IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNALS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Watkin Scale, of Merthyr Tydfil, in the
County of Glamorgan, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAILWAY SIGNALS."
Sealed the 27th October 1859, and dated the 3rd May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Watkin Scale
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd May 1859.
I, EDWARD WATKIN SCALE, of Merthyr Tydfil, in the County of Glamorgan,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in constructing railway signals in the following
manner, that is to say, I propose to employ a vibrating lever, one end
whereof is turned up, and comes just inside of the outermost rail of a line of
railway, and stands up nearly level with the surface of the rails. The other
end of the aforesaid vibrating lever is intended to reach to the outside of the
ballasting of the railway, or to such a distance as signal posts are usually
placed on railways. This end of the aforesaid lever is connected to an air-tight
collapsible bag, furnished with valves for the ingress and egress of atmospheric
air; from the top of said bag a vertical rod passes through a hollow post, and
is surmounted by a fan-shaped colored signal, the sides whereof may be of

page_text: different colors; said fan or signal, when out of use, is concealed in a box fixed
to the top of the signal post, a slit being formed in the top thereof for the fan
to pass through for giving a signal.
The operations of this improved signal are as follows:-The flanges of the
wheels of the locomotive engine, railway carriages, or other rolling stock coming
into contact with the turned-up end of the before-mentioned vibrating lever,
depresses this end of the lever, thereby raising the opposite end thereof and
pushing the fan signal out of its box, the fan expanding to a semicircular
shape when entirely out of said box. Simultaneously with this raising of the
signal the pneumatic collapsible bag will be distended and admit air thereinto,
and after the flanges of the several wheels of the rolling stock have ceased to
act upon the turned-up end of the aforesaid vibrating lever, the weight of the
rod to which the fan is affixed will cause the aforesaid pneumatic bag to
collapse, and force out gradually the air contained therein, the valves being so
arranged as to cause the signal to be a certain time in descending, thus indi-
cating to a following train, passing shortly afterwards, the fact of a forward train
having recently passed, and it is this adaptation of the pneumatic bag, and
the combination thereof with the colored fan signal and vibrating lever afore-
said, operated upon by the flanges of the wheels of the carriages, which
constitutes the novelty of this Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Watkin Scale in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd November 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
WATKIN SCALE, of Merthyr Tydfil, in the County of Glamorgan, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Watkin Scale, Her special licence that I, the said
Edward Watkin Scale, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Edward Watkin Scale, 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

page_text: Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNALS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Edward Watkin Scale, 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 Edward Watkin Scale, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in constructing railway signals in the following
manner, that is to say :-I propose to employ a vibrating lever, one end
whereof is turned up, and comes just inside of the outermost rail of a line of
railway, and stands up nearly level with the surface of the rails. The other
end of the aforesaid vibrating lever is intended to reach to the outside of the
ballasting of the railway, or to such a distance as signal posts are usually
placed on railways; this end of the aforesaid lever is connected to an air-tight
collapsible bag or bellows known as "Nailor's" bellows, furnished with stop-
cocks or valves, for the ingress and egress of atmospheric air; from the top of
said bag or bellows a vertical rod passes through a hollow post, and is sur-
mounted by a fan-shaped colored signal, the sides whereof may be of different
colors; said fan or signal when out of use is concealed in a box fixed to the
top of the signal post, a slit being formed in- the top thereof for the fan to pass
through for giving a signal.
The operations of this improved signal are as follows:-The flanges of the
wheels of the locomotive engine, railway carriages, or other rolling stock,
coming into contact with the turned-up end of the before-mentioned vibrating
lever, depresses this end of the lever, thereby raising the opposite end thereof
and pushing the fan signal out of its box, the fan expanding to a semicircular
shape when entirely out of said box. Simultaneously with this raising of the
signal, the pneumatic collapsible bag or bellows will be distended and admit
air thereinto, and after the flanges of the several wheels of the rolling stock
have ceased to act upon the turned-up end of the aforesaid vibrating lever, the
weight of the rod to which the fan is affixed will cause the aforesaid pneumatic
bag or bellows to collapse, and force out gradually the air contained therein,
the stop-cocks or valves being so arranged as to cause the signal to be a certain
time in descending, thus indicating to a following train. passing shortly after-

page_text: wards, the fact of a forward train having recently passed. And it is this
adaptation of the pneumatic bag or bellows, and the combination thereof with
the colored fan signal and lamp, and vibrating lever aforesaid, operated upon
by the flanges of the wheels of the carriages, which constitutes the novelty of
this Invention.
I would here remark that an ordinary hand signal or lever-power signal
with index finger may be used, if necessary, instead of the fan signal above
described.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, and have attached to these Presents two Sheets of
illustrative Drawings, drawn to a scale of two inches to one foot, and have
marked the same with numeral figures and letters of reference, similar letters
being employed to denote corresponding parts in so far as such parts appear
or can be seen at each of such said Figures respectively.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Sheet 1 exhibits a side elevation, partly in section, of my improved railway
signal adapted to a line of railway, one of the rails thereof being represented
in transverse section, the mechanism being likewise exhibited in the position
it would occupy when acted upon by the flanges of the wheels of a train of
railway carriages so as to make a signal.
Sheet 2 exhibits the signal and its mechanism out of action. A is a lever
capable of vibrating on a pin at a; one end of this said lever is turned up, or
has a bent piece B connected thereto, the upper end whereof is so arranged
and disposed as to come flush with the top of the outermost rail C of a line of
railway (when the signal is out of use, as at Sheet 2). The other end of the
lever A is formed forked, and is connected by its ends to the upper part of a
collapsible bag, hereafter described. D is a rod, the lower end whereof is
fixed to the top of said bag, the upper end of said rod being connected to a
collapsible fan E, formed of any suitable material, and terminating in a
ring G, for holding a lamp at H, with two bulls'-eye glasses at opposite sides,
one glass being red and the other green, the sides of the fan E being of
corresponding colors, so as to be discernible either by day or night; I is a
hollow casting or signal post, the bottom whereof is to be fixed on to the
surface of the ground. The upper part of the said signal post has a box K
fixed to or formed thereon, the top thereof having a slit therein for the fan
signal E to pass through. L is an air-tight collapsible hexagonal or other
shaped bag, formed of any suitable material. The bottom of this bag is

page_text: connected to a base plate M, and, if desirable, said bag may be enclosed in a
casting surrounding the same, as denoted by the dotted lines at M'. The top
side of this said bag is furnished with a stop-cock, and the bottom side with
a flap or valve working inwards as bellows. The forked part A* of the
lever A is connected by its ends to the upper part of the bag L, so as to
move therewith. The operations of the above improved signal are as
follows:-When the signal is out of use the fan E is concealed in the box K,
and the bag L collapsed, as at Sheet 2. Now, suppose the aforesaid signal
to be placed at or near a railway station or other desired part of a line of
railway, as a train arrives at such part the flanges of the wheels of the several
carriages coming into contact with the part B of the piece B will depress the
same, and by so doing raise the opposite end of the lever A and the bag L
connected thereto, and simultaneously with this movement the fan E will be
forced out of its box, and expand by the gravitation of its parts, thus exposing
the colored sides thereof as signals by day or the lamp by night, said signals
remaining exposed for any desired length of time by reason of the bag L
operating as common bellows, that is to say, as the bag is raised the air will
enter said bag by the flap or valve, and after the wheels of the carriages of
the train have ceased to act upon the lever A, the bag L will then descend
by the weight of the parts connected thereto, and in so doing will expel the
air gently therefrom by the stop-cock at top thereof, and thus allow the signal
gradually to descend into its box, the length of time which it occupies in
descending being regulated and governed by opening the stop-cock more or
less, through which the air escapes from the bag L, thus enabling the railway
official to have the signal exposed to view for any desired length of time after
a train has passed that part of a line of railway at which such said signal is
placed. And it is an important feature in this improved signal that it is
self-acting, being operated upon by the flanges of the wheels of the railway
train, thereby ensuring the signal being made at the proper time, instead of
being dependent upon the care of the railway servant to make such signal,
the omission of which has so frequently been attended with disastrous results
to life and property.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my
said Invention of "Improvements in Railway Signals," together with the best
means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practical effect, I
would remark, in conclusion, that I do not intend to limit myself to the
precise details of construction above described, as they may be varied; but
what I claim is, a self-acting railway signal of the above construction sub-
stantially as set forth and represented by the accompanying Drawings, and

page_text: especially I claim the collapsible bag L, for regulating the descent of the
signal, as above stated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Watkin Scale, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
EDWARD WATKIN SCALE. (L.S.)