IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAMWAYS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Albert Hildebrandt, Civil Engineer, of Bow
Chambers, 55, Cross Street, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAMWAYS."-A communi-
cation from abroad by Gustav Niemann and Theodor Geiger, Civil
Engineers, of Vienna, Austria.
Sealed the 6th July 1875, and dated the 27th January 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Albert Hildebrandt at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th January 1875.
I, ALBERT HILDEBRANDT, Civil Engineer, of Bow Chambers, 55, Cross
Street, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAMWAYS," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Gustav Niemann and Theodor Gieger,
Civil Engineers, of Vienna, Austria, to be as follows:-
The nature of the said Invention is in principle and effect as follows:—
The sleepers employed in most systems of construction of tramways are
dispensed with, and the rails laid on a number of supports or chairs

page_text: made by preference of cast metal, each of which simply takes the form
as near as may be and replaces one or more sets of the paving removed
for the purpose.
These chairs, if of metal, arc by preference made
hollow in the shape of open boxes; they are bridged over on the top
with a recess to receive the rail so that the upper surface of the box and
rail may be practically level.
The box may be filled with any suitable material, such as gravel,
concrete, or asphalte. These supports or chairs may be placed in a
continuous line or inserted only at intervals, according to the require-
ments of the way.
The fixing of the rails on cach chair is effected by small keys or
wedges driven into grooves formed on one side of the recess. These
keys press the rail against the other side of the recess and keep it fixed.
To increase the hold the rails are by preference made a little wider at the
bottom than at the top.
Tie rods may be fixed to the supports to keep the gauge of the line if
necessary. For this purpose a flat bar applied edgeways is preferred.
This system is equally applicable to all roads, whether formed with a
paved surface or otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Albert Hildebrandt in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALBERT
HILDEBRANDT, Civil Engineer, of Bow Chambers, 55, Cross Street,
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
cighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Albert Hildebrandt, Her special licence a
that I, the said Albert Hildebrandt, my exccutors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Albert Hildebrandt, my executors,
'administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,

page_text: 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 Tramways,”
a communication to me from abroad by Gustav Nicmanu and Theodore
Gieger, Civil Engineers, of Vienna, Austria, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Albert Hildebrandt, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 Albert Hildebrandt, 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 :-
This Invention relates to improvements in the construction of tram-
ways, as follows:--The transverse or longitudinal sleepers employed in
most systems of construction are dispensed with, and the rails laid on
supports or chairs made by preference of cast iron or other metal. If
the rails forming the line are to be laid on a way paved with sets regular
in size these chairs take the form and size of one or more paving sets.
If the pavement is irregular, or if the surface of the road consists of
macadam, asphalte, or other material, any size of chair may be employed
and the surface of the road be afterwards joined to the same.
chairs, if of metal, are made hollow in the shape of open boxes and
provided with a recessed top to receive the rail. This box is afterwards
filled with concrete, asphalte, or other suitable material. These chairs
may be placed in a continuous line or be inserted at such distances from
each other as may be thought advisable.
The
The fastening of the rail on the chairs is effected by one or more keys
or wedges driven down the sides of the rails in grooves provided in the
recess, and pressing the rail on the opposite side of the recess.
The keys
are usually pieces of wrought iron or other material of rectangular
section, but may be of any other form, or the fastening may be effected
in any other known manner. The recess on the chair is made to suit

page_text: the rail, which may be of any section, either grooved, channelled, flat, or
otherwise, but a grooved rail with bevelled sides is preferred. If desirable
a packing or bolster may be placed in the recess to receive the rail and
produce an elastic bearing.
Tic rods to keep the gauge of the rails may be applied if desirable. 5
A flat bar placed edgeways in the joint of the paving or under the same
and hooked into openings in the side of the box is found to answer
well.

page_text: carried out in practice, I would have it understood that I claim the said
Invention substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by the
accompanying Drawings, without limitation to the precise details shewn
in the Drawings, and the materials herein-before described, in which
Invention the following are peculiar and important features,-
1st. The substitution of chairs or supports in the form of paving sets
made of any suitable material for continuous, transverse, or longitudinal
sleepers.
2nd. The fastening of the rails on the chairs by means of keys or
wedges without piercing the rail.
In witness whereof, I, the said Albert Hildebrandt, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-
five.
5
Witness,
R. L. MESTAYER,
17, St. Ann's Square,
Manchester,
A. HILDEBRANDT. (L.S.)