CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL
HOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
DOULL, of Greenwich, in the County of Kent, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixth day of November,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fifteenth year of Her reign.
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alexander Doull, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Alexander Doull, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander Doull,
my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
CONSTRUCTION;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said Alexander Doull, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear,

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alexander Doull, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:
Firstly, my Invention cousists in forming the cast-iron chair commonly used
in the construction of railways in the manner represented in plan and elevation,
Figure 1.
The improvement, it will be seen, consists in securing the wedge in position
by a screw bolt or rivet passing in the same direction as the wedge, and
passing partly through the wedge and partly through the chair, the head
of the bolt acting upon the back of the wedge, and the nut working against
the side of the chair. The wedge is sc: ewed into its position and not damaged,
as at present, by being driven home by successive blows of a maul; and it is
also retained in its position by means of the screw bolt, which obviates the
necessity for the constant attendance of a plate layer to examine and tighten
the wedge. The liability to accident, consequent upon loose wedges, will
thus be also done away with, and so both economy and safety be to a large
extent ensured. However, it must observed, that this mode of securing the
wedge is only applicable to chairs cast expressly for the purpose of this
arrangement, and that to adapt it to the ordinary cast-iron chair of any of
the various forms at present in use, the following subsidiary appliances (or
other equivalent thereto) must be had recourse to:-A small casting must be
prepared similar to that shewn in Figure 2, having a notch a to embrace the
cheek of the chair, and a longitudinal hole or slit
through, the casting acting as a fulcrum to screw
notch a in the casting securing it to the chair.
casting A in its position, embracing the chair and securing the wedge.
Secondly, my Invention consists of laying the rails on chairs composed of
malleable iron, and secured to sleepers of stone, wood, or metal, by bolts
or rivets, in the manner variously exemplified in Figures 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10, 11, 12, and 15. Figures 4 and 4* are transverse sectional elevations of
a line of rails constructed on this plan; Figures 5 and 6 are side elevations.
A is the rail; B, the malleable iron chair; C, the bolts and nuts by which
the chairs are secured to the sleepers S, which are in the Figures represented
as of wood. When the sleeper employed is composed of stone, or any
metallic or hard unyielding substance, a piece of wood (of any convenient
thickness) or layer of gutta percha or other suitable elastic substance is
proposed to be placed between the chair and the sleeper, which will serve to
for the bolt to pass
home the wedge, and the
Figure 3 shews the small

page_text: neutralise the destructive effects of vibration, and to obviate that rigidity
which has been found objectionable in the case of the old stone sleepers and
in most cases also of the recent applications of cast iron to the same purpose.
I prefer having the malleable iron chair B composed of two parts, as shewn,
so as to admit of being rolled into shape and then cut off into the required
lengths and the bolt holes pierced; but it may also, if found equally conve-
nient, be rolled in one piece, as shewn in Figure 15. Joint chairs should
each be about eighteen inches or two feet long, and secured to a longitudinal
sleeper by bolts as well as to the rails; the holes either in the rail or in the
chair being elongated so as to admit of the necessary expansion and contrac-
tion. Intermediate chairs should be about four or five inches long, and
attached to the sleepers by bolts or rivets, and to the rail also, if deemed
necessary, by bolts or rivets. It is probable, however, that sufficient stability
will be obtained by simply bolting or riveting the joint chairs to the rails.
In applying the malleable iron chair to sleepers of wood, I would recommend
the arrangement shewn in the plan and section, Figures 7 and 8. Here two
longitudinal and two cross sleepers are employed for every fifteen feet of road-
way. The longitudinal sleeper under the joint of the rail should be about
nine feet long, and in addition to the joint chair there should be placed upon
it an intermediate chair on each side of the joint chair. This arrangement
would give great strength and stability to the joint of the rail, whilst the two
cross sleepers to each fifteen feet length of roadway would give a sufficient
cross tie to preserve the gauge. By making the sleepers twelve inches broad,
the above arrangement would give a bearing surface of about thirty superficial
feet to every fifteen feet length of roadway. In bolting the chairs to the
wooden sleepers nuts may be used with the alternate corners turned up, for
the purpose of becoming fixed into the wood, and so preventing them from
being turned round when the bolts are being screwed tight (see Figures
4, 5, 6.) Instead of nuts being used as above, a short bar may be substituted
for the nuts, into which the bolts could be screwed; or the bolts might
be made to pass through a square hole in the short bar with the head
of the bolt resting against the bar, and the nut screwed down upon the
malleable iron chair above the sleeper, as exemplified in Figures 4* and 15.
Figures 9 and 10 shew the modification which is to be made in this plan of
railway construction when the malleable iron chair is laid on to stone blocks.
The stone block under the joint of the rail, and which receives the joint chair,
is shewn to be two feet six inches long by one foot six inches broad, and that
under the intermediate chair one foot six inches by one foot six inches, which
gives a superficial area or bearing surface of twenty-five feet six inches for

page_text: every fifteen feet length of roadway, and a thickness of nine inches. The
thickness of the stone might, however, have to be varied according to its
quality and the facility of procuring a supply at any particular thickness from
the quarry bed. (Strong slate, about six inches in thickness, might probably
answer the purpose). In attaching the malleable iron chair to the stone
blocks, the more convenient mode would be to place the heads of the bolts
at the under side of the stone blocks, and the nuts above on the chair, the
bolts passing through a short plate of iron with square holes to receive the
necks of the bolts and prevent them from turning round whilst the screws
are being screwed down upon the chair alone. Whether stone blocks or cast-
iron sleepers are used, the gauge of the line is in either case preserved by
means of bars of malleable iron which may be secured in position by the
same bolts which secure the chair to the block or sleeper. The number of
these bars would be increased on curves, but on straight portions of the line
one bar would be sufficient for every fifteen feet length of roadway. A piece
of soft wood or other elastic substance would be interposed between the stone
block and the malleable iron chair, as already explained.
Figures 11 and 12 show in elevation and plan the mode of applying the
malleable iron chair to cast-iron sleepers of any convenient form or size.
The joint sleeper S will only have one joint chair B* attached to it, as its
great length will be sufficient to give the necessary bearing surface and
stability to the joint of the rail. The intermediate sleepers S, S, will generally
be of such a form and size as to admit of two malleable iron chairs being
raised on each sleeper; but it inay frequently be found more convenient so to
proportion the size and form of the cast-iron sleeper as to admit but one
malleable iron chair to be attached to each sleeper, according to the nature
of the traffic and of the ground upon which the superstructure is laid. In
attaching the malleable iron chair to the cast-iron sleeper, the head of the
bolt should be placed below the chair, and a square projection cast upon the
sleeper round the bolt hole into which the head of the bolt would fall, and by
which it would be prevented from turning round when the nut was being
screwed down. A piece of soft wood or other elastic substance would be
interposed between the cast-iron sleeper and the malleable iron chair, as already
explained in reference to the stone blocks.
Thirdly, my Invention consists of a method of railway construction repre-
sented in Figures 13 (side elevation), and 14 (plan), in which intermediate
sleepers are employed with chairs cast in one therewith, so as to do away
with bolts and keys altogether as fastenings for the rails.
Figures 16 and 17 are cross sections of rails laid on this plan, but each

page_text: showing a variation in the form of the rail. The chairs are cast so that the
checks do not come opposite each other; but they are at such a distance apart
that when the two castings are laid obliquely in contrary directions under the
rail, the latter comes between the cheeks, after which castings are pressed in
opposite directions until the notches at a fit into each other; and when this
is effected the cheeks of the chairs will be brought in close contact with the
rail, and the interlocking of the notches will prevent the cheeks of the chairs
from releasing the rail. The tie bars 6,6, which are necessary for the
purpose of keeping the gauge, are placed at the junction of the two sleepers
or castings and bolted to each of them, as shewn at a', a', a', a', Figure 14,
and afford additional security that the notches will not be disengaged from
each other by the action of the railway trains. To prevent rigidity, as also
the vibration of the trains from transmitting a destructive effect to the chairs
and sleepers, pieces of wood F, F, Figures 16 and 17, are placed under the
rail in rectangular cavities or receptacles about three cighths of an inch deep,
and as broad and long as the casting will admit of, so that a small margin may
remain to confine the wood in its place while being pressed upon by the rail.
The wood should be about three quarters of an inch thick, and there should
be a groove or slit leading from any convenient part of the concavity or
receptacle to prevent water or damp from accumulating to injure the wood.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that the improvements in rail-
way construction which I claim, are as follows:-
First, I claim the method of securing the wedges of cast-iron chairs in
position by means of screw bolts and rivets, as before described.
Second, I claim the method of railway construction represented in Figures
4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 15, herein-before described, in so far as
respects the mode or modes therein employed of combining malleable iron
chairs with wood sleepers or with stone or other rigid sleepers.
And, third, I claim the method of railway construction represented in
Figures 13, 14, 16, and 17, and before described, in so far as respects the
employment of intermediate sleepers having chairs cast in one therewith, so as
to obviate the necessity for bolts or keys.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Doull, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-two.
ALEXANDER (L.S.) DOULL.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of May, in the.
year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Alexander Doull came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statutes made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-two.