IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Max Gossi, of No. 29, Rue de Moey, in the City of
Antwerp, Belgium, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT
WAY OF RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS."
Sealed the 24th October 1879, and dated the 5th May 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Max Gossi at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th May 1879.
MAX Gossi, of No. 29, Rue de Moey, in the City of Antwerp, Belgium.
PROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS."
*IM-
According to this Invention it is intended to substitute for the use of wooden
sleepers employed in the construction of rail and tramways iron bearers laid end to
end all along the road to serve as a base on which to fasten the rails. These
bearers are made of sheets of iron or other metal, and are straight or bent according
to the curves of the road. The sides of the planks are bent down so as to form
flanges at a right or obtuse angle. The flange can be of any breadth and shape.
These bearers having been properly laid in the road prepared to this effect are
held in place by means of the flanges, which moreover retain and compress the
earth which is beneath them.
In order that hollow places, which may form beneath the bearers, either by the
passage of the trains or other causes, may be filled up small openings may be
contrived through which the earth, sand, or ballast lying on the upper surface may
be allowed to pass to the under surface of the bearer, forming in this way a solid
and even layer on which the bearers will continually lay flatly.
The flanges may be continuous the whole length of the bearers, or a part of the
same may be bent up horizontally, so as to increase the surface and consequently
the resisting power of the bearers.
In order to prevent the two parallel rows of bearers from shifting from the

page_text: proper gauge they are connected together at certain distances by iron rods. The
distance is maintained by stops connected to the rods which abut upon the inner
flanges of the joists; the two ends of these rods pass through both flanges and
receive nuts or fastenings which clasp the outer flanges of the bearers. The shape
of these rods may vary; for instance, they may be formed at both ends to include
the two parallel joists.
Bearers like those before mentioned, and of suitable length, could equally be used
at crossings. They should, besides the flanges described, have other flanges at both
ends, so that when laid properly on the road they compress the earth under the
four sides.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Max Gossi in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th November
1879.
MAX GOSSI, of No. 29, Rue de Moey, in the City of Antwerp, Belgium.
PROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS AND TRAMWAYS."
"
IM-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the permanent way of railways
and tramways.
To serve as a base for the attachment of the rails I make use of :-
-
1. Longitudinal sleepers of iron or of rolled steel bent downwards on the two
lateral sides so as to form two flanges at a right or obtuse angle.
2. Sheets of iron or of rolled steel or of sheet iron of a square or somewhat
elongated form, having the four sides bent downwards so as to form four flanges at
a right or obtuse angle.
3. Transverse sleepers of iron or of rolled steel having the two lateral sides and
the two extremities of the length bent downwards so as to form four flanges at a
right or obtuse angle.
The longitudinal sleepers are placed end to end and in two parallel lines at the
desired distance apart throughout the length of the line; the plates are placed in a
similar manner, but each underneath the rail for which it is to serve as the attach-
ment and the base; the cross sleepers are placed at right angles to the road in the
same way as the logs of wood at present in use.
When embedded and suitably arranged upon the road properly prepared for the
purpose the longitudinal sleepers, plates, and cross sleepers rest flat on the ground
and are held in place by their flanges, which besides have the effect of retaining
and compressing the earth. To prevent separation or approach of the two parallel
ranges of longitudinal sleepers or plates they are connected the one to the other at
the distances desired by tie bars or rods of iron made to a suitable length and such
as I shall presently describe.
To avoid the inconveniences which would result from the direct attachment of
the rails upon an iron base I place between the longitudinal sleepers the plates or
the cross sleepers above described, and the rails, sinall blocks, boards, or other pieces
of wood with the object of preventing vibration and noise from the passage of the
trains. These blocks, boards, or other pieces of wood are so arranged that they can
be taken out and renewed without touching the rails and without its being necessary
to open out the road.
The attachments, such as bolts, screws, &c., are fastened from above, thus per-
mitting of repairs being made without lifting the longitudinal sleepers, the plates,
or the cross sleepers. With the same object the surfaces of these several attachment
bases are bored with holes to pass the heads of the bolts intended to bear against
the under surface; the hole in each case communicates by a slit with the place of
attachment.
Upon the base thus prepared there may be placed and attached rails of any
pattern.
To give an exact idea of my system I annex Drawings of the longitudinal sleeper
and of the plates intended for the construction of the roadway of railways. The
dimensions may however be varied without departing from my Invention.
The annexed Drawings are to the scale of one fifth.
The heads of the bolts b, b, Figure 1, are passed to the under sido of the longi-
tudinal sleeper by either one or two holes formed in the surface, as indicated in
Figure 2; the holes for the two bolts are formed in opposite directions, and the
bolts are held against the ends of the openings which embrace the lower part of
their stems. They are fixed at the top by nuts which clip the foot of the rail.
Movement of the bolts is thus rendered impossible. The heads of the bolts and

page_text: the holes to be made may be elongated, so that when once inserted it is necessary
only to turn the bolts to cause them to hold against the under side of the longi-
tudinal sleeper.
Upon the surface of the longitudinal sleeper I place small blocks c, either of oak
or other wood, 25 centimeters in width and length and 3 centimeters thick, and
upon these blocks I place and attach the rail a.
To prevent the lateral movement of these blocks of wood I can, should it prove
necessary, roll upon the two upper surfaces of the longitudinal sleeper ribs e,
Figure 1, of 5 millimeters high and 15 millimeters wide, diminishing this width by
5 to 7 millimeters at the place where the blocks of wood are laid. I fix and
confine these also in the longitudinal direction, so that they cannot slide one way
or the other. The same effect will be obtained, if indeed it should be considered
necessary, by two ribs from one edge to the other of 5 millimeters in height
confining the base of the blocks of wood. In these two latter cases the lower faces
of the wooden blocks will be cut off, so that they may adapt themselves exactly to
the irregularities of the surface of the longitudinal sleeper.
In order that these blocks of wood may be removed and renewed without
removing the rails I make in one of the sides of these blocks incisions corresponding
exactly to the position and to the size of the stems of the bolts which compress
them between the rails and the surface of the longitudinal sleepers. Thus I have
only to place the incision of the block which I intend to remove against that of
the block which is to replace it; then to unscrow the bolts a little, raising the rail
and the block by the thickness of the rib which confines it, and the change can at
once be made at ono blow of the maul.
It is unnecessary to say that the incision in the wooden block will not extend
beyond half the length of the block plus half the thickness of the stem of the bolt,
so that the solidity of the blocks will not be endangered. To prevent the slipping
of the blocks on the side of the incision it is only necessary to fix in the blocks D
metal stop, as seen in Figure 7, in which a is nipped by the foot of the rail and b
rests against it. To diminish the uneven bearing of the rails I put beneath them
and extending from one holding point to another one or several wooden blocks of
the same height and similar to those described above, but without incision at the
side, for these blocks are only kept in place and secured by the rail which rests on
them and by a stop, as in Figure 7.
Should it be considered advisable to cover the surface of the longitudinal sleeper
with a continuous layer of wood I can, in place of wooden blocks, employ boards of
oak, &c., having a length equal to the distance from one rail to another. I divide
these boards longitudinally in the middle, and at the inner ends of each of the two
pieces thus obtained I form incisions to enable them to pass the stems of the bolts.
By thus putting them together end to end I obtain a continuous way from the two
parts of the longitudinally divided boards. The ends are clipped and fixed by
means of the screw nuts, and the pieces over the whole of their length are held
by the rail which rests upon thom. Thus the rails are provided with an even
continuous bearing.
At Figure 5 I give a Drawing of this arrangement.
To further secure these boards I can place on each side of the rail over them a
small block of wood having incisions like those of the blocks of which I have
spoken above, the whole being nipped together. In this manner I have only to
unscrew the nuts a little to remove and renew the wood; this reduces almost to
"nil" the cost of manual labour.
To keep the different pieces of board in their places and to distribute the pressure
over a larger portion of their surface I place below the foot of the rail a small plate
of iron 6 or 7 centimeters square, and having beneath its under surface two or more
points which become fixed by the pressure into the upper surface of the boards.
These blocks and boards of wood are suitably creosoted and painted.
In order that the rain, &c., may run off from the surface of the longitudinal
sleepers little openings are made from distance to distance in the lateral ribs.

page_text: The foot of the rail will have a flat surface and be a little spread for the passage
of the stems of the bolts. To diminish the effect of contact of iron with iron
there is placed beneath the head of the bolt a washer of lead, caoutchouc, leather,
or other material.
To form the junction between two longitudinal sleepers I employ iron plates 22
to 23 centimeters wide and 20 to 25 long, bent down on the two sides like the
sleepers themselves; these plates may be bolted at the end on the under side of one
only of the longitudinal sleepers; this obviates inconvenience from the dilatation
of two pieces of iron at different temperatures. It appears that a perfect junction
may be made by placing this plate without any attachment beneath the ends of
the two longitudinal sleepers, so that it may be embedded and fixed in the earth at
the same time as they are. The flanges of these plates have the further effect of
preventing incovenience from rain water and snow entering between the ends and
carrying away the earth which is beneath the longitudinal sleeper. Besides the
flanges of these plates almost touching the flanges of the sleepers these are so to
speak continuous, so that there is never the sinallest vacuity beneath the longitudinal
sleepers, and consequently these always rest flat upon the solid earth.
The ends of the two rails always rest upon a block of wood.
To prevent them sliding towards one or other side or rising, I confine the ends
of the two rails by means of the turned up edges of a piece of iron of 5 to 8
centimeters long, in such manner, however, as not to interfere with the play of the
metal resulting from expansion.
If it be considered necessary, I can connect the two ends to pieces of iron upon
the sleepers as I have described above for the attachments of the rails.
The Figure 8 illustrates my idea.
In this way the method of forming the junctions of the rails by means of fish
plates is superseded.
To keep the longitudinal sleepers in place, and to prevent them approaching or
receding the one from the other, I employ tie bars, such as are shown in Figures 2
and 3; they are iron bars so formed as to retain the two surfaces of the sleeper
parallel. Figure 4 shows one of these bars at a; it is cut away at b. To insert the
bars from b to c in the recesses made in the two flanges of the longitudinal sleeper,
it is necessary that the recesses should be made of a height from 6 to d, but when
the bar has been inserted, it is raised, and there is inserted beneath it another bar d
which is bent at one end, and fixed at the other by a key or fastening against the
side of the sleeper. This bar d having no other strain to support but the weight
and possible slipping of the bar a, its attachments need not be very strong. The
longitudinal sleepers are placed end to end, so that each is connected with two
others, which has the effect of giving a continuous fixity to the road.
Figures 2 and 3 represent the plates which I term "rail supports." a, Figure 3,
is the rail, which is supported at its base upon the oaken board b, of the width of
the base of the rail, and of the length indicated in Figure 2.
The plate which supports the rail is square, as it is represented in Figure 2,
between the letters o, o, o, o, placed at the angles. The four external sides have
flanges which serve to prevent the bending of the plate, and also to retain the earth
beneath the plate. At the points d, d, Figure 3, the plate carries two ribs which
Berve-
1. To stiffen the plate throughout its whole length, and
2. To support the two bent holders of iron c, so that they cannot move laterally.
Similar ribs, but deeper and sharper, may be provided on the under side for the
purpose of fixing the plates more solidly in the earth; in this case the holders c
will be retained on the upper surface by thinner ribs or projections.
The holders c serve to retain the rail in a vertical direction against the board b,
and also in a lateral direction.
The holders care secured by the bolts e, e, which have at the lower ends
longitudinal heads engaging in the holes in the plate seen in Figure 2. The bolts

page_text: are square for a distance of 15 millimeters at the lower end, so that they cannot
turn whilst the nuts are screwed up.
The holders c, c, are made of a bridge like form, so that they may have sufficient
elasticity to provide for the small differences of volume resulting from the action of
heat or moisture upon the board. A constant pressure is thus ensured.
The bolt or tief maintains the prescribed distance between the rails. The nut
which holds the sleeper against the collar on the inner side may be secured by a
lock nut to ensure the proper distance being strictly maintained.
All these parts may be made in forged or rolled iron.
As stated above, the cross sleepers of iron or steel have flanges on their four
sides; they have at the base the same length and width as the wooden logs now
employed; the rails are fixed upon them in the same way as upon the longitudinal
sleepers.
I reserve to myself expressly the power to employ in either system all the
different parts of which they are composed.
The junction of the rails is made in the usual manner.
The longitudinal sleepers, rail supports, or cross sleepers above described for the
roadway of railways are applicable also to tramways, only for the latter the
dimensions of all the parts composing the system are considerably reduced.
In order that a rail may be replaced without repaving the street, I do not form
the head of the rail of a piece with the foot, but I form in the latter a groove, into
which the head is received and retained by a key or fastening. In this way I am
able to make the foot of the rail of a height convenient for laying the paving stones.
This rail foot is represented at Figure 6.
By my system I obtain numerous advantages, amongst which I enumerate the
following:
1. The objections heretofore experienced in the use of iron sleepers in the con-
struction of the roadway of railways and tramways are removed either entirely or
in great part.
2. The roadway is rendered more solid and durable.
3. Repairs are rendered easier, and no longer necessitate the opening of the road
of railways or the removal of the pavement in the case of tramways along streets.
4. Great economy both of first cost and in maintenance.
What I claim is the construction of the permanent way of railways and tramways,
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Max Gossi, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twenty eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
CONT
M. GOSSI. (L.S.)