IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAMRAILS FOR STREET RAILWAYS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Burn, of Delahay Street, Westminster,
Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAMRAILS FOR
STREET RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 12th April 1861, and dated the 15th October 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Burn at the
Office of the Commissioners. of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th October 1860.
I, CHARLES BURN, of Delahay Street, Westminster, Civil Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAM-
RAILS FOR STREET RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to construct the rails of street railways for
vehicles with flanged wheels, in such a manner that no appreciable obstruction
or impediment is offered to the traffic of vehicles with ordinary wheels on the
same road or street.
For this purpose the tramrails are rolled, cast, or otherwise made or formed as
follows, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings in which
Figs. 1, 2, & 3, are different forms of rail constructed for laying upon wooden
sleepers; Fig. 4 upon a cast-iron chair, and Figs. 5, 6, & 7, are com-
binations of rails and sleepers, which may be held in position by tie bolts or
any other suitable contrivance. In each of the Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5,
A is the groove in which the flanges of the wheels run, and thus guide and
keep the wheels upon the bearing surface B of the rail. The upper or bearing
surface B of each of the rails shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5, is placed level
with the surface of the roadway or street. In the rails shewn in Figs. 6 & 7
there are no grooves, but the roadway has two levels, namely, one the level
Duice dr

page_text: of the rail or bearing surface B for vehicles with flanged wheels, and the other
or lower level in a line with the bearing surface C for the wheels of ordinary
vehicles. The difference in level of the surfaces B and C makes the necessary
provision for the flange wheels and guide for the same; D, D, in Figures 5, 6,
and 7, are the sides of the sleepers, and may be made straight as shewn in
dotted lines, or curved and placed upon any suitably prepared surface, and
may be held laterally by tie bolts or other similar contrivance, if found
desirable.
Figs. 8 and 9 are cross sections of ordinary tramrails; these, I propose to
support by iron girders or sleepers M, M, to which they are bolted; in order
that there may be as little jar as possible, a thin packing of wood or other
suitable material may be placed between the rail and sleeper at N.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Burn in the Great Seal Patent Office on
15th April 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
BURN, of Delahay Street, Westminster, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unio
me, the said Charles Burn, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Burn, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Charles Burn, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TRAMRAILS FOR STREET RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Charles Burn, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Burn, 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:
This Invention consists of certain improvements in the form and mode of
supporting iron rails for street railways, so that they may be adapted for
vehicles having flanged wheels, and may be laid in streets of cities and on
common roads without causing any appreciable obstruction or inconvenience
to the traffic of vehicles with ordinary wheels on the same road or street.
And that the Invention may be fully understood, I will proceed to describe
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and forming part of this Specification.
In each of the following Figures the groove in which the flange wheels run
is indicated by the letter A; the bearing surface for the wheel by the letter B
and the tramway by the letter C.
Fig. 1 shows cross section of a groove rail adapted for flange wheeled
vehicles only, fixed upon a cast-iron chair J at suitable distances apart. The
rail is fastened to the chair by bolts P. P.
Fig. 2 shews a cross section of a grooved rail, which is also constructed for
flanged wheel vehicles only, the sides D may be straight, as shewn by the
dotted lines, or curved outwardly. This rail requires no chair or sleeper, but
may be tied together by tie rods T in the manner as shewn in Fig. 16.
Fig. 3 shews a modification of the same description of rail.
Fig. 4 shews a rail adapted for flange-wheeled vehicles only, but with a
depression E instead of a groove to guide the flange of the wheel and keep it
on the bearing surface B, in the manner as shewn in Fig. 16, this rail is
bedded on to a wooden sleeper G to which it is fastened by spikes K.
Fig. 5 shews a modification of the same description of rail, as described
in Fig. 4, with curved sides resting in a transverse wrought-iron sleeper
S made of angle or T iron. The rail is fastened to the iron sleeper by
bolts H, H.
Fig. 6 shews another modification of the same description of rail with a
convex circular bearing. This description of rail does not require any chair
or sleepers, but may be tied together by a tie bolt T in the manner as shewn
in Fig. 16.
Fig. 7 shews a cross section of a tramrail adapted for flange-wheeled
vehicles, as well as for vehicles having ordinary wheels. In this rail there are
no grooves, but the roadway has two levels, namely, one the level of the rails
or bearing surface B for vehicles with flange wheels, and the other or lower level
in a line with the bearing surface C for the wheels of ordinary vehicles. The

page_text: difference in level of the surfaces B and C makes the necessary provision for
the flange wheels, and guide for the same, in the manner as shewn in Fig. 15.
This rail requires no chairs or sleepers, but may be held together by tie
bolts T in the manner as shewn in Fig. 16.
Fig. 8 shews a modification of the same description of tramrail
described in Fig. 7 with sides D sloping outwardly.
as
Fig. 9 shews another modification of the same description of rail with
vertical sides. This rail rests on an iron transverse sleeper S, as shewn in
Fig. 15, to which it is fixed by bolts H, H.
Fig. 10 shews another modification of the same description of tramrail
in the form of a T bedded to two wooden sleepers G, G, to which it is
fixed by bolts H.
Fig. 1 shews a modification of the same description of rail formed in two
parts, one part W forming the rail for flange-wheeled vehicles made of rolled
iron, the top of which B is the bearing surface upon which the flange wheels
run and is at a level with the level of the road, the other part V, at a lower
level, made of cast-iron, forms a tramway for ordinary vehicles; grooves R, R, R,
may be formed on the surface of the rail, as described in my Patent, dated
September 26th, One thousand eight hundred and sixty, No. 2336, the rails
rest on a wooden sleeper G one part W being fixed to the sleeper by spikes K
and the other part V by bolts H, H.
Fig. 12 shews another modification of the same description of rail formed
in two parts Q and U, and may be made of rolled or cast iron, the lop side of
the one part Q forms the tramway C for ordinary vehicles the top side of the
other part U forms the bearing surface B for the flanged wheel vehicles. The
two parts Q and U are bolted together in the manner shewn by bolts P, P,
and form one longitudinal girder which rests on transverse iron sleepers S,
& is fixed thereto by bolts H, H.
Fig. 13 shews a mode of forming an iron foundation for supporting that
description of rail which is adapted both for flange-wheeled vehicles and form
at the same time a tramway for vehicles having ordinary wheels. The foun-
dation M is a cast or wrought iron longitudinal girder or sleeper having a
vertical web M with top and bottom flanges N and O, the rail Y rests on the
top flange N to which it is fixed by bolts H, H, and in order that there may
be as little jar as possible a thin packing of wood or other suitable material
may be placed between the rail and sleeper at N.
Fig. 14 shews a modification of Fig. 13.
Fig. 15 shews a cross section of a tramway in a paved street with two
lines of rails of the section as shewn in Fig. 9, fixed upon transverse iron

page_text: sleepers. This tramway is adapted for vehicles having ordinary wheels as
well as for flange-wheeled vehicles.
Fig. 16 shews a cross section of a tramway in a macadamized road
and two lines of rails of the form as shewn in Fig. 6, the rails have no
longitudinal or cross sleepers, but are tied together and kept in guage by the
rods T. This tramway is adapted for flange-wheeled vehicles only.
Fig. 18 shews the section of a rail which can be adapted for both flange-
wheeled vehicles or for ordinary wheeled vehicles only. The groove A is
made in this case sufficiently wide to admit the tyre of the ordinary wheels
as shewn in Fig. 17, the two raised portions B and B' serve to guide the
tyre and keep it within the groove. When it is intended that such a rail
should be used by flanged wheeled vehicles also, the tyre of the flanged wheel
runs on the bearing surface B, and the flange of the wheel runs then in the
groove A. Such a rail may be laid on wooden longitudinal sleepers, or on any
other suitable foundation to which it may be fixed by bolts, spikes, or other
suitable contrivances.
Having now fully described the nature of my said Invention, and how the
same may be carried into practical effect, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details, dimensions, or relative proportions of
the various parts herein-before set forth as it will be readily seen that the
same may be considerably modified without departing from the Invention:
but what I do claim is,
Firstly, the peculiar form, construction, and use of the rails herein-before
described, and as shewn in the cross sections, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 17, or any new modification of the same, such rails
to be laid down in the streets of cities, and common roads for the purpose
of street railways.
Secondly, the peculiar construction of the foundation for supporting that
description of rail indicated by the letter Y in Figures 13 and 14.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Burn, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
T. SHILLITO,
Assistant to Charles Burn.
(L.S.) CHARLES BURN.