IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Moritz Hilf, of Wiesbaden, Prussia.
Sealed the 12th January 1869, and dated the 13th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th July 1868.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS,"
a communication, to be as follows:-
The railway as constructed according to my improvements consists
of ground plates of rolled iron resting on a gravel bed, to which plates
rails are fastened with screw bolts. This can be done before leaving the

page_text: rolling mill.
Cross pieces of round iron are connected with the top
rails by screw nuts and an ordinary iron plate where the rails join.
The advantages of this method of construction principally consist in
permitting the use of a light rail, and in the manufacture of the iron
ground plates and cross pieces. The replacing of the rails can be done
quickly and easily. The ground plates remain undisturbed, the screws
only requiring to be loosened, and (after placing the new rails) fastened
again.
The
My improvements can also be brought into use on any railway where
the joint of the rails is secured by an iron plate, the necessary replacing
of the wooden cross sleepers being successively accomplished.
giving way of the outside rails and of the whole track on curves is
prevented, and the bending of the rails before laying them is dispensed
with by screwing the rails to the ground plates, in which the bolt holes
are made to the required radius, the rails taking the necessary form.
A small gravel bed beneath the ground plates constitutes the whole
foundation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert
Lake, 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

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings forming a part of this Specification:-
The railway as constructed according to my improvements consists
of the ground plates of rolled iron resting on a gravel bed, to which
plates rails are fastened with screw bolts. This can be done before
leaving the rolling mill. Cross pieces of round iron are connected with
the top rails by screw nuts and an ordinary iron plate where the rails
join.
The advantages of this method of construction principally consist in
permitting the use of a light rail; in the simple and cheap manufacture
of the iron ground plates and cross pieces, and in the ease and quickness
with which the changing and replacing of the rails can be accomplished.
The ground plates or sleepers remain undisturbed, the screws only re-
quiring to be loosened, and after placing the new rails fastened again.
My improvements can also be brought into use on any railway where
the joint of the rails is secured by an iron plate, the necessary replacing
of the wooden cross sleepers being successively accomplished. The
giving way of the outside rails and of the whole track on curves is
prevented, and the bending of rails before laying them is dispensed
with by screwing the rails to the ground plates, in which the bolt
holes are made to the required radius, the rails taking the necessary
form. A small gravel bed beneath the ground plates constitutes the
whole foundation.
A, A, are the sleepers or ground plates of rolled iron, which are
placed on the bed of gravel E. The two iron rails f, f, are connected

page_text: by the screws C, C, with the iron sleepers. The bars of round iron B, B
are connected by screws B', B', with the rails.
Having thus described the said Invention, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I claim,-
First. The construction and form of the sleepers A, A.
Second. The connecting rods B with the screws B' and washers B³.
Third. The connecting bolts C.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty
nine.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.B.)
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.8.)