IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1857

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Hill at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th June
1857.
I, JOSEPH HILL, of Mount Pleasant, near Ferry Hill, in the County of
Durham, Roll Turner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is, firstly, to produce a form or construction of
rail to be fixed without chairs, the head or working surface of which can be
replaced or renewed when worn out at a much less cost and trouble than the
ordinary rail; and, secondly, a new form of rail, which does not require any
wooden sleepers at all.
In the annexed Drawing, Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent sections of three
modifications of the first part of my Invention. In Figure 1, A represents
the permanent part or foundation plate of the rail, and B, the moveable por-
tion of the same, which may be connected together either by pins and steel
cotters, as shewn, or by nuts and bolts. The part B of the rail may be
made more substantial by forming it, as shewn, by dotted lines; it will also
be easier to manufacture. Figure 2 is a slight modification of the above,
whereby the lower flange of the part B is dispensed with; and Figure 3 is
another variation, wherein the foundation plate A has no vertical flange,
a rectangular side piece C being substituted at the joints, and at intervals
along the side to give the requisite stiffness to the rail. This latter form
is only suitable for light traffic. All these forms of rail are intended to.

page_text: "break joint," that is, the joint in the part A is opposite or near the centre of
the part B, and vice versa, and will require either longitudinal or transverse
sleepers of the ordinary construction.
Figure 4 represents a form of rail for which no wooden sleepers are
required, the line being kept in guage by means of transverse ties of malleable
iron. A is a bridge rail, supported upon a cruciform bearer or foundation
plate B, and connected thereto by means of nuts and bolts or pins and cotters.
The lower flange a may be rolled "fish-bellied," if preferred, to save weight;
the side flanges b, b, may either be horizontal, as shewn in the Drawing, or
may receive any desired inclination or curve either upwards or downwards,
holes being punched at intervals therein, if they are inverted, to prevent their
retaining water. This form of rail also is intended to break joint, and allows
of the working portion or bridge rail A being removed and replaced when
worn without disturbing the permanent or fixed part B. If it is preferred to
make the part B of cast metal, strengthening ribs should be cast at intervals,
as represented by the dotted curved lines.
Figure 5 shews a form of solid rail which requires no sleepers. The side
flanges A, A, may be either horizontal or inclined, or curved upwards or
downwards, as preferred. The lower flange B may be "fish-bellied" to save
weight. The joints are made by plates placed above or below the side flanges,
or both above and below, so as to form a "fish joint," and these joint plates
may either be formed flat or may be in the form of "angle iron," as repre-
sented at C, C, in the Drawing, and, if made of cast metal, may be strengthened
at intervals by ribs, as shewn by the dotted curved line.
I would here remark, that it will be evident that various slight modifica-
tions, both in the form and construction of the rail and its adjuncts, may be
made without deviating from the principle of my Invention, as above set
forth.