IMPROVEMENTS IN: THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City
of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 31st December 1858.
I; JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN: THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," a communication from
a foreigner residing abroad, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improved means for securing or holding
the rails of the permanent ways of railways, which means are applicable either
to rails carried on wooden sleepers or to metal ways wherein wooden sleepers
are dispensed with. The Invention consists in the application and use of fish
plates or bars, which hold the rails at their base and by their lower rib or
flange, in place of holding such rails on the sides of their web or narrow
portion. These fishes, which may be termed "under fishes," make use of the
lower part of the rails for the purpose of consolidating their union, and are
shaped to suit the various forms of rails to which they may be applied. Another

page_text: important feature attendant upon the use of these "under fishes" is that the
perforating of the rails for the passage therethro' of fish bolts is entirely
obviated. For the ordinary double-headed rail the fish is made in the form
of two grooved jaws, which fit on to opposite sides of the lower flange of the
rail, and are held together by transverse bolts underneath the rail, and are
bolted or pinned down on to the sleepers. These fishes may also be used in
combination with a cast-iron chair bolted to the sleeper. When a trough
rail is used, the fishes are bolted down onto a separate sole or base plate, and
these edges protrude over the expanded flange of the rail; in some cases a
strengthening rib may be formed longitudinally along the under side of the sole
or base plate. This plate may be applied in combination with the fishes to the
bridge rail and to the ordinary flanged rail, suitable projections being made
on the upper surface thereof for the fish plates to rest upon. Lugs may be
formed, if necessary, upon the sole plates, for the purpose of pinning them down
to wooden sleepers, where sleepers are employed, but in many cases this
system of support will enable. the rails to be laid directly upon the ballast,
thus forming an entire metal way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th June 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 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," a communication from a

page_text: foreigner residing abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
5 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 John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to certain improved means for securing or holding
the rails of the permanent ways of railways, which means are applicable either
to rails carried on wooden sleepers or to metal ways wherein wooden sleepers
are dispensed with. The Invention consists in the application and use of fish
plates or bars, which hold the rails at their base and by their lower rib or flange
in place of holding such rails on the sides of the web or narrow portion thereof.
These fishes, 'which may be termed "under fishes," make use of the lower part
of the rails for the purpose of consolidating their union, and are shaped to suit the
various forms of rails to which they may be applied. Another important feature
attendant upon the use of these "under fishes" is, that the perforating of the
rails for the passage therethrough of fish bolts is entirely obviated. For the
ordinary double-headed rail the fish is made in the form of two grooved jaws
which fit on to opposite sides of the lower flange of the rail, and are held,
together by transverse bolts underneath the rail, and are bolted or pinued
down on to the sleepers. These fishes may also be used in combination with
a cast-iron chair bolted to the sleeper.
When a trough rail is used, the fishes are bolted down on to a separate sole
or base plate, and their. edges protrude over the expanded flauge of the rail,
and in some cases a strengthening rail may be formed longitudinally along the
under side of the sole or base plate. This plate may be applied in combination
with the fishes to the bridge rail and to the ordinary flange rail, suitable
projections being made on the upper surface thereof for the fish plates to
rest upon. Lugs may be formed, if necessary, upon the sole plates, for the
purpose of pinning them down to wooden sleepers, when. sleepers are employed,
but in many cases this system of support will enable the rails, to be laid
directly upon the ballast, thus forming an entire metal way.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I

page_text: shall refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
corresponding Figures.
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents a sectional plan,
Figure 2 a transverse section, and Figure 3 a side elevation, of one of my
improved modes of securing the rails of railways; Figures 4, 5, and 6 repre
sent respectively similar views of another arrangement combined with cast-iron
chairs; Figures 7 and 7 represent a transverse section and plan of a rail with
base plate; Figures 8 and 8, and Figures 9 and 9ª, are both respectively
similar views of another arrangement of fastening; Figures 10 and 10ª repre-
sent also a transverse section and plan- of-a double-headed rail secured by fish
plates on the under side of the bottom flange or head; Figures 11 and 11ª are
similar views of a rail with base plate and fishes, the base plate having a
strengthening rib cast longitudinally along the under side, and projections
on the upper surface to receive the fish plates; Figures 12 and 12ª, and
Figures 13 and 13ª, represent transverse sections and plans of two modifi-
cations applicable to the ordinary double-headed rail. The Figures 7 to
9 inclusive, shew the application of the new fish. plates to the American and
bridge rails.
For the double-headed rail (Figures 1, 2, and 3) the under fishes are
composed of two grooved and channelled plates a, a, which grip the bottom
flange of the rail, extend downwards to receive the transverse bolts, and
laterally so as to form a base plate or flange for securing. the whole of the
sleepers. The two plates a being screwed up tight will exert a powerful grip
or hold upon the two opposite sides of the under flange; for this purpose, nice
adjustment is no longer requisite, as the grooving of the plates a is effected in
such a manner that on being applied to the flange of the rail it comes in
'contact first of all with the base and its sides. This arrangement is moreover
not subjected to any powerful lateral strain or pressure, as it is in. part
The bolts themselves receive little
destroyed by the-cheeks 6 of the plates a.
strain; the bending of the rails is prevented by the resistance of the cheeks b.
These fish plates may be made of wrought iron, and fitted or formed with
lugs, as in Figures 1 to 6. If the plates are lengthed and widened; and if
to increase their strength and avoid transverse movement, a rib c is added to
the sole or base plate, an excellent sleeper will be obtained suitable where the
rail is laid upon the ballast. In this arrangement, where the sleepers are of
the same length as the rails, care should be taken to break joint between the
rails and sleepers. The fish plates may be made short, and be provided with
oval holes to allow of any slight difference in the length of the sleepers, and

page_text: the guage of the rails may be maintained by wrought-iron cross ties of a
lenticular section, so as to be able to rise and fall in the ballast without
bending and injuring the guage.
Figures 10 and 11 represent sleepers for the double-headed and flanged
rail. By this system the rails themselves may be made very light, and when
the line requires renewing, the change is limited to the upper parts solely.
When the sole or base plate is used, the projections may be made on the fishes
or on the base plate, which latter is preferable. A lug or foot d may also be
formed on the base plate for the pins or spikes to pass through, as in Figures
12 and 13.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of the parts
of the permanent way of railways, as herein-before described and illustrated by
the Drawings.
Second, the peculiar systems or modes of securing the rails of permanent
ways at their base or under surfaces, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.