IMPROVEMENTS MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE PURPOSES OP LOCOMOTION
Year: 1835

page_text: ne granted
HUMAS
UNDONALD,
Hanover Lodge, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex, for his
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS MACHINERY APPLICABLE TO THE PURPOSES
OP LOCOMOTION," bearing date at Westminster, the Fifth day of
November, in the sixth year of the reign of IIis Majesty King
William the Fourth.
DISCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION proposed to be
entered by Thomas Earl of Dundonald with the Clerk of the Patents of
England, pursuant to an Act passed in the fifth and sixth years of His
present Majesty's reign, intituled "An Act to amend the Law touching
"Letters Patent for Inventions."
I, the said THOMAS Earl of DUNDONALD, do disclaim the claim or claims
stated in the Specification enrolled in pursuance of the said Letters Patent, so
far as such claim or claims are contained in the following words, "Another
"part of my said improvements is to apply to locomotive carriages for quick
"travelling on railways, piles or heaps of india-rubber and of cork, or other
"suitable substance in cakes laid one upon another, jointly with or in lieu of
"metallic springs for sustaining the weight with which such carriages are
loaded, such piles of elastic substances to be enclosed as it were within
"inverted boxes resting on the contents, and the weight which is to be borne
upon the lids or covers of such boxes will have an elastic or springy bearing;

page_text: 66
"such boxes may be applied over the axles of the wheels of the carriages;
the said piles of cakes of elastic substances can be easily removed from the
"said boxes in which they are inclosed when they become worn or too much
consolidated, and new cakes put into their place (see Figure 1, Sheet 3d,
a, a); and I propose to apply like piles of elastic substances beneath the
"seats or benches for the passengers in coaches which are to travel on
railways, in order that by resting thereon the vibration and tremor of
"passing over the joints of the rails may be diminished." And I do humbly
request that all the above recited words in the said Specification may be can-
celled, whereby the Disclaimer which I have made will be effected. And I do
state as the reason for making the said Disclaimer, and for cancelling the said
words, that it has since been ascertained that the application of india-rubber
to such purposes is not original. And I, the said Thomas Earl of Dundonald,
do request that the brief recapitulation of claims contained in the concluding
paragraphs of the said Specification commencing with the words, "Having now
"described my said improvements," and ending with the words "will exert a
buoyant and impelling action to produce locomotion "may be cancelled.
And I do state as the reasons for making such alteration by cancelling the
said words, first, that I am advised that the said brief recapitulation of claims
is made in terms too general; second, that such recapitulation is superfluous
and unnecessary.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twelfth day of November, in
the seventh year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth, the
said Thomas Earl of Dundonald came before our said Lord the King in His
Chancery, and acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and everything
therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the instru-
ment aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made
in the fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George tho
Third.

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
Earl of DUNDONALD, of Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I did by petition humbly represent unto His present most
Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth that after considerable applica-
tion and expence I had invented "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS
APPLICABLE TO THE PURPOSES OF LOCOMOTION," and His said Majesty, being
willing to give encouragement to all arts and inventions which may be for
the public good, was graciously pleased, by His Royal Letters Patent under the
Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fifth of November, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-five, in the sixth year of Ilis reign, for Himself, His heirs and successors,
to give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Earl of Dundonald, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I or they, by myself or themselves, or by my or their deputies,
servants or agents, or such others as I or they should agree with, and no others,
during the term of fourteen years from the date of the said Letters Patent,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend my said Invention
within that part of Ilis said Majesty's Dominions called England, His
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick upon Tweed, in such manner as
to me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, shall seem meet; and as
that I or they shall enjoy the whole profit and advantage arising by reason of
the said Invention during the said term of fourteen years.

page_text: AND WHEREAS the said Letters Patent contain a proviso, obliging me,
the said Thomas Earl of Dundonald, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and to causo
the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Earl of Dundonald, do hereby declare that my said Invention is
described and ascertained in manner following, and by aid of the Drawing
hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
Part of my improvements relate to machinery and apparatus which is
applicable to the purpose of obtaining locomotion on land and in carriages
which are impelled on iron railways by steam power; and other part of my
improvements relate to machinery and apparatus which is applicable to the
purpose of locomotion on water, in boats or vessels, which are impelled on
canals, rivers, or the sea, by steam or other adequate power.
And first, one of my improvements in machinery and apparatus applicable
to locomotive steam engines which are to travel on iron railways is to arrange,
combine, and dispose the machinery and apparatus of such engines in such
manner as that the most weighty parts of the machinery and apparatus sball
be much nearer to the ground than is usual in the locomotive engines hereto-
fore constructed, in order that the weight which is disposed so low may operate
in the manner of ballast to prevent the rocking motion, and to restrain the
wheels of such engines from running off the rails by accident, and also in case
of running off the rails, in consequence of accidental breaking of a rail, or a
wheel, or an axle, when travelling at great speed; that the under part of the
boiler and weighty and lowest part of the machinery or apparatus (which must
come in contact with the ground) shall be adapted to slide along the ground
in the manner of a sledge, whereby the engine will be preserved from over-
turning, and the friction of sliding on the ground will bring it quictly to rest
together with all the train of carriages which are drawn after the engine,
without any shock or violence which can do injury to the machinery or
apparatus of the engine, or to the passengers, or to goods in the carriages. And
with a view to diminish the weight of locomotive steam engines, and at the
same time to cause their wheels which are impelled by the steam power to
adhere firmly to the rails, so that the engine will be capable of drawing heavy
loads after it without failure by its wheels slipping upon the rails, I construct

page_text: the locomotive engine with the weight bearing chiefly on two wheels, or with
only two wheels fixed upon the two ends of one main axis, in place of
distributing the weight on four wheels upon two axes, as commonly practised;
and the weight of the machinery and apparatus is equipoised upon the said
main axis of the two wheels, so that it will sustain the whole or nearly the
whole of such weight; and the hinder end of the frame of the engine so
constructed being connected by the usual upright joint pin with the tender
carriage, which accompanies the engine for the purpose of carrying a stock of
water and fuel, the engine with two wheels will be able, by means of motion
about that joint pin, to turn more easily when required to pass into crossings
or sidings or turus off the rails, by which one line of rails is connected with
another line of rails or with a branch railroad.
The manner of carrying these two improvements into effect is explained by
Figures 1 and 2, Sheet I., of the Drawing hereunto annexed. Figure 1 being
a lateral elevation, and Figure 2 a transverse section, of a locomotive steam
engine, whereof the machinery and apparatus is disposed so that the centre of
gravity of the whole is below the axis A of the two impelled wheels B, B, and
the weight of the boilers K, L, and of the whole machinery is nearly
equipoised about that axis, so as to be dependant thereon with very little
support from the tender carriage C, C, and thereby the whole weight, or
nearly the whole, is rendered operative to produce adhesion of the wheels B, B,
to the rails. The wheels B, B, are fixed fast on the two ends of their common
axis A, which is represented in the Drawing as if it formed the horizontal
revolving axis of a rotatory steam engine, such as is described in my former
Specification, which was enrolled in the High Court of Chancery on the
Twentieth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, in
pursuance of Letters Patent granted to me by His present Majesty on the
Twentieth of December, in the fourth year of His reign, for my Invention of
Certain Improvements in the Construction and Operation of Rotatory Engines
and Apparatus connected therewith, the construction of which engines is
therein fully set forth and detailed; and referring to Figures First and Second
of this my present Specification, which are explanatory of the means of
effecting my said improvements, and of applying my improved rotatory engine
to purposes of locomotion on railways, D, D, is the external cylinder of the
engine, firmly fastened to two horizontal transverse pieces F, F, connected to
the main shaft or axis of the engine, which shaft also passes through the
centres of the wheels B, B, and sustains the whole frame with all its machinery.
and forcing pumps properly in place for working. And note, that the fire box
and boilers K, L, their cross flue N, and water case M, with all their apparatus

page_text: are suspended by straps h, and are supported by springs g, g, whilst the engine
partakes of the non-elastic motion of the said axis, which is different, when the
wheels meet with obstacles from that of the boiler and apparatus mounted on
springs; and for this reason the upright branch of the steam pipe a is fitted
into a stuffing box, or is fitted with universal joints, to permit the differential
movements of the engine and boiler; and the eduction pipes for the same
reason must be similarly constructed; or the steam pipe and eduction pipe may
be made of flexible hoses, such as are now used to supply water from the
tenders of locomotive engines. And note, in order to admit of the use of the
flexible pipes or hose before mentioned, which are formed of canvass with
indian-rubber as steam pipes, for the conveyance of high pressure steam from
the boiler to the engine, I enclose such pipes within other like pipes of larger
dimensions, leaving an interval between the two, in which I retain water; or
else I use such interval as a passage for the conveyance of feed water to the
boiler, and that water, by surrounding the interior steam pipe and also sur-
rounding the junctions thereof with the metalic pipes of the apparatus, will tend
to the preservation of the flexible material from the effect of the heat and pres-
sure of the steam which is conveyed through it. The hindermost cross piece
R of the main fram G, G, is united by an upright pin V to a corresponding
cross piece of the tender C, C, and that joint will permit of the engine turning
a little aside from the straight course along which it has been proceeding on
the rails whenever such turning is required for crossing out of one line of rails
into another. The inspection of Figures 1 and 2, by those conversant with the.
construction of locomotive carriages, will clearly shew the manner in which the
arrangements are made for applying the improved rotatory engine, and for
lowering the centre of gravity, without further detail, which could add nothing
to the well understanding thereof. The tender carriage C, C, represents the
manner whereby the weight of the water tank is also disposed below the axes
of the wheels T, T, in order that the said weight may operate in the manner
of ballast, to restrain the tender carriage from rocking and running off the
rails. The axles of the wheels T, T, may pass across the tank through cross
tubes fixed therein, which will prevent any water getting out by the axles.
And note, the usual kind of water-feeding pumps for supplying water to the boiler,
instead of being applied to the main shaft of the engine, may be worked either
by motion derived from eccentrics, or like suitable means, from the axis of one
of the wheels of the tender carriage, the feeding pump or pumps being then
disposed in that carriage, and the water conveyed from the pump or pumps by
a flexible pipe to the boiler. The lower part M, M, of the boiler and tender
have two long horizontal sledges of wood Z, Z, fixed beneath them at cach

page_text: side, parallel to each other, as shewn in Figure 2. In case of a wheel giving
way, and the engine or tender getting off the rails, those sledges Z, Z,
coming upon the ground will sustain the engine or tender from overturning,
and by the friction they occasion will soon arrest the motion without injury to
any other part of the machinery and apparatus except the sledges Z, Z, which
can be renewed or replaced when worn by running off the rails, a frequent
occurrence in ordinary locomotive engines, but which can scarcely happen in an
engine or tender arranged according to my improvements even by failure of
the wheels or axles, because of the great tendency which the weight of the
lower part M, M, has to operate, as ballast does to a ship, and thus retain the
engine in its intended position, supported on the sledges Z, Z; and to permit of
the weight of the lower part M being brought as low as possible, the surface
of the ballasting or roadway between the rails may be left lower than usual, as
represented by the red line y, y, in Figure 2. And note, although I have
represented a locomotive engine, constructed according to my former Patent
improvements in rotatory engines, as the mode of carrying this part of my
present improvements into effect, the same may be performed by steam
cylinders, with pistons of the usual kind, operating by cranks formed on the
axle A of the wheels B, B; the steam cylinders, for instance, being fixed as in
Figur A', Sheet 3d, at F, F, on the frame in a vertical position over the axis A,
with connecting rods descending to the cranks upon that axis, according to an
arrangement already practised as to the cylinders, but the boiler was in that
case, as in all other locomotive engines on railroads, placed above the axes of
the wheels, by which it is sustained.
Another part of my said improvements in machinery and apparatus applicable
to the purpose of locomotion by steam power on railways is to apply for such
purpose a pair of rotatory engines of the kind described in my said former
Specification of the Twentieth June, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-
four, and represented in Figure 5 of the Drawings thereunto annexed, and in
which engines the external cylinder is the revolving cylinder, the central axis,
together with the internal excentric cylinder being fixed and restrained from
turning round; wherefore, the pair of external cylinders having a sufficient
enlargement of their circumferences, will form a pair of impelled wheels for a
locomotive engine.
One mode of carrying this part of my present improvements into effect is
represented in Figures 3 and 4; wherein D, D, are the exterior revolving
cylinders, the wheels B, B, formed as part of such cylinders; or the said
revolving cylinders may be considered as hollows within the naves of the wheels
B, B. A, A, is the fixed horizontal axis, about which both wheels B, B, revolve,

page_text: having internal excentric cylinders fixed upon it, and occupying the interior
capacity of the hollow revolving cylinders D, D, except leaving lunate spaces
therein for high-pressure steam to operate in, by aid of folding pistons or flaps,
which are hinged to the interior circumference of the revolving cylinders D, D,
and reach inwards therefrom to the internal fixed excentric cylinder, so as to
form contact therewith, passing across and dividing the lunate space into
compartments, within which the steam can operate to impel the revolving
cylinders with continuous rotatory motion by successive actions of the steam
against the several folding pistons.
The construction and operation is fully explained in my said former Specifi-
cation, and does not require repetition, as this part of my present improvement
consists in the application of rotatory engines to the purpose of locomotion.
The whole weight of the engines resting on the rails, and the wheels, which
may be made of any necessary weight, will give adhesion thereto. The axis A
is prevented from turning round by a frame G, G, which is firmly affixed to the
axis A, with two branches at G, G, Figure 4, which are brought into one, and
the united part is connected by an upright joint pin with the frame of another
carriage v, t, t, w, containing the boiler K, L, and serving only as a tender.
That carriage may have four wheels T, T, and an inverted frame v, t, t, w,
which is suspended upon springs g, g, as is clearly shewn in the Figure. The
boiler K, L, and all the apparatus supported on the axles of the wheels of
Figure 3 may be as light as safety will permit, and should have its centre of
gravity near to the ground, with sledges Z, Z, under the bottom.
Its weight is
suspended from the frame t, t, by the pendulous links a, a, which are joined at
their upper ends to the sides t, t, of the frame, and at their lower ends to the
sledge Z, Z, which will permit of some latitude of motion of the carriage frame
t, t, and wheels T, T, with the engine wheels B, B, and frame G, without
the boiler K, L, being absolutely compelled to partake of the advancing
motion at the samo instant. This mode of suspending the boiler will tend to
avoid those snatching jerks at starting a train which are so unpleasant to
passengers; for the machinery of the engine at commencing its advancing
motion will start the heavy mass to the boiler and its apparatus more quietly
into motion than if it were fastenend to the frame t, t; the suspending links a, a,
will cause the boiler to rise up whenever it does not accompany the carriage
frame t, t, in advancing motion, and the resistance of so rising up will cause
the boiler to accompany the frame on all ordinary occasion, but leaving it at
liberty to avoid so accompanying whenever a snatch or jerk is made by the
engine. And note, in addition to the tendency of the pendulous links to carry
he boiler along with the carriage from v, t,, w, check springs may be applied

page_text: within the ends of the frame to limit the motion of the boiler within the frame
to the latitude of swing which it is to be permitted to have; and further, note,
that the engine D, D, and wheels B, B, represented at O, in Figure 3, as
dragging along the train by the gravity and adhesion of a rolling weight alone,
may be substituted advantageously for the wheel P bearing the light boiler
and apparatus K, L, when great weights are required to be drawn.
And another part of my said improvements in machinery and apparatus
applicable to the purpose of locomotion on railways by steam power, is to
expedite and facilitate the kindling of the fire and getting up of the steam in
locomotive engines, in order to begin travelling. For this object, I employ a
stationary steam boiler, or any steam boiler in which steam being previously
raised and kept up will be always ready as an auxiliary boiler to assist in
getting up the steam in the boiler of the locomotive engines, by conveying
steam into the latter from the said auxiliary boiler through a suitable temporary
cominunication by a flexible steam pipe; and the steam so introduced will
commence the heating of the water contained in the boiler of the locomotive
engine and the metal in the apparatus thereof before the newly-kindled fire
has had time to operate in the furnace of such boiler. Or for still greater
expedition, the boiler may have hot steam blown into it from such auxiliary
boiler in order to give heat to all the metal parts of the apparatus; and that
being done, the locomotive boiler may be filled at once with boiling water by
transfer of a suitable quantity thereof froin the auxiliary boiler; and this being
done, by the time that the fire in the locomotive boiler is ignited, a blast of
steam from the auxiliary boiler may then be blown up the chimney of the loco-
motive boiler, through a suitable temporary communication by a flexible pipe to
the jet in the chimney, in order to urge the fire and get up the steam quickly,
whereby considerable delay will be avoided in starting the engine for service.
And after the production of steam is commenced in the locomotive boiler,
but before it is sufficiently accumulated in the boiler to begin working, I pro-
pose to apply the steam arising from the boiler to blow up the chimney and
urge the fire; a small steam pipe and cock p is represented in Figure 1 for
purpose. And I propose, by opening the said cock p more or less, to use
a portion of the high-pressure steam from the boiler in order to blow up the
chimney at any time when the same may be advantageous, so as not to depend
at all times upon the waste steam for urging the fire, but rather to give a more
ample passage for the waste steam to escape, and to avoid any retardation or
impediment to the free action of the engine; and if by so doing the action of
the jet up the chimney does not produce so strong a draft as is desirable, then
the deficiency may be made up by opening the cock p so as to admit as
that

page_text: much high-pressure steam up the jet pipe as is requisite. The manner of
doing this is shewn by dotted lines in Figure 2, where the large jet for the
waste steam has a similar jet for high-pressure steam applied within the
centre of the large orifice. And for locomotive engines which are only required
to travel over short lines of railroad so as not to require a great supply of
water before they return to the station or place from which they set out, the
boilers of such locomotive engines may be supplied with hot water from the
auxiliary boiler before mentioned without using forcing feed pumps to inject
water into the locomotive boilers, but in lieu thereof retaining the steam in the
auxiliary boiler to a higher pressure than that of the steam in the boiler of the
locomotive engine; then a communication, being established between the lower
part of the auxiliary boiler and the locomotive boiler, by suitable jointed or
flexible pipes, a supply of hot water may be transferred instantaneously from
the auxiliary boiler to the locomotive boiler by merely opening a cock. And
in order to avoid the noise occasioned by the discharge of the waste steam from
the boilers of locomotive engines when they come to a stand still on arriving
at stations which are situated in a populous neighbourhood, where such noise
would be objectionable, I convey the steam from such boilers by a suitable
connection of flexible pipes into a condenser, or into an interior vaulted
chamber, which may be situated under ground, and may have a shower of cold
water falling through it, which will condense the steam without noise.
Another part of my said improvements is in the apparatus for generating
steam for locomotive steam engines by combinations of small metal tubes con-
taining water within them, and having their external surfaces exposed to fire.
The defect of such tubelar boilers or apparatus has been that the rapid genera-
tion of steam within the tubes forms large bubbles of steam therein, and they
displace the water which is intended to occupy the tubes, and then the metal
of the tubes-becomes-red-hot, and is quickly burnt away. I remedy this defect
by arrangements represented in Sheet II. of the Drawings hereunto annexed;
the effect of which arrangements is to cause a continual circulation of water
through the tubes in one direction, and a flow of the steam which is generated
within the tubes in the same direction.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 2 a transverse section of the
boiler or apparatus; and Figures 3 and 4 arc horizontal plans thereof.
The external case B, B, B, B, is in the form of two cylinders conjoined,
their axes being vertical, and they are strengthened at their junction by a
transverse partition which may have many openings through to allow a free
communication of water and of steam; they have a border flange all around
their lower edges to join to the flat bottom plate R, R, and on that plate

page_text: two square chests or boxes C, C, C, C, are built, as shewn in Figure 5, with
square openings cut out on the plate R, R, to adinit fire up into the interior
of the boxes; the said boxes C, C, are traversed by a great number of
horizontal tubes A, A, disposed in stories one above another, the tubes in
the successive stories being in directions crossing each other at right angles.
The pipes are all open at both ends to the water contained in the external
cases B, B, B, B, and which has free admission at all times to the interior
of the tubes. The fire is made in a cradle-shaped fire grate W, suspended
beneath one or both of the boxes C, C, the fire bars being curved to retain the
fuel more completely. The fire acts on the external surfaces of the several
tubes A, A, by ascencional heat; or the smoke or unconsumed gas may pass up
from the dome-shaped tops of one or both of the boxes C, C, by flue pipes.
M, M, is a single chimney which passes through the dome top of the external
case B, B, farthest from the fire door.
Thus far the said apparatus or boiler is similar in general arrangement to
what has been proposed before by others, and I make no claim thereto; but
the defect has been that the large bubbles of steam generated in the middle
parts of horizontal tubes being equally pressed by the water at each end of
each tube, has little or no tendency to pass out of the tube, and consequently
remains in the same, expelling the water therefrom and causing the tube to
become red hot.
My improvement on this apparatus consists in in attaching to one side of
cach of the boxes C, C, a plate E, E, joined close to the box C at top, and
open below, and attaching to the opposite side of the same box C, another plate
D, D, which is joined close to the box C. at the bottom, and is open at top.
The effect is that the steam which is generated in the tubes will be caused to
move onwards in one direction through the tubes, viz, from E towards D,
because the space between the plate D, D, which is open at top, and the side of
the box C, will be filled with a mixture of steam and water, which will con-
stitute a lighter column than is contained in the space between the opposite
plate E, E, and the side of the boiler B, B, because the latter column will be
water only, unmixed with steam; consequently the heavier column at E will
weigh up the lighter column at D, and cause a continual current of water
through the tubes in a direction from E to D, and all the steam generated in
the tubes will follow the same course. Each side of each of the square boxes
C, C, is similarly provided with plates E and D, at opposite sides, viz', a
plate E, E, close at top and open at bottom, on one side to make a descending
column, and at the opposite side a plate D, D, open at top and close at bottom,
to make an ascending column; wherefore, every tube in the whole system will

page_text: have its appointed current of water through it, and that current will carry
away the steam from the interior of the tube as fast as it is generated therein.
Note, although I prefer to use the plates jointly, yet the plate E, E, may
be used alone, or vice versa. And further note, that the boiler nearest to the
fire door may be simply a fire case surrounded with water, and the fuel may
be supplied through a hopper X, as shewn in Figure 1, Sheets I and 2.
Another part of my said improvements is to apply to locomotive carriages
for quick travelling on railways, piles or heaps of india-rubber, and of cork
or other suitable substance, in cakes laid one upon another, jointly with or in
lieu of metallic springs, for sustaining the weight with which such carriages
are loaded; such piles of elastic substances to be enclosed as it were within
inverted boxes resting on the contents, and the weight which is to be borne
upon the lids or covers of such boxes will have an elastic or springy bearing;
such boxes may be applied over the axles of the wheels of the carriages. Tho
said piles of cakes of elastic substances can be easily removed from the said
boxes in which they are enclosed when they become worn or too much con-
solidated, and new cakes put into their place (see Figure 1st, Sheet 3d, a, a);
and I propose to apply like piles of clastic substances beneath the seats or
benches for the passengers in coaches which are to travel on railways, in order
that by resting thereon the vibration and tremor of passing over the joints of
the rails may be diminished.
And another further part of my improvements in machinery and apparatus
applicable to the purposes of locomotion on iron railways consists in applying
guides to the wheels of carriages which are to run on such railways, and
include one or each of the rails between guides, which will form a very great
security against running off the rails; and in case of running off, from failure
of a rail or other inevitable accident, then the same guides will form a support
or sledge to slide along the ground, and preserve the carriage from overturning;
and also the same guides are adapted to operate as clogs or drags to the wheels
of the carriages, in order to stop their motion upon the rails when required:
and the said clogs or drags may be applied to the guides in such manner as to
insert themselves beneath the wheels or between the wheels and the rails, or
to lift the wheels from the rails, in order to take the bearing off the wheel; and
in that case the guides and clogs together form a support or sledge to slide
along upon the rails with a degree of friction proportionate to the weight of
the carriage, which will very soon stop the motion of the carriage. The guides,
by pressing or including the rails laterally, will preserve the said supports or
sledges from running off the rails.
The mode of applying this part of my improvements is represented in

page_text: Figures 5 and 6, of Sheet 1. of the Drawings hereunto annexed. On the
axle of each wheel two strong upright links or legs c, d, c, d, are fitted, one
on each side of each wheel, so as to hang freely down from that axle, and they
are jointed at their lower ends to two long horizontal guide bars d, d, which
hang down on each side of each of the iron rails on which the rails of the
carriage are to run, but without touching those rails; and the said two guide
bars, which are at opposite sides of each iron rail, are strongly connected by
crass pieces, which unite each pair of them together like one, but still without
touching the rails; so that the pair of guides form as it were an inverted
gutter or trough, which is suspended over each iron rail, but without touching
the same.
And the carriage wheels acting through the upper side of the
said inverted gutter, by openings left for that purpose, and the said gutters
or pairs of guides being firmly suspended from the axles of the wheels by the
upright links c, d, they will give a great security against the wheels running
off the rails; or, in case of running off, they will form a sledge to sustain the
carriage, and by sliding along the ground, cause friction to stop the motion;
and the clogs or drags which are to be applied to the guide bars d, d, as afore-
said, for the purpose of stopping the motion of the carriage, are included in
the space between the two guide bars, being mounted on cross joint pins,
which traverse the same and sustain the clogs or drags firmly at a little
distance above the iron rails, but without touching them. Each clog or drag
presents a sharpened wedge point or tongue to the interval between the
wheel and the rail near to their point of contact, and from that pointed
tongue, the form of the upper side of the clog or drag rises up with a curve
conformable to the curvature of the wheel, but without touching the wheel,
and the under side of the clog from the pointed tongue is strait and hori-
zontal, being immediately over the iron rail, but without touching the same.
Each wheel may have two such clogs or drags provided, but in general one to
each wheel will be sufficient; the pointed tongue of one being directed one way,
and the pointed tongue of the other the contrary way, to provide for the
carriage travelling either way. The clogs are kept out of action when the
carriage is travelling by means of a lever handle y, which proceeds from one of
the upright links or legs c, d, and the end of the lever handle y being made
fast by a catch will retain the clogs in the situation above described without
touching either the wheels or the rails; but if the handle y is released from
its catch, and raised up or let down a very little, it will present the pointed
tongue of one or other of the clogs to the point of contact of the rail and
the wheel, so that the said point will become inserted between the wheel
and the rail to take off the bearing or contact thereof; and the curved breach

page_text: of the clog also coming in contact with the curvature of the wheel, it will
effectually stop the motion thereof, and convert the wheel carriage into a
sledge, sliding along the iron rails. If the handle y is raised up, it will apply
onc set of the said clogs for stopping motion in one direction, or if it is
put down it will apply the other clog for stopping motion in the contrary
direction. And note, it is not necessary that the pointed tongues of the clogs
should be made so long and so sharply wedge-pointed as to enter completely
between the wheel, in order to take off the wheel from all bearing on the rail;
but it may be adapted to jamb into the space between the rail and the wheel,
and cause very great friction on the rail and on the wheel without taking the
wheel quite off the rail.
Figures 12 & 13, Sheet 1, represents a clog or drag D attached to.the
inverted frame of a locomotive carriage, which drag being brought in contact
with the rails by elevating or depressing the handle y, performs the operation
of retarding the locomotive carriage by friction on the rails alone. Note, this
clog may also be used to elevate the propelling wheels when the forcing pumps
are required to be used, & the carriage is at rest. And further note, that
tho said drags D remain at a small distance above the rails, where they are
secured by the handles y, when the carriage is required to be in motion.
And note, lateral guides and drags, or clogs as aforesaid, or drags or clogs
without other lateral guides, as last explained, may be applied to any kind
of railway carriages.
1
Figure I., Sheet 3, represents my improved train carriage, the frame of which
instead of being above and resting upon the axles of the wheels (as is now in
use) is suspended below and from the axles thereof, whereby the centre of
gravity of the carriage is lowered, and the rocking motion so injurious to the
wheels and to the rails, and so disagreeable to passengers, is diminished. The
frame of my improved carriage may be suspended in various ways, viz', by
springs placed on-or-pendant-under the axles, or it may be suspended from the
axles by iron or other non-elastic straps, and the body of the carriage-alone-bo-
mounted on springs, by which means the frame will always maintain an equal
distance from the rails, which is important to the uniform operation of my
parallel guides and rollers which I propose to attach to such carriages. To
exhibit the most familiar method of suspending the frames of my improved train
carriages, let A, B, represent the frame of a common train carriage inverted
with its plates F, F, upside down; let C, E, be an iron or other strap pendent
from the axle C, and passing under the centre of the spring D, D, the clastic
motion whereof is communicated through the suspenders D, G, to the frame
A, B, upon which the carriage X is placed. II, I, exhibits an iron strap or

page_text: non-elastic suspender, retaining the frame A, B, equidistant from the rails, the
carriage X alone resting on springs, or on an elastic substitute for springs
a, a, a, a. To the frames or other parts of my improved carriages I add guide
plates M, formed of iron or other metal, strongly bolted and attached to the
frame A, B, which guide plates descend therefrom to suitable distances below
the level of the rails, in order laterally to embrace them and prevent the
deviation of the wheels from their proper course. And for the like purpose I
substitute instead of guide plates guide rollers N, Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4,
descending on one or both sides of the rails, which rollers do not bear on the
rails nor on the ground, unless in the event of the breaking of the wheels or
axles of such carriages. These rollers are firmly attached to a strong transverse
central bar, or otherwise are strongly secured and rendered capable of resisting
the vibratory efforts of the propelling wheels; and farther, more effectually to
prevent the deviating of locomotive trains from the line of rails, I divest the
bearing wheels of the flanges (now in use for the purpose of retaining the said
wheels on the rails), which flanges, when any obstacle presents itself to the
progressive motion of large wheels, become levers to surmount the rails, and
so produce the evil they were intended to remedy. Note, side plates formed.
like the guide plates M, may also be attached to the sides of the rollers N, in
order to sweep from the rails impediments, whether wilfully placed or acci-
dentally left thereon. And further note, that my said improvements are equally
adapted to my train carriages filled with only two wheels, after the manner
represented in respect to the engine and tender, Figure 1, Sheet 1, which
arrangement will permit train carriages more easily to pass along crooked lines
of rails, or from one rail to another. (See B, Sheet 3d.)
And another further part of my said improvements in machinery and
apparatus applicable to the purpose of locomotion on railways is to avoid the
inconvenience of crossing places in the lines of rails for passing out of the line
of one pair of rails into the line of another pair thereof, which is now commonly
practised by turning the direction of one line to bend obliquely until it runs
into the other line; but my improvement is to transfer locomotive engines with
their tenders and trains of carriages from one line of rails to another line by a
lateral motion of a moveable bridge or platform, which is interposed in the
lines of the two rails with a capability of transverse motion across from one
line of rails to the other line, so that the engine with its tender and train of
carriages being brought along the line of rails until they arrive upon the
moveable platform, and being stopped there in the same manner as would be
done in bringing them upon the platform or weighbridge for being weighed,
then the said platform is moved laterally by its machinery to carry the engine

page_text: and carriages transversely from one line of rails to the other line; and the
lateral motion of the platform being stopped when the rails upon it come to
an exact correspondence with the other line of tho rails to which the engine
and carriages are to be transferred, they may then proceed along the new
line; and in case the two lines of rails are not exactly parallel, but one branches
off from the other at an angle, then the lateral motion of the platform must be
more at one end of the platform than the other, in order that it may move
with an angular motion instead of a transverse motion parallel to itself, all
which may be easily effected by suitable arrangement of the cross road or rails
on which the platform is to run laterally.
The mode of carrying this part of my said improvements into effect is
represented in Sheet II. of the Drawings hereunto annexed, Figure 8 being
an elevation, and Figure 9 a horizontal plan. A, A, B, B, is the line of
railway along which the locomotive engine and tender with its train of car-
riages is supposed to be travelling, D, L, D, L, being the continuation of
that line, whilst a, a, b, b, is the other or branch line on to which the engine
and tender with its train is to be transferred. For this purpose the move-
able platform M is provided, framed like a bridge, either in timber or in
iron, and having a line of rails fixed along the whole length corresponding
in level with the line of rails A, A, B, B, and D, D, L, L, and also with that
of the line a, b, a, b. The said platform is adapted to move sideways upon
wheels which run on transverse bearing rails E, E, or it may be laid on
rollers which rest upon such transverse rails, so that its motion will be like that
of a mangle; and in order to give to the platform the requisite angular motion
to enable it to proceed from an exact conformity with one line of rails to a like
conformity with the other line, in case the two are not parallel, then the
rollers or wheels to roll or travel upon the transverse rails E, E, may be larger
at one end of the platform which must have the greatest extent of lateral
motion, and smaller at the other end which is to have a less extent of that
motion; and also the line of transverse rails E, E, instead of being straight
must be curved to arches of circles described from a common centre point
situated at the intersection of the centre lines of the two lines of rails; the
machinery by which such a platform is to be moved laterally may be either by
toothed rack and pinion work or chain and barrel work. The rails being
fixed, and they may be formed at the sides of the several transverse bearing
rails E, E, the toothed wheels or pinions being supported in the platform with
their teeth acting in those of the several fixed racks, and a series of such
toothed wheels or pinions being fixed on one long line of axis or shaft disposed
beneath the platform and extending all its length so as to be common to all

page_text: the said wheels or pinions, will give lateral motion to the platform at every
part of its length; and the said wheels being of different sizes, according to the
place they occupy in the length of the platform, will give different degrees of
lateral motion to different parts suitable for obtaining the angular motion
which is required to be given to the platform; and the requisite motion and
power may be communicated to the said long line of axis or shaft, with all the
toothed wheels or pinions which are fixed upon it as aforesaid in order to
move the platform laterally, by means of the locomotive engine whilst it is
riding transversely upon the platform; for this purpose the main or impelled
wheels of the engine must be brought to rest upon the circumference of two
wheels F, which are fixed on one common cross axis in the platform, so that
the wheels are in the plane of the rails on the platform, and also that the vertex
or highest places on their said circumferences correspond very nearly with the
level of the rails on the platform. The locomotive engine when advanced to
the proper position for so resting with its impelled wheels upon the said
circumferences of the two wheels F, F, being made quite fast on the platform
by suitable fastenings, so that it can neither advance or recede, will commu-
nicate turning motion to the wheels E, E, by adhesion of the circumferences
of its main impelled wheels to the circumferences of the wheels E, E; and on
the axis of the wheels E, E, endless screws may be formed, to act in the
teeth of a large worm wheel, either applied with suitable intervening wheel
work or else fixed on one end of the aforesaid long line of horizontal axis
whereon all the several toothed pinions or wheels are fixed for acting in the
several fixed toothed racks, as before explained. And efficient steps must be
provided to limit the lateral motion of platform M to exact coincidence of the
rails upon it with the two lines of railway A, A, B, B, D, D, L, L, and
a, b, a, b, respectively, and with adequate fastenings to detain the platform in
contact with such stops, in order that the rails on the platform may be certain
to conform exactly with the lines of fixed rails. When the engine and tender
with its train of carriages is to pass onwards from one to the other, the
platform M must be of sufficient length to receive the locomotive engine
with its tender, together with all the train of carriages which the engine is
to draw after the tender. And if it is preferred to use chain and barrel work
instead of rack and pinion work, the same system may be followed, the chain
barrels being substituted for the toothed wheels before mentioned, which act
with the fixed toothed racks, the chains which are applied to be wound up
around those barrels being made fast at their ends to fixed moorings, so
as by winding up one way or other to give motion to the platform, and the
several chain barrels. being of such different sizes as may be necessary for

page_text: producing the requisite angular direction in the latteral motion of the
platform, as already explained in respect, to the rack and pinion work. Or
otherwise the chain barrel may be applied upon the axis of the wheels E, E,
or else on another axis which is turned therefrom by suitable intervening
wheel-work to obtain the requisite force; and a long chain, which is wound up
by that barrel, may be conducted therefrom around suitable leading pullies, the
first applied at G in the platform, then the next at X is applied to a fixed
mooring, then another pulley in the platform, and again another pulley at a
fixed mooring, then another in the platform, and so on, the same chain running
over them all in a sort of zig-zag lacing course, and the distances of the several
pullies from each other being suitably apportioned along the line of the fixed
moorings and along the length of the platform, with unequal but correspond-
ingly unequal distances between the several pulleys along each line. The chain
may be made to draw the platform with more lateral motion at one end than
the other, as is required in conséquence of the zig-zag course of the chain
acting over the several pulleys with different angles of flexure at different places
in the length of the platform. There must be two such chains and systems of
pullies, one to draw the platform laterally one way, and the other to draw it
the other way. And note, respecting the rotary engines which are applied
as aforesaid to locomotive purposes, I employ hardened metal rings and bear-
ings at all those parts of contact between the aforesaid revolving cylinders
and fixed cylinders of such engines which are most exposed to pressure and
motion, so as by such hardness to resist wearing and occasion durability to the
fittings. I apply steel hardened or tempered metal for the rings of contact
at the ends of the internal and external cylinders, or hard bell metal for these
and all like parts of contact.
I claim this application as part of my present
improvements.
And respecting those parts of my said improvements in machinery and appa-
ratus applicable to the purposes of locomotion on water by canals, rivers, I
propose to employ locomotive steam engines to travel along the towing-paths
of canals in lieu of horses, and to draw or tow boats or barges along such
canals. The said locomotive steam engines may be similar to those which
have been constructed for travelling on common turnpike roads, excepting in
proportions (because as the speed of progression of boats on canals must
necessarily be slower than that of stage coaches on roads is required to be, the
pistons must be made of a suitable larger area to adapt them for exerting
full power of the steam at such slower speed as boats can travel with on canals).
The adhesion of the impelled wheels to the towing-path will be like that of
locomotive coaches on common roads, which is so much greater than on the

page_text: smooth surfaces of iron rails for railways, that it is not requisite to have so
much weight resting on the wheels as locomotive coaches have been obliged to
have on account of the weight of the boiler which they carried; but according
to this part of my improvements, the boiler is to be placed on board the boat,
and the steam conveyed to the engine by a steam pipe which is conducted
along the connecting beam by which the locomotive engine draws the boat, and
which answers to a towing rope; and also the eduction pipé may be conducted,
if necessary, along the same beam to convey the waste steam from the engine
to the chimney, and puff the waste steam up the chimney in a jet to augment
the draft, as usual in locomotive engines. The locomotive engine which I
prefer for this application is that which is represented in Figures 3 and 4,
Sheet I. of my former Patent, where the external cylinders of my rotary engine
revolve, and the impelled wheels are part of that external revolving cylinder
which constitutes their nave or central boss, as before explained. A sketch of
this part of my improvements is represented in Figure 10, Sheet I, which is
a horizontal plan, wherein B is the canal boat, and x the boiled, placed on
board thereof; T is the connecting plank or beam, serving as a towing line to
connect the engine with the boat for drawing the same, and also for conducting
the steam pipe (and the eduction pipe); and W; W, are the impelled wheels
of the locomotive engine, which are to run along the towing-path, rotary
engines being either contained within the central parts of the wheels W, w,
as before described by Figures 3 and 4 in Sheet I., or else applied on tho
axis of the wheels W, W, in manner before described by Figures 1 and 2,
Sheet I.
And another part of my said improvements in machinery and apparatus
applicable to the purpose of locomotion on water, whether in canals,
rivers, or the sea, consists in substituting air-forcing pumps or pnematic
apparatus to force down air under the bottom of the vessel, in lieu of the
paddle wheels commonly used in steam vessels for advancing such vessels
through the water. For this purpose the bottom of the vessel should be
an inclined plane below water, deepest forwards and shallower astern, and
by power of suitable machinery on board such vessel, atmospheric air
being forced downwards or through the bottom of the vessel, so as to go
beneath that bottom of the fore part thereof where there is the greatest
depth of the inclined plane below water; then the said air will tend to buoy
up the vessel higher out of water by acting to displace water from beneath
the inclined bottom'; but owing to the inclination thereof, the weight of
the vessel will rest as it were upon an inclined surface of water with air inter-
posed between the bottom and the water, and acting as it were in the manner

page_text: of rollers to facilitate the advancing motion of the bottom over the said surface,
and the inclined position of the bottom will give a constant tendency to the
vessel to slide down forwards thereon, and overcome the resistance which the
bow of the vessel must encounter in progressing through the water; and this
action will continue as long as air continues to be forced down through the
bottom at the stern, and that air passing along beneath all the length of the
inclined bottom makes its escape by rising up behind the stern. The machinery
for so forcing down air may be of the same kind as is commonly employed for
blowing into furnaces for smelting iron, viz., with cylindrical air-forcing pumps,
the pistons whereof may be moved by the power of steam engines such as arc
used on board steam vessels, but which are adapted to apply their force and
power to actuate the pistons of such blowing cylinders or air-forcing pumps
instead of actuating revolving paddle wheels, as usual in steam boats. A
sketch of this improvement is represented in Figure 11, Sheet I., wherein V is
the ship, vessel, or boat which is to be impelled; P, P, the air-forcing pumps
or pneumatic apparatus, which may be actuated by steam, or by other suitable
power. a, b, is the inclined bottom, beneath which the air operates to displace
water and buoy up the vessel, and by the inclined plane to cause the vessel to
advance, the air facilitating that advance by diminishing the friction of the
bottom against the water, in the same manner as oil interposed between
rubbing surfaces diminishes the adhesion and friction, and in like manner as
rollers act to facilitate motion of heavy bodies resting upon them. And note,
there must be keels along the inclined bottom, projecting downwards at each
side thereof, so much as is requisite to retain the air from making its escape
laterally from beneath the bottom, but confining that air to a progression from
the head towards the stem beneath the inclined bottom, and in so progressing,
it causes the vessel to advance forwards by sliding as it were down an inclined
plane. The same effect of propelling may also be produced by oblique
channels attached to the sides of boats or vessels.
And lastly, I claim the application of the quicksilver apparatus, described
in my former Specification of the Twentieth of June, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-four, in lieu of steam power to force down air through
the bottom of the vessel at the fore part thereof, in manner herein described,
or otherwise, for the purpose of producing locomotion in such vessels, the
power or forcible motion of that quicksilver apparatus being derived from
the rolling motion and agitation which a vessel commonly experiences in
the great ocean without the expenditure of fuel, as is fully described in
that Specification, but which apparatus is therein described as a means of
condensing and expelling air to impell rotary or other engines for impelling

page_text: 3
the vessel by working revolving paddle wheels; but my present improv
ment on that mode is to use the air which is condensed and expelled by
the said quicksilver apparatus to give locomotion to the vessel by a more
direct action of passing along beneath the inclined bottom or channel
attached to the sides of the vessel from the fore part thereof towards the stern.
And I claim the application of my said former improvement of quicksilver
apparatus for compressing air by power derived from the rolling and agitation
of a vessel to actuate any kind of engines which are or may be impelled by
compressed air, whether of the kind commonly called rotary, or whether
operating by cylinders with pistons moving therein with reciprocating action.
Having now described
my said improvements, I, the said Thomas Earl Dun-
donald, do hereby declare that, under the grant of the said Letters Patent, I
claim the use and application of my former rotary engines to the producing of
locomotion in carriages, ships, vessels, and boats. Also the application of
water around indian-rubber or other flexible hoses or pipes which may be used
for conducting steam, that water being contained in the space or interval left
between the interior of other larger hose or pipes by which such flexible hose
for the conveyance of steam (and the junctions thereof with the metallic pipes)
are included. Also the lowering of the centre of gravity of boilers, machinery,
and apparatus of locomotive engines, carriages, and ten ders below the axles of
the wheels upon which such carriages travel. Also the use and applica
tion of two-wheeled locomotive carriages propelled by steam, the first or last
carriage of each train having four or more wheels, (see engine, Figure 1,
Sheet II., and B, Figure 8, Sheet III.) Also the use and application of indian-
rubber springs for equalizing tremor. Also the use and application of parallel
guide bars at the sides of the rails or locomotive carriages travel, in order to
prevent them running off those rails, such guide bars being fitted with retard-
ing blocks, or, being used as suspenders of the heavy part of the apparatus, or
serving as sledges to slide along the ground should the carriages deviate from
the rails. Also the use and application of self-operating drags, which when
permitted will tend to lift the wheels of locomotive carriages from the
road, and transfer weight from the wheels to non-revolving friction drags
bearing on the road or on the-rails. Also the use and application of guide
plates and of guide rollers to railway carriages jointly with or as a substitute
for flanges on the bearing wheels: Also the use of and application of water
circulating plates in all kinds of locomotive boilers wherein tubes containing
water are exposed to the action of the fire, such of those as are at one end of
the tubes being opened at the top, and the plates at the opposite end of the
same tubes being open at the bottom. Also the use and application of

page_text: cable platforms, for transferring locomotive trains or carriages by lateral
or transverse motion from one line of rails to another line of rails. And also
I claim the use and applicatton of locomotive engines for dragging or tracking
boats along canal, such locomotive engines travelling on shore, but being
supplied by steam from boilers situated on board such boats. And further, 1
also claim the giving of locomotion to ships, vessels, and boats by machinery
or apparatus on board thereof operating to force down atmospheric air below
oblique planes formed under the bottom or at the sides of the vessel, so that
the air in passing along such planes, in order to rise to the surface, will exert a
buoyant and impelling action to produce locomotion.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Earl Dundonald, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord