Improvements in Railway Sleepers and Rail Fastenings.
Year: 1896

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Sleepers and Rail Fastenings.
We, SAMUEL FERDINAND ADAMS, of 80th Street and 2nd Avenue, and GEORGE
ALEXANDER HAMILTON, of 215 West 130th Street, both of New York, in the
County of New York, and State of New York, United States of America,
Gentlemen, do hereby declare the nature of this 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 drawings, and to
letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification :---
The object of this invention is to construct a metallic railway tie, which will be
thoroughly clastic, and at the same time can be held rigidly in place, which will
be cheap in construction, easily placed in position or removed and will not require
bolts or nuts to hold the rail rigidly to the tie, and it consists of a rectangular
piece of sheet steel, or other suitable metal provided with longitudinal corrugations
over the entire body and in having two sides bent downwardly at right angles and
the edges inturned to form a base. Near the ends, where the rails rest on the tie,
channels are pressed in the corrugations, so as to form a flat resting place, and on
each side of this transverse channel are two slotted openings in line with each.
other, adapted to receive therein a bell-crank lever, so as to hold the rail securely,
all of which will now be set forth in detail.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a general top view of our improved railway tie with the rails secured
thereto.
Figure 2 side view of the tie showing end view of the rails.
Figure 3 enlarged top view of one end of our improved tie.
Figure 4 side view of same, partly in section, showing end view of rail and
manner of securing same in position.
Figure 5 end view of tie, showing side view of rail, and construction of fastening
device on the bell-crank lever.
Figure 6 end view showing modified form of bending the tie.
Figure 7 inturned form of base, showing its adaptability for being attached to a
rigid base, bridge, viaduct or like structure.
Figure 8 modified form of the upper surface of the tic.
Figure 9 showing manner of turning the base outwardly for certain uses.
Figure 10 modification of the outwardly bent base.
Figure 11 view of the blank from which the tie is made showing the cut-out
portion, the openings for the fastenings and rivet holes.
Figure 12 same corrugated preparatory to bending into shape.
Figure 13 cross section of rail and fasteners showing the construction of the
insulating strips.
Figure 14 plan view of modified form of securing lever, and
Figure 15 cross section of rail and side view of fastening lever.
In constructing our invention we do not confine ourselves to the use of sheet
steel as it is obvious that any metal or material best adapted may be employed,
but as steel appears to be the best known material at this time, we shall refer to
its use in this connection.
Any suitable thickness of metal may be employed and as its use is dependent on
the class and character of work, we do not limit ourselves to thickness but it may
be well to say that for all railway work where ballast is required or where the ties

page_text: are placed underground, the metal can be much thinner than where the tie is
attached to a frame, bridge, viaduct or other rigid structure, because, in the former
case, a large portion of the weight of the trade will be sustained by the top or
upper wall of the tie and only a comparatively small portion by the sides and the
inturned base of the tie, hence thickness is not so essential.
We will first describe the tie designed for surface roads shown in end view of
Figure 5, as an illustration of the form in cross section.
The entire tie is constructed of one piece of sheet metal A, rectangular in shape,
as shown in Figure 11, into which we punch the eight longitudinal openings BC,
of the size best adapted for the purpose, these openings being on the opposite
sides of the location of the rail, and are designed to receive the fastening lever.
Centrally the sheet or blank is cut away, as shown at D D, for the purpose of
lightening the tie body, and also to enable the workman to readily pack the
interior with ballast, when the tie is put down, or to remove the ballast when it is
desired to remove the tie. The tie is then provided with longitudinal corrugations,
as shown in Figure 12, and afterwards the sides E, are bent down at right angles
to the main body and the edges F inturned, as shown.
The tie thus grooved constitutes a body which is light, possesses immense
strength and has the quality of elasticity, which is a necessary element in an article
for this purpose.
In order now to prepare it for the rails, we press a flat transverse channel, or
way G, across each end, and as it is desirable, both to provide a cushion and an
insulation for the rail, we place a strip of vulcanized fibre H, or other suitable
material in this channel, and mount the rail I thereon.
The rail fastening is one of the most important elements in work of this
character, for the reason that bolts and nuts are impracticable, and the fastener,
as a whole, should be so made that it will not deteriorate by contact with the earth,
and it should be capable, at all times of ready and speedy removal without
destroying the parts. In order to accomplish this we construct a lever J, with an
upturned right-angled limb at each end. The forward limb K, which projects
upwardly through the slotted opening B, has a pin L projecting out on both sides,
at a point below the shell of the tie where it is held in place by means of a clip M,
riveted to the body of the tie. The upper end of the limb K has a forwardly
projecting dog N, which rests on the flange of the rail. The outer limb O, which
projects up through the slotted opening C, has a slot P, into which is driven a
wedge-shaped split-key Q, the ends of which are bent around the limb to hold it
in position.
The action of this lever is two-fold, it not only clamps the rail tightly to its
seat, but it serves to hold the rail from lateral displacement, as the flange of the
rail rests against the limb K, and as the key Q is on the upper side of the tie it
can be readily reached by the trackman and tightened up when required. At the
same time the body of the lever is below the tie, and therefore not in the way to
form an obstruction. It may also be observed that as both limbs KO pass through
the slotted openings, they form a more rigid bearing for the lateral movement of
the rail than would be the case if a single limb should be used.
In practice the upper surface of the tie should be slightly curved or convexed
as shown at R, Figures 6 and 7, by the dotted lines. The object of this is to add
as much elasticity to the body as possible. However, the corrugated structure of
the body accomplishes this in a great measure, and also serves other useful
purposes, particularly in the fact that the corrugated sides, when placed in ballast
has much better frictional contact than if made with plain sides, as shown in
Figure 6. Again, as is well known, structures of this character, where great
stress or weight is required, will retain their shape and afford resistance much
better than if made straight or flat.
We find, however, that the corrugated sides are of great advantage where the
tie is employed on rigid structures as for instance, bridges, viaducts, and etc.,
because the elasticity is imparted to the convolutions and the impact of the

page_text: To that
downward blow is distributed to the base in a less destructive manner.
end we may construct the horizontal portion of the tie flat, as shown in Figure 8,.
and have only the sides corrugated, thus cheapening the structure materially.
Our preferred forms for rigid structures are shown in Figures 7 and 10. In the
former the inturned wings T are formed at an angle to the surface of the stringer U,.
and a narrow strip near the edge is made so that it will rest flat on the stringer to
receive the lag screws or bolts. In Figure 10, this wing extends outwardly, having
the same detail of construction where it is secured to the stringer.
This construction affords not only an elastic area on the upper surface of the tie,.
but also on the sides and base, which particularly adapt it for use on overhead.
railways in cities where it is important to overcome the noise of passing trains.
Figure 9 shows the base wings turned outwardly resting solid on the stringer.
As it is important in electrical work to insulate the rails from the tie, we show a
preferred form of doing this in Figure 13. It will be seen that we employ the
base strip H, of vulcanized fibre or other material, in the channel, under the rail
and insert an L-shaped insulator W under the end of the dog N, and over this we
place a metal plate X to receive the pressure of the dog, thus making a positive
insulation between the tie and the rail, at least.
While it is obvious that various methods may be employed to secure the rail to
the tie, the preferred form, for the reasons stated, is shown in Figure 4, but
numerous modifications may be made, and one form is illustrated in Figures 14
and 15. In this case we employ a lever Y which has an enlarged head Y through
which is placed a rivet Y2, in order to secure it to the tic. A nose Z projects
forward from this head and overlaps the flange of the rail. At the outer end and
within range of the sweep of this lever is a series of holes Z' formed through
the shell of the tie, and when the lever is turned so as to bring the nose Z tightly
in contact with the flange, a staple Z2 is placed astride the lever Y, and the lower
projecting ends bent, as shown in Figure 15, to hold the same, thus accomplishing
the purpose of securing the rail to the tie without using bolts or nuts.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. As a new article of manufacture, a tie composed of sheet metal, longitudinally
corrugated provided with downturned sides also longitudinally corrugated, each
side having an inturned base, a transverse flattened channel across the upper face
near each end to receive the rails and slitted openings in the body of the tie on.
each side of said channel, substantially as set forth.
2. A railway tie constructed of sheet metal, its entire body being longitudinally
corrugated, the sides formed by downturned portions and the base by inturned
wings, the upper surface having depressed and flattened transverse channels and
slotted openings on each side of said channels, in combination with a rail, U-shaped
levers in said slotted openings, engaging with the flanges of said rail, and keys for
securing same, substantially as set forth.
3. A railway tie composed of sheet metal longitudinally corrugated, and having
downwardly turned sides and inturned base, the upper surface having near each
end a transverse flattened channel, said channel being slightly curved from end to.
end, so that the initial pressure or load will rest centrally on said tie, substantially
as set forth.
4. A railway tie having its entire body composed of longitudinally corrugated
sheet metal, with downturned sides and inturned base, the upper surface being
slightly convex, and the base elastic, substantially as set forth.
5. A railway tie composed of sheet metal having on its upper side near each end
a flattened transverse channel, in combination with a rail, an insulating strip in the
transverse channel beneath the rail, and a U-shaped fastening lever on each side of
the rail, with insulating material interposed between the rail and levers and
clamped by said U-shaped levers, substantially as set forth.

page_text: 6. A fastening for railway ties composed of a lever with two upturned right-
angled ends, one end being hinged to the tie adjacent to the rail, and having a dog
which projects over and binds the rail flange, and the other upturned end having a
slot to receive a key, in combination with a metal tie and rail, substantially as
set forth.
7. The combination with a metal tie having at each end a transverse channel and
a railway rail, of a rail fastener composed of a lever with two upturned right-
angled ends which pass through slots in the tie, one end being hinged to the tie
adjacent to the rail, and having a dog which projects over and binds the rail flange,
and the other upturned end having a slot and key for fastening the same, and
insulating material in said transverse channel, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 14th day of September 1896.
J. P. BAYLY,
18 Fulham Place, London, W., Agent for the Applicants.