IMPROVE- MENTS IN TRAMWAYS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Sievers Cunningham, of 122, Cannon Street, in
the City of London, Iron Merchant, Charles Arthur Frederick Vinkeles-
Houssart, of 72, Lichfield Road, Bow, in the County of Middlesex, Metal
Agent, and William May, of 20, Broughton Street, Battersea, in the County
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Sievers Cunningham
Charles Arthur Frederick Vinkeles-Houssart, and William May at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th December 1881.
ROBERT SIEVERS CUNNINGHAM, of 122 Cannon Street, in the City of London,
Iron Merchant, CHARLES ARTHUR FREDERICK VINKELES-HOUSSART, of 72 Lichfield
Road, Bow, in the County of Middlesex, Metal Agent, and WILLIAM MAY, of
20 Broughton Street, Battersea, in the County of Surrey, Engineer. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TRAMWAYS."
Our Invention has for its objects economy in the cost of constructing tramways
and increased facilities for renewing the wearing parts thereof without disturbing
the roadway to so great an extent as is necessitated with some of the hitherto
proposed systems of constructing tramways.
A tramway rail constructed according to our Invention consists of two principal
members, an upper and a lower one. The upper member consists of a head, which
may be either plain or grooved, and a vertical rib extending downwards. The
lower member is composed of a bar of tee section inverted; the vertical ribs of the
upper and lower members respectively coinciding in the same plane and abutting
edge to edge. In some instances we connect the ends of the upper and lower
members hereinafter called the upper and lower bars-of the tramrail by suitable
fish-plates and bolts; the ends of the upper and lower bars respectively being
arranged, if preferred, so as to break joint. Instead, however, of using fish-plates
at all the joints, which would, on occasion of renewal, necessitate the paving or
1. Ը

page_text: surface of the road wherein the tramrails are laid being disturbed, we employ for
a considerable proportion of the joints a method of connecting the hars together
longitudinally which does not entail any such disturbance of the paving or surface
of the road on the occasions referred to. This method of construction consists in
forming or attaching lateral projections on or to the lower bar; under the ends of
which, lateral projections attached to the upper bar project longitudinally. In
erecting our improved tramrail for use, we slide the upper bar horizontally upon
the lower one until the projections on the former engage with the projections
formed on the lower bar, with the effect that that end of the upper bar where the
projections occur is secured in position, not only vertically but laterally. Similar
projecting pieces or locking plates may be applied at intermediate positions in the
lengths of the upper and lower bars. The other end of the upper bar may be secured
in position in the same manner or by fish-plates, as already alluded to; and where
these fish-plates occur we introduce a piece of the upper bar of sufficient length to
compensate for the distance the upper bars have been moved horizontally; it being
understood that in order to reduce the number of fish-plates to a minimum, we
arrange a suitable number of the upper bars to move in one direction and to lock
themselves and arrange others to move in an opposite direction. The fish-plates not
only embrace the ends of the upper bars or upper and lower bars, as the case may
be, but serve in conjunction with bolts to secure the filling-in or compensation
piece of the upper bar in position.
According-to-a-modification of our Invention we employ pins and slots instead
of projecting pieces or locking plates; this method of construction being of an
equivalent character and the results being of a similar description to those already
mentioned.
In instances where a plain headed rail is used instead of a grooved rail, we
provide a rib on the inner side of the lower bar. The distance this rib projects
laterally determines the proximity of the stone paving to the inner side of
the rail.
We prefer to employ steel for the upper bar of our improved tramrail and iron
for the lower bar thereof, by which means a comparatively small quantity of the
more expensive material is used for those portions of the tramrail that are most
subjected to wear. Further, those portions can be readily removed and renewed
with less disturbance of the paving, or surface of the road in which the rails are
laid, than is usually the case; it being only necessary to open the surface of the
road where the fish-plates occur instead of at each. point of juncture of the bars
composing the tramrail.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Robert Sievers Cunningham, Charles Arthur Frederick Vinkeles-
Houssart, and William May in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th
June 1882.
ROBERT SIEVERS CUNNINGHAM, of 122 Cannon Street, in the City of London,
Iron Merchant, CHARLES ARTHUR FREDERICK VINKELES-HOUSSART, of 72 Lichfield
Road, Bow, in the County of Middlesex, Metal Agent and WILLIAM MAY, of
20 Broughton Street, Battersea, in the County of Surrey, Engineer. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TRAMWAYS."
Our Invention has for its objects economy in the cost of constructing tramways
and increased facilities for renewing the wearing parts thereof without disturbing
the roadway to so great an extent as is necessitated with some of the hitherto
proposed systems of constructing tramways.
In order that the nature of our said Invention may be fully understood we will
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall
refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheets of Drawings; the same letters of
reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of our improved tramway on an
imaginary vertical plane passing between the two rails, thus cutting the tie-bars
but shewing the rail itself in side elevation. Figure 2 represents a plan of the
said tramway, a portion of the road being pitched with stone (not shewn in
Figure 1). The train way rail consists of two principal members, an upper and a
lower one.
The upper member A is composed of a head, which may be either
plain or grooved, and a vertical rib extending downwards. The lower member B
consists of a bar of tee section inverted; the vertical ribs of the upper and lower
inembers coinciding in the same plane and abutting edge to edge.
In some instances we connect together the ends of the bars A and B respectively
by suitable fish plates and bolts, such for example, as are shown at the points.
p1, p p or the ends of the upper and lower members or bars may be arranged if
preferred in such a manner as to break joint. The latter construction will be
inore readily understood on reference to the side elevation Figure 3, wherein the
point of juncture in the upper bar A is near the letter q and does not coincide with
the junction in the lower bar B near the letter r.
In other instances, instead of fish-plates and bolts, we employ an indirect
method of connecting longitudinally the ends of the upper bars A in such manner
as represented in Figure 3 near the letters; our object being to avoid as far as
possible disturbing, on occasion of renewal, the paving or surface of the road
wherein the tramrails are laid. This method of construction consists in forming
or attaching lateral projections or catches C on or to the lower bar B; under the
ends of which projections lateral projections D attached to the upper bar A, project
longitudinally. Similar projecting pieces or locking plates C and D are applied at
intermediate positions in the lengths of the upper and lower bars, as shewn in
Figure 1 and in Figure 3 near the letter t.
Figures 3a 3r and 39 show our improved tramrail as it appears in section on the
lines uu, rr and 9 9 respectively.
In erecting our improved tramrail for use, having fixed the lower bar B in
position, we slide the upper bar A horizontally upon it until the projections D
attached to the upper bar engage with the projections C, formed on the lower bar;
with the effect that the upper bar becomes secured to and upon the lower bar
both vertically and laterally.
In order to compensate for the distance the upper bar has been moved

page_text: :
horizontally as above described we introduce a short length E thereof as shown in
Figure 3 near the letter q. Where such compensation-pieces occur we apply fish-
plates which not only embrace the ends of the upper bars or upper and lower bars
(Figure 1.p), as the case may be, but serve in conjunction with bolts to secure the
filling-in or compensation-piece of the upper bar rigidly in position. At these
points it will be necessary, on occasion of renewal, to open the road in order to
remove the fish-plates and release the compensation-pieces previously to with-
drawing the upper bars sufficiently to disengage the locking-plates. For this and
other reasons it is therefore desirable to reduce as far as possible the number of
these short compensation-pieces. With this object we arrange the locking-plates C
and D on the lower and upper bars respectively in such a manner that some of
the upper bars A must be moved or slid in one direction and others in the opposite
direction in order that their lateral projections or catches may engage or disengage,
as the case may be, with the corresponding projections or locking-plates on the
lower bars. In Figure 1 the bar A on the left of the centre has to be moved
towards the right before it becomes disengaged from the lower bar B; and the
bar A on the right of the centre has to be moved towards the left before it is
released. Thus, with reference to Figure. 3, if the joints in the upper bar be
arranged alternately in the manner shown near the letters 8 and 9 respectively
there will occur one compensation-piece and one set of fish-plates for each two
lengths of rail. Similarly, if every alternate two lengths of upper bar be arranged
to slide in opposite directions, there_will_occur_one.compensation-piece-and-one-set
of fish-plates for each four lengths of rail; and so on.
Figure 4 represents a transverse section of a tramway constructed according to
our improved method. A B, A B are the tramrails bedded on concrete or other
suitable foundation and maintained at their correct relative distance from one
another by a tie or thrust-bar F. This bar may be of any known pattern applicable
for such purposes, but we prefer to employ a flat bar notched at each end, as shown
at G G, Figure 4ª. Notches such as H Figure 3 are also formed in the vertical
portions of the bars B for receiving the ends of the bar F. This tie-bar standing
on edge, interferes but little with the stone pitching of the roadway. Or if preferred,
the tie-bar F may be made somewhat deeper and notches such as J Figure 4b,
formed in its upper edge, with the object of clipping the vertical ribs of the upper
bars and steadying them laterally in position, in the same manner as the notches G
clip and hold the lower bars in position relatively to one another.
In some instances we employ an angle-iron distance-bar, the better to withstand
any thrust that may tend to impair the accuracy of the guage. F1 Figure 5
represents such a distance-bar and similar ones occur in Figures 1 and 2.
We prefer to employ steel for the upper bar A of our improved tramrail and iron
for the lower bar B thereof by which means a comparatively sinall quantity of the
more expensive material is used for those portions of the tramrail that are most
subjected to wear. Further, those portions can be readily removed and renewed
with less disturbance of the paving or surface of the road in which the rails are
laid than is usually the case.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention and the manner in which
the same is or may be carried into effect, we would have it understood that we do
not confine ourselves to the precise details herein before described and illustrated
on the accompanying Drawings. Neither, on the other hand, must it be supposed
that we claim as new the method of constructing tramrails in two parts, the one
part consisting principally of the rail-head and the other part performing the
subordinate function of supporting the first named part; but what we consider
possesses novelty and utility and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by
the herein before in part recited Letters Patent is :-
First Constructing tramrails in two parts, the one consisting of the head and
vertical rib and the other formed of a tee-iron inverted, the vertical ribs of the two
parts abutting edge to edge, substantially as herein described with reference to the
accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Secondly-The method of erecting tramrails formed of two parts, such as referred
to in the previous claim, by sliding the upper part horizontally upon the lower part
until the corresponding attachments or connecting devices of the two parts engage
with one another substantially as herein described.
:-
Thirdly The use of lateral projections or locking plates formed on or attached
to the upper and lower members respectively of a trainrail formed in two parts;
such projections or plates engaging with one another upon horizontal motion of
one of the said members or parts of the tramrail, substantially as and for the
purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof I, the said Robert Sievers Cunningham, for myself and
the said Charles Arthur Frederick Vinkeles-Houssart and William May,
have hereunto set my hand and seal this Nineteenth day of June in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
R. S. CUNNINGHAM. (L.S.)

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