IMPROVEMENTS IN PREVENTING ACCI- DENTS ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
FREDERICK WHITWORTH, of Hull, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of
February, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the twelfth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Charles Frederick Whitworth, my exors, adñiors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Charles Frederick Whitworth, my exors, adññors, and assigns, or such others
as 1, the said Charles Frederick Whitworth, my 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, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREVENTING ACCI-
DENTS ON RAILWAYS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said Charles Frederick Whitworth, should cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 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, I, the said
Charles Frederick Whitworth, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
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

page_text: engineer not have observed the signal, or having seen the signal not have
acted on it. The apparatus for this purpose may be greatly varied, but the
arrangement I prefer is shown in the Drawings. is a lever handle, which
by rods c, c, and chain d, gives motion to the signal apparatus on the post a,
as shown, and at the same time it also gives motion by the chain d to the
axis e, at one end of which there are two cams f and g, which respectively
act on the instruments h and i, so as to raise them into an inclined position
when it is desired that they should act on the apparatus carried by the
locomotive so as to sound the whistle and cut off the steam. This apparatus
is very similar to what has before been proposed for like purposes, and is not
separately claimed under the present Letters Patent; but so far the apparatus
heretofore used is suitable rather to relieve the engineer from attending to the
signals given than to cause him to be more attentive to signals, and this
part of my Invention consists of so arranging other apparatus in conjunction
with that before mentioned as to ensure greater attention on the part of the
engineer to signals, or else to record against him any neglect of attention to
the signals at the proper points of the line. The locomotive carries the
instruments o, which are fixed to the bar p, one for cutting off the steam, and
the other for causing the whistle to be sounded. These two apparatus o are
similar one to the other in all respects, but that the one for cutting off the
steam is provided with means of allowing the engineer when cutting off the
steam by the ordinary means, at the same time to prevent that apparatus o
being acted on by the apparatus on the line of way. The apparatus o is
shown separately on a larger scale in Figure 6, and the only difference is that
the one for cutting off the steam has a trigger o', which being acted on by
a rod g in connection with the apparatus for cutting off the steam, causes
the instrument & to be moved out of the way of the apparatus in the roadway.
The rod g is connected to an arm g³ on the axis g², which is put in motion
when the spring r is relieved by that motion of the engineer's regulator
requisite to shut off the steam in the ordinary way. A link g' connects the
levert to the lever g³ on the axis g, and the lever moving on the axis s
has its extremity retained in an equidistant position from the axis of the
regulator by a segment u fixed to the under side of the said axis and revolving
therewith, the segment being so formed and placed that when the steam is
shut off the lever t, from the power of the spring r, shall rise towards the
axis of the regulator, and so impinge against it as to prevent the possibility
of the engineer's putting on the steam until the lever t be again depressed,
which is to be effected by his foot on the treadle v. A rod is connected
to the lever handle of the whistle, so that should the instrument j come in

page_text: contact with an apparatus, such as has been before stated, on the roadway,
the spring will press down the rod t connected to the lever handle of the
whistle, and the same will be caused to sound, the apparatus on the roadway
causing the instrment j to cause the trigger w, shown at Figure 6, to let go the
rod ; but such apparatus is not claimed by me. k is an instrument which is
also to be carried by the locomotive, and in communication with the apparatus o,
which is in connection with the steam cock l, which is to be so arranged
that if the instrument be acted on by any suitable apparatus on the railway it
shall open the steam passage into the small steam cylinder m, and cause the
piston therein to move, and thus cause a throttle valve in the pipe n leading
to the steam cylinders to be closed, and at the same time the apparatus is to
be so arranged that the pointer a on the dial will be moved, and indicate that
such valve has been closed by the apparatus on the roadway. The rod k, like
that described in respect to j¹, enters tho apparatus o, and is retained in position
by a trigger till released by the instrument K when it is acted on by the
apparatus on the roadway. And such dial and pointer are to be enclosed and
not accessible to the engineer, so that each time he allows the apparatus on the
railway to be the means of cutting off the supply of steam to the steam
cylinders, it will be recorded against him, and indicate the fact that at that
time-be-had-not attended to the signal, and he would be subject to fine or
other punishment for neglect. It will thus be seen that the-apparatus
which is carried by the locomotive is so arranged, that if the engineer caused
the steam to be cut off, then the apparatus will not act to shut off the steam,
and on the contrary, if he should not shut off the steam at the proper time,
and the apparatus on the roadway is allowed to act, that fact will be recorded
against him, showing that he has not done his duty and observed the signals.
I would remark, that although I have been particular in thus showing and
describing the apparatus I prefer to use both in respect to the railway and
the locomotive, I do not confine myself thereto, so long as the apparatus
shall be so arranged as to indicate each time that the steam is shut off by the
apparatus, and not by the engineer.
Another part of my Invention consists of arranging apparatus for cutting
off the steam, and for causing the whistle to be sounded previous to coming up
to a level crossing, in connection with the gate or gates which close such
crossing to the public, in order that the gate or gates shall not be opened to the
public without having set apparatus at a distance to cut off the steam from the
steam cylinders of any locomotive which may come up during the time such
gate or gates are open to the public, and thus to ensure the stopping of such
locomotive, before it comes up to the crossing. For this purpose I, by

page_text: preference, use apparatus such as above described, but the same is to be so
arranged that the gates or gate cannot be opened without first having set
the incline or other apparatus at a distance, which may be done by a bolt
or lock, or other contrivance, in connection with the gate or gates. which shall
be unfastened by the act of moving the lever or instruments which sets the
apparatus at a distance. By this means there will be far less liability to
accidents at level crossings than at present.
Another part of my Invention consists of apparatus for drawing carriages
together on railways so as to prevent those accidents which have often
happened by persons getting between carriages, when the same are to be
coupled up into a train. This apparatus is shown at Figures 7 and 8. a is a
rack bar which slides in suitable bearings under the carriage. is a pinion on
the axis c, by means of which the rack bar can be moved out or in. This
apparatus is used in the following manner:-Supposing a carriage is required
to be coupled to another, it is to run up near thereto, and the forked hook of
the bar a moved out so as to have the axis or end of one of the links of the
ordinary screw coupling & placed thereon, the other link of the screw coupling
being attached to the other carriage, then by moving the bar a by the pinion
inwards, the two carriages will be drawn together, and the link of the
coupling d will come over the fixed hook e of the carriage, and will readily be
put down thereon. The bar a is then again to be moved back to release it
from the back end or axis of the link.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Frederick Whitworth, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
CHARLES FREDERICK (L.s.) WHITWORTH.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirteenth day of August, in
the year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid Charles Frederick Whitworth 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 Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.