IMPROVEMENTS IN CARS OR CARRIAGES TO. RUN ON STREET RAILWAYS OR TRAMWAYS.
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Elijah Freeman Prentiss, of Philadelphia, in the
State of Pennsylvania, one of the United States of America, but now
residing at Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturing
Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARS OR CARRIAGES TO.
RUN ON STREET RAILWAYS OR TRAMWAYS.".
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Elijah Freeman Prentiss
, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th October 1860.
I,,ELIJAH FREEMAN PRENTISS, of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania,
one of the United States of America, but now residing at Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARS OR CARRIAGES TO RUN ON
STREET RAILWAYS OR TRAMWAYS," to be as follows:-
My Invention of "Improvements in Cars or Carriages to run on. Street
Railways or Tramways," consists of various improvements whereby this
description of cars or carriages is made much lighter and stronger than usual,
and some of the parts are more conveniently arranged than heretofore.
My first improvement relates to a novel mode of constructing the upper
part of the carriage and of supporting the roof of the same. The improvement.
consists in constructing a kind of a trussed girder strengthened by braces' and .
counter braces, and adapting one of these girders to each side of the upper

page_text: part of the vehicle when it is intended that passengers shall travel on the
roof. The girders rest by their extremities on the end frames of the vehicle,
and from these girders the roof is suspended in any convenient manner.
In order to give greater internal accommodation, the sides of the vehicle are
bulged or bowed from the ends to the central part, and a door or opening for
ingress and egress is made at both ends of the carriage. Access is given to
the roof by means of a moveable circular staircase, which may be adapted to
either end of the vehicle, as may be required. Another mode of supporting
the roof is by the use of angular struts, which abut at one end against the side
framing of the carriage, and at the upper end bear against and support hori-
zontal bars on which the roof seats are placed. From this horizontal bar
depends a king post and two angular struts, and the sides are held together by
tie rods, so that the roof is supported upon the bow and string principle.
If the roof is not intended to carry passengers, it may be constructed on the
curb principle, or supported from below in the ordinary manner, or the roof
may be so constructed and supported that the trussed girders and the passen-
gers' seats on the roof may be removed, leaving the roof supported in the
ordinary manner, the trussed girders or other appliances to support the roof
only being necessary when additional strength is required.
Another improvement relates to the mode of adapting the pole to the
carriage, and consists in securing it to the under framing by means of a ver-
tical swivel pin, which allows the pole to be moved round to any extent.in a
horizontal direction without turning the carriage round. The pole is supported
by a strut which abuts against another strut secured to the carriage framing,
and a certain amount of vertical motion is allowed to the pole, so that what-
ever weight there may be in the carriage, and to whatever extent the springs
may be depressed and the body allowed to descend, it may not interfere with
the pole, or cause it to bear on the horses.
The next improvement relates to a novel mode of constructing the wheels of
street railway cars or carriages, and consists in making the wheels of cast iron,
cast solid, of a concave shape on both sides, but with a slight elevation in the
middle to receive the nave. By this means the metal is so distributed that all
those parts which require most strength have the largest quantity of metal,
while at those parts where there is little strain the thickness of metal is reduced
to the minimum. .
.By this judicious arrangement of the metal the weight of the wheels may be
considerably reduced, and by means of all my improvements in combination,
a carriage of equal or even greater strength than those heretofore used may be
constructed of little more than half the weight.

page_text: The cars are lighted by means of lamps placed at each end and provided
with two concave mirrors placed back to back, so as to form a double concave,
the light being placed in the centre of the two mirrors so that it may be
reflected in both directions.
In order to obtain.access to the interior of the axle box, a sliding piece is
adapted to the upper part thereof in such a manner that by removing the slide
the babbitt metal or antifriction metal may be taken out and replaced with
facility.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Elijah Freeman Prentiss in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th April 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ELIJAH
FREEMAN PRENTISS, of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, one of the
United States of America, but now residing at Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said. Elijah Freeman Prentiss, Her. special license that I, the said Elijah
Freeman Prentiss, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Elijah Freeman Prentiss, my executors, administrators, and 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CARS OR CARRIAGES TO RUN ON STREET RAILWAYS OR TRAMWAYS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Elijah Freeman Prentiss, 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, sanie
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 Elijah Freeman Prentiss, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
'My Invention of "Improvements in Cars or Carriages to run on Street
Railways or Tramways," consists of various improvements whereby this
description of car or carriage may be made much lighter and stronger than
usual, and some of the parts will be more conveniently arranged than here-
tofore.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn various views of different parts
of a carriage, shewing the mode of carrying out my several improvements.
My first improvement is represented at Figures 1 and 2, Sheet I.; of the
Drawings, and relates to a novel mode of constructing the upper part of the
carriage and of supporting the roof of the same. Fig. 1 is a plan or top view
of the roof of a carriage, shewing the roof seats adapted thereto; Fig. 2 is a
transverse vertical section of the same.
...The improvement consists in supporting the top of the carriage by the use of
angular struts a, a, which abut at one end, against the side framing b, b, and at
the upper end bear against the king post, and support a horizontal bar.c, on
which the cross bars e, e, that support the roof seats are placed. From this
horizontal bar c depends. a. king post f, and two angular.or vertical struts g,g,
depend from the outer ends of the cross bars c, c, and assist in supporting the
footboard of the roof seats. The side framing b, b, is held together by tie rods
h, h, so that the roof is supported upon the bow and string principle. If the
roof is not intended to carry passengers, it may be constructed on the curb
principle or supported from below in the ordinary manner. The upper part of
a car or carriage constructed and supported in the manner above described
may be so arranged that the passengers' seats on the roof and the parts .con-
nected therewith may be removed, if required, and yet leave the roof supported
as before. For instance, the roof seats, the cross bars e, e, the struts g, g, and
the footboard are made removeable, and when removed, the roof is left sup-
ported as before.
The next improvement relates to a mode of strengthening and increasing
the rigidity of the lower part of the carriage, and consists in the employment
of a hog chain whereby the ends of the carriage are held together. This
improvement is represented in Sheet II. of the Drawings, in which Fig. 3 is
a longitudinal section, and Figure 4 a transverse section of a carriage. p, p, .
are the side beams, and with the end beams p¹, p', form the bottom framing
of the carriage. The seats are supported by narrow vertical standards q, q,
which rest upon the side beams p, p, or upon the flooring. A hog chain r is
supported at the centre by a metal or other post or standards; and the ends

page_text: of this chain pass through and are screwed up against. the under side of the side
beams p, so that by screwing up the nuts at the..ends of the hog chain the
under framing may be tightened up with. facility. The concaves t, t, under:
the seats are strengthened and yet made exceedingly light by being constructed
of thin wood covered with canvass, which is glued on in one, two, or more
thicknesses.
The next improvement relates to the mode of adapting the pole to the
carriage. This improvement is represented at Fig. 5. The pole i is shewn
detached from the carriage, and is adapted to the under framing; of the
carriage by means of two vertical swivel pins k, k', which allow the pole to be
moved round to any extent in a horizontal direction without turning the
carriage round. The pole i is supported by a strut l, which is made with a
forked end, and abuts against the pin k of another strut m secured to the
carriage framing 3. A certain amount of vertical motion is allowed to the
pole as the forked end of the strut 7 is not confined against the pin k¹, so that'
whatever weight there may be in the carriage, and to whatever extent the
springs may be depressed and the body allowed to descend, it may not
interfere with the pole, or cause it to bear with undue weight on the horses"
backs.
Another improvement.relates to a novel mode of constructing the wheels. of
street railway cars or carriages, and is shewn at Figures 6 and 7. Fig. 6 is a
side view of one of my improved wheels, and Fig. 7. is a sectional view of the
The improvement consists in making the wheels of cast iron cast solid.
of: a.concave shape on both sides, as seen in the sectional view, but with a
slight elevation in the middle at o to receive the nave.
same.
}
In order to strengthen the thin metal concave disc, radial projecting ribs o¹
are cast thereon on one or both sides, as seen at Fig. 6. By this mode of:
constructing cast iron wheels the metal is so distributed that all those parts
which require most strength have the largest quantity of metal, while at those
parts where there is little strain the thickness of metal is reduced to the
minimum. By this arrangement of the metal the weight of the wheels may
be considerably reduced.
My next improvement relates to a novel mode of constructing the axle
boxes of street railway carriages, and has for its object to obtain access with
facility to the interior of the axle box.
In Sheet I., Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section; Fig. 8*, an end view; and
Fig. 9 is a cross section of one of my improved axle boxes. u is the axle
of the wheel; v, v, the external box or case; wis a sliding piece adapted to
the upper part of the box, and is fitted to receive the antifriction or babbitt

page_text: metal bearing x. The end of the box is closed by a cover y, and by removing
this and drawing out the sliding piece w, the babbitt metal bearing 'may be
taken out and be replaced with facility. The lower part of the box u is
supplied with oil or lubricating material, into which the axle dips and becomes
thereby lubricated.
Fig. 10, Sheet I., is a longitudinal vertical section, and Fig. 11 a cross
section, of a modification of the above. The babbitt or antifriction metal x
bears against a fixed round stud cast on the inside of the axle box, and when
it is required to take out the babbitt metal bearing the packing of the box
must be loosened, and then the axle will be allowed to fall sufficiently to admit
of the metal block a being drawn out.
The last, improvement relates to the lamps employed in street railway
carriages, and is shewn in Sheet .II. at Figures.12 and 13. The improve-
ment consists in adapting to the lamps used for the above description of
carriages two concave reflectors placed back to back, with the lamp or light
between them, apertures being made through the reflectors to allow the rays
of light to pass through. By this means the light will be reflected in both
directions, and if desired a lamp may be placed at each end of the carriage..
Having now described my Invention of improvements in cars or carriages
to run on street railways or tramways, and having explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by
Letters Patent as aforesaid, the mode herein set forth and described of
constructing cars or carriages for street railways.
I also claim the mode herein set forth of adapting the pole to such
carriages.
I further claim the mode herein set forth of constructing cast-iron wheels,
and also of constructing the axle boxes.
Lastly, I claim adapting to street railway cars or carriages lamps with
double reflectors, so that the light of the lamp may be reflected forward and
backward.
In witness whereof, I, the said Elijah Freeman Prentiss, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
ELIJAH FREEMAN PRENTISS. (L.S.)