Improvements in Railroad Crossing Points or Frogs.
Year: 1890

page_text: vate of Application, 21st Oct., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 16th Dec., 1890-Accepted, 17th Jan., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railroad Crossing Points or Frogs.
I, JAMES BAIRD, of Chignecto Mines, in the County of Cumberland, Province of
Nova Scotia and Dominion of Canada, Mine Manager, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to the permanent way of railroads; and the object of my
invention is to provide a crossing frog or point over which locomotives and trains will
run smoothly and safely without the jarring and pounding so noticeable when the
ordinary crossing is used.
To this end my invention consists in a bed, a movable frog rail pivoted thereon,
and connections between the frog rail and the ordinary switch rod whereby the frog
rail may be moved into alignment with the track rails, at the same time the switch is
operated.
The frog or crossing and the opposite rail rest upon longitudinal timbers which are
supported on the sleepers and the bed plate of the frog is shouldered into one of the
longitudinal timbers and the converging ends of the rails next the frog, rest upon the
ends of the bed plate said converging rails being provided with fish plates and with
a suitable wedge between them. The ends of the rails and the ends of the fish
plates next the frog, are provided with a horizontal slot adapted to receive horizontal
lugs which project from the ends of fish plates which are fixed to the movable frog
rail. By this means the frog rail and the abutting rails form, practically, a con-
tinuous rail. The frog rail is mounted on a pivot which extends centrally through
The bed plate and turns freely therein. The bed plate is cut away near each end
to afford means for attaching the two members of a bifurcated lever thereto and
it is provided near each corner with stops to limit the movement of the frog rail.
The lever extends transversely through a slot in the main rail and its members
are clamped to the frog rail near the opposite ends thereof, the ends of the lever
extending through recesses in the bed plate. The members of the lever are also
attached to the rail and bed plate by bolts as an additional precaution against their
becoming loose, said bolts extending downward through the members of the lever
and through the bed plate into a slot in the timber and provided with washers
and with a key to hold them in position. The bed plate has curved slots through
which the bolts pass and which permit the necessary movement of the bolts when the
frog rail is moved.
The members of the lever may be made in two parts joined together, or in a
single piece. The lever extends through a slot of the timber beneath the main rail,
said slot being long enough to permit the necessary movement. There are vertical
pieces at each end of the slot which are firmly bolted to the main rail and
extending above and below the slot are two strips which are bolted at the ends to
the vertical pieces. the one strip being curved outwardly to correspond with the are
of the circle formed by the swinging of the end of the lever and provided near each
end with a notch adapted to receive the end of the lever and a lug on which the
connecting rod slides, while the other is provided with a laterally extending arm to
the outer end of which is pivoted a dog adapted to engage the connecting rod. The
connecting rod is slotted near one end to receive the end of the lever, the said
slot being long enough to permit a slight movement of the rod before it moves the
lever. The connecting rod extends parallel with the main rail and is connected with
the switch rod through a bell crank lever and it has notches upon its upper edge to
receive the point of the dog, the said notches being so arranged that when the lever
of the frog is engaged by one of the notches of the curved strip, the dog will rest
normally in one of the notches. The connecting rod is also provided with a swell or

page_text: projection upon its lower edge between the notches so that when the lever is moved
longitudinally, the projection will ride upon the lug and raise the lever from its
notch. When the lever is engaged with one of the notches and the dog rests in one
of the notches of the rod the rod, may be moved a little further, by means of its
loose connection with the lever, so as to bring the point of the dog above a higher
portion of the rod, thereby locking the lever and consequently the frog rail in
position. The rod is guided by the keepers through which it extends and the end of
the rod is pivoted to one member of the bell crank lever the other member of which
is attached to the switch rod. The bell crank lever is also connected with the
ordinary switch lever so that when the switch is operated, the frog rail will be
brought into alignment with the rails of the main.line or branch as desired.
By the above construction the frog rail is held by the stops from moving in one
direction and is held by the lever and the strip from moving in the opposite direction.
The frog rail is not so high as the abutting rails but as the centre of the bed plate is
a little higher than its ends the top of the frog rail is on the same plane as the other
rails. By having the rails bolted to the bed plate and by having the frog rail pro-
vided with the lug extending into the slot in the ends of the rails the road bed is
made very smooth.
Dated this 21st day of October 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railroad Crossing Points or Frogs.
I, JAMES BAIRD, of Chignecto Mines, inįthe County of Cumberland, Province of
Nova Scotia and Dominion of Canada, Mine Manager, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to the permanent way of railroads; and the object of my
invention is to provide a crossing frog or point over which locomotives and trains will
run smoothly and safely without the jarring and pounding so noticeable when the
ordinary crossing is used.
To this end, my invention consists in a bed, a movable frog rail pivoted thereon,
and connections between the frog rail and the ordinary switch-rod whereby the frog
rail may be moved into alignment with the track rails at the same time the switch is
operated. This construction will be hereinafter fully described and specifically pointed
out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this
Specification in which
Figure 1 is a plan view of a railroad frog embodying my invention, shewing the
lever connections extending through the opposite rail.
Figure 2 is a broken side elevation of the rail and lever mechanism opposite the
frog.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section on line 3-3 Figure 1, shewing in side elevation
the frog rail and the ends of the rails with which it abuts.
F gure is a transverse section on line 4--4 Figure 1.
Figure 5 is a cross-section through the frog pivot on line 5-5 Figure 1.
Figure 6 is a broken detail view of one end of the frog rail, shewing the fish plates
and the projecting lug thereon, and
Figure 7 is a plan view shewing the connections between the frog lever and the
ordinary switch rod.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.
The rails A and A³ are the rails of the main track, the rails A² are the switch rails
which are moved by the switch rod in the usual manner, the rails B are the rails of a

page_text: At each
branen or siding with which the rails A may be connected as usual, and is the
movable frog rail adapted to align with the rail A or with the rail B, as hereinafter
described. The frog or crossing D and the rail A' opposite the frog, rest upon the
longitudinal timbers E which are supported on the sleepers F and the bed plate H
of the frog D is shouldered into one of the longitudinal timbers E and the converging
end of the ra Is A and B next the frog, rest upon the ends of the bed plate said
converging rails being provided with fish plates G and with a suitable wedge (¹
between them. The ends of the rails and the ends of the fish plates next the frog
are provided with a horizontal slot g (Figure 3) adapted to receive the horizontal
lugs which project from the ends of fish plates which are fixed to the movable.
frog rail C. By this means the frog rail and the abutting rails form practically
continuous rail. The frog rail C is mounted on a pivot I which extends centrally
through the bed plate H and turns freely therein. The bed plate H is cut away at
the portions H near each end to afford means for attaching the members J of the
lever J thereto. The plate is also provided near each corner with suitable stops h
adapted to fit the flange of the rail and limit its movement. The lever exten⋅ls
transversely through a slot close to the bottom of the rail A and is provided with
oiverging members J' which are clamped to the flange of the rail near the opposite
ends thereof, the ends of the lever extending through the recesses H₁ of the bed plate
The members J of the lever are also attached to the rail and bed plate by bolts jus
an additional precaution against their becoming loose. The bolts extend downwar
through the members J and through the bed plate H into a slot e in the rumber E
and are provided with washers and with a key to hold them in position. The bed
plate H has curved slots through which the bolts pass and which permit the
necessary movement of the bolts when the rail C is moved. The members Jare
spliced at the points j', although they may be formed in a single piece if desired.
The lever J extends through a slot a (Figure 2) of the timber E beneath the rail A',
said slot being long enough to permit the necessary movement of the lever.
en of the slot a are the vertical strips K which are firmly bolted to the rail A' and
extending above and below the slot are the strips and k¹ respectively which are
bolted at the ends to the strips K. The strip is curved outwardly to correspond
with the are of the circle formed by the swinging of the end of the lever and said
strip is provided near each end with a notch adapted to receive the end of the
lever J. The strip k is provided with a laterally-extending arm 7 to the outer end of
which is pivoted a dog adapted to engage the connecting rod N and the strip k¹ is
provided with a laterally-extending lug m which aligns with the dog and upon
which the rod N slides. The connecting rod N is slotted near one end to receive the
end of the lever J, the said slot being long enough to permit a slight movement of the
rod N before it moves the lever J. The connecting rod N extends parallel with
the rail A¹ and is connected with the switch rod as described below. It has upon its
upper edge, notches n to receive the point of the dog the said notches being about
the same distance apart as are the notches in the strip k so that when the lever J
is engaged by one of the notches k² the dog will rest normally in one of the
otches n.
The connecting rod N is also provided with a swell or projection n¹ upon
its lower edge between the notches n so that when the lever is moved longitudinally
the projection n' will ride upon the lug m and raise the lever J from one of the
notches. When the lever J is engaged with one of the notches k² and the dog
rests in one of the notches n, the rod N may be moved a little further by means of its
loose connection with the lever J so as to bring the point of the dog above a higher
portion of the rod N thereby locking the lever J and consequently the frog rail C in
position. The rod N is guided by the keepers 0 through which it extends and the
ond of the rod opposite that connected with the lever J is pivoted to one member of
the elbow lever P which is pivoted upon a suitable support and the other member of
which is pivoted to the switch rod p which is connected with the rails A². The elbow
lever P is also connected with the ordinary switch lever pl so that when the switch is
operated to move the rails A² the lever P will be tilted, thereby moving the connecting
i

page_text: rod N the lever J and the frog rail C, thus bringing the frog rail into alignment with
the rails A or B of the main line or branch as desired.
It will be seen that the frog rail is held by the stops from moving in one direction
and that it is held by the lever Jand the strip k from moving in the opposite direction.
It will be noticed, too, that the frog rail is not so high as the abutting rails but as
the centre of the bed plate H is a little higher than its ends the top of the frog rail is
on the same plane as the other rails. By having the rails A and B bolted to the hed
plate H and by having the rail provided with the lug e extending into the slot in
the ends of the rails A and B, the road bed is made very smooth. From the fore-
oing description, it will be seen that the frog rail must move in unison with the
rails A2 as operated by the switch so that when the rails A2 are made to align with the
rails A and A¹ the frog rail will align with the rail A and when the rails A² are made
to align with the branch or siding rails B the frog rail will also align with the rail of
the siding.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, declare that what I
claim is-
1. In a railroad crossing point or frog, the combination, with a bed supporting
upon opposite ends the converging rails of the railroad track and a rail pivoted upon
the bed, of a pronged lever attached to opposite ends of the rail and extending beneath
the opposite rail, a locking device directly engaging the lever and a bar connecting
the pronged lever with the switch rod, substantially as described.
2. In a railroad crossing point or frog, the combination, with a bed supporting on
opposite ends the converging rails of the track, the rails being horizontally slotted
as shewn, and a rail pivoted on the bed and provided at the ends with lugs extending
into the slots of the track rails, of a pronged lever attached to opposite ends of
the movable rail and extending through a slot in the opposite rail, and a lever
mechanism connecting the end of the pronged lever with the switch rod, substantially
as described.
3. In a railroad crossing point or frog, the combination, with a bed and a rail
pivoted on the bed, of a pronged lever attached to opposite ends of the pivoted rail
and extending through a slot in the opposite rail, a horizontal strip extending below
the slot and having notches to receive the end of the pronged lever, a bar connecting
the end of the pronged lever with the switch rod, and a dog pivoted above the pronged
lever and adapted to hold it in engagement with the notched strip, substantially as
described.
4. In a railroad crossing point or frog, the combination, with a bed and a rail
pivoted on the bed, of a pronged lever attached to opposite ends of the pivoted rail
and extending through a slot in the opposite rail, a curved horizontal strip extending
beneath the slot and provided with notches and a laterally extending lug, a strip
extending horizontally above the slot and provided with a laterally extending arm
having a dog pivoted thereon, a sliding bar loosely connected with the end of
the pronged lever, said bar having on its underside a projection to engage the
lug of the curved strip and upon its upper side notches to engage the dog, and an
elbow lever pivoted upon a support and having one member connected with the sliding
bar and the other with a switch rod, substantially as described.
5. A railroad crossing point or frog, comprising a bed supporting at opposite ends
the converging rails of the track, the rails being horizontally slotted at the ends, a
rail pivoted upon the bed and provided at the ends with horizontal lugs to engage
the slots in the track rails, stops fixed to the bed to limit the movement of the pivoted
rail and support the same, a pronged lever fixed to opposite ends of the pivoted rail
and extending through a horizontal slot in the opposite rail, a curved strip extending
horizontally beneath the slot, the strip having notches therein to engage the pronged
lever, and a laterally extending lug, a strip extending horizontally above the slot and
provided with a laterally extending arm having a dog pivoted thereon, a sliding bar

page_text: loosely connected with the pronged lever, and extending between the lug of the curved
strip and the dog, said bar having upon its under side a projection to engage the lug
and upon its upper side notches to engage the dog, and an elbow lever having one
member pivoted to the sliding bar and the other connected with a switch, all
substantially as described.
Dated this 16th day of December 1800.
CONV
J. BAIRD.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.