IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING RAILWAY ENGINES AND CARRIAGES ON STEEP INCLINES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Barraclough Fell, of Sparkbridge, near Newton-
in-Cartmel, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING RAILWAY ENGINES AND CARRIAGES ON STEEP
INCLINES"
Sealed the 23rd June 1863, and dated the 26th January 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Barraclough Fell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th January 1863.
I, JOHN BARRACLOUGH FELL, of Spark bridge, near Newton-in-Cartmel, in
the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING RAILWAY ENGINES AND CARRIAGES ON
STEEP INCLINES," to be as follows:-
For this purpose I apply to the engines and carriages wheels in pairs or sets,
of two or more,so arranged as to work on either side of a central rail, and press
and hold on such rail with a pressure and holding adapted to the circumstances
of each case. In travelling up the incline the wheels of each pair or set are
worked by the engine at a speed and with a pressure on each side of the
central rail according to the load and the rate at which the engine is to
travel, and the adhesion necessary for taking the load up the incline. In

page_text: descending the incline these pairs of wheels on the engines and carriages are
employed as breaks, with an adhesion adapted to the load. These pairs of
wheels also hold on either side of the central rail, in such manner as to afford
a great amount of security against the wheels of the engines or carriages
jumping and getting off the lines of rails on which they are travelling.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Barraclough Fell in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th July 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BARRACLOUGH FELL, of Sparkbridge, near Newton-in-Cartmel, in the County
of Lancaster, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Barraclough Fell, Her special license that I, the said John
Barraclough Fell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Barraclough Fell, 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 'N WORKING RAILWAY ENGINES AND CARRIAGES ON STEEP
INCLINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Barraclough Fell, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them,
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
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 Barraclough Fell, 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 in writing, and on reference to the accompanying two
Sheets of Drawings, that is to say:-
The object of these improvements is to enable locomotive engines and

page_text: carriages to travel up and down steep inclines with great facility and security.
For this purpose I apply to the engines and carriages wheels in pairs or
sets of two or more, so arranged as to work on either side of a central rail,
and to press and hold on such rail with a pressure and holding adapted to the
circumstances of each case. In travelling up inclines the wheels of each pair
or set are worked by the engine at a speed and with a pressure on each side
of the central rail according to the load and the rate at which the engine has
to travel, and the adhesion necessary for taking the load up the incline. In
descending the inclines these pairs of wheels on the engine and carriages are
employed as breaks, with an adhesion adapted to the load. These pairs of
wheels also hold on either side of the central rail, in such manner as to afford
a great amount of security against the wheels of the engines or carriages
jumping and getting off the lines of rails on which they are travelling.
of illus-
In the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings I have given by way
tration two modes in which I propose to apply my Invention to to locomotive
engines, as also the details of the parts of the apparatus constituting my
improvements in working railway engines and carriages on steep inclines,
as applied in the manner shown and herein-after described.
Figures 1 and 2 represent the plan and end elevation of a locomotive
engine, which, independently, of the ordinary bearing and driving wheels, is
furnished with two or more horizontal wheels D, D, pressing against the
central rail E. The wheels D, D, are driven by two additional steam
cylinders G, G, as shewn by the plan, Figure 1. A transverse shaft K is
provided with a right and left-handed screw, which being acted upon by the
wheels M, M, draws together the springs N, N, by means of which the
horizontal wheels are made to press upon the central rail, and so obtain
the amount of adhesion required. Horizontal wheels may be also attached
to the carriages and wagons, and constitute so many brakes. For the
descent of steep inclines the horizontal wheels of the engines may be reversed,
in order to check the speed, or to secure the immediate stoppage of the train.
Figures 3 to 10 represent modifications of the arrangements of the cylinders
and compressing gear connected with the horizontal adhesion wheels. Figure 3
is a longitudinal section of a locomotive engine fitted with the apparatus
according to my Invention, having four adhesion wheels, the steam engine
cylinders for rotating which are placed in the same horizontal line, one before,
and the other behind the adhesion gear, the piston rods working towards
each other, and each acting upon one pair of wheels; this view is taken in
section through the central line of the supplementary cylinders employed for
working the adhesion gear. Figure 4 is a cross section of Figure 3, shewing

page_text: more fully the arrangement of adhesion wheels and the mode of mounting,
rotating, and pressing them, as also the arrangement for moving them and
the crank shafts parallel, backwards, and forwards; the position of the volute
springs for giving the pressure, as well as of the worm wheel for acting upon
the excentrics contained within the boxes, being also shown. Figure 5 is a
longitudinal section showing the sliding carriages and brasses in which the
crank axles of the adhesion wheels are held, and also the framing connecting
two sets of wheels together. This section is taken on the line E, F, of
Figure 10. Figure 6 is a longitudinal section, taken on the lines A, B, and
C, D, of Figure 10, of so much of the Figure as is shown above the adhesion
wheels and below the tangent wheels, the latter, together with the worm or
screw, not being sectioned; this Figure also shows the framing for combining
the two wheels together. Figure 7 is plan view of the upper gear of
Figure 4, and is partly in section. Figure 8 is a plan view of the lower gear
of Figure 4, also partly in section. In this view the volute springs are
shown, as also the excentrics for acting upon them and pressing the wheels
against the rail, or out of contact therewith, as the case may be. In this
view, as also in Figure 4, the excentrics are shown in an inactive position, as
are also the volute springs, but the adhesion wheels are shown as slightly in
contact with the central rail. Figure 9 is a side elevation of that portion of
the apparatus which is employed as a parallel motion, or means of giving
parallelism to the forward or backward motion of the crank axles of the
horizontal adhesion wheels. The apparatus in this Figure is shown as
mounted upon a framing or plate, which for want of space in the Sheet of
Drawings is shown as underlying part of Figures 7 and 8 on one side of
Figure 9, and Figure 10 on the other side thereof.
Figure 10 is a general plan view of the framing, gearing, and apparatus for
supporting and moving the horizontal adhesion wheels, shafts, and gear con-
nected therewith. In this Figure the crank shafts of the horizontal adhesion
wheels are removed from the bearings, and the wheels are not shown. Upon
this Figure the several section lines referred to in the previous Figures are
shewn (as A, B, C, D, E, F, &c.) The cylinders in these Figures are shown as
being placed fore and aft of the apparatus for working the horizontal wheel gear,
and on the centre line of the locomotive engine volute springs are used to
press upon the axle boxes of the horizontal wheels by a movement of eccen-
trics, instead of that of a screw on a transverse shaft, as shown in Figures 1
and 2, Figure 3 being a longitudinal section through the supplementary
cylinders, the pistons of which, by means of diagonally arranged connecting
rods and the crank axles M, M, drive the horizontal wheels N, N. In each

page_text: of the Figures 3 to 10 the same letters of reference are employed thereon to
represent like or corresponding parts of the apparatus.
In the arrangement shown in the Figures last described, a shaft D carries
two excentrics X,X, the stroke or motion of each of which acts in an opposite
direction transversely across the engine in the excentric boxes or slides E. E.
To these slides are attached tension or draw bars T,T, the opposite ends of
which pass through and hold upon the volute springs S,S, and, when drawn
together by the throw or motion of the excentrics, press upon the axle boxes
L, L, by means of which the pressure is made to bear upon the axle and the
periphery of the horizontal adhesion wheels in contact with the central rail R.
The two excentric shafts D, D, shown in Figures 6 and 10, are turned by
the tangent wheels or worm wheels C, C, and these are put in motion by a
horizontal worm or screw V upon the transverse axle F. On the upright
spindle H is fixed a worm, which works into the wheel G upon the shaft F
This spindle is carried up to some convenient point within reach of the engine
driver, and is put in motion by a crank handle, or by means of a horizontal
spindle and pair of bevil wheels may be brought, if desired, still nearer to
the foot plate of the engine, and worked in any convenient manner. 'The
movement given to the spindle H is communicated to the transverse axle F
and by the worm or screw V and the wheels C,C, to the two excentric axles
D,D, the excentrics of which, in the manner already described, draw together
the tension bars T,T,T,T, the tightening up of which causes the pair of hori-
zontal wheels N, N, to press upon the central rail, and thereby obtain the
degree of adhesion required. In order to maintain the parallelism of the axles
of each pair of horizontal wheels, the upper and lower axle boxes are attached
to lever arms J, J, of the spindles I,I, supported by the frame of the engine, as
shown in the plans, Figures 7 and 8, of the upper and lower gear, and in
Figure 10, as also in Figure 4, and in the elevation, Figure 9. The axle
boxes also slide upon the cross frame W of the engine, as shown by the
longitudinal section, Figure 6. The axles of each pair of wheels are thus
maintained in a vertical position, as they are made to approach or are with-
drawn from the central rail and parallel to one another. The additional
adhesion wheels, shewn in Figures 1 and 2 in a horizontal position, may, if
preferred, be placed at an angle of 45°, or less, and the horizontal or inclined
adhesion wheels may have their tyres cylindrical or grooved, as shewn in
Figures 11 and 12. In order to avoid friction in a vertical direction between
the wheels and the central rail resulting from the movement of the engine on
the springs which support it, these wheels may be so fixed on the axles as to
allow them whatever vertical play may be needful. The pressure of the hori-

page_text: zontal adhesion wheels upon the rail on which they work may be produced
by means of a steam cylinder, or by water pressure, or by the use of springs
of any convenient form.
The steam cylinders employed for rotating the horizontal adhesion wheels
may be placed in the position shewn in Figure 1, or fore and aft in the centre
of the engine, as shewn in Figure 3, or, instead of being so placed, they may
be placed vertically together at either end of the engine, or in the same
In the first
horizontal plane, and be so inclined as to work on the same axle.
illustration the cylinders cannot be conveniently coupled without the use
of toothed wheels, which are dispensed with in the others; the two latter
arrangements however require to have an additional axle.
With reference to Figures 4, 5, and 10 more particularly, instead of the
top bearings or carriages sliding in guides, as shewn, they may be mounted or
hung on a pivot, so as to allow of the motion of the bottom bearing and of
the wheel being pressed against the rail, the upright spindles I, I, and lever
arms J, J, K, K, being dispensed with. Instead of a parallel pin to the
driving crank a ball-and-socket joint may be used to allow for the requisite
change of the position of the crank shaft being produced without undue
straining.
In the several illustrations given in the Drawings hereunto annexed, and
the textual description herein-before coutained, I have preferred to exhibit
and describe the application of my said Invention to the arrangements of
locomotive engines therein shewn alone, but it will be readily understood by
all who are conversant with the construction of locomotive engines and the
working of railways that the dispositionas well as the proportions and arrange-
ment of the parts must necessarily be varied in each case to suit a particular
type of engine, where the same can be added or adapted thereto to render
such engine, by means of my present Invention, suitable for ascending steep
gradients with a heavy load,and moreover it will be also understood that the
horizontal adhesion wheels can be applied to the tender of the locomotive
engine, and be worked by means of independent cylinders contained within the
engine framing, or applied within or under the tender and receiving steam
from the main boiler. In like manner when it is deemed advisable hori-
zontal guide or adhesion wheels may also be applied to the under side of the
brake carriage or waggon, or any other carriage of a train, and be worked or
rotated by means of steam or other power, either from the cylinders contained
within the locomotive framing or the tender, or connected to the carriage
itself; and such means of rotating the adhesion wheels may receive the power
from the main boiler of the locomotive engine by means of steam pipes com-

page_text: municating therewith, or motion from the horizontal adhesion wheels on the
engine may be communicated to similar horizontal wheels fitted to the tender,
or to the following carriage or carriages by means of coupling rods, the cranks
of the engine and carriage being coupled by double rods and an intermediate
crank as a transmitter, and also as a means of compensation whilst passing
round curves. This arrangement is shewn in Figure 13, in which A', A', are
the horizontal wheels acting upon the central rail F¹; B', the cranks upon the
horizontal wheel shafts; C', the intermediate or compensating cranks, D¹
being the radius rods supported by the engine and carriage frames respec-
tively, and carrying the lever arm C'; E³ is the connecting rod by which
the horizontal wheels of the carriage are driven by those of the engine, and
in like manner the one set of wheels on a carriage may be connected to
another adjoining set. The pressure of steam in the boiler may also be
employed for producing the requisite amount of adhesion between the
horizontal wheels and the central rail, or it may be applied by hand.
In the accompanying Sheets of Drawings the several Figures have been
airanged more with a view to conveniently disposing the space than the
consecutive numbering of the Figures on each Sheet.
Having now described my said Invention of "Improvements in Working
Railway Engines and Carriages on Steep Inclines," and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings certain practical applications of the same, I wish it
to be understood that I do not claim the use or employment of a central bar
or line of rail for the purpose of enabling additional adhesion to be obtained
for ascending steep inclines, or as a guide rail, or as a means of "braking'
or governing the descent of railway trains down inclines of steep gradient;
but what I claim is,-
First, the arrangement or combination of apparatus and mode of working
horizontal adhesion wheels, in combination with a central rail, in the manner
and for the purpose herein described, and as shewn in Figures 1 and 2 of
the accompanying Sheets of Drawings.
Second, the arrangement and combination of the parts, and the mode of
mounting and operating the horizontal adhesion wheels and apparatus con-
nected therewith, for the purpose and in the manner herein described, and
as shewn by Figures 3 to 10 inclusive in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
Third, the modes or methods of communicating steam or other motive
power for rotating and transmitting motion and adhesion to several sets of
adhesion wheels, whether such wheels are mounted horizontally orare inclined
towards each other, for gripping or acting npon a central rail for the purpose
of enabling locomotive engines and carriages to ascend or descend with safety

page_text: steep inclines, as shewn by the several illustrative Figures in the accom-
panying Sheets of Drawings, and as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Barraclough Fell, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
WILLIAM SMITH,
19, Salisbury St.,
Strand, W.C.
JOHN BARRACLOUGH FELL. (L.S.)