Improvements in or relating to Portable Railways.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application. 30th June, 1896-Accepted, 1st Aug., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Portable Railways.
1, HENRY JOHN LAWSON of 40 Holborn Viaduct in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this 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 portable railways, its object being the construction of a
new and inexpensive type of light railway with a single-rail or two-rail track
specially adapted to be traversed by vehicles of the bicycle type having their
wheels in line with one another.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one of the plate rails of the railway;
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central section of a series of these plates laid end to end
in a series as hereinafter 'described;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of part of Fig. 2, showing more clearly the device
employed to connect contiguous plates and secure them to the ground; and
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a short length of improved railway according to
this invention, set out on a curve.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
The rails are formed of plates A, preferably of inverted trough form and each
formed with a longitudinal corrugation B affording a channel C to guide the wheels
of the vehicles, the flanges of the wheels running in the channel. These plates
are laid in single line, end to end, and close together as a single-rail track (Fig. 4),
or laid in two parallel lines as a two-rail track.
Each plate has its ends rounded as at A¹ (Figs. 1 and 3) so that the ends of the
corrugations B may abut and the guide channel C be practically continuous
throughout, a series of the plates even when they are not in a straight line with
each other, as in the illustration (Fig. 4) of a portion of the line set out on a
curve.
Each plate in a series is linked to its neighbours by a link or staple D, there
being a staple at each end of each plate. The ends of each link are turned down
to constitute extensions D' which pass through holes B¹ provided for the purpose
near the ends of the corrugations B (Fig. 3) in adjacent plates. If desired the
corrugations may be set down as at B³ to enable the links D to lie flush with the
lowest part of the channels C which will then be quite unobstructed and serve as a
smooth track for the flanges of the vehicle-wheels which may have broad tread
surfaces to run on the faces of the plates.
The extensions D₁ of each link may be made sufficiently long to penetrate the
soil on which the plates are laid, to secure or aid in securing them in place. It is
an important feature of this invention that these plates need no ballasting or
preliminary preparation of a foundation, nor do they need sleepers; they may be
simply laid on the ground and left to settle themselves under the influence of the
traffic, except on very irregular ground, where they may need to be packed up at
the ends, as in Figure 2, for example, in which E are ordinary iron washers place.I
on the extensions D 1 by which they are kept in position whilst serving as packing
pieces.
The extreme outer parts A 2 of each plate are preferably made to approach.
towards the vertical (see Figure 1) to aid the plate in settling and fixing itself as
described, but the whole upper surface of each plate is preferably curved or slanted

page_text: from centre to edge, being thus shaped so as to offer no impediment to cros
traffic. Further the choice of this form enables the plate to bear on the ground
along the underside of the central corrugation, and at each edge of the plate
as well.
The links D and the corrugation B are both preferably in the centre-line of the
plate; fastenings other than the links may be employed to connect the plates
together without departure from this invention.
By this means I provide a cheap, simple, portable and flexible track, easily fixed
and easily removed and with no part too heavy for a man to move or fix, and so
constructed and arranged that no special preparation, beyond perhaps a very rough
levelling where the ground is very uneven, is required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
olaim is :-
1. A single-rail railway substantially as described.
2. A railway of plates formed with longitudinal corrugations B and rounded
ends A 1 substantially as described.
3. A railway rail consisting of a plate A of inverted trough or similar form so
shaped that it offers no impediment to cross traffic and with a longitudinal
corrugation B and rounded ends substantially as described.
4. The combination with plate rails such as A of links or staples such as D with
or without extensions D1 and washers E substantially as and for the purpose
described.
Dated this 30th day of June 1896
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.