IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS FOR STEEP GRADIENTS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN OR CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Henfrey, of Turin, in the Kingdom of
Sardinia, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
Sealed the 17th April 1855, and dated the 23rd December 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Henfrey at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd December 1854.
I, CHARLES HENFREY, of Turin, in the Kingdom of Sardinia, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS FOR STEEP GRADIENTS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN OR CONNECTED THEREWITH," a communication from
Signor Pasquale Delorenzi, of Turin, in the Kingdom of Sardinia, to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction of railways for steep
gradients, and also to a peculiar construction of locomotive or propelling
mechanism to be employed in connection with such railways, and consists in
the utilising or employment (as a propelling force) of water in hilly or moun-
tainous districts, which water is directed down the line of railway in one or
more channels, situated either between the rails or on each or either side of

page_text: the same, and acting upon a locomotive water wheel, or other locomotive
hydraulic mechanism. The locomotive to be employed on this railway may
consist of one or more water wheels, the floats of which are wholly or partially
submerged in the descending body or stream of water in the channels before
mentioned, & receive a rotatory motion therefrom. These water wheels may
either be fitted on to the axle of the main driving wheels of the locomotive, or
they may be fitted on to a separate axle, which may be made to drive the axle
of the driving wheels by suitable gearing, or by any other suitable mechanical
arrangement. When one stream of water is used, the channel may be made
between the rails, & the water wheel on the locomotive will then be in
the centre of its framing; but if a channel be formed on one or both sides
of the line, a water wheel will be situated at one or both sides of the axle, or
three water wheels may be used, if required. The driving wheels may be
formed with teeth on their periphery, such teeth taking into corresponding
rack teeth formed in the rails, or a wedge-shaped rail may be used in conjunc-
tion with a suitably shaped wheel for obtaining the necessary bite on the rail.
A pair of ordinary rails are laid down alongside the racks, and the weight
of the locomotive may be supported entirely upon such rails by ordinary
railway wheels, so that the main strain on the racks will be in a horizontal
direction. It will be obvious that the same power which facilitates the ascent
of steep gradients will answer also as a retarding force in descending such
gradients, the weight of the descending body of water acting upon the water
wheel floats, and tending to turn them round in a contrary direction to the
direction of movement of the train. Of course, when descending inclines,
the surface of the floats exposed to the action of the descending stream or
streams must be reduced, either by feathering the same, or by driving them
inwards towards the centre of the wheel. This adjustment of the floats is
effected by the driver of the locomotive, who is thereby enabled to regulate his
speed or stop altogether at any part of the line. The locomotive itself will
merely consist of a rectangular or other shaped frame carrying the requisite
axles for the supporting and driving wheels and water wheel propellers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Henfrey in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd June 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES 3
HENFREY, of Turin, in the Kingdom of Sardinia, Civil Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of December, in the
year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Henfrey, Her special license that I, the said Charles Henfrey,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles
Henfrey, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS FOR STEEP GRADIENTS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN OR CONNECTED THEREWITH," a communication
from Signor Pasquale Delorenzi, of Turin, in the Kingdom of Sardinia,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Henfrey,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Charles Henfrey, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of rail-
ways for steep gradients, and also to a peculiar construction of the locomotive
or propelling mechanism to be employed in connection with such railways.
The improvements consist in the utilizing or employing of water as a propelling
force, in which a stream of water is directed down the line of railway in one or
more channels or ducts, situated either between the rails or on each or either
side of the same, and acting upon a locomotive water wheel or wheels, or other
locomotive hydraulic mechanism attached to the locomotive. The locomotive
to be employed on this description of railway may consist of one or more
water wheels, the floats of which are wholly or partially submerged in the
descending body or stream of water flowing in the channel or channels herein-
before referred to, and receive a rotatory motion therefrom.
One or more of these water wheels may either be fitted on to the axle of the

page_text: main driving wheels of the locomotive, or they may be fitted on to a separato
axle, which may be made to drive the axle of the driving wheels by suitable
toothed gearing, or by any other suitable mechanical arrangement. When
one stream of water is used, the channel may be made between the rails, in
which case the water wheel on the locomotive will be situated in the centre of
the locomotive framing. But if a channel be formed on one or both sides
of the line, a corresponding water wheel will be situated on one or both ends of
the driving axle, or three water wheels, corresponding to three channels, may
be employed, if required. The driving wheels of the locomotive may be formed
with teeth on their peripheries, such teeth taking into corresponding rack teeth
formed in the rails, being either of cast or of wrought iron, or a wedge-shaped
rail may be used in conjunction with a suitably shaped wheel for obtaining the
necessary bite or friction on the rails. But I may here observe that I lay no
claim to, neither do I confine or restrict myself to, any particular arrangement
for obtaining the requisite bite or friction on the rails.
A pair of ordinary rails are laid down alongside the racks, and the weight
of the locomotive may be supported entirely upon such rails by ordinary
railway wheels attached to the locomotive framing, by which means the
principle strain on the racks will be in a horizontal direction against the teeth.
It is obvious that the same power which facilitates the ascent of steep gradients
will answer equally well as a retarding force in descending such gradients, as
the weight of the descending body of water will act upon the floats of the
water wheel or wheels, and tend to turn such wheels round in a contrary
direction to the motion of the train. Of course, when it is requisite to descend
an incline, it will be necessary to reduce the surface of the floats exposed to
the direct action of the descending stream or streams. This may be effected
either by feathering the floats by any of the existing well-known arrangements,
or by drawing them inwards, so as to reduce their depth in the water; but I
lay no claim to any particular arrangement of apparatus for adjusting or
regulating the positions of the floats. This adjustment of the floats is effected
by the driver of the locomotive, who is thereby enabled to regulate the speed
of the train, or stop altogether at any part of the line. It is of course obvious
that the descent of trains upon lines constructed upon the principle of this
Invention may be regulated by means of breaks, or any suitable construction,
without the aid of the water power, as before described.
The locomotive itself will merely consist of a rectangular or other shaped
frame, composed of wood or iron, and carrying the requisite axles for the
running and driving wheels and water-wheel propellers.

page_text: And in order that the said Invention may be more readily understood, I shall
now proceed to describe and refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, represents a transverse section of a
railway of the improved construction, made for a single line of rails only, and
showing the locomotive, in end elevation, in its place on the line; Figure 2 is
a sido elevation of a portion of the line with the locomotive complete thereon;
and Figure 3, on Sheet 2, is a plan of the locomotive and a portion of the line,
shewing the gradient thereof. A is a channel or water duct, formed between
the rails of the line, and occupying almost the entire width or space between the
rails. This channel may be composed of brickwork, masonry, cast or wrought
iron, timber, or other suitable material. The water-wheel propeller B is keyed
on to the centre of the axle C, which has made fast on to its extremities the
toothed driving wheels D, D; or in place of two such wheels one toothed
driving wheel only need be employed, according to circumstances. The form
of float which I prefer to employ for the water wheel is that of parabolic or
other curve, as shown in the annexed Drawings (Figure 2), as this form
enables the floats to leave the water more freely and with less back pressure
or weight of water than a straight radiating float; or straight floats may be
employed placed obliquely to the radius of the wheel. But I would here
observe that I lay no claim to, neither do I confine or restrict myself to, any
particular form or arrangement of floats or hydraulic propeller, so long as the
main principle of this Invention is retained. The width of floats corresponds
nearly to the width of the channel A, a slight lateral space being allowed
between the ends of the floats and the sides of the channel to allow of the free
rotation of the water wheel.
The teeth of the driving wheels D, D, gear into the teeth of the rack rails E;
an ordinary rail F is situated by the side of the rack rails, and is supported on
the same longitudinal sleeper, these rails bearing the greater portion of the
weight of the locomotive whilst the train itself runs entirely upon them.
G, G', are the supporting, leading, and trailing wheels of the locomotive. A
third pair of large supporting wheels II, II, are fitted on to the main driving
wheel axle, and bear also upon the ordinary rails F, F. By this arrangement
it will be seen that the greater portion of the weight of the locomotive is
entirely removed from off the rack rails.
The water wheel or wheels and toothed driving wheels are covered or
enclosed by a casing J, somewhat similar to the paddle boxes of a steam boat,
so that the engine driver is not incommoded by the splashing of water, or

page_text: endangered by the rotation of the water wheel floats. The various axles are
carried by the rectangular framing K, to which are fitted the ordinary buffer
and draw springs, as well as the horn plates L of the axle boxes. A hand rail
M, fitted round the sides of the covering of the water wheel, and a corresponding
foot plate N, enables the engine driver to inspect any portion of the locomotive
with perfect ease and safety. In cases where speed is not a desiratum, an
Archimedian screw propeller or propellers may be employed in place of a water
wheel, such screw being of a large pitch, and formed with one or more threads
or blades.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe
or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating
from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general construction and arrangement of railways for steep gra-
dients, as herein-before described.
Second, the general construction and arrangement of locomotives for steep
gradients, as herein-before described.
Third, the system or mode of propelling railway carriages, or trains of
carriages, or trucks up steep gradients, by employing a current or currents
of water which are made to flow down an open channel or channels formed in
the line of railway, or one or both sides thereof, such current or currents
acting upon the floats of a water wheel or other suitable hydraulic prime mover
attached to a suitable locomotive framing in connection with the train.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Henfrey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Seventh day of April, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-five.
CHARLES HENFREY. (L.S.)