IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO LOCOMOTIVE STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Haswell, of Vienna, in the Empire of Austria,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
RAILWAY CARRIAGES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO LOCOMOTIVE
STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 30th June 1857, and dated the 19th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Haswell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
January 1857.
I, JOHN HASWELL, of Vienna, in the Empire of Austria, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE
TO LOCOMOTIVE STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in the construction of railway carriages and
locomotive steam engines has for its object to equally distribute the weight
of the carriage or engine upon the axle boxes, and to render it impossible
to increase the weight by screwing down any of the springs, or by placing
more weight upon one axle than another, or more than has been contemplated
by the manufacturer. And also to construct the under part of the carriage
or engine in such a manner that a long bearing upon the rails, or distance
between the front and back wheels, is obtained without the engine being
rendered too stiff for passing round curves or over crossings. A perfectly

page_text: safe and steady working engine at all speeds may therefore be constructed
upon my improved plan.
My Invention consists in the adaptation of a moveable truck or frame
under the front of the locomotive, and which moveable truck or frame
radiates from a centre between the driving or coupled wheels and the wheels
of the truck frame; and also in the connection of the front part of the engine
or boiler with the truck frame.
In carrying out my improvements a guide pole is adapted to the fore part
of the engine, and on the end of this guide pole is a ball and socket joint,
which admits of a curved or circular movement of the frame on the centre,
so that it may adjust itself to the inequalities or curves of the rails. Two
pendant arms are fixed fast on the ball joint, which plays in its socket, fixed
on plates attached to the under part of the framing and boiler of the engine.
The upper ends of the pendant arms are bored out and fitted upon the guide
pole, which passes through oblong holes in the plates attached to the under
sides of the frame. The weight of the front part of the engine rests on the
ball joint, and the pendant arms transfer that weight to the guide pole, which
is firmly connected to the carriage by the side plates. Instead of causing
the weight to bear upon each of the wheels separately, the weight is sustained
by horizontal beams, which supports the springs, and extend longitudinally
from axle to axle, the ends of the beams being above the axles, so that upon
placing the weight of the engine or carriage upon the centre of the beam
it is transferred to two axles instead of only one.
In adapting the long bearing and guide pole to passengers' carriages or
goods trucks, a similar arrangement of parts to that above described as
applied to the fore end of engines may be adapted to both ends of the carriage,
and as the carriages can be made longer, and made to contain more passengers
or goods per cwt. of waggon than according to the old system, and such
carriages will be safe, strong, and durable, there will be less dead weight,
and no overhanging weight without the support of the ends of the carriages
or waggons, fewer buffers and draw bars than in the ordinary construction.
By constructing and arranging under parts of locomotivo engines upon the
plan above explained, the locomotive will not only be steady. at all speeds,
and much safer than engines of the ordinary construction, with less wear and
tear, but will be less liable to leave the road on quick curves, and will be
free from the defects of other long based locomotives.
The present Invention also enables the engine builder to increase the size
of the fire box, and lengthen the tubes of the boiler, thus producing a more
powerful boiler, and by the increased length thus obtained a long wheel base

page_text: is obtained for the rails without overhanging weight, and the flexibility of the
engine, rendered necessary by the increased length, is secured by the action
of the ball and socket joint.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Haswell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HASWELL, of Vienna, in the Empire of Austria, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Haswell, Her special licence that I, the said John Haswell, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Haswell, my executors, administrators, and 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 IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND LOCOMOTIVE STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Haswell, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 Haswell, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of improvements in the construction of railway carriages
and locomotive steam engines has for its object, in the first place, to equally
distribute the weight of the carriage or engine upon the axle boxes, and to
render it impossible to increase the weight by screwing down any of the
springs, or by placing more weight upon one axle than another, or more

page_text: than has been contemplated by the manufacturer. And also to construct
the under part of the carriage or engine in such a manner that a long bearing
upon the rails, or distance between the front and back wheels, is obtained
without the engine being rendered too stiff for passing round curves or over
crossings. A perfectly safe and steady working engine at all speeds may
therefore be constructed upon my improved plan.
My Invention consists in the adaptation of a moveable truck or frame
under the front of the locomotive, or under the end of a waggon or carriage,
and which moveable truck or frame radiates from a centre between the
driving or coupled wheels and the wheels of the truck frame; and also in
the connection of the front part of the engine or boiler with the truck frame.
According to one mode of carrying out my improvements in a locomotive
engine, a guide pole is adapted to the fore part of the engine, and at the end
of this guide pole is a ball and socket joint, which admits of a curved or
circular movement of the frame on the centre, so that it may adjust itself to
the inequalities or curves of the rails. Two pendent arms are adapted to
another ball joint connected with the guide pole, and this ball joint plays in its
socket fixed on plates attached to the under part of the framing and boiler of
the engine; the upper ends of the pendent arms are bored out and fitted upon
the guide pole, which passes through oblong holes in the plates attached to
the under sides of the frame. The weight of the front part of the engine
rests on the ball joint, and the pendent arms transfer that weight to the guide
pole, which is firmly connected to the carriage by the side plates.
Instead of causing the weight to bear upon each of the wheels separately,
the weight is sustained by horizontal beams which support the springs and
extend longitudinally from axle to axle, the ends of the beams being above
the axles, so that upon placing the weight of the engine or carriage upon the
centre of the beam it is transferred to two axles instead of only one.
In adapting the long bearing and guide pole to passengers' carriages or
goods trucks a similar arrangement of parts to that above described as
applied to the fore end of engines may be adapted to both ends of the
carriage, and as the carriages can be made longer, and made to contain more
passengers or goods per cwt. of waggon than according to the old system, and
such carriages will be safe, strong, and durable, there will be less dead weight
and no overhanging weight without the support of the ends of the carriages or
waggons, and fewer buffers and draw bars will be required than in the ordinary
construction.
By constructing and arranging the under parts of locomotive engines upon
the plan above explained the locomotive will not only be steady at all speeds,

page_text: and much safer than engines of the ordinary construction, with less wear and
tear, but will be less liable to leave the road on quick curves, and will be free
from the defects of other long based locomotives. The present Invention also
enables the engine builder to increase the size of the fire box and lengthien
the tubes of the boiler, thus producing a more powerful boiler, and by the
increased length thus obtained a long wheel base is obtained for the rails
without overbanging weight, and the flexibility of the engine rendered
necessary by the increased length is secured by the action of the ball and
socket joint.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings I have shewn my improvements
as adapted to a locomotive engine, and in Sheet II. as applied to a goods
truck or to a passenger waggon; as, however, the construction of the parts
will be very similar in all cases, I have placed' similar letters of reference on
corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Fig. 1, Sheet I., is a longitudinal vertical section of a locomotive engine,
with my improvements adapted thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the framing,
the locomotive boiler being removed therefrom in order to shew the parts
beneath; Fig. 3 is an end view and partial section of the engine; Figs. 4
and 5 are partial sectional end views of a modification of the plan shewn in
the other Figures.
a, a, is a framing, supported on four running wheels w, iv, and attached by
means of side plates p, p, to the guide pole b, which turns on a ball and
socket joint f, secured to the under side of the boiler, so that the framing a is
allowed to have a kind of radial motion when the engine is passing round
curves, and which will also allow the running wheels of the framing to yield
to the inequalities of the road. The fore part of the boiler is supported by
the pendent plates e, e, to which the boiler is firmly secured in any convenient
manner; and to the lower end of these pendent plates e, e, is attached the
ball and socket joint d. The guide pole 6 passes free and clear through the
pendent plates e, e, oblong holes being made in the latter for the purpose.
The whole weight of the fore end of the boiler and engine therefore rests
upon the ball and socket joint d, from which it is transferred to the guide
pole 6 and framing a by the pendent arms c, c, which connect the ball and
socket joint d with the outer end of the guide pole b, as seen best in
Fig. 1.
Figs. 4 and 5 represent a modification of the above described plan of con-
structing and arranging the under framing of locomotive engines. In these
Figures the ball and socket joint is retained, but the guide pole 6 of Figs. 1
and 2 is dispensed with. a, a, is the frame to which the two pair of front

page_text: running wheels w, w, are attached. The pendent arms c, c, are much shorter
than in the former instance, and they support the ball and socket joint d,
which is reversed in this arrangement, and will therefore retain the oil or
lubricating material much better than in the arrangement shewn in Fig. 1.
The arms c, c, are provided with journals, which turn in bearings n, n, cast in
one piece and bolted to the sides of the framing a, a. The red lines in the
Figure indicate the position of the framing and running wheels when passing
round curves.
Figs. 6 and 7, Sheet II., represent a side elevation and plan view of two
goods vans or waggons, with my improvements adapted thereto at both ends
of each carriage. It will be evident that the Invention may in a similar
manner and with equal advantage be applied to a passenger carriage.
Having now described my Invention of improvements in the construction
of railway carriages and locomotive steam engines, and the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I would observe that I do not mean or intend to confine
myself rigidly to the precise arrangement or construction of parts herein
shewn and described, as they may, perhaps, be varied without departing from
the nature and object of my Invention, nor do I mean to claim the exclusive
right of supporting the end or ends of locomotive engines or carriages on
supplementary frames, or carriages with four running wheels; but I claim as
the Invention secured to me by Letters Pattent as aforesaid, the use or
employment and application, as above shewn and described, of a moveable
truck or frame under the end of a locomotive engine for the purpose herein
set forth. I also claim connecting the front part of the engine or boiler
with the moveable frame, as above described; and further, the application of
a similar arrangement of parts to passenger carriages or goods trucks, as above
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Haswell, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, the Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
J. HASWELL. (L.S.)