IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY STEAM ENGINES AND CARRIAGES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Alphonse Loubat, of Paris, Rue Mogador,
No. 10, Householder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
STEAM ENGINES AND CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 11th May 1866, and dated the 14th November 1865.
f..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Alphonse Loubat
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th November 1865.
I, JOSEPH ALPHONSE LOUBAT, of Paris, Rue Mogador, No. 10, House-
holder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAILWAY STEAM ENGINES AND CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of the following improvements:-
1st, a method of transmitting the driving power to the wheels which carry
the carriages, and a shifting gear which allows of varying the speed of the
carriages without altering the speed of working of the engines.
2nd, a new arrangement of the steam cylinders, boiler, and accessories
on a truck separated from the passenger or goods carriages. The truck
may thus travel alone or be connected to carriages of all descriptions.
3rd, the passenger carriage is carried on ajointed truck, and is connected
to the engine frame or truck by a poll bolt. All the carriages are likewise

page_text: mounted on jointed trucks, so that they are capable of travelling round
curves.
4th, the employment of the steam at a higher temperature than when it
leaves the boiler.
The Invention also consists in arrangements of the boiler, the supply and
escape of the steam, and the chimney. The annexed Drawings will enable
my Invention to be fully understood.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation of a steam carriage connected to a
passenger carriage; Figure 2 is a vertical section of my improved steam boiler,
with special arrangements for the supply and escape of the steam; Figure 3 is
a section through the line A,B, of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a section through the
line C, D, of Figure 5, showing the arrangement I employ to transmit the
power of the engines to the driving wheels; Figure 5 is a plan of the shaft of
the steam cylinders and the axle of the driving wheels; Figure 6 is an
elevation of the clutch lever for varying the speed of the train.
The boiler A of the locomotive has an internal fire-place B with vertical
tubes C, C¹, into which the products of combustion pass; the plates D, D', to
which the tubes C, C¹, are riveted, are connected together by stays, which
keep them in position. On the upper plate D¹ a truncated cone E is mounted,
and is terminated by a cylindrical part E¹ closed by a cover F, and consti-
tuting the smoke box. A pipe G carries the chimney H, which is surrounded
by a jacket I filled with sand. The water level is never lower than the line A¹.
I take the steam at the upper part J of the boiler by a pipe K, furnished
with a hood and connected at L in the smoke box E. This pipe then rises in
spirals M, M, M¹¹, in the smoke box, issues by the pipe G, and enters the
divisions of the steain cylinders d, Figure 1. The hood of the pipe K pre-
vents drops of water entering with the steam. The steam having to traverse
the spirals M, M₁, M", surrounded by gases of a very high temperature in
the smoke box, is superheated and enters the cylinders perfectly dry, and at a
higher temperature than it possessed on leaving the boiler. When the steam has
produced its effect it enters the tube N,terminating in a rectangular orifice N¹
in the chimney. The object of this arrangement of the escape pipe is to give
activity to the draught. The jacket I of the chimney is filled with sand to
diminish the noise produced by the escape of the steam. I fit on the shaft O
of the steam cylinders two pinions P, Q, of different diameters, they turn
freely on the shaft O, and are furnished with trapezoidal or triangular teeth
R, S, on their inner faces. These pinions gear into two wheels T, U, of dif-
ferent diameters on the axle V of the driving wheels ✗. I place on the shaft

page_text: O a collar Y furnished with teeth on its outer faces. The fork of the lever Z
acts upon the collar Y, and makes it gear into one or other of the pinionsP,Q,
as desired. The pinions and toothed wheels have such diameters that if the
pinion P transmits the power of the engine to the wheel T,the driving wheels
produce a speed of, say, 8 miles an hour; if, on the contrary, the pinion Q
gears into the wheel U the driving wheels produce a speed of, say, 30 miles
an hour; but in both cases the speed of the engine is the same. As seen in
Figure 1 the steam cylinders d are placed on a truck e completely separated
from the other carriages. The engine frame or truck can travel alone, or inay
be connected to any description of carriage or wagon. A break, the blocks
g, g', of which act at the same time on the driving wheels X and on the
bearing wheels h, when worked by the screw p moderates the speed of or
stops the train if necessary. The screw p works in and raises or lowers a
nut Z, and the movement is transmitted by levers y to the blocks g, g', so as
to apply them to or remove them from contact with the wheels as required.
is an apparatus in front of the locomotive to clear the rails of obstacles.
The first carriage carried on a jointed truck 6 is borne partly by the frame of
the locomotive. It is connected to the locomotive by a poll bolt at a. The
working parts of the engine are enclosed in a case r, r¹, in which the driver
stands.
I do not intend to claim the apparatus q for clearing the rails, neither do I
intend to claim any parts of the engine or carriage shown in Fig. 1 and
not herein-before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Alponse Loubat in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ALPHONSE LOUBAT, of Paris, Rue Mogador, No. 10, Householder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joseph Alphonse Loubat, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Alphonse Loubat,my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as

page_text: I, the said Joseph Alphonse Loubat, 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 RAILWAY STEAM ENGINES AND CARRIAGES," upon the COD-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Alphonse Loubat, 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 Joseph Alphonse Loubat, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention consists of improvements in the construction of railway
steam engines and carriages.
These improvements relate to, 1st, the steam generator; 2nd, the supply
of the steam and its escape on leaving the cylinders; 3rd, the transmission of
the driving power to the wheels which move the carriages; 4th, the combi-
nation of the steam engine in reference to the passenger and goods carriages.
By means of these improvements the following advantages are obtained:-
The boiler is easily cleansed and repaired when necessary; the gradients
ascended or descended do not cause any essential part of the boiler to be
exposed to the fire; the supply of steam is arranged so that the water drawn
mechanically thereby cannot enter the cylinders; the steam is carried to a
higher temperature than that which is due to its pressure in the boiler; the
water of condensation drawn by the escape does not fall into the fire-place.
I can vary the speed of the driving
assigned beforehand to the engine.
the steam engine in reference to the
facilitates the traffic as well as the maintenance and repairs.
wheels without changing the speed
Finally, the improved combination of
carriages to be drawn by it greatly
The following description and the annexed Drawings will enable my
Invention to be fully understood.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation of a steam carriage connected to a

page_text: passenger carriage, to which a goods wagon is coupled; Figure 2 is a front
view of the locomotive; Figure 3 is a back view of the passenger carriage;
Figure 4 is a vertical section of my improved steam boiler, with special
arrangements for the supply and escape of the steam; Figure 5 is a plan
through the line A, B, of Figure 4; Figure 6 is a section through the
line C, D, of Figure 7, shewing the arrangement I employ to transmit the
power of the engines to the driving wheels; Figure 7 is the plan of the shaft of
the steam cylinders and the axle of the driving wheels; Figure Sis an elevation
of the clutch lever for varying the speed of the train; Figure 9 is a detailed
view representing the break for acting upon the driving wheels. The boiler
A of the locomotive has an internal fire-place B with vertical tubes C,C¹, into
which the products of combustion pass; the plates D, D¹, to which the
tubes C, C¹, are riveted, are connected together by stays which keep them in
position. On the upper plate 1) a truncated cone E is mounted and is
terminated by a cylindrical part E¹, closed by a cover F in the ordinary
manner and constituting the smoke box. A pipe G carries the chimney H,
which is surrounded by a jacket I filled with sand. The water level is
never lower than the line A¹, A¹. By this new arrangement of the various
parts of the boiler, whatever be the gradients of the line, no essential
part is laid bare; the diameter given to the smoke box renders the examina-
tion and repair of the tubes extremely easy. I take the steam at the upper
part J of the boiler by a pipe K furnished with a hood and connected at L in
the smoke box E. This pipe then rises in spirals M, M1, M2, in the smoke
box, issues by the pipe G and enters the divisions of the steam cylinders d,
Figures 1 and 4. The hood of the pipe K prevents drops of water entering
with the steam, and the steam having to traverse the spirals M, M¹, M", of
the smoke box is superheated and enters the cylinders perfectly dry and at a
higher temperature than it possessed on leaving the boiler. These two im-
provements produce great economy of fuel. When the steam has produced its
effect it enters the tube N, terminating in a rectangular orifice N¹ in the
chimney. The object of this arrangement of the escape pipe is to give activity
to the draught. The jacket I of the chimney is filled with sand to diminish the
noise produced by the escape of the steam. I fit on the shaft O of the steam
cylinders two pinions P, Q, of different diameters; they turn freely on the
shaft O, and are furnished with trapezoidal or triangular teeth R, S, on their
inner faces. These pinions gear into two wheels T, U, of different diameters
on the axle V of the driving wheels X. I place on the shaft O a collar Y,
furnished with teeth on its outer faces. The fork of the lever Z acts upon

page_text: the collar Y, and while leaving it free to turn inakes it gear into one or other
of the pinions P, Q, as desired. The pinions and toothed wheels have such
diameters that if the pinion P transmits the powerof the engine to the wheel T
the driving wheels produce a speed of, say, eight miles an hour; if on the con-
trary the pinion Q gears into the wheel U the driving wheels produce a speed
of say, thirty miles an hour; but in both cases the speed of the engines is the
same. The transmission of the driving power by gearing prevents blows or
shocks given to the driving axle acting directly upon the parts of the engine,
and ensures the duration and preservation thereof in a good state. When
there is a steep gradient to ascend the speed is greatly diminished and in
proportion to the inclination of the gradient, if it was necessary to slacken
the movement of the engine a part of the power would be lost at the very
time that there is most need for it; the production of steam would be at the
same time diminished, since it is proportional to the speed of the escape of the
steam. As seen in Figures 1 and 4 the steam engine is placed on a trucke,
completely separated from the other carriages. The engine frame or truck
can travel alone or may be connected to any description of carriage or wagon.
A break, the blocks g,g',of which act at the same time on the driving wheels X
and on the wheels h when worked by the screw p moderates the speed of or
stops the train if necessary. The screw p works in and raises or lowers a
nut z, and the movement is transmitted by levers y to the blocks g,g¹,so as to
apply them to or remove them from contact with the wheels as required. q is
an apparatus in front of the locomotive to clear the rails of obstacles. The
first carriage carried on a jointed truck 6 is borne partly by the frame of the
locomotive. It is connected to the locomotive by a poll bolt at a. All the
carriages are mounted on jointed trucks; the wheels of the trucks are
sufficiently near to each other to allow of the train travelling round curves of
comparatively small radius. The working parts of the engine are enclosed in
a case r, 71, in which the driver stands.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my improve-
ments in railway steam engines and carriages,-
First, constructing and arranging the steam generator substantially as
herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the arrangement substantially as herein-before described and
represented in the accompanying Drawings for the supply of steam and
its escape on leaving the cylinders.
Third, the arrangement substantially as herein-before described and repre-

page_text: sented in the accompanying Drawings for transmitting the driving power to
the wheels which move the carriages.
Fourth, the combination of the steam engine with the carriages substan-
tially as herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Alphonse Loubat, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.
J. A. LOUBAT. (L.B.)