, p, are wooden stop pieces for the ends of the rails to butt against. The
portable windlasses are marked q, q-
The mode of using the apparatus is as follows:-I first place the tic bars
d, d, with the eye bolts upon them in the grooves n, n, and slide the said
bolts so that they may fit and lie in or upon the castings o, o, and I also slide
the bars so that the notches in them may lie in the correct position for
receiving the ribs or feathers m*, m*, cast upon the under sides of the sleeper
chairs, and I then place the sleeper chairs between the castings m, m, and
so that the small registering snugs or feathers m², m², likewise cast upon their
under sides, may lie in the grooves or cuts n, n, in the framing, and also so
that the upper ends of the bolts f. f, may pass through the bolt holes in the
sleeper chairs; when this has been done every thing is in correct position or
register for receiving the rails,. which I next place upon the sleeper chairs;
and, finally, I apply the clips e, e, threading them on to the bolts, and secure
the parts together by screwing the nuts, on to or upon the bolts. By the use
of the portable windlasses q, q, and their lifting chains and hooks, I then raise
the entire length, piece, or portion of permanent way thus constructed to a
suflicient height from off of and above the lorry, so as to allow the latter to be
wheeled forward, and when this has been done I lower the said length, piece,
or portion of permanent way on to the ballasting, which is supposed to have
been already prepared to receive it. The lorry is now free and ready for a
second use or repetition of the operation, and may be placed in the exact spot
where it is desired to lay the next length, piece, or portion of permanent way,
either before fitting its various parts together or when they are fitted together,
and immediately before the lowering on to the ballasting. As before stated,

page_text: pins, studs, or any other equivalent registering apparatus or contrivance
adapted to the same or any other description of permanent way, may be
substituted for or added to the grooves and castings in and upon the lorry, as
'above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles De Bergue, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven..
C. DE BERGUE. (L.S.)