CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND ARRANGEMENT OF PARTS AND APPARATUS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING OF ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WARCUP, of Ashton Terrace, Coronation Road, Bristol, Civil Engineer, 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 Eleventh day of
August, One thousand eight hundred and forty-six, in the tenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Warcup, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William
Warcup, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Warcup, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND ARRANGEMENT
OF PARTS AND APPARATUS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING OF ATMOSPHERIC
RAILWAYS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said William Warcup, shall 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.

page_text: man to the Drawings nereunto annexed, and to the figures an
thereon, that is to say :-
These improvements consist,―
Firstly, of an improved mode of manufacturing the tube in which the
travelling piston of an atmospheric railway works, as shewn in the Drawings
hereto annexed.
Sheet 1. Figure 1 represents a transverse section, Figure 2 a plan, Figure 8
a side view, and Figure 4 a longitudinal section of an improved tube.
Figures 1, 2, and 3, in Sheet 2, also shew general views of the same lower
half. A is made of cast iron or other suitable material, and is fixed down to
the roadway in the usual manner. The upper half B of the tube answers the
double purpose of forming part of the tube, and also of forming the longi.
tudinal valve. The edges of the upper half B of the tube are so formed to fit
into grooves formed along the sides of the lower half A of the tube, and lined
with any soft or elastic material, to form an air-tight joint. The valve or
upper half of the tube is lifted by wheels, to allow the piston arm to pass
along, and these wheels may be inside the tube, as shewn at C, or outside,
as shewn at D. E, E, represent the iron plates that carry the wheels C, and
form the piston frame. The valve B, B, is made in suitable lengths, and
joined together by segments F and G; the first, namely F, being fixed
on to one length of valve or half pipe, and the other segment G is fixed
to the adjoining valve or half pipe; and outside both is fixed a third
segment H, between which and the segment F is fastened a piece of flexible
or elastic material J, such as leather or india rubber, or other suitable
material that will form an air-tight joint, and yet allow of the bending
of the valve or upper half of the pipe when it is lifted to allow the arm of the
travelling piston to pass. One side of the valve is held down by bolts or hooks K,
which, though they do not prevent the valve B from turning on the point L
as a centre, yet retain it always in its place; and both sides are provided with
longitudinal ribs which form abutments for the top segment, and are suitably
formed for retaining any lute or lubricating material that may be desired.
Figures 5 and 6, in Sheet 1, show another arrangement of the valve or
upper half pipe, where the two adjoining pieces B and B¹ are fastened together
by a segment of leather M, properly rivetted or screwed; and in addition to
this are fixed short lifters O, those on the valve B serving for the valve B' to

page_text: lift it by, and those on the valve B³ serving for the valve B to lift it by. The
valve plates B, B', are turned round at one edge, and held down by a bar P
and hook bolts Q, and both edges of the valve or upper half of the pipe fit on
to a soft and elastic material.
Figures 8, 9, and 10, in Sheet 1, and Figures 4, 5, and 6, in Sheet 2, shew
another arrangement of the valve or upper half of the pipe somewhat like the
last, but where the hinge is formed by an additional strip of angle iron, and
held down by hook bolts. Figure 11 shews a longitudinal section, answering
to the Figures 5, 6, 8, and 9. The segmental lines colored red shew in
Figures 1, 5, and 8, the position of the valve when it is lifted to allow the
piston arm to pass. Figure 7, in Sheet 1, shews the joining of two of the
cast-iron lower halves of the pipe.
Having now described my said Invention, I claim the use of an
atmospheric tube, divided longitudinally into two parts, whether connected by
hinges or not, and forming a complete tube for exhaustion when closed, the
longitudinal connection and joint between the top and bottom parts of the
tube being effected without having recourse to the elasticity of the material
of which the tube is composed, or to the intervention of an elastic material to
form a hinge, as at present used by Clegg and Samuda, or otherwise closing
solely by the weight of the upper part without the assistance of springs or
other mechanical agency. I claim also the longitudinal ribs that form the
abutment for the top valve or upper half of pipe.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Warcup, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.