CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES."-
A communication.
Sealed the Sth May 1857, and dated the 22nd November 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd November 1856.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES," to
be as follows:-
This Invention of certain improvements in railway carriages relates, firstly,
to the construction of the bodies of railway carriages, or the principal portions
thereof, of wrought iron. This part of the Invention consists in certain
features of construction, hereafter described, whereby lightness, strength, and
durability are combined.

page_text: Secondly, the Invention consists in a certain arrangement of wheels to be
employed on a railway of proper form, which admits of the carriages being
run off the track when desired. This part of the Invention is more
particularly applicable to carriages drawn by horses on railways laid in the
streets of cities and towns, and its object is to enable the carriages to
run on the street pavement of their usual route in case of any temporary
obstruction or blockading of the streets on their usual route by fires or other
causes.
The floor frame of the carriage is constructed of two side piecos, two
end pieces, and any suitable number of cross ties, all of strong angle iron.
The end pieces and cross pieces are united in the following manner:-Each
and piece and cross piece has a slot cui in that portion of it which is to stand
upright close under the portion which is to stand horizontally, the said slot
being of a width equal to the thickness of the side pieces, and of a length
equal to the width of the upper or horizontal portion thereof. This slot has
a piece to rest on the top of the side piece, to which it is afterwards rivetted
by one or more bolts or rivets. The end of the cross tie below the slot is
bent round at a right angle to the length of the tie, and serves to attach one
of the uprights of the framing of the carriage.
The uprights of the framing are arranged in pairs, and consist of light
wrought-iron bars rolled in the form ofn gutter to give stiffness. The outer
uprights are bolted or rivetted to the upright portions of the angle-iron side
pieces; the inner uprights are bolted or rivetted to the end pieces and cross
ties. The roof of the carriage is made of corrugated sheet iron, and is
rivetted to angle pieces which fit between the uprights, and are rivetted to the
outer uprights. The uprights are stayed by short horizontal wrought-iron
pieces, whose transversosectional form is the same as that of the uprights, that
is, in the form of a gutter. These pieces are cut out at the ends in order
that they may fit snugly to the uprights.
The panelling of the carriage is composed of lattice work of iron wire or
other light wrought iron, covered outside, and lined inside with thick felt, or
other material that is a good non-conductor of h ent, and has anothercovering
of oilcloth or painted canvass to exclude rain, and protect the felt from
injury.
The lattice work of the panelling gives great strength to the car,stiffening
the floor frame and staying the uprights,and when covered with non-conduct-
ing material will be far superior as a non-conductor of heat and cold to close
plates of iron, besides being much lighter, and giving the carriage a certain

page_text: degree of elasticity to resist the effects of collision. The roof of the carriage
is lined with felt and oilcloth, or painted canvass, like the panelling of the
sides. The uprights at the four corners of the carriage body are of a different
form in their transverse section to any of the others.
The window sashes are fitted to slide between the uprights, and there is a
door at each end of the carriage, opening by sliding between the inner upright
of one side of the doorway and the lattice work of the end of the carriage.
The carriage has an outer platform at each end, for the driver and conductor
to stand upon, and for the entrance and exit of passengers.
The seats may be made of sheet iron on a suitable wrought-iron frame-
work.
The floor of the carriage is made of wrought-iron lattice work, resting in
the end pieces and cross ties of the floor frame. Below the floor frame there
inclines
is a sheet-iron bottom, which is of an angular form, that is to say,
downwards from each side of the car. The bottom serves as a receptacle for
the dirt from the passengers' feet, which falls through the lattice work floor;
it is provided with a binged trap, extending the whole length, by opening
which the dirt may be let out when desired.
The axles of the carriage turn in suitable bearings; the springs are of
india-rubber. The wheels are keyed fast on the axles, but are made with
plain cylindrical tires, instead of with flanched tires, like the wheels of
the railway carriages in common use. These wheels serve only to support
the carriage, and additional guide wheels are used to keep the carriage
on the railway. These guide wheels are intended to run on a grooved
railway. The rails of this railway are flat on their top face, which is supposed
to stand level with the surface of the street or roadway, but they have
each a central groove to receive the flanches of the guide wheels of the car-
riage, the said flanches being on the middle of the face of the said wheels.
The guide wheels are attached to separate levers, which hang on axles or
pivots attached to the car, and they (the said wheels) are confined to the rails
by their own weight, assisted by the weight of the levers; or, if necessary in
any cases, springs may be applied to the levers to hold them down. The guide
wheels can all be raised at once by chains, which run over pullies arranged
under the carriage to an upright capstan at one end of the carriage. By
winding the chain on the capstan the guide wheels are raised from the rails,
and the carriage is capable of running off the rails. One of the axles and all its
appendages is intended to be made capable of swinging on a king bolt to
enable the carriage to turn readily; it will, however, be secured while the

page_text: carriage is running on the railway, and only be set free to turn when the
carriage is off the rails. The guide wheels are allowed a certain amount of
play in a direction lateral to the railway, in order to allow the groove in the
rail to be made only just wide enough to receive the flanches of the guide
wheels. This width of groove will not be sufficient to admit the wheels of
other vehicles into them. The wheels, being all independent of each other,
will yield readily one at a time, and pass over any obstructions on the rails,
and thus prevent the carriage being thrown off the rails. The grooves in
the rails are freed from most obstructions by narrow scrapers attached to
the front of the car. Ice or frozen snow may be removed from the grooves
by constructing the guide wheels with teethod flanches.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd May 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Now ton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I. the said William
Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of "Certain Improvements in Railway. Carriages "relates,
firstly, to the construction of the bodies of railway carriages, or the principal
portions thereof, of wrought iron. This part of the Invention consists in
certain features of construction whereby lightness, strength, and durability
are combined.
Secondly, the Invention consists in a certain arrangement of wheels to be
employed on a railway of proper form, which admits of the carriages being
run off the track when desired. This part of the Invention is more particularly
applicable to carriages drawn by horses on railways laid in the streets of cities
and towns, and its object is to enable the carriages to run on the street pave-
ment off their usual route, in case of any temporary obstruction or blockading
of the streets on their usual route, and to return to and run on the railway
again when required.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1
is a side elevation of a horse carriage intended for a street railway, embracing
in its construction all the improvements of which the Invention consists;
Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same; Fig. 3 is a horizontal section
of a portion of the same. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of a portion of
one side of the carriage. drawn on a larger scale than the preceding Figures.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 are detail views, illustrative of the construction of the
wheels, and the railway to be employed in connection with them; and Figures
8, 9, 10 are detail views of portions of the body of the carriage. Similar
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
The floor frame of the carriage is shewn at A, B, C, and is constructed of
two side pieces A, A, two end pieces B, B, and any suitable number of cross
ties C, C, C, all of strong angle iron. The end pieces B and cross pieces A
are united in the following manner-Each end piece and cross piece has a
slot a (see Fig. S, which is an inside face view of one of the cross ties,)cut in
that portion of it which is to stand upright, close under the portion which is
to stand horizontally, such slot a being of a width equal to the thickness of
the side pieces, and of a length equal to the width of the upper or horizontal
portion thereof. This slot has a piece b to rest on the top of the side piece,
to which it is afterwards rivetted by one or more bolts or rivets, as shewn at d,

page_text: Figures 4 and 10. The end of the cross tiec below the slot a is bent round
at a right angle to the length of the tie, as shewn in Fig. 9, which is a top
view, and serves to attach one of the uprights of the framing of the carriage,
as will be presently described.
ness.
The uprights D, DI, of the framing are arranged in pairs, and consist of
light wrought-iron bars rolled in the form of a gutter, as shown in section in
Fig. 8, that is to say, flat, with a single longitudinal corrugation to give stiff-
The outer uprights Dare bolted or rivetted to the upright portions of
the angle-iron side pieces, as shewn at e, e, in Figures 1, 2, and 4; the inner
uprights D' are bolted or rivetted to the parts c of the end pieces and cross ties
The roof Z of the carriage is made of corrugated sheet iron, and is secured by
rivets g to angle pieces, which fit between the uprights D, D', andarerivetted
to the outer uprights D, as shown in Fig. 2. The uprights are stayed by short
horizontal wrought-iron pieces E, E, whose transverse sectional form is the
same as that of the uprights D, D', that is, in the form of a gutter. These
pieces E, E, are cut out at the ends to the form shown at 4, Fig. 3, in order
that they may fit snugly to the uprights, as shown at i, i, Fig. 3.
1 The panelling of the carriage is composed of lattice work of iron wire, or
other light wrought iron, covered outside, and lined inside with thick felt, or
other material that is a good non-conductor of heat, and has another covering
of oilcloth or painted canvas, to exclude rain and protect the felt from injury.
In Fig. 1, part of the external covering Fofoilcloth is torn off, and also part
of the covering of felt G, to expose the lattice work E. This feature is also
illustrated in Figures 2 and 4. The lattice work need not all be made in
separate panels, but a piece of the whole length of the carriage can be
admitted between the uprights D and D. The lattice work of the lower
panels is laced on to or otherwise attached to two stout bars jand, which fit
between the uprights Dand D'. The lower onej of these bars is rivetted to the
top of the side pieces A and end pieces B of the floor frame, and the upper
one to the pieces E, which it serves to hold in place.
The lattice work of the upper panels is made on bars and k, likej and k,
The lower bar is rivetted to the pieces E, and the upper bar to the angle
pieces of the roof. The oilcloth covering of the panels has its edges secured
between the bars j, k, k, and the side pieces A and pieces E, E, and, to
which the said bars are respectively attached.
The lattice work of the panelling gives great strength to the car, stiffening
the floor frame andstaying the uprights,und when covered with non-conducting
material will be far superior as a non-conductor of heat and cold to close

page_text: plates of iron, besides being much lighter, and giving the carriage a certain
degree of elasticity to resist the effects of collision. The roof of the carriage
is lined with felt and oilcloth, or painted canvas,like the panelling of the sides.
The uprights at the four corners of the carriage body are of a different form
in their transverse section to any of the others. Like the others, they are in
pairs, the interior ones I being of common angle iron, and the exterior ones J
being of iron whose transverse sectional form is represented in Fig. 3.
The window sashes K, K1,(Figures 1, 2, and 4,) are fitted to slide between
the uprights D, D¹, and there is a door L (Figures 2 and 3) at each end of
the carriage. This door is opened by sliding it between the inner upright!)!
of one side of the doorway and the lattice work of the end of the carriage. The
carriage has an outer platform Mat each end, for the driver and conductor to
stand rpon, and for the entrance and exit of passengers.
The seats N, N, may be made of sheet iron on a suitable wrought-iron
framework.
These
The floor O of the car is made of wrought-iron lattice work, resting in the
Below the floor frame
end pieces B and the cross ties C of the floor frame.
there is a sheet-iron bottom P of an angular form, being made to incline
downwards from each side of the car towards the middle, as shown in Fig. 2.
This bottom serves as a receptacle for the dirt from the passengers' feet us
it falls through the lattice work floor. The bottom P is provided with a
hinged trap Q, extending the whole length, and by opening this trap the
dirt may be let out when desired. The axles R of the carriage turn in
the bearings $; the springs T are supposed to consist of discs of india-
rubber, secured between the horn plates U. The wheels V, V, are keyed
fast on the axles R, but are made with plain cylindrical tires instead of with
flanged tires, like the wheels of the railway carriages in common use.
wheels serve only to support the carriage, and additional and separate guide
wheels W, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, are used to keep the carriage on
the railway. These guide wheels are intended to run on a grooved rail-
way, a transverse section of which is shewn in Fig. 2, and also in Fig. 6.
The rails r, r, of this railway are flat on their top face, which is sup-
posed to stand level with the surface of the street or roadway, but they have
each a central groove to receive the flanchess of the guide wheels W of the
carriage, such flanches being on the middle of the face of said wheels, as
seen in Figures 5, 6, and 7. The guide wheels W are attached to separate
levers X,which hang ou axles or pivots m attached to the car, and the wheels
are coutined to the rails by their own weight, assisted by the weight of the

page_text: levers; or,
if necessary in any cases, springs may be applied to the levers to
hold them down. The guide wheels can all be raised at once by chains con-
nected with the levers X, and run over guide pulleys o under the carriage to an
upright capstan at one end of the carriage. By winding the chain-n on the
capstan the guide wheels are raised from the rails, and the carriage is capable
of running off the rails. One of the axles R and all its appendages is intended
to be made capable of swinging on a king bolt to enable the carriage to turn
readily; it will. however, be secured while the carriage is running on, the
railway, and only be set free to turn when the carriage is off the rails. The
guide wheels are allowed a certain amount of play in a direction lateral othe
railway, in order to allow the groove in the rail to be made only just wide
enough to receivetheflanches of the guide wheels. This width of groove will not
be suflicient to admit the wheels of other vehicles into them. The wheels"W,
being all independent of each other, will yield readily one at a time and pass
over any obstructions on the rails, and thus prevent the carriage from being
thrown off the rails. The grooves in the rails are freed from inost obstructions
by unrrow scrapers Y, Y, attached to the front of the car. Ice or frozen snow
may be removed from the grooves by constructing the guide wheels with
teethed flanches, as shewn in Fig. 7.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of the Invention of
"Certain Improvements in Railway Carriages, "as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not
confine myself to the particular form of the carriage, or to the arrangement
of its seats, or other appurtenances, as herein described; but I claim as
new in the above described lavention,―
First, the construction of the bodies of railway carriages with the sides
of wrought-iron lattice or other open work combined with the floor framo
and uprights.
Second, the employment in the construction of thesides of railway earringes
of wrought-iron inttice work, covered on its interior or exterior, or on both
interior and exterior, first, with feltor other non-conducting material.and then
with oilcloth, painted canvas,or other waterproof material,as herein specified..
Third, the combination with a lattice work floor of a close receptacle
below the floor, to collect the dirt from the passengers' feet, provided with
a trap or traps, as horein described, to let out the dirt when and at any
place desired.
Fourth, the mode of constructing, applying, and operating the movable
flanged guide wheels, as herein set forth, in combination with plain

page_text: porting wheels, to allow the carriage to run on or off the rails at the
pleasure of the conductor or person in charge.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J..W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON, (L.S.)