Improvements in the Construction of Railway Carriages.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Aug., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 15th May. 1889-Accepted, 22nd June, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Construction of Railway Carriages.
I, JULES ODILON TOURNIER of 35 Boulevard Magenta, Paris, France, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
My invention relates to the construction of railway carriages of a type which may
be designated private-box carriages, with the object of securing the absolute privacy
and safety of travellers both in a material and moral sense.
My improvements are intended to be applied to railway carriages having
longitudinal passage ways and are designed to afford a degree of convenience and
comfort not hitherto attainable in this class of carriage.
With a view to ensure the personal security of railway travellers many systems of
signalling apparatus both electrical and mechanical have been devised with the object
of providing facilities whereby any passenger may give an alarm in case of need;
but none have worked quite satisfactorily in practice or have been adequate to prevent
the commission of crimes of which so many passengers have been the victims.
It has heretofore been sought to ensure the safety of passengers by developing
means of intercommunication whereas this invention proposes to attain the desired
end by entirely isolating them from each other. Personal safety of each individual
traveller is thus ensured, but what is of equal importance protection and moral
security, which every passenger has a right to expect, is obtained against every form
of annoyance to which he might otherwise be subjected by his fellow passengers.
The invention has thus the two fold object of protecting railway travellers from
attacks on the person as well as from anything tending to interfere with their ease or
comfort.
To this end the invention consists in constructing railway carriages with private
boxes to hold one, two, three, four, or six persons each, or in converting existing
rolling stock to this system, the methods employed varying according as it is desired
to adapt those private boxes to one or more compartments of a carriage or to have
composite carriages partly fitted with such boxes.
In carrying out the invention one or more of the compartments of a railway
passenger carriage are subdivided into boxes or spaces for seating one, two, four, or
six persons, each person or group of persons being entirely cut off or separated from
the rest of the passengers in the carriage. The boxes are each furnished with a
sliding door provided with a lock or safety bolt and thus form so many private
apartments, into which no one can enter without the consent of the occupants.
The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings
forming part of this specification which represents a plan of the interior of a railway
carriage converted on this improved system in which two only of the four door ways
are retained, viz., those at the extreme ends of the carriage on either side, the other
two intermediate doors being closed.
On either side of the four door ways a, I fix a partition b so as to form a passage
leading to the central longitudinal passage c which extends from end to end of the
carriage. In each of these partitions 6 is fitted a sliding door e through which
admission is had to the private boxes A, B, F, G, H, I, M, N, for seating one person
each. d is a hinged or folding table placed at the end of each box opposite the
door e.
Each sliding door is fitted on the inside with a lock or safety bolt and on
the outside with an ordinary spring catch. The boxes or compartments (), L, to seat
four persons each, are arranged exactly the same as those of an ordinary carriage
and comprise two seats on opposite sides of one of the intermediate door ways
which is closed on the outer side of the carriage as before mentioned the entrance to
these boxes being by sliding doors opening into the central passage c. The

page_text: boxes D K are to seat two persons each, or three persons may be seated by removing
the sliding door g and inserting a fixed partition at h.
The single boxes F, I with doors e abutting on the right hand doorway a, may
be converted into double boxes E, F, J, I, by providing a free passage way at h and
fixed partitions in lieu of doors g, and in this case folding tables would be fitted to
the backs of said partitions.
The carriage is constructed to seat twenty two persons but this number may be
readily increased.
The above described mode of constructing railway carriages and isolating the
passengers fully answers the objection hitherto made that nothing could prevent any
evil disposed person falling suddenly upon a fellow passenger and murdering him at
a blow, in as much as by providing railway carriages with private boxes in the
manner before explained such crimes are rendered impossible. Thus once the
passenger has entered his box and locked the door, he may safely make the longest
journey without incurring the slightest danger of attack or interference with his
personal comfort.
Moreover this provision of private boxes obviates one of the greatest dangers of
railway travelling in carriages of the ordinary construction viz., the risk that any
one travelling alone in a compartment runs of being suddenly pounced on by
any ill disposed person passing along the footboard and entering the carriage while
the train is in motion; most of the crimes committed on railways being of this
character.
The only objection that can be raised is that the adoption of this system of private
boxes in carriages of the present construction would lead to a considerable reduction
in the number of seats but the whole of the existing rolling stock need not be
converted provided that a certain number of carriages with private boxes are available
especially for trains running long distances. Trains of this kind always have a certain
number of places and even compartments vacant, while in the others, the tendency
of the passengers is either to collect together or to isolate themselves as much as
possible, hence the railway companies are obliged to employ three times the number
of carriages in each train as are required to accommodate the number of passengers.
When however trains are provided with private boxes, travellers finding that they are
enabled to realise all their desires will by patronizing and filling them to their utmost
capacity enable the companies to reduce the length of their trains. These private
boxes may be readily adapted to all classes of railway carriages.
Dated this 17th day of August 1888.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Construction of Railway Carriages.
I, JULES ODILON TOURNIER, of 35, Boulevard Magenta, Paris. France, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My Invention relates to the construction of railway carriages of a type which
may be designated private-box carriages, with the object of securing the absolute
privacy and safety of railway travellers both in a material and moral sense.
My improvements are intended to be applied to railway carriages having
longitudinal passage ways and are designed to afford a degree of convenience and
comfort not hitherto attainable in this kind of carriage.
With a view to ensure the personal security of railway travellers, many systems of
signalling apparatus, both electrical and mechanical, have been devised with the object
of providing facilities whereby any passenger may give an alarm in case of need;
but none have worked quite satisfactorily in practice or have been adequate to.

page_text: prevent the commission of crimes of which so many passengers have been the
victims. It has heretofore been sought to ensure the safety of passengers by
developing to the fullest extent the means of intercommunication in trains whereas
this invention proposes to attain the desired end by entirely isolating them from
each other. The personal safety of each individual traveller is thus ensured, and
what is of equal importance, a protection and moral security, which every passenger
has a right to expect, are obtained against every form of annoyance to which he
might otherwise be subjected by his fellow-passengers.
The Invention has thus the two-fold object of protecting railway travellers from
attacks on the person as well as from anything tending to interfere with their ease
or comfort. To this end, the invention consists in constructing railway carriages
with private boxes to hold one, two, three, four, or six, persons each, or in converting
existing rolling stock to this system; the methods employed varying according as it
it is desired to adapt these private boxes to one or more compartments of a carriage:
or to have composite carriages partly fitted with such boxes.
In carrying out the invention one or more of the compartments of a railway
passenger carriage are subdivided into boxes or spaces for seating one, two, four, or
six, persons, each person or group of persons being entirely cut-off or separated
from the rest of the passengers in the carriage. The boxes are each furnished with
a sliding door provided with a lock or safety bolt, and thus form so many private
apartments into which no one can enter without the consent of the occupants.
The Invention is illustrated by way of example in the drawing accompanying
my Provisional Specification which represents a plan of the interior of a railway
carriage converted on this improved system, in which two only of the four doorways
on either side are retained viz. ; those at the extreme ends of the carriage, the other
two intermediate doors being closed.
On either side of the four doorways a, I fix a partition 6 so as to form a passage
leading to the central longitudinal passage c which extends from end to end of the
carriage. In each of these partitions 6 on either side, is fitted a sliding door e
through which admission is had to the private boxes A, B, F, G, H, I, M, N, for
seating one person each. d is a hinged or folding table placed at the end of each
box opposite the door e. Each sliding door is fitted on the inside with a lock or
safety bolt and on the outside with an ordinary spring catch. The boxes or compart-
ments C, L, to seat four persons each, are arranged exactly the same as those of an
ordinary carriage and comprise two seats on opposite sides of one of the intermediate
door-ways which is closed on the outer side of the carriage as before mentioned, the
entrance to these boxes being by sliding doors opening into the central passage c.
The boxes D, K, are to seat two persons each, or three persons may be seated by
removing the sliding doors g communicating with boxes E, J, and inserting fixed
partitions at h. The single boxes F, 1, with doors e abutting on the right-hand door
ways a may be converted into double boxes E, F, J, I, by providing a free passage
way at h and fixed partitions in lieu of doors g and in this case folding tables would
be fitted to the backs of said partitions.
The carriage is constructed to seat twenty-two persons, but this number may be
readily increased.
The above described mode of constructing railway carriages and isolating the
passengers fully answers the objection hitherto made that nothing could prevent any
evil disposed person falling suddenly upon a fellow-passenger and murdering him at
a blow, inasmuch as by providing railway carriages with private boxes in the manner
before explained such crimes are rendered impossible. Thus once the passenger has
entered his box and locked the door, he may safely make the longest journey without
incurring the slightest danger of attack or interference with his personal comfort.
Moreover, this provision of private boxes obviates one of the greatest dangers of
railway travelling in carriages of the ordinary construction vizt., the risk that any
one travelling alone in a compartment runs of being suddenly pounced on by any
ill-disposed person passing along the foot-board and entering the carriage while the
train is in motion; most of the crimes committed on railways being of this character.

page_text: The only objection that can be raised is that the adoption of this system of private
boxes in railway carriages of the present construction would lead to a considerable
reduction in the number of seats available but as the whole of the existing rolling.
stock could not be converted at once, it will be sufficient at first to providela certain
number of carriages in each train with private boxes, especially for trains running
long distances. Trains of this kind always have a certain number of places, and even
compartments, vacant, while in the others the tendency of the passengers is either to
collect together or to isolate themselves as much as possible, hence the railway
companies are obliged to employ three times the number of carriages in each
train as are required to accommodate the number of passengers. If, however, trains
are provided with private boxes, travellers finding that they are enabled to realize
all their desires will, by patronizing and filling them to their utmost capacity,
enable the companies to reduce the length of their trains. These private boxes
may be readily adapted to all classes of railway carriages.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is :-
Constructing railway carriages with enclosures and divisions whereby the carriage
is divided entirely or partly into private apartments or boxes in order obtain the
more or less complete isolation of the occupants, substantially as specified.
D
J. O. TOURNIER.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agents.