Improvements in Railway Cattle Trucks.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in Railway Cattle Trucks.
STEPHEN FORD, 73, Billing Road, Northampton, Mechanical Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention for the improvements in railway trucks or those wagons used
for conveying cattle consists in a contrivance which will prevent the movable
partitions, which are at present used for limiting the size or inside length of
the trucks to the dimensions to be paid for by the cattle senders from being
moved or extended after the cattle have been loaded, for in practice it often
happens that the cattle senders ask for, and only pay for the smallest space in
the railway truck into which they think they can crowd the largest possible
number of cattle, with the intention of afterwards moving the partition them-
selves which they often do, to give the cattle more space which they have not
paid for, and and by which action they deprive the railway company of so much
revenue.
The
It is to prevent this unfair practice that I have invented a means which will
make it impossible to move the partition to give more room after the cattle have been
loaded, and I now describe my invention as follows. At the present there are on
the top rail at each side of the cattle wagon two or three notches or recesses,
about two inches deep into which the iron horn at each top corner of the mov-
able partition drops into and so keeps the partition upright and in its proper
position and the right distance intended for it from the end of the wagon.
bottom of the partition being kept in its proper place by blocks of wood on the
wagon floor. But there is nothing at the present to prevent the said partition
being lifted straight up and moved to the next notches. To remedy this and to
protect the interest the interest of the railway companies I fasten to each side
of the wagon near to the bottom, curved pieces of wood about two feet long,
being similar in shape to a cart wheel felly, and cut to a sweep the radius of
which is the distance from the notch on the top of the side rail to the said
curved pieces of wood. And then in the partition, on each side, I cut a gap
to fit over the curved pieces of wood, and these gaps clipping over the curved
pieces prevent the partition being raised out of the notches or recesses on the
top of the side rail of the wagon until the bottom of the partition is pulled for-
ward toward the middle of the wagon sufficiently, say about two feet, to clear
the ends of the curved pieces, then and only then, can the partition be lifted up
out of the notches at the top and moved to the next distance notches, but it
being impossible to draw the bottom part of the partition forward so much to
clear the curved pieces while the truck is loaded with cattle so it is thereby
impossible to move the partition to give them more room, but when the truck
is empty of cattle the partition can be easily moved from one notch to another
either way to make the space longer or shorter by drawing the bottom of the
partition clear of the curved pieces and sliding the iron horns along the top of
wagon sides.
the

page_text: To prevent the said partition swinging at the bottom and knocking against the
legs of the cattle I put an iron button or catch at each corner to turn over into
a gap in each of the curved pieces.
Dated : 20
en 1
100%
Improvements in Railway Cattle Trucks.
I, STEPHEN FORD, Engineer, of 73, Billing Road, Northampton, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention for the improvements in railway trucks or those wagons used
for conveying cattle consists in a contrivance which will prevent the movable
partitions which are at present used for limiting the size or inside length of
the trucks to those dimensions paid for by the cattle senders being moved or
extended after the cattle have been loaded, for in practice it often happens that
the cattle senders ask for and only pay for the smallest space in the railway
truck into which they think they can crowd the largest number possible of cattle,
with the intention of themselves afterwards moving the partition which they
often do to give the cattle more space, space which they have not paid for and
by which action they deprive the railway company of so much revenue. It is
to prevent this unfair practice that I have invented a means which makes it
impossible to move the partition and give more room to the cattle after they have
been loaded, and I now describe my invention as follows.
The drawing Figs. 1 and 2 show nearly one half of the inside of a cattle
truck, sufficient to illustrate my invention.
A is the movable partition.
B the notches on the top of each side of the truck.
C the horns at the top corners of the partition.
D the curved pieces of wood against the sides.
E the gaps in the partition near the bottom.
F the buttons or catches.
At the present time there are on the top rail at each side of cattle wagons
two or three notches or recesses B, about 2 inches deep, into which the iron
horn C at each top corner of the movable partition drops into and so keeps the
partition upright in its proper place or position and the right distance intended
for it to be from the end of the wagon. The bottom of the partition A being
kept in its right place by blocks of wood on the wagon floor. But there is
nothing at present to prevent the said partition being lifted straight up and
moved to the next notches. To remedy this and to protect the interest of the.
railway companies fasten to each side of the wagon inside and near the bottom,
curved pieces of wood D, each about 2 feet long, being similar in shape to a cart
wheel felley and cut to a sweep the radius of which is the distance from the
notch B on the top of the side rail to the said curved pieces of wood, and then
in the partition on each side I cut a gap E to fit over the curved pieces of wood,
and these gaps clipping over the curved pieces D prevent the iron horns O
at each top corner of the partition being raised out of the notches or recesses B
on the top of the side rails of the wagon. until the bottom of the partition is
pulled forward toward the middle of the wagon as shown in A¹ sufficient to

page_text: clear the ends of the curved pieces D, then and not till then can the partition
be lifted up out of the notches B at the top and moved to the next distance
notches, but it being impossible to draw the bottom part of the partition forward
the necessary distance, about 2 feet, to clear the curved pieces while the truck
is loaded with cattle so it is thereby impossible to move the partition to give them
more room, but when the truck is empty of cattle the partition can be easily
moved from one notch to another either way to make the space in the wagon
longer or shorter by drawing the bottom of the partition clear of the curved
pieces then raising it a little and sliding the iron horns along the top of the
wagon sides.
To prevent the partition swinging at the bottom and knocking against the
legs of the cattle I put an iron button or catch F at each corner to turn over
into a gap in each of the curved pieces.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
-
1st. In connection with wagons for carrying cattle on railways an arrangement
of parts and pieces fixed internally namely the curved pieces of wood the gaps
in the partition and the buttons or catches substantially as described in the
specification and shown in the drawing, to be performed in the manner and for
the purpose therein stated.
2nd. The combination of the parts and pieces as mentioned in Claim 1 and
fully described in the specification. with railway cattle wagons for the purpose
therein stated.
DL1 11.
191 1
1
1000