IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PERMANENT WAYS FOR RAILWAYS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY BARLOW, of Derby, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of
January, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the twelfth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Henry Barlow, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Henry
Barlow, my oxors, adiňors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PERMANENT WAYS FOR RAILWAYS;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said William
Henry Barlow, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said. in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Henry Barlow, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
doscribed and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being haul to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
inarked thereon, that is to say:-
The first part of my Invention consists in constructing the wrought-iron
rails of railways so that each rail shall form its own bed in the ballast without
requiring the use of chairs or wooden sleepers, longitudinal timbers, or stone
blocks, or other like expedients for supporting the same. In order to effect
this the rail is made of greater width than heretofore employed, and may be
composed of two or more parts, as shewn in Figures 8, 9, and 10, but the
construction I prefer is that of which the section is shewn in Figure 11.
The whole construction of the permanent way when made of this rail is
shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, Figure 1 being the plau, Figure 2 the
elevation, and Figure 3 the section of the permanent way. The rails are
connected together at the joints by wrought-iron shoes marked a, a, a, a, and
the distance between the rails or guage is maintained by wrought-iron cross
ties b, b, b, b, which also serve to give additional bearing surface in the ballast.
At the joints the shoes are bolted to the rail by means of wrought-iron bolts
and nuts c, c, and the wrought-iron ties are bolted to the rail and shoes by
similar wrought-iron bolts. I would however state, that the mode of con-
necting the rails with each other, and sustaining the guage, may be effected by
other means. When the rail is made of two pieces the forms I prefer are
shewn in Figures 8, 9, 10. The object attained is the exclusion of the use
of timber in the permanent way, and thereby avoiding the cost of renewing
the same when decayed.
The second part of my Invention consists of a mode of giving support to the
joints of the rails ordinarily employed, which mode is applicable to the existing
rails, chairs, and sleepers. It is accomplished by rolling or forming a piece
or plate of wrought iron, from a quarter to half an inch in thickness, of such
form as will fit accurately the side of the rail, as shewn by the part colored
blue in Figure 7. The length of this plate is such that it can be keyed into
the chairs on each side of the joint chair, as well as into the joint chair, as
shewn by the part colored blue in Figure 5. The plate may be keyed against
the rail by wooden keys in the same manner as the ordinary rails are keyed
into the chairs.
The object of this part of the Invention is to give encreased stiffness to the
joints of the permanent way as at present constructed, and thereby prevent

page_text: the rocking or motion which takes place at the joints, and which is productive
of great costs in repairs, and occasions great deterioration to the rails and
permanent way.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Barlow, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Eighteenth day of July, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
year
of
WILLIAM HENRY (L.S.) BARLOW.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighteenth day day of July, in
the year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid William Henry Barlow came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-third day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
Enrolled the Twenty-third day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.