FACILITATING THE UNLOADING AND TRANSFERRING FROM RAILWAY WAGONS INTO CARTS AND BARGES, &C., THE COALS AND OTHER MATTERS WITH WHICH THEY MAY BE LOADED, AND FOR STORING THE SAME
Year: 1859

page_text: of "FACILITATING THE UNLOADING AND TRANSFERRING FROM RAILWAY WAGONS
INTO CARTS AND BARGES, &C., THE COALS AND OTHER MATTERS WITH WHICH
THEY MAY BE LOADED, AND FOR STORING THE SAME."
Sealed the 29th May 1860, and dated the 21st December 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Plimsoll at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st December 1839.
1. SAMUEL PLIMSOLL, of 32, Hatton Garden, E.C.. London, in the County
of Middlesex, Coal Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "FACILITATING THE UNLOADING AND TRANSFERRING FROM RAILWAY
WAGONS INTO CARTS AND BARGES, &C., THE COALS AND OTHER MATTERS WITH WHICH
THEY MAY BE LOADED, AND FOR STORING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
Whereas coals, & potatoes, and other matters are at present conveyed on
railways in flat-bottomed trucks, having doors or flaps opening in the sides, or
in wagons or trucks having doors in the bottoms thereof, the present mode
of unloading the contents of the former is to let down the doors, and shovel
out the contents. I propose to hang or otherwise attach to the side of the
wagon or truck a shoot or mouth-piece large enough to cover the space occupied
by the loor, the bottom of it to be in the plane of the bottom of the wagon,
[Price 8d.]

page_text: then to remove the wagon to where one rail is sufficiently depressed to allow
the coal freely to discharge itself through or into the shoot as soon as the door
is opened; it can then be withdrawn into sacks, or otherwise, when and in such
quantities as may be desired. With regard to the waggons which have doors
in the bottoms, I propose to attach a shoot to the bar carrying the hinges of the
doors and elsewhere, and opening at or near the rail between the wheels, and
to do this on one side or both, as may be found desirable. The door of the
wagon being then opened, the coal or other matters will fall into the shoot,
from which it can be withdrawn into sack, carts, and otherwise when and in
such quantities as may be desired, the truck being first placed over a proper
fall. This fall could also be used as storage room, providing its sides and
back were enclosed, and its bottom also fitted with shoots below; and to
facilitate the examination of coal and other matters in wagons, I propose to
hook an iron rod to its edge, which shall carry a couple of steps where a man
can stand comfortably, and not be compelled, as now, to stand on the buffer
rod, the springs, or the inclined lids of the axle boxes.
propose also in
constructing new wagons or trucks to provide them with shoots, which can be
opened and closed at pleasure during the discharge of the contents of the
wagon.
I
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Plimsoll in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st June 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
PLIMSOLL, of 32, Hatton Garden, E.C., London, in the County of Middlesex,
Coal Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Samuel Plimsoll, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel
Plimsoll, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Samuel Plimsoll, 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

page_text: "FACILITATING THE UNLOADING AND TRANSFERRING FROM RAILWAY WAGGONS INTO
CARTS AND BARGES, &C., THE COALS AND OTHER MATTERS WITH WHICH THEY MAY
BE LOADED, AND FOR STORING THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Samuel Plimsoll, 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 Samuel Plimsoll, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement. reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed.
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
--
My Invention relates to means and appliances for facilitating the transfer of
coals and other matters from railway waggons, and consists. first, in perform-
ing the discharge from the waggon in such manner that they are not subject
to deterioration by breakage, as heretofore. In discharging coals from railway
waggons, as in ordinary, the waggons are traversed on the line of rails over a
large hopper placed below the rails: a trap is then opened in the bottom of the
waggon and the coals allowed to fall pell mell into the hopper. by which opera-
tion good coals. especially. are much broken, and consequently reduced in-
value: from such hoppers, the coals are drawn by a shoot and sacked up for
further transport. According to my Invention I discharge coals from railway
waggons by a receiver and shoot, so arranged and disposed that the coals suffer
no sudden nor distant fall on leaving the waggon, consequently are not broken
in discharging a waggon. In one arrangement for this purpose I so dispose the
shoot that is to receive the hopper as to be close up against the bottom of the
waggon, which is fixed in position between and above the line of rails after
the waggon occupies the position in which it is to be discharged: by this means,
when the trap in the bottom of the waggon is opened the coals simply slide
down the inclined shoot so disposed, which subjects them to no violent con-
cussion. and consequently to no breakage. The shoot or shoots which I so
dispose are furnished with mouths suitable for delivering the coals into sacks.
and having sluices with which to permit and cut off the discharge as may
be required. The waggon remains in position until the whole contents are
discharged.
Another arrangement consists in so disposing the rails on which the waggon
runs, that it takes a position with the floor of the waggon inclined from side

page_text: to side, so that on a door being opened in the side of the waggon the coals
have a tendency to and do escape thereat; a shoot being adapted to such
opening or door in the waggon, the coals may be conducted into sacks, weighed.
and removed as readily as when discharged from through the bottom of the
waggon. This door in the side of the waggon may or may not form a part of
the delivery shoot, if to form a part thereof it should fall down on its hinges
and be furnished with quadrant cheeks plates, which draw out of the waggon
and from the sides of such shoot, the door forming the bottom.
The other parts of my Invention relate to a step piece to be hung on to the
,side of coal waggons, on which the workmen can mount and stand in order to
work the coals out at the opening by which they escape from the waggon
instead of standing on the buffer rods or other inconvenient footing, as now
practised. I make these step picces with a single prong or hook picce to grip
the edge of the waggon with. a T or cross. piece to rest on the top to steady
the same, a single prong being readily entered, whereas more than one would
be inconvenient and often impossible to introduce. I also erect a permanent
platform on the ground, alongside of the waggon on which the workmen can
stand and walk along for a similar purpose. A single plank, mounted on
upright posts or standards answers the purpose. and may be continuous, so
that the men can pass from one waggon to another without descending. In-
stead of delivering and shooting the coals into sacks to be carted away, the
shoots, may be continued in length and shot in bulk into barges, waggons, carts,
or other receptacles. in all cases the shoots or shoots being so arranged that
the coals pass by an easy descent and without any sudden fall from the time
of their leaving the waggon, as herein-before described.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a transverse section of a line of rails supporting a waggon
load of coals in position for delivery: showing also the arrangements I adopt
for weighing and delivering the coals into a cart or waggon placed below on
the lower level; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. I carry the rails of
the line of railway on balks of timber A raised on suitable framework B, as
seen at a lower level. I place the weighing machine C on a flooring D, so
that the mouth of the sack is at a suitable height to receive the coals from the
shoot H. The flooring D is on the same level as the floor of the waggon to
receive the coals in sack; Figs. 1 & 2 also show end and side views of the
hopper shoot F, which I bring close up to the bottom of the railway waggon,
as seen; it is of sufficient area to receive the coals from the trap opened in the
bottom of the waggon; this hopper rests immediately on the rails at the lowest

page_text: side while the opposite part is sustained by struts a, a, (which I joint to the
hopper F) resting on the opposite rail or the support thereof. This movable
hopper has suitable sides and is fenced round to prevent the coals escaping
otherwise than at the shoots, of which there are two to cach G, G. The
fencing b. b, at the ends are fixtures, but I mount the front piece d on hinges at
bottom, and secure it in position by chains hitched on to suitable stops, by which
arrangement I am able to regulate its position, the struts a, a, being jointed to
the bottom of hopper F, and the abutting irons e, e. merely resting against the
rails the hopper shoot F is easily lowered and removed or set up, as may be
required. The shoots G, G. projecting a little beyond the rail will be of sufficient
length to deliver the coals into the sack if the weighing machine is placed
close to the rails: in this case the delivery is at the highest convenient level,
but where the level of the delivery is lower I apply lengthening pieces H to
the shoots G in proportion to the further descent required: these extra shoots
H may remain fixtures to the framing A. B. The flooring or platform D on
which the weighing machine stands is on the same level as the flooring of
the waggon. the backer-in taking the sacks from the scale may either stand
in the waggon in which he is to place the sack or on this platform.
.
I may here observe that although only one line of rails is shown in the
Drawings on one side of the waggon or cart level I, I prefer in practice to
have duplicate parts, that is railway waggons & apparatus on either side
of the lower level I. A plank is laid across the platform D behind the
waggon. if necessary. in. backing the coals from the scale into the waggon.
The month of each shoot G, G. (or if lengthened by pieces II, the mouths of
such lengthening pieces) are each furnished with a sluice door by which the
run of the coals into the sack is regulated: this is simply a sluice or door
hinged at f. so as to rise up out of the spout or shoot and permit the run of
the coals it is closed by depressing it again immediately a sufficient
amount of coals is passed. When this sluice is shut the run of coals is arrested,
which prevents any further escape from the shoot and rail waggon until it is
again opened; in this way the whole of the coals may be gradually drawn from
the waggon without their being subject to the slightest breakage by falling or
violent concussion further than is necessary to drop them into the sack; hence
no deterioration takes place in the coals so delivered from railway waggons.
It will be observed that the hopper shoot F only extends half way across
and on one side of the railway waggon, from which side the coals may be
delivered: for delivery from the other side, the rail waggon may either be
turned round or removed and placed on the left hand side of the level I, and
emptied by the apparatus on the opposite side. The hopper shoot F is

page_text: removed before traversing the railway waggon, and placed in position after
the railway waggon has been put in the position required. Although I have
described the coals as being delivered in sacks and weighed up, the same
apparatus is also applicable for delivering them in bulk, for which purpose it
is simply necessary to lengthen the shoots II sufficiently to conduct and slide
the coals to the level required, and so as to have but little or no sudden drop in
depositing them. It is obvious that this may either be in a cart, waggon,
barge, or other receptacle. instead of being sacked up and carted as before
described. It is obvious that the level D may be on or about that of a barge
or other conveyance into which the sacks are deposited.
Another method of delivering coals from railway waggons without dropping
them. consists in placing the railway waggon at an inclination transversely, as
seen at Fig. 3 of the Drawings annexed, this is easily affected by carrying out
the lines of rails at different levels as seen in side view at Fig. 4. It will be
observed that one rail is lowered and the other is raised, so that the general
level of the mass in the waggon is retained on the line of rails, therefore no
great power is required to place the rail waggon in this inclined position...
When so disposed I place and fix a shoot K on the side of the waggon, and
open a door therein so as to allow the coals to pass out by the shoot K; this
shoot is furnished with a sluice as before, from which the coals may be sacked
up and weighed. all as before explained, or shot in bulk if required. By thus
disposing the railway waggon the whole of its contents may be readily
discharged at the side instead of through the traps at the bottom. To facilitate
the discharge of the coals from the railway waggons, workmen are in the
habit of poking or shoveling the coals towards the traps and at the time
standing on the buffer rods and any other foothold at greater or less incon-
venience and even danger: to provide a better standing I apply a step-piece L to
the side of the waggon. This step-piece is represented in edge view in the
section Fig. 1. and in side view in Fig. 2; it consists of an iron step I of
sufficient area for a man to stand on, it is formed of an iron framework g, g,
terminating in a single hook piece h. which hooks on to the edge of the
waggon. A small lower step i is provided by which the workmen are readily
enabled to mount. To prevent the whole step-piece swinging I form at the
upper part a cross or T-piece k. which rests on the upper edge of the waggon
and keeps it steady. Where it is possible I prefer to employ a fixed staging
on which the workmen stand to work the coals out of the waggon, which
staging is represented in the section, Fig. 1; it consists of a plank M placed
at a suitable elevation, and mounted on post N as scen. This occupies
little room, as the plank M may be above the workmen's heads when they are
"

page_text: on the ground, and the uprights, take up little space; if this platform is con-
tinuous, or if two or more are sufficiently near end to end, the workmen can
pass from one waggon to another without descending.
In conclusion I would remark that although I have described my Invention
as applied to coals only, it must be understood that it is also applicable for the
delivery of other goods from railway waggons, that are liable to deteriorate by
falling, or of which the delivery may be facilitated.
Having described the nature of my Invention, & the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention, to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, transferring or delivering coals and other goods from railway waggons
into carts, barges, and other receptacles, by means of a hopper or shoot brought
close up to the bottom of the waggon in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before described; I also claim placing railway waggons in an inclined
position and delivering the contents by means of an inclined shoot from the
side of the waggon in the manner and for the purposes herein-before
described.
Secondly, the application of a step-piece L to railway waggons as a footing
for the workmen in the transfer of the goods therefrom as herein-before
described.
Thirdly, I claim erecting a staging M, N, in proximity to the unloading
stages of railway waggons, as and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Plimsoll, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred & sixty.
SAMUEL PLIMSOLL. (L.S.)