IMPROVEMENTS IN SECURING OR FIXING RAILS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Alfred Jowett, of Sawley, in the County of
Derby, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SECURING
OR FIXING RAILS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PERMANENT WAY OF
RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 16th August 1864, and dated the 17th February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Alfred Jowett
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th February 1864.
I, HENRY ALFRED JOWETT, of Sawley, in the County of Derby, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SECURING OR FIXING RAILS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PERMANENT
WAY OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
When the present double-headed rail (as now in use for the construction
of the permanent way of railways) is hot after having passed through the
rollers, I propose to punch a longitudinal slot of, say, four inches or four
inches and a half long by three-quarters of an inch deep in the center
support or thin portion of the rail, one slot at the distance of every sleeper,
say three feet apart, and immediately the slot is made I propose to drive in
a flat piece of cold wrought-iron plate of seven inches and a half inch to
eight inches long by the width of the slot and three-quarters of an inch deep,,
so that by the contraction of the rail the cold plate becomes a fixture, and
answers the purpose of a foot or bearing surface to be spiked to the wooden
sleeper in place of the present cast-iron chair aud wooden key now used as a

page_text: wedge for securing the rail in the chair now in use. I propose to cut a
groove in the sleeper transversely just the distance from the bottom of the
rail to the under side of the iron plate; the bottom of the rail, therefore, will
rest in the groove cut in the sleeper as well as upon the bearing surface of the
iron plate spiked upon the sleeper, as before described. When it so happens
that the joint of two rails meeting comes upon a sleeper, I propose to punch
the slot in the end of each rail, say two inches, or two inches and a quarter
of an inch, and to roll the iron plate, with a shoulder thereon, to fit up to the
under side of the top head of the rail, thereby making a fish plate, and bolting
the same in the ordinary manner. If necessary, I propose to have the afore-
said shoulder rolled upon the plate for the intermediate sleepers; but in my
permanent Specification I shall fully and clearly describe the nature and mode
of working of my said Invention. I also propose to drill holes and cut away
slots in the present rails laid down, and drive in an iron plate tightly, of a
wedge shape, as before described, thereby dispensing with chairs and keys on
lines already in working operation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Alfred Jowett in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ALFRED JOWETT, of Sawley, in the County of Derby, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Henry Alfred Jowett, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Alfred Jowett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Henry Alfred Jowett, 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
ct IMPROVEMENTS IN SECURING OR FIXING RAILS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE
PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," upon the condition "(amongst others) that
I, the said Henry Alfred Jowett, my executors or administrators, by an

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Alfred Jowett, 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, that is to say:-
While the double headed rail now in use for the construction of the per
manent way of railways is hot after having passed through the rollers, I punch
a longitudinal slot of say 4 inches or 4 inches in length by of an inch in
depth in the central web or support or thin portion of the rail, one slot at the
distance of every wooden sleeper, say 3 feet apart, and when the slot is made
and while the iron is hot, I drive in a flat piece of cold wrought-iron plate of
9 to 10 inches in length by the width of the slot and inch in depth so that
by the contraction of the rail on its becoming cold the inserted plate becomes a
fixture, and answers the purpose of a foot or bearing surface, which should be
spiked or bolted on each side of the plate into the wooden sleeper, and be in
place of the cast-iron chair and wooden key.or wedge now used for securing
the rail; I cut a groove in the sleeper transversely just the distance from the
bottom of the rail to the under side of the iron plate so that the bott* of the
rail will rest in the groove cut in the sleeper as well as upon the bearing
surface of the iron plate so spiked or bolted upon the sleeper as before
described. The wrought-iron plate, I by preference cause to be rolled or made
with a shoulder thereon to fit up to the under side of the top head of the rail
like a fish plate, and the shoulder side of each plate I place on the right or left
side of the rail alternately, or as may be required. When the joint of two
rails meet and rest upon a sleeper, I punch the slot in the end of each rail in
a hot state as before mentioned, say 2 inches or 21 inches long, and, as before
mentioned; I roll or make the iron plate with a shoulder thereon to fit up to the
under side of the top head of such rails so meeting together as aforesaid, and I
bolt through the shoulder and the web or thin portion of each rail, thereby
making a fish joint. And if desired the shoulder may also be bolted through
in all cases, that is to say, when they come intermediate of the length of the
rails, as well as at the joints. In place of producing the holes or slots by
punching the rails while hot, they may be punched, cut, or drilled when the
rails are cold, and I then drive in tightly a wedge shape, or it may be a parallel
piece of wrought-iron plate, as before described, and cut a groove in the sleeper

page_text: as before described to receive the rail with the plate and shoulder upon it, and
secure the same as before described, and thus lines already in working operation
may be altered, and chairs and keys dispensed with. Where iron sleepers are
used, I prefer that they should be of, say, for example, 3 feet or 3 feet in
length by 1 foot or 1 foot 2 inches in breadth, and be of the same weight as
now used and laid in longitudinally, transverse tie rods will be necessary to
keep the rails in guage, as now used, but I place the said iron sleeper the
reverse way to the ordinary plan, that is to say, the convex instead of the
concave side downwards, which will allow for beating the ballast underneath,
and avoid the accumulation of water under the concave side, and prevent the
expansion and contraction from heat or cold, and thus preserve the sleeper
from breaking; I make flat surfaces on the concave sides of the sleepers, and
place thereon the transverse plates, fixed in the rails as already described,
bolting with nuts and screws to the sleepers.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the exact dimensions and details specified, but what I claim is, the securing
or fixing rails for the permanent way of railways by means of plates (either
with or without shoulders) inserted in slots in the rails and secured by spikes or
bolts to the sleepers as described. I also claim the jointing or fishing the
rails end to end by means of a transverse plate with a shoulder upon it bolted
through the webs or thin portions of the two rails to be jointed or fished as
described. The before-mentioned description of fixing and securing the
ordinary double headed rail by a transverse plate is equally applicable to the
single headed rail, the plate for which will then pass through the web or thin
- portion of the rail as previously described in the double headed one.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Alfred Jowett, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
HENRY ALFRED JOWETT. (L.B.)
Witness,'
JOHN P. PARKEN,
27, Southampton Build",
Sol.