IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY BARS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bessemer, of Queen Street Place, New
Cannon Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY BARS."
Sealed the 12th January 1864, and dated the 5th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Bessemer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
November 1863.
I, HENRY BESSEMER, of Queen Street Place, New Cannon Street, in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY BARS," to be as follows:-
The employment of railway bars composed wholly or in part of Bessemer
steel to replace the ordinary wrought-iron rail renders desirable the employ-
ment of old or more or less worn rails in the manufacture of the new material
which is to replace them.
Now, therefore, my present Invention has for its object the utilization of the
materials of which such old or worn wrought-iron rails are composed by em-
ploying them in combination with pig or other carburet of iron, and thus
remanufacturing the old rails in such a manner as to produce cast-steel rails
from the combination of wrought and pig iron so manufactured. For this
purpose I prefer to use the converting apparatus generally employed in the
manufacture of cast steel by what is now known as the Bessemer process.
way, and the
The converting vessel having been highly heated in the usual

page_text: residue of the fuel discharged therefrom, I proceed to put into the vessel the old
rails intended to be remanufactured, such rails having previously been cut
into convenient lengths, and brought up to a red or to a welding heat in any
suitable furnace. I then, without loss of time, run or pour into the converting
vessel along with the heated pieces of old rails some molten crude iron, or re-
melted pig, or refined, or other carburet of iron, preferring for this purpose the
kind of pig iron known as No. 1 hæmatite hot-blast iron. As soon as the molten
metal has run in, the vessel should be turned on its axis, and the forcing of
atmospheric air into and among the particles of the fluid metal should be con-
tinued until the pieces of rails are melted down and form part of the fluid
mass. The process may be continued until the metal is decarbonized only to
the extent required to form steel, or the process may be continued until the
complete decarbonization of the metal is effected, when there may be added
thereto a further portion of molten carburet of iron, containing by preference
manganese in a state of alloy as found in the pig iron known as franklinite,
and that known as spiegel eisen. The quantity of carburet of iron so added
will determine the hardness or temper of the steel, which may then he formed
into ingots or slabs in the usual manner, or by preference in the manier
herein-after described.
Although I have herein-before stated that the pieces of iron rails may be
heated in any suitable furnace, I nevertheless desire it to be understood that I
prefer to heat such pieces of rail in the after part of or in a chamber connected
with the reverberatory furnace employed to melt the pig iron to be used there-
with. The loss of metal by oxidation in the heating furnace will be lessened
and its facility of fusing in the converting vessel increased by sprinkling it
with or immersing the pieces of rails in water holding lime, clay, and fine
sand or other flux in suspension prior to putting such pieces of rail into the
heating furnace. The fusion of the fluxing materials upon the surfaces of the
iron bars will lessen the action of carbon, sulphur, and oxygen thereon, and
cleanse and prepare the surfaces of the iron rails for the solvent action of the
molten carburet of iron. Or I employ the converting vessel for heating the
pieces of old rails in lieu of heating them in a furnace, as herein-before
described, so that the heating of the pieces of old rails may go on simul-
taneously with the necessary heating up of the lining of the converting vessel.
In order to carry this part of my Invention into practical operation, I first
put some ignited fuel into the converting vessel, and I then add thereto a
further quantity of coke, anthracite coal, prepared peat, or other suitable fuel;
or in lieu of employing solid fuel for heating the pieces of old rails in the con-
verting vessel, carbonic oxide or other gases may for that purpose be

page_text: employed, or the waste gases from the blast furnace may be used in lieu
thereof, a suitable division in the tuyere box being provided so as to introduce
jets of gas and of atmospheric air, so as to effect a powerful combustion of
the gases and raise the temperature of the rails to the highest degree attain-
able, the gases and air being used by preference at a high temperature.
When solid fuel is employed I throw on to it the pieces of old rails to be
remanufactured; a powerful blast is then applied beneath the ignited fuel until
the interior of the vessel and the pieces of rails contained therein are brought
up to a very high temperature. So soon as the fuel employed in this heating
process is wholly or for the most part consumed, I, without loss of time, run
into the vessel the molten iron intended to be combined with the pieces of
rails; any remaining portions of fuel may be raked off the surface of the fluid
metal, and the vessel be then turned up, and the forcing in of atmospheric air
continued until the fusion of the pieces of rails is effected, and the general
mass converted into steel or into malleable iron, as herein-before described.
By this modification of the process the fuel employed to keep up the
necessary heat of the converting vessel during the time occupied in melting
the pig iron will be further utilized, and the loss of heat caused by removing
the heated pieces of rails from the reverberatory or other furnace into the con-
verting vessel will be prevented. The surfaces of the pieces of rails may be
defended by a coating of flux, as herein-before mentioned.
In some cases it will be found advantageous to put into the vessel along with
the pieces of old rails a portion of ordinary pig iron, or in lieu thereof a manga-
nesian or siliceous pig iron may be employed along with the pieces of old rails,
and be heated in the converting vessel. The quantity of pig or carburet of iron to
be mixed with the pieces of old rails will depend on the quality of the carburet
of iron, but I believe in all cases it will be desirable to employ a large amount
of blast, since more heat may be thus developed during the process. As soon
as the metal has been converted into steel it is to be run in the usual way
into a ladle, and from thence transferred to the moulds in a manner well under-
stood. When solid steel rails are to be made, ingots of the weight necessary
for a single rail or for two rails may be cast in the usual way, and be after-
wards hammered or squeezed in a hydraulic press, and then rolled to the desired
section; or the unwrought ingot may be rolled into a rail, in which case rolls
of much larger diameter than usual will be found preferable. But when it is
desired to remanufacture old or worn iron rails so as to produce cast steel from
a mixture of such rails with a carburet of iron, and to apply such metal.in. the
manufacture of rails with a steel top, or with a steel, top and bottom, the
other portion of the rail being composed, of, old iron, rails, or with other

page_text: puddled iron, as described in a Patent granted to me for "Improvements in
the Manufacture of Rails or Railway Bars and Axles," and dated the 4th day
of November 1856, and numbered 2585, I proceed with their manufacture
by one of two modes of operating, the first of which consists in making the
fluid steel obtained by treating old rails, as herein-before described, into
ingots or slabs (by means of " open casting ") especially suited for welding
on to iron and forming a top or a top and bottom of a rail. For this purpose
I make a number of shallow iron pans or moulds, the inside surface of which
may be washed or coated with clay, loam, or other matters to prevent the
molten metal from adhering thereto, or the moulds so employed may be what
are termed sand or loam moulds. When the fluid steel is run into any of
such moulds the surface of the metal may have some dry sand, lime, or other
matters sifted or thrown thereon to defend the surface of the metal from the
action of the atmosphere. The adhesion of a small portion of sand to the
ingot or slab will facilitate the welding of it to the pile of iron to which it is
to be united.
The second mode consists in giving a more perfect wearing surface on
those rails that are manufactured by welding one or more steel slabs on to a
pile of old rails or other puddled iron. In carrying into operation this part
of my said Invention I prefer to cast an ingot of large size, that is, of a size
capable of making from 6 to 12 rails (more or less) of the ordinary length.
I take this ingot from the mould while its interior is still in a highly-heated
state, and put it for a short time into a furnace, or into a chamber without
fire, where the temperature of the interior and exterior of the ingot may
become more equal. I then subject the ingot to the action of the bydraulic
press, or I employ a steam hammer to consolidate and somewhat extend the
length of the ingot. After this has been done, I cut up the ingot or slab into
slices of a size and weight suitable for the intended piles of which it is to form a
part. The slicing of the ingot may be effected by a steam hammer and a
cutter, but I prefer to cut up the ingot or slab by a bydraulic press acting on
a knife or cutter which is moved in suitable guides, so as to cut off even
parallel slices of the desired thickness. The movement of the ingot for each
successive cut may be effected by placing the ingot on a sliding bed actuated
by a screw or rack, so as to regulate with facility the thickness of the slices
cut off. The pieces so cut off may then be used to form part of the pile, or
the said slices may be again hammered or rolled previous to being piled with
old rails or other puddled iron, and made into a railway bar.
But in cases where it is desired to further reduce the cost of such rails, the
large cast ingot, while still hot from the converting process, may be cut into.

page_text: slices without any previous hammering or squeezing, and the metal in that
unwrought state may form part of the intended pile; or, if preferred, the slices
may, after being cut from the unwrought ingot, be either hammered or rolled
before piling. All ingot ends, crop ends of bars, and other scrap arising in
the remanufacture of rails after either of the modes of operating herein-before
described may be piled and formed into a rail, or into a slab of steel to form
part of a rail, or such scrap may be put into the converting vessel and be
there fused and united with other rails to be remanufactured.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Bessemer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BESSEMER, of Queen Street Place, New Cannon Street, in the City of London,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Bessemer, Her special licence that I, the
said Henry Bessemer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Bessemer, 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 and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE REMANUFACTURE OF RAILWAY BARS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Bessemer, 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 Henry Bessemer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
Railway bars made of rolled iron, such as are now generally employed
on the various lines of railway throughout the United Kingdom, are worn out
so quickly by the passage of heavy engines and trains over them as to
become a source of great expense to the several companies employing such
rails. In order to lessen this expense great attention has been paid by iron-
masters and others to the remanufacture of railway bars, whereby the wrought
iron of which they are composed is again worked up under the hammer or
rolls, and again becomes a serviceable metal for the purpose of making rails and
other uses.
In this remanufacture of railway bars a portion of newly
puddled metal is sometimes employed to form the centre of the rail, and in
other cases slabs of a superior quality of iron are rolled with them so as to
form a better wearing surface on the rail; or slabs of cast steel are piled with
the old rails, and the mixed materials are then rolled together into a railway
bar; or the old bars are remanufactured by piling them alone or with other
puddled iron, and then rolled into bars, rods, or plates of iron for various
uses.
The employment of railway bars composed wholly or in part of Bessemer steel
to replace the ordinary wrought-iron rail renders desirable the employment of
old or more or less worn rails in the manufacture of new material which is
to replace them.
Now, therefore, my present Invention has for its object the utilization of the
materials of which such old or worn wrought-iron rails are composed by
employing them in combination with pig or other carburet of iron, and thus
remanufacturing the old rails in such a manner as to produce cast-steel rails
from the combination of wrought and pig iron so manufactured. For this
purpose I prefer to use the converting apparatus generally employed in
the manufacture of cast steel by what is known as the Bessemer process.
The converting vessel having been highly heated in the usual way, and the
residue of the fuel discharged therefrom, I proceed to put into the vessel
the old rails intended to be remanufactured, such rails having previously
been cut into convenient lengths, and brought up to a red or to a welding heat
in any suitable furnace. I then, without loss of time, run or pour into the con-
verting vessel along with the heated pieces of old rails some molten crude iron,
or remelted pig or refined or other carburet of iron, preferring for this purpose
the kind of pig iron known as No. 1 hematite hot-blast iron. As soon as the
metal has run in, the vessel should be turned on its axis, and the forcing of
atmospheric air into and among the particles of the fluid metal should be con-

page_text: tinued until the pieces of rails are melted down and form part of the fluid
mass. In thus melting the wrought-iron rails in a bath of fluid pig iron any
absorption of sulphur by them is prevented, as their fusion does not commence
until they have been entirely removed from the influence of coke or other
fuel; the powerful agitation of the fluid metal by the action of the blast con-
tinually brings them in contact with fresh portions of the molten metal in
which they are rapidly melted down. The air-blowing process may be con-
tinued until the metal is decarbonized only to the extent required to form
steel, or the process may be continued until the complete decarbonization
of the metal is effected, when there may, as is now the general practice, be
added thereto a further portion of molten carburet of iron, containing by pre-
ference manganese in a state of alloy as found in the pig iron known as
franklinite and that known as spiegel eisen. The quantity of carburet of
iron so added will, as is well understood, determine the hardness or temper of
the steel, which may be formed into ingots or slabs in the usual manner, or by
preference in the manner herein-after described.
I would observe that when remanufacturing wrought-iron railway bars in
the manner herein described, I prefer that the metal should be combined with
about one two-hundredth part of carbon, so as to constitute a "mild" tough
steel.
And although I have herein-before stated that the pieces of iron rails may
be heated in any suitable furnace, I nevertheless desire it to be understood that
I prefer to heat such pieces of rail in the after part of or in a chamber con-
nected with the reverberatory furnace employed to melt the pig iron to be used
therewith. This mode of heating metal in the after part of the reverberatory
melting furnace is described in the Specification of a Patent granted to me
for "Improvements. in the Manufacture of Malleable Iron and Steel, and in
the Apparatus employed in such Manufacture," and bearing even date herewith,
and numbered 2746. The loss of metal by oxidation in the heating furnace
will be lessened and its facility of fusing in the converting vessel increased by
sprinkling it with or immersing the pieces of rails in water holding lime, clay,
and fine sand or other flux in suspension prior to putting such pieces of rail
into the heating furnace. The fusion of the fluxing materials upon the surface
of the iron bars will lessen the action of carbon, sulphur, and oxygen thereon,
and cleanse and prepare the surface of the iron rails for the solvent action of
the molten carburet of iron. A cheap and useful flux for coating the pieces
of rail may be made by grinding under edge stones with a little clay the "mill
furnace cinder" or other silicate of the oxide of iron. It will be found advan-
tageous in all cases to heat the pieces of rail up to a full welding heat, and

page_text: also to heat the molten pig or other carburet of iron as highly as possible, in
order to facilitate the fusion of the pieces of rail. It is also desirable to loose
as little as possible of the heat of the rails in transferring them to the converting
vessel; and in order to avoid such loss of heat, and otherwise to facilitate the
process, I employ the converting vessel for heating the pieces of old rails in
lieu of heating them in a furnace as herein-before described, so that the heating
of the pieces of old rails may go on simultaneously with the necessary heating
up of the lining of the converting vessel.
In order to carry this part of my Invention into practical operation, I
first put some ignited fuel into the converting vessel, and I then add thereto a
further quantity of coke, anthracite coal, prepared peat, or other suitable fuel.
When solid fuel is employed I throw on to it the pieces of old rails to be
remanufactured; a powerful blast is then applied beneath the ignited fuel until
the interior of the vessel and the pieces of rails contained therein are brought
up to a very high temperature. So soon as the fuel employed in this heating
process is wholly or for the most part consumed, I, without loss of time, run
into the vessel the molten iron intended to be combined with the pieces of
rails; any remaining portions of fuel may be raked off the surface of the fluid
metal, and the vessel be then turned up, and the forcing in of atmospheric air
continued until the fusion of the pieces of rails is effected, and the general
mass converted into steel or into malleable iron, as herein-before described.
By this modification of the process the fuel employed to keep up the neces-
sary heat of the converting vessel during the time occupied in melting the
pig iron will be further utilized, and the loss of heat caused by removing the
heated pieces rails from the reverberatory or other furnace into the con-
verting vessel will be prevented. The surfaces of the pieces of rails may be
defended by a coating of flux, as herein-before mentioned. Or in lieu of em-
ploying solid fuel for heating the pieces of old rails in the converting vessel,
carbonic oxide other gases may for that purpose be employed, or the waste
gases from the blast furnace may be used in lieu thereof, a suitable division in
the tuyero box being provided so as to introduce jets of gas and of atmo-
spheric air, so as to effect a powerful combustion of the gases and raise the
temperature of the rails to the highest degree attainable, the gases and air
being used by preference at a bigh temperature. This mode of employing
jets of gas and jets of atmospheric air for heating metal in the converting
vessel is described in the Specification of a Patent granted to me for "Im-
provements in the Manufacture of Malleable Iron and Steel, and in the
Apparatus employed in such Manufacture," and bearing even date herewith.
I therefore do not under these in part recited Letters Patent lay any claim to

page_text: the heating of metal in the converting vessel either by the waste gases of
the blast furnace, or by other gases generated for that purpose, or by the
employment of solid fuel.
In some cases it will be found advantageous to put into the vessel along.
with the pieces of old rail a portion of ordinary pig iron, or in lieu thereof a
magnesian or siliceous pig iron may be employed along with the pieces of old
rails, and be heated in the converting vessel; the kind of pig or crude iron so
added will depend on the quality of the rest of the charge of metal; the
ordinary pig used for conversion into steel would be used mainly as an
addition to the quantity of metal to be used without melting in a separate
furnace, but pig metal containing a large quantity of manganese or silicium in.
a state of alloy will add to the heat-producing properties of the charge of
metal, and assist in the fusion of the pieces of rails. The quantity of pig or
carburet of iron to be mixed with the pieces of old rails will depend on the
quality of the carburet of iron, but it will be found that about one-third more
or less of old rails combined with two-third parts of No. 1 pig iron will make
a very serviceable quality of steel for rails and for many other purposes.
A larger quantity of rails may be fused by heating them to a very .high
temperature before the commencement of the converting process, but
I believe in all cases it will be desirable to employ a large amount of
blast, since more heat may be thus developed during the process.
As soon
as the metal has been converted into steel it is to be run in the usual wav
into a ladle, and from thence transferred to the moulds in a manner well
understood. When solid steel rails are to be made, ingots of the weight
necessary for a single rail or for two rails may be cast in the usual way, and
be afterwards hammered or squeezed in a hydraulic press and then rolled to
the desired section; or the unwrought ingot may be rolled into a rail, in which
case rolls of much larger diameter than usual will be found preferable. But
when it is desired to remanufacture old or worn iron rails so as to produce
cast steel from a mixture of such rails with a carburet of iron, and to apply:
such metal in the manufacture of rails with a steel top, or with a steel top and
bottom, the other portion of the rail being composed of old iron rails or with
other puddled iron, as described in a Patent granted to me for "Improvements
in the Manufacture of Rails or Railway Bars and Axles," and dated the 4th
day of November 1856, and numbered 2585, I proceed with their manu-
facture by one of two modes of operating, the first of which consists in
making the fluid steel obtained by treating old rails, as berein-before described,
into ingots or slabs (by means of "open casting ") especially suited for welding
on to iron and forming a top or a top and bottom of a rail. For this purpose

page_text: I make a number of shallow iron pans or moulds, the inside surface of which
may be washed or coated with clay, loam, or other matters to prevent the
molten metal from adhering thereto, or the moulds so employed may be what
are termed sand or loam moulds. When the fluid steel is run into any of such
moulds the surface of the metal may have some dry sand, lime, or other
matters sifted or thrown thereon to defend the surface of the metal from the
action of the atmosphere. The adhesion of a small portion of sand to the ingot
or slab will facilitate the welding of it to the pile of iron to which it is to be
united.
The second mode consists in giving a more perfect wearing surface on
those rails that are manufactured by welding one or more steel slabs on to a
pile of old rails or other puddled iron. In carrying into operation this part
of my said Invention I prefer to cast an ingot of large size, that is, of a size
capable of making from 6 to 12 rails (more or less) of the ordinary length.
I take this ingot from the mould while its interior is still in a highly state,
and put it for a short time into a furnace, or into a chamber without fire, where
the temperature of the interior and exterior of the ingot may become more
equal. I then subject the ingot to the action of the hydraulic press, or I
employ a steam hammer to consolidate and somewhat extend the length of
the ingot in the same manner as now ordinarily practised in forging ingots
of steel into slabs to be afterwards rolled into rails. After this has been
done, I cut up the ingot or slab into slices of a size and weight suitable for
the intended pile of which it is to form a part. The slicing of the ingot may be
effected by a steam hammer and a cutter, which cutter consists simply of a
large blade or knife with a long handle; the cutter being held on the ingot by
the workman, the back or upper side of the cutter is then struck repeatedly
by the hammer until it passes through and divides the mass, as usually prac-
tised in cutting steel ingots; but I prefer to cut up the ingot or slab by a
hydraulic press acting on a knife or cutter which is moved in suitable guides, so
as to cut off even parallel slices of the desired thickness. The movement of the
ingot for each successive cut may be effected by placing the ingot on a sliding
bed, actuated by a screw or rack, so as to regulate with facility the thickness
of the slices cut off. The arrangements by which a cutter may be guided under
a press, and the mode of moving forward the slab to be cut may be varied in
many ways, and will be well understood by the manufacturer of rails, the
particular construction of cutting machine to be employed in slicing off the slabs
forms no part of my present Invention, and I therefore lay no claim thereto.
The pieces so cut off may then be used to form part of the pile, or the said
slices may be again hammered or rolled previous to being piled with old rails

page_text: or other puddled iron, and made into a railway bar. But in cases where it is
desired to further reduce the cost of such rails, the large cast ingot, while still
hot from the converting process, may be cut into slices without any previous
hammering or squeezing, and the metal in that unwrought state may form
part of the intended pile; or, if preferred, the slices may, after being cut from
the unwrought ingot, be either hammered or rolled before piling. All ingot
ends, crop ends of bars, and other scrap arising in the remanufacture of rails
after either of the modes of operating herein-before described may be piled and
formed into a rail, or into a slab of steel to form part of a rail, or such scrap
may be put into the converting vessel and be there fused and united with
other rails to be remanufactured.
é manner in
desire it to be
details herein given,
Having described the several parts of my Invention,
which the same may be carried into practical oper
understood that I do not confine myself to the pre..
provided the essential parts of my said improvements be retained; but what
I claim in the remanufacture of railway bars is,―
Firstly, I claim the re-manufacture of old or worn wrought-iron railway bars
by fusing such bars by means of the additional heat generated by forcing
atmospheric air or other gaseous matters into the molten pig or other carburet
of iron in which such pieces of rails are immersed, as herein described.
Secondly, I claim casting flat slabs, to be employed for the top and bottom
surfaces of a railway bar, in open shallow moulds as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bessemer, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
HENDY DESCEND