IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY VEHICLES FOR THE CARRIAGE OF CATTLE AND MERCHANDIZE
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd August 1871.-A. communication from abroad by James
Bradley Calkins, of Pacific, Missouri, United States of America,
Doctor of Medicine.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY VEHICLES
FOR THE CARRIAGE OF CATTLE AND MERCHANDIZE," a communication, to be as
follows:-
The improvements here presented consist in providing cattle or stock
and freight or goods vehicles for railways with a water supply reser-
voir or tank, and a series of pipes to conduct feed water to buckets
hooked to the slats of the vehicle. Secondly, in forming stalls for the
stock by hanging slide partitions and padding, bolstering, or otherwise
cushioning the said partitions. Thirdly, in the use and arrangement of
a shears or pulley device for partially suspending the animals or stock by

page_text: removing their weight from their feet. And, lastly, in certain details of
construction of the parts, all of which will now be more fully described.
The body of the vehicle is constructed as usual for stock and freight
purposes. Secured properly to the top bars or slats and at one end
of the said vehicle is arranged a water supply tank. The said tank can
be of any suitable construction. On top the said tank is provided with
an influent pipe or opening to receive water from the railway water
supply stations or direct from the engine. To the bottom corner of the
tank are properly secured hose pipes to which the distributing pipes are
coupled, the same being arranged to pass at a suitable elevation along
the side slats of the vehicle. The said distributing pipes have a series
of discharge outlets, and their ends are supported in proper rests at the
ends of the vehicle.
Buckets or water troughs of any suitable material are constructed of
an elongated shape to reach somewhat within the vehicle, to accom-
modate the heads of the cattle. The said buckets are hooked to the
slats of the vehicle by iron hooks attached to their sides so that the
operator can readily slide the said buckets along the slats to the required
position. The feed water from the tank is "shut off" or regulated by
valves or plugs.
The stalls for the live stock are formed by partitions hung by means
of sleeves in a hinged manner to horizontal iron or wooden rods properly
secured to the top of the vehicle. The said partitions consist of two or
more vertical slats or bars to which cross slats are secured.
Furthermore the said partitions are padded with any suitable material
to avoid the ill effects consequent from the undue bracing or crowding
of the live stock in the vehicle. The padding of the said stalls can also
be formed by securing stout india-rubber pieces or strips to vertical slats
(united at the ends to a few bottom transverse slats) dispensing with
top slats and in either case greatly ameliorating the condition of the live
stock. In the bottom of the vehicle is a series of holes at both sides for
securing the partitions by means of pins or bolts. The stalls thus formed
can be somewhat obliquely adjusted and secured, thus allowing the
stock to be stalled in alternate or opposite facing directions.
To remove the weight of the animals from their feet a broad girdle
or girth is passed under the body of the animal, and secured by a rope
attachment to a shears suspended from horizontal rods by a sleeve. The

page_text: live stock thus partially supported will be greatly protected from
exhaustion.
When the feed pipes are not to be used they can be hung or placed in
rings near the top of the vehicle, the partitions moved to one end, and
the brackets placed thereon or hung out of the way, and the vehicle
will be ready for the transportation of merchandize.