IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRAMWAYS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO RAILWAYS AND TO OTHER PURPOSES OF CONSTRUCTION."
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Malcolm Macleod, of Oxford Chambers, in the City of
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer and Contractor, for an
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRAMWAYS, PARTS
OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO RAILWAYS AND TO OTHER
PURPOSES OF CONSTRUCTION."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Malcolm Macleod at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd January 1880.
"
MALCOLM MACLEOD, of Oxford Chambers, in the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer and Contractor. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF TRAMWAYS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO RAILWAYS AND TO OTHER PURPOSES OF CONSTRUCTION."
(1.) I employ an ordinary tramway rail bedded in a transverse sleeper of stone,
concrete, slag, or the like material, having a recess on the top, into which an iron
or other metal chair, shoe, or lining is placed and secured by fusible cement,
sulphur, lead, or the like, and which chair, and also the rail, is preferably a little
wider at the bottom than at the top, the rail being secured in the chair by a key
or keys running parallel to the rail, and the section of which key or keys is also
slightly bevelled. Instead of, or in combination with keys, fusible materials or
asphalte may also be used for fixing the rail in the shoe or lining. The sleeper
may either be of such length as to carry both rails, or it may consist of a block of
sufficient size to receive only one rail, and be of such a width and thickness as may
be found necessary or convenient for the material employed, the surface of the
sleeper serving as road surface being prepared in any suitable manner, and the
distance from sleeper to sleeper varying according to the strength of the rail
employed, or as may be desired from other considerations.
(2.) Where cheapness is a consideration, and the nature of the traffic will admit
the use of cast iron, I employ the following construction:-I use ordinary bar
or iron for rails bedded on a cast iron longitudinal sleeper of the usual con-
struction, but the top of which is formed to receive the bar or L iron forming the
tread of the rail, and one side of the sleeper coming flush with the road surface and
Din 31

page_text: forming a ridge so shaped as to take the place of the groove and lip usually rolled
in the rail. Various forms of fastening may be used for this type of construction.
If the rail be of plain bar section I fasten the same with a bolt, having a counter-
sunk head in the rail surface, a suitable recess for the nut being provided in the
sleeper. If a rail of L section be used I bolt the vertical web laterally to the
sleeper with or without fishplate; or I provide a groove along the top of the
sleeper, as is usual for rails of T section, to receive the web of the rail, and fasten
them in the ordinary way with a pin or key driven transversely through sleeper
and web, or instead of such pin I use a cotter projecting on one side, and having an
eye in that projection, through which I drive a vertical key, for which room may
be found in the joint of the adjoining pavement, or I cast a lateral projection with
an eye on the sleeper, which eye corresponds to the eye in the cotter through
which I drive the key and tighten the cotter. In some cases separate rails may
be dispensed with, and the tread be formed of cast iron in one piece with the
sleeper.
(3). A further mode of constructing tramways consists of the employment of a
longitudinal sleeper of iron or steel rolled of plain T section inverted, the rail
riding on the edge of the web which slightly tapers, a groove being provided in
the bottom of the rail, and the fastening being effected by transverse pins, cotters,
rivets, or bolts. These sleepers may also be used intermittently.
(4.) The longitudinal sleeper may be constructed of two plain L irons placed
back to back, the web of a T rail being held between the two sides of the L iron
and be secured by bolts, rivets, or cotters. These sleepers may also be used inter-
mittently.
(5.) A tramway may also be constructed consisting of a T headed rail supported
in a longitudinal iron sleeper or intermediate chairs cast in two halves, the tops
clipping the web of the rail, and are fastened together by bolts; the lower portion
of the chairs or sleepers may also be connected by bolts through lugs or in other
convenient ways.
(6.) A fastening for rails of ordinary section in iron chairs or longitudinal sleepers
consists of continuing the head of the chairs or intermediate place of longitudinal
sleepers to the rail surface so that a seat is formed, against one side of which the
rail may abut, while on the other side a space is left in which a key or keys
parallel to the rails may be inserted, and fusible material may be used instead of
or in combination with the said key or keys.
(7.) An improved fastening for ordinary intermediate iron chairs or longitudinal
sleepers carrying rails resembling the T section is produced as follows:-In the
place of the transverse pin or cotter passing through the sleeper or chair and the
web of the rail I provide a key space in the sleeper or chair on one side of the web
of the rail, and insert in the latter a tapered pin the head of which protrudes a little
into the key space; a key driven into the latter along the web of the rail drives
home the pin into the other side of the chair or sleeper, the head of the pin abutting
on the flank of the key. In some cases the pin may be dispensed with.
(8.) Another improved fastening for tramways of the same type as the preceeding
one is obtained by using the same pin abutting against a fishplate, which is drawn
home by a bolt passing through the plate web and one side of the chair or sleeper;
or the bolted fishplate alone without the pin may be used, and then the web of the
rail may or may not be more or less headed or flanged at the bottom.
(9). A further improvement of the fastenings described in which bolts are used,
and which improvement is also more generally applicable to railways, machinery,
and other structural purposes, consists of a new nut locking arrangement for the
bolt. The nut is made larger and thicker and a groove is cut all round, having its
sides and bottom parallel or nearly so to the faces and sides of the nut, and when
the nut has been screwed home so that one of the groove bottoms is parallel or
nearly so with the head of the rail, or a rim or projection provided on the fishplate

page_text: or other object to which it is applied, a key is driven into the groove filling the
space between the bottom of the latter and the head of the rail or other shoulder
or projection naturally or artificially provided; or the groove in the nut may be
omitted, and a key may be driven between the side or edge of the nut and the
shoulder, rim, or projection available, and for further security either the sides of
the nut or the shoulder or other abutment for the key may be slightly bevelled so
as to take a key of dovetail section. A further modification consists of a locking
washer having a projecting head that abuts against the rail head or other shoulder,
and one side of the nut being placed over the nut when screwed home and another
nut used to keep the said washer in its place; when a number of nuts in close
proximity to each other are to be secured one such washer may be used to secure
them all.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, and of
an order of the Lord Chancellor, filed by the said Malcolm Macleod in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th July 1880.
MALCOLM MACLEOD, of Oxford Chambers, in the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer and Contractor. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF TRAMWAYS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO RAILWAYS AND TO OTHER PURPOSES OF CONSTRUCTION."
I employ an ordinary tramway rail bedded in a transverse sleeper of stone,
concrete, slag, or other suitable material having a recess on the top, into which an
iron or other shoe, chair, or lining is cast or placed, and secured by fusible cement,
asphalte, sulphur, lead, or the like, by preference Seysell asphalte, and which chair
and also the rail is preferably a little wider at the bottom than at the top, the rail
being secured in the shoe or chair by a key or keys of metal or wood running
parallel to the rail, and which keys may also be slightly bevelled in section.
Fusible materials or asphalte may be used for fixing the keys. The sleeper may
either be of such length as to carry both rails, or it may consist of a block of
sufficient size to receive only one rail, and be of such a width and thickness as may
be found necessary or convenient for the material employed, the surface of the
sleeper being prepared in any suitable manner so as to serve as road surface, and
the distance from sleeper to sleeper varying according to the strength of the rail
employed, or as may be desired from other considerations. Where continuous
support is preferred I form concrete or other foundations level with the bottom of
the shoe groove. An example of such a tramway is illustrated by Figs. 1 & 2 on
the accompanying Drawing in cross section and plan respectively, Fig. 3 showing the
shoe U seperate, R being the rail fixed by the keys K in the shoe U, and the latter
fixed in the sleeper S, J denoting the cement or other joints, and C being a suitable
foundation of concrete or other material for the sleeper S; P are the setts of the
pavement.
An improved fastening for ordinary intermediate iron chairs or longitudinal
sleepers carrying rails having a web is effected by bolting the web of the rail
laterally to a suitably constructed chair or sleeper, and inserting a taper pointed
pin passing through the web of the rail into the chair of sleeper, the other end
abuting against a fishplate, which is drawn home by the bolt. In some cases the
pin may be omitted. This fastening is shown in Fig. 4, R' being the rail; S', the
sleeper or chair; F, a fishplate; and p, the pin. The bolt is not shown. Fig. 5
shows the same method applied to railways, R" being a rail headed at the bottom
or double headed rail.
For fastenings in which bolts are used, either on tramways or railways, or in
connection with machinery or other structural purposes, employ a new nut
locking arrangement, which may be applied in many different ways. The nut that
is to be so locked may be made larger and thicker, and a groove is cut all round,
having its sides and bottom parallel or nearly so to the faces and sides of the nut,
or the bottom of the groove may form an octagon, in order that it may be locked in
a parallel or diagonal position, and when the nut has been screwed home so that
one of the groove bottoms is parallel or nearly so to the head of the rail, or a rim
or projection provided on the fishplate or other object to which it is applied, a key
is driven into the groove filling the space between the bottom of the latter and the
head of the rail or other shoulder or projection naturally or artificially provided;
or the groove in the nut may be omitted, and a key may be driven between the
sides or edge of the nut and the shoulder rim or projection available, and for further

page_text: security either the sides of the nut or the shoulder or other abutment for the key
may be slightly bevelled so as to take a key of dovetail section. A further modi-
fication consists of a locking washer having a projecting head that abuts against the
rail head or other shoulder, and one side of the nut when placed over the latter
after having been screwed tight, and another nut or other devize may be used to
keep the said washer in its place. When a number of nuts in close proximity to
each other are to be secured, one such washer or plate, with or without shoulder,
or one baving boles or slots into which the nuts fit approximately may be used to
secure the whole of the number. If such a lockplate is employed it may be used
either for plain, bevelled, or grooved nuts, but if plain nuts are to be locked the
boles or slots in the lock plate are star shaped so as to engage the corners of the nuts.
In some cases it may become desirable to provide further security for keeping the
lockplate in its position; and for this purpose several methods of fastening the same
may be used, as hereafter described. These locking plates have the advantage that
they may be applied without disturbing in any way the existing permanent way or
other objects for which they are used.
Figs. 6, 7, 8, & 9 illustrate this part of the Invention and some of its modi-
fications, all being shown as applied to railway joints; R111 representing the rail;
F, the ordinary fishplate; F¹; Figs. 6 & 8, a fishplate with a plain shoulder; and
F, Fig. 7, a fishplate with a shoulder inclining inwardly; Fig. 6 illustrates the
grooved nut N with the key K¹; Fig. 7 shows a plain nut fixed with a bevelled
key K driven between the side of the nut and the projecting shoulder on the
fishplate; Fig. 8 shows a similar arrangement but with the sides of the nut N¹
bevelled; and Fig. 9 shows the fastening with ordinary nuts and a locking washer
or plate W.
Figs. 10 & 11 show in section and view a slotted lockplate B, serving a number
of nuts simultaneously applied to plain nuts; Fig. 12 showing the plate B
separate; Fig. 13 shows one form of a plate B¹ for grooved nuts, and Fig. 14 shows
the same applied to a rail joint; Fig. 15 shows a lockplate B₁ with star holes,
which may be applied to plain nuts, as illustrated in Figs. 10 & 11.
A devize which may be used for preventing the locking plate B from slipping off
plain nuts is shown in Fig. 16; it consists of a thin plate w, having a hole through
which one of the centre bolts passes when placed between the fishplate F and
lockplate B; this washer plate w carries a thumb turn T, which passes flat through
the slot hole h in the centre of the plate B and is then turned across the slot.
I also curve or spring the plate a little, and split pins may also be used.
Having now particularly described my Invention, and ascertained in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I do not limit inyself to precise
details shown and described for the purpose of explaining the Invention, but claim
as my Invention substantially,―
(1.) The construction of a tramway with ordinary tram rails keyed in metallic
or other shoes bedded in stone or similar sleepers, substantially as described in
Figs. 1, 2, & 3.
•
(2.) A nut locking arrangement, consisting of a grooved nut keyed against a
suitable shoulder, substantially as described, in Fig. 6.
(3.) A nut locking arrangement, consisting of a plain nut with key driven
against a suitable bevelled shoulder or projection, substantially as shown in
Fig. 7.
(4.) A nut locking arrangement, consisting of a nut with bevelled sides and a
key driven against a suitable projection, substantially as described and shown in
Fig. '8.
(5.) A nut locking arrangement, consisting of a shouldered washer or plate,
substantially as described and shown in Fig. 9.
(6.) A. nut locking arrangement, consisting of a curved slotted plate with star
or square slots for plain, bevelled, or grooved nuts, and which plate may be further

page_text: secured if desired in any suitable manner, substantially as shown in Figs. 10, 11,
12, 13, & 14.
(7.) A nut locking arrangement, consisting of a curved locking plate with star
holes, and a rim or shoulder abuting against a projection and fixed in any suitable
manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Malcolm Macleod, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 16th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1880.
MALCOLM MACLEOD