IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MODE OF PROPELLING TRAINS ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Moy at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th September
1864.
I, THOMAS MOY, of Clifford's Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draftsman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for." IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MODE OF PROPELLING TRAINS ON RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object the propulsion of trains on railways by
means of the mutual action and reaction of wheels, or rollers and rails, or
bars with undulating surfaces, consisting of a series of longitudinal curves
formed on the wave-line principle. The said wheels or rollers are caused to
press on or against the undulating surfaces of the rails or bars, and the trains
are propelled as required by the dynamic action of the wheels or rollers on
such surfaces instead of by the bite of the wheels on the rails as usual, thereby
obviating the liability to slip incident to the ordinary mode of propelling.
The said wheels or rollers may be either connected to vibrating arms or other
suitable mechanism mounted on locomotives, and caused to act on stationary
rails or bars, or they may be connected to stationary vibrating mechanism,
and caused to act on the undulating surfaces of a continuous jointed rail or
bar under the several carriages of a train, thereby dispensing with the use
of locomotives. And the said rails or bars are intended to be laid either with
their undulating surfaces horizontal so as to support the wheels or rollers, and
be acted upon by them in a vertical direction, or with the same surfaces
vertical, so as to be acted upon by the wheels or rollers in a horizontal direc-

page_text: tion. In the former caso the rails or bars are substituted for the ordinary
rails, but in the latter case a single rail or bar is laid between the ordinary
rails, or the continuous jointed rail or bar as above referred to is fixed under
the several carriages, and travels with thom between the ordinary fixed rails.
The wave-line curves of the undulating surfaces of the rails or bars, whether
fixed or travelling, should be all of a similar form throughout, and the length
of each of the vibrating arms should be nearly equal to the length from the
lowest to the highest point of each curve. The vibrating arms or mechanism
are connected with the steam cylinders of the locomotive or the stationary
steam, air, or water cylinders in such a manner that the stroke of the vibrating
arm shall be equal to the height or longest ordinate of the curve.
In the case before referred to of trains running on rails or bars with wave-
line surfaces, the wheels or rollers connected to the locomotive cause the
propulsion of the same, tho wheels on the several carriages of the train being
mounted on vibrating arms, and acting as running wheels; the centres of the
arms being the points of support to the engine and carriages. In this caso
also small air cylinders may be applied to the vibrating arms or levers of one
or more of the carriages, the valve gearing of which is so arranged that the air
may be prevented from entering such cylinders when required, and thereby
resistanco to the vibration of the arms or levers .produced by the vacuum
taking placo-on alternating sides of the pistons.
In the case of propelling trains without locomotives, the travelling bar or
rail with wave-line surfaces under the carriages has a slight lateral play, in
order to prevent the action of the actuating wheels or rollers from interfering
with the free action of the wheels running on the ordinary rails. And in.
order to preserve the continuity of the said travelling bar or rail, the ordinary
buffer springs to the carriages are dispensed with, and a buffer carriage placed
at each end of the train, under which latter carriages respectively the bar or
rail will be fined off as an entrance and rim, so as to prevent the curved
surface thereof from coming in contact with or leaving the wheels or rollers
abruptly.
When trains are intended to be worked by atmospheric pressure, a longi-
tudinal tube properly jointed and made air-tight is employed, and this tube is:
connected by means of short connecting tubes with stationary engines for
working the vibrating arms or mechanism; and stationary steam engines are
also employed in combination with air pumps to exhaust the air in the longi-
tudinal tube.
Instead however of using air as the motive power, water may be employed in
the manner now well known as Sir William Armstrong's hydraulic machinery,

page_text: Patent dated 31st July 1846, and numbered 11,319, the bydraulic pistons
acting upon the vibrating arms in the same manner as the air pistons just
referred to.
The starting and reversing gear is carried to a convenient distance above
ground, which gear is or may be worked by rails connected to the train, such
rails being elevated or depressed for this purpose as required by the guard.