IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, AND IN CARRIAGES TO RUN THEREON
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
LUCENA ROSS KETTLE, of Upper Seymour Street, Portman Square, Esquire,
and WILLIAM PROSSER, junior, of Shaftesbury Terrace, Pimlico, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Sixteenth day of May, in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said John Lucena
Ross Kettle and William Prosser, Her especial licence, full power, sole privi-
lege and authority, that we, the said John Lucena Ross Kettle and William
Prosser, our exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John
Lucena Ross Kettle and William Prosser, our exors, admors, 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, our Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF ROADS, AND IN CARRIAGES TO RUN THEREON;" in which said Letters Patenţ
is contained a proviso, that we, the said John Lucena Ross Kettle and
William Prosser, or one of us, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part

page_text: recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
John Lucena Ross Kettle and William Prosser, do hereby declare that the
nature of our Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
are fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon, that is to say:―
Our Invention relates, first, to a mode of constructing roads with tramways
of wood combined with guide rails, for the guiding carriages thereon; and
secondly, the Invention relates to modes of applying apparatus to carriages
moving on tramways of wood, in order to guide carriages thereon.
And in order that our Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, we will proceed-to-explain-the Drawing hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents the section of a road or way, laid down with two tram-
ways of wood a, a, and we prefer that the grain of the wood should be in an
upward direction, but this is not absolutely necessary, though we believe it
will be found that wood placed with the grain in an upward or inclining
at an angle will be found to wear longer than when the grain of the wood is
in a horizontal direction; b is a central or guide rail, which retains the car-
riages from going off the tramways a, a, and guides them correctly thereon..
The object of the first part of our Invention is so to arrange tramways of
wood in combination with a guide rail, that the carriages used may run on
wheels with plain tyre, thus preventing the injurious effects which would
I on rails or trams
result from carriages having wheels with flanches, if running on
of wood, and guided thereon by the flanches of the wheels, acting against the
inner edges of the tramways of wood in a similar manner to what the flanches
of railway wheels now act against iron rails. It will be evident that trams of
wood could not be practically brought into use if the carriages were to be
guided by ordinary flanched wheels; hence, in order to obtain the advantages
of wood, in constructing tramways thereof, it becomes necessary so to arrange
them that the carriages may be guided by some means which will not in-
juriously act on the edges of the wood trams or ways; and we wish it to be
understood that we do not claim the making of tramways of wood generally,
but only when combined with guide rails; and we also wish it to be under-
stood that, we do not claim guiding rails when combined with iron rails, which
has heretofore been proposed. The great object of this part of our Invention'

page_text: is to obtain surfaces of wood-for the plain wheels of carriages to run on, as
the same will not only be found less expensive in construction; but, at the same
time, offer less hard and rigid surfaces for the wheels to travel on, and pas-
sengers will be less subject to noise and shocks; wood will also be found to
offer more adhesion for the driving wheels of locomotive carriages, consequently
less. attention will be required to getting good gradients. In laying down
trams of wood we prefer that the wood should be subjected to the best pre-
servative processes known; we believe that practised by Mr. Payne, under his
Patent, to be the most suitable for the purpose yet known; and care is to be
observed that the trams are to be placed and fixed, on hard surfaces of concrete
or otherwise.
Figure 1 shews an axle c with two running wheels d, d, of a carriage, with
plain tyre, and in the same axle is applied a guide wheel e, by means of which
and the guide rail b the carriage is guided. At the same time, we do not
confine ourselves to this mode of using a guide wheel, so long as a guide rail
is combined with tramways or surfaces of wood, though we believe the plan
shown to be as simple as any for, that purpose.
8
We will now describe the second part of our Invention, which relates to
another mode of guiding carriages which have wheels with plain tyre, when
running on trams or ways of wood, and where no guide rail is employed; and
consists of a mode of constructing the carriages or frames of locomotive
engines, by arranging guide wheels in such a manner as to prevent the
travelling wheels from running off the rails, and obviate the necessity of
having flanges on the running wheels, as is the usual custom with railway
wheels; and in the event of an accident arising from the axle of the travelling
wheels breaking, the guide wheels come into use as running wheels, and press
upon the rails and carry the carriage, which would otherwise fall to the ground,
the modes of doing which will be more particularly described. Figure 2
shows a side view, and Figure 3 an end view. The same letters indicate the
same parts wherever they occur. A, A, is the framing of a locomotive engine,
having our improvements applied thereto; B, B, are the ordinary or travelling
wlieels, which run upon the rails C; D, D, are the guide wheels, which, it will
be seen, only press upon the rails at one point of the periphery of the wheel,
but yet sufficiently to keep the engine from going off the rails; these wheels D
are kept firmly in their position by the supports E. It will be evident, by
examining the Drawings, that should the axle F or the travelling wheel break
and the carriage descend, that the guide wheel would come in contact with
the rails and run thereon. And it will also be evident that the guide wheels
may be used outside of the rails in place of the inside, but not so conveniently.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of our Invention, we would remark that
what we claim is,-
First, the mode of constructing roads by combining tramways or surfaces of
wood with guide rails, in order that carriages with wheels having plain tyre
may run thereon.
And, secondly, we claim the mode of applying guide wheels to carriages, as
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Prosser, jun", have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
WILLIAM (L.S.)
PROSSER, JR.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixteenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid William Prosser, jun', 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 Sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three.