IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Fréderic Vasserot, of 45, Essex Street,
Strand, London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS."-A communication from Jean
Claude Durand, of Marseilles, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 22nd December 1857, and dated the 24th June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Frederic Vasscrot
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th June 1857.
I, CHARLES FREDERIC VASSEROT, of 45, Essex Street, Strand, London,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," (a communication from
Jean Claude Durand, of Marseilles, in the Empire of France,) to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to an improved method of constructing the
chairs of railways, and of applying them to sleepers.
Secondly, to an improved construction and form of rails.
Thirdly, to an improved method of securing the rails to the chairs.
Fourthly, to an improved method of jointing the ends of the rails.
Fifthly, to an improved method of connecting together the longitudinal and
transverse sleepers.

page_text: The chairs are made of cast iron and of one piece, only they are of two
kinds, viz., those adapted to receive single-headed rails, and those adapted to
receive double-headed rails.
The chair intended for single-headed rails is composed of the bed, which is
sunk into and rests upon the sleeper, and on which the base of the rail is
supported, from this rises up the two sides forming the channel for resisting
the lateral thrust of the rail, and which extending horizontally increase the
bearing surface of the chair on the sleeper. At about half way from the
top to the base of the sides or supports a semicircular groove is made on each
side corresponding exactly with the semicircular grooves of the rails.
The chairs made for double-headed rails are of a similar construction to
those above described, with this difference only; that the sides or supports
have two semicircular grooves made in each instead of one. The base of the
chair is sunk in all its thickness into the sleeper, and by means of 2 or 3
treenails or spikes placed at both ends and in the centre of the channel, the
chair is fixed to the sleeper. The construction of the rails is of two kinds,
viz., the single and the double-headed rails.
The single-headed rail is furnished on both sides with two semicircular
grooves, the lower ones corresponding exactly in size and position with the
semicircular grooves of the chairs, and the base of the rail is made to fit
exactly the bed of the chair, a bolt or key is driven into each of the round
holes formed by the corresponding semicircular grooves on the chair and on
the rail; these bolts or keys may be rivetted or fastened at both ends, or the
ends may be slightly bent outside so as to prevent their coming off.
The double-headed rail is combined in such a manner than after one head
or surface is worn out it may be turned, and that which was before the base
of the rail becomes the upper surface. This double-headed rail is higher
than the single one; it is formed with three semicircular grooves on each
side, the two extreme ones corresponding exactly in size and position with
the two semicircular grooves on each side of the chair's channel; two pairs
of bolts or keys fit the four holes formed by the corresponding semicircular
grooves, and they are secured in the manner before described.
The rails, both single and double-headed, may have their extremities jointed
one into the other by means of cuts made at right angles either vertically and
laterally, or in the direction of the height and width, and in the shape and
form of what is called a rabbit or zig-zag joint.
Although the above-described rails and chairs could be used with advantage
with the present system of cross sleepers, I find that it would augment greatly
the solidity of the road if they were supported in their whole length by

page_text: longitudinal bearers or sleepers tied together, so as to form a continuous
line of way on a solid and equal bearing; I propose to connect the longitudinal
with the transverse sleepers, & vice versa, by means of notches cut at
right angles, and the treenails or spikes of the chairs passing through the
longitudinal and transverse sleepers fix them together in a firm and secure
manner.