IMPROVEMENTS IN ELEVATED RAILWAYS
Year: 1884

page_text: I, HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of the firm of Allison Brothers, of 52 Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN ELEVATED RAILWAYS," (a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Auguste Milinaire and Clement Milinaire, both of
16 & 18 rue de la Goutte d'or, Paris, in the Republic of France, Engineers, to be
as follows:
The invention relates to the construction of an improved system. of metallic
platform with two or more storeys, which permits the lines or roads to be arranged
one above the other, so as to occupy a minimum amount of space in width, the
traffic being carried on in both directions. The system has the advantage of doing
away with all chance of collision of trains travelling in different directions, and
gives a practical solution to the problem of Metropolitan open air railways for
capitals and other large towns.
In carrying out this system of superposed lines or roads for Metropolitan railways
or other roads, we arrange in the middle of a large avenue or main road a series of
refuges or stands.
The bottom line or road serves for the traffic of trains or other carriages or
vehicles in one direction between two stations, and the top line or road for the
traffic in the opposite direction.
The trains or other carriages or vehicles arrive in the stations on to hydraulic,
atmospheric or other lifting platforms, and are raised or lowered either together or
carriage by carriage to the level of the road for the return journey.
The first mode of construction relates to an arrangement of two superposed
lines or roads, the supporting columns of the platform being placed at suitable
distances apart so as to allow the passage of ordinary carriages on either side of the
ordinary roadway.
,1
The columns rest on solid sockets embedded in hydraulic cement or masonry and
present a minimum base above the level of the ground, so as to leave. to the

page_text: ordinary roadway between the two columns as much space as possible. These
columns may be made of cast iron in one or several pieces, or of iron plates, when
they will be hollow and the hollow will be filled up with concrete, so as to obtain
a strong column of small diameter; or they may be made of any other suitable
material and in any suitable form. At the top part of the body of the column,
which is ornamented in any suitable manner, are securely rivetted brackets, made
of plate iron, which support the metallic platform. The brackets are arranged
perpendicularly, the biggest in the direction of the length of the platform and the
smallest in the direction of the width, to bind and support the two side girders
which form the supports of the railroad or other road.
The platform proper is similar to the girders of large bridges. It comprises two
lattice girders placed laterally at a sufficient distance apart to allow a train or
carriage to pass, and on each side or on one side only is a sidewalk sufficiently wide
for the passage of the workmen employed for repairing the railroad or other road.
Along this sidewalk at suitable distances apart are placed rails and the necessary
tools for the reparation of the rail or other road.
At the top and bottom of the lattice girders which are made up of plates and
angle or other irons, cross girders are securely fixed by means of gussets, the cross
girders carrying the rails and sleepers. The cross girders support the rails of the
railroad or brick arches or other means of support in the case of an ordinary road-
way. These cross girders are maintained at a suitable distance apart by means of
the string pieces of the rails or of the sleepers composing the line, and laterally or
along the whole of the width, a suitable flooring is arranged.
The top line of rails or road is on the level with the top of the side girders and
rests on cross girders similar to those above mentioned. A flooring of masonry,
iron or wood is placed between the cross girders on the string pieces for the traffic
on this storey and also for repairing the line. A wooden or metallic guard fixed at
certain distances apart on the top plates of the side girders runs the whole length.
Each of the lines or roads is connected with the roadway of the avenue or main
road by side walks which terminate in suitable stations arranged on the sides of
the avenue, for instance on the pavement.
The rolling stock is transported from one line of rails or road to the other by
means of elevators or lifts worked by any suitable means. The lines or roads may
be inclined and curved when necessary.
A second mode of construction consists in an arrangement in which one rail only
is employed.
These
The supporting columns are made of cast iron, iron plates or masonry having a
cross section in the form of a circle, ellipse, polygon or other suitable form.
columns rest on pillars which in their turn rest on a solid foundation of masonry.
They carry at the top part a curved girder or a straight wooden beam or metallic
girder serving as the support for the rail of the first storey.
Perpendicularly to this girder are arranged brackets which are firmly rivetted
on each column. The brackets serve to enlarge the capital of the column, so that
it can receive a girder perpendicularly to the curved girder, upon which are fixed
the columns of lattice or other suitable girders which support the ends of arcs. The
arcs are either solid or hollow in the form of lattice or ordinary girder, one set
being supplied for each line. On the lower arc rests a girder which serves as guide
to the lower line and support to the upper line. This girder may be solid or hollow
with solid body or lattice and may be constructed of wood or metal. Its ends rest
on the lower arcs placed immediately above the columns or supports of the metallic
platform. These arcs are connected together by means of a lattice or other girder,
the object of which is to securely bind the whole system together and to serve as
guide to the vehicles of the top line.
The style of vehicle employed consists of a case or body with seats arranged
back to back, placed in the middle of the vehicle, and the doors are arranged on
the sides parallel to a middle partition.

page_text: The vehicle runs on the rail by means of a wheel placed immediately beneath
the middle partition, under the carriage or at the ends thereof. This wheel might
be toothed to run in a rack for steep inclines.
At the top part of the vehicle and solidly fixed to the roof are arranged two
horizontal rollers, which run on guides.
The girders carrying the rails are strengthened by means of struts.
Guards are placed at the extremity of a light flooring supported on the girders
carrying the rails by means of brackets. They may be arranged on each side of
the line. The flooring and the guards are employed for facilitating the repairs of
the line.
•
A third mode of construction consists in arranging three lines one above the
other. One line is arranged at the base of the side girders, the second at the
middle of the height of the girders and the third at the top of the girders. The two
first storeys may serve for the passenger traffic and the third line which is open to
the air and alone provided with guards, for the goods traffic or any other suitable
object.
A fourth mode of construction consists in making the supporting columns of
two or four pillars, which are connected together by arches, instead of one column
only.

page_text: I, HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of the firm of Allison Brothers, of 52 Chancery Lane,
London, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents, do hereby declare the naturé
of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELEVATED RAILWAYS" and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
The invention relates to the construction of an improved system of metallic
platform with two or more storeys, which permits the lines or roads to be arranged
one above the other, so as to occupy a minimum amount of space in width, the
traffic being carried on in both directions. The system has the advantage of
doing away with all chance of collision of trains travelling in different directions,
and gives a practical solution to the problem of Metropolitan open air railways for
capitals and other large towns.
In carrying out this system of superposed lines or roads for Metropolitan
railways or other roads, I arrange in the middle of a large avenue or main road
a series of refuges or stands. Instead of the usual ornamental lamps with large
bases, a hollow cast or sheet iron column, filled for example with concrete, is placed
on each stand or refuge, such columns having a base of a maximum diameter equal
to that of the usual lamps, and round it is the usual foot way to allow of foot
passengers taking refuge from the vehicular traffic in the roadway. The columns
carry at their upper end by means of brackets of open sheet iron, ornamented
and decorated and placed in cross form, a metallic platform, which is a kind of
hollow girder of sheet iron which serves as an open tunnel for the passage in its
interior of an ordinary train on a track of the usual width or of narrow guage, and
above it is another track of the same guage as the first.
The bottom road or line serves for the traffic of trains or other carriages or
vehicles in one direction between two stations, and the top line or road for the
traffic in the opposite direction.
The trains or other carriages or vehicles arrive in the stations on to hydraulic,
atmospheric or other lifting platforms, and are raised or lowered either together or
carriage by carriage to the level of the road for the return journey.
But in order to more fully describe the system of superposed lines or roads, I
have shown in the annexed drawings, the different modes of construction applied
to open air railways for large towns.
Fig. 1 (Sheet 1) is a side elevation of the metallic platform with two tracks
supported at one point on a hollow column of sheet iron filled with concrete, and
at another point on a pillar of masonry. The points of support are situated
at about 5000 apart so as to allow of the passage of the ordinary vehicles from
one side of the road to the other. Fig. 2 (Sheet 1) is a transverse section showing
the two storeys of tracks with the construction of the pillar in masonry serving as
the support.
The columns rest on solid bases embedded in bydraulic cement or masonry and
present a minimum base above the level of the ground, so as to leave to the ordinary

page_text: roadway between the two columns as much space as possible. These columns
may be made of cast iron in one or several pieces, or of iron plates, when they
will be hollow and the hollow will be filled up with concrete, so as to obtain a
strong column of small diameter; in the middle of the cast or wrought iron
columns filled with concrete, pillars may also be built in masonry, and of any
suitable section. At the top part of the body of the column, which is ornamented
in any suitable manner, are securely rivetted brackets made of plate iron, which
support the metallic platform. These brackets are arranged perpendicularly, the
biggest in the direction of the length of the platform and the smallest in the
direction of the width, to bind and support the two side girders which form
the supports of the railroad or other road.
The platform proper is similar to the girders of large bridges. It comprises two
girders C, C, placed laterally at a sufficient distance apart two allow a train or
carriage to pass, and on each side or on one side only is a side-walk sufficiently
wide for the passage of the workmen employed for repairing the railroad or other
road. Along this side-walk at suitable distances apart are placed rails and the
necessary tools for the reparation of the rail or other road.
At the top and bottom of the lattice girders which are made up of plates and
angle irons, the cross girders D are securely fixed by means of gussets. The gussets
receive parallel to the lattice girders, two running irons E, serving to receive the "
sleepers supporting the rails. Each platform is provided with a cushion of wood
or other material resting upon a surface of curved plate iron, so.as to thus form a
compact yielding connection, having the advantage of greatly lessening the noise
of the metallic vibrations on the passage of a train, a precaution which is com-
pleted by placing a material which deadens sound, such as gutta-percha, caoutchouc,
etc., between the points of contact of certain parts of the structure.
On each side of the track a foot path 0-m60 wide and 0m30 high is reserved for
the passage of workmen to keep the tracks in repair, and to avoid all danger from
the train leaving, the track, for in this case the wheels being enclosed up to the
axle could only slide up against the rounded edge of the foot path without being
able to mount the same before the breaks are brought into action, so that there
will be nothing to fear from the train leaving the track, a most important
consideration in the case that it should occur, but which on account of the
special construction and of the comparatively slow speed of the trains is very
improbable.
:
Under each foot path and running its whole length is a gutter sufficiently large
to collect all rain water which falls on the platform, and conduct it to a kind of
common reservoir formed at the top of the columns and communicating with
descending tubes hidden in such columns.
The top track is on the level of the top of, the lattice girders C and is provided
on each side with a guard rail fixed securely at suitable points to the top of such
girders.
A second mode of construction is shown in Figs. 5 and 6 (Sheet 2) in which one
rail only is employed.
Fig. 5 is an elevation of the metallic platform for the system of superposed lines
provided with one rail only.
Fig. 6 is a transverse section of the same.
a, a, are columns made of cast iron, iron plates or masonry. They carry at the
top part the curved girder b, or a straight beam or metallic girder serving as the
support for the rail of the first storey.
Perpendicularly to the girder bare the brackets c, upon which are fixed the
columns of lattice or other suitable girders which support the ends of the arcs f
The arcs are also either solid or hollow in the form of lattice or ordinary girders
On the arc f rests the girder g, which serves as guide to the lower line and
support to the upper line. This girder g may be solid or hollow with solid body
or lattice. Its ends rest on the arcsf placed immediately above the columns or
supports of the metallic platform. The arcs fare connected together by means of

page_text: a lattice or other girder k, the object of which is to securely bind the whole system
together and to serve as guide to the vehicles of the top line.
The style of vehicle which I employ consists of a case or body with seats
arranged back to back, placed in the middle of the vehicle, and the doors are
arranged on the sides parallel to the middle partition.
The vehicle runs on the rail by means of wheels placed immediately beneath the
middle partition under the carriage.
At the top part of the vehicle and solidly fixed to the roof are arranged four
horizontal rollers, which run on the guiding girders g and k. I lay no claim to
this form of vehicle or any other.
Above each column, in order to secure the girders b and g, T irons or struts are
arranged, which are fixed to the horizontal girder C in one case, and to the inner
walls of the columns e in the other case.
Guard rails are placed at the extremity of a light flooring supported on the
girders b and g by means of brackets. They may be arranged on each side of the
line. The flooring and, the guard rails are employed for facilitating the repairs
of the line.
A third mode of construction is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 (Sheet 1) and has
8 superposed tracks.
Fig. 3 is an elevation of the metallic platform, and
Fig. 4 is a transverse section of same.
This construction of 3 lines arranged one above the other differs from those above
described in the number of lines and their arrangement.
Instead of two lines, one fixed at the base of the girders and the other at the
top of the girders, I employ three lines arranged one above the other. One is fixed
at the base of the girders, the second at the middle of the height of the girders
and the third at the top of the girders. The first two storeys may serve for the
passenger traffic, and the third line which is open to the air and only provided with
guard rails, for the goods traffic. This third line might also serve for any other
suitable object.
A fourth mode of construction differs from the others in the construction of the
pillars. Instead of one strong column or one pillar of masonry I employ four
pillars which are connected together by arches on the four sides.
Fig. 15 (Sheet 4) represents a side elevation of a type of hydraulio elevator for
3 tracks, permitting the lifting of a train composed of 2 carriages and a locomotive,
from one track to another.
Fig. 16 (Sheet 4) represents a side elevation of a hydraulic lifting platform for
3 tracks, with a platform to transport one carriage from one track to another, and
to lower it to the ground if necessary. The platform may also serve at the same
time to carry passengers up and down.
Fig. 17 (Sheet 4) is a section of Fig. 16 on the line A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J.
The dotted lines show the platforms in their extreme raised positions.
Stations (which may be heated in winter) are placed at suitable distances, and
each is provided with an arrival and a departure platform in communication with
the foot path of the street by staircases or lifts arranged so as to avoid all confusion
between travellers setting out and arriving.
In places where the area necessary to erect the stations would have the incon-
venience of crowding or impeding the circulation in the street one of the
neighbouring houses might be employed for this purpose, by means of a foot
bridge connecting it with the track.
The parts which are curved will be composed of a series of straight lengths so
as to always have the girders in a straight plane, and taking their supporting
points at a minimum of every 25 metres, with a distance apart transversely in
proportion to the radii of the curves to be described between them.
The rolling stock is transported from one track to another by means of the
elevators or lifts actuated in any suitable manner, and of which Figs. 15 and 16
(Sheet 4) illustrate a specimen, or by connecting curves as shown in Fig. 14

page_text: (Sheet 3). To enable these connecting curves to be thoroughly understood I will
follow a train during its passage along such curve. The up train A travelling along
the main line on the track 1 can continue its route on this line or branch off on
track 1 of the connecting curve, which will lead it to the other end of the track 2
of the main line, which it can follow if desired, or it can run on to track 2 of the
connecting curve up to the forked part, which will lead it on to the down track 3
of the main line, thus changing the direction of the train; from an up it will
become a down train.
Fig. 13 (Sheet 3) shows a connecting curve of a line having 2 tracks with a line
having 3 tracks. The up train A running on the lower track of the 3 track
line may continue its road along this line, or branch off on one of the intermediate
branches C connected to the line with 2 tracks, follow this line, or by the next
branch take the middle or the upper track of the line with 3 tracks, always in the
direction in which it is intended to travel.
The down train B moving in the opposite direction can be similarly directed.
Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11 (Sheet 2) represent a system of platform with 2 or 3
superposed tracks having the advantage of leaving an open space in the side
girders at the height of the windows of the carriages and thus permitting
travellers to see more clearly the scenery or neighbourhood through which the
line passes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
.
1. The construction of an elevated railway with lines arranged one above
another, communicating with one another, either by means of an elevator or lift,
or by means of inclined and curved lines, substantially as described and shown.
2. The construction of an elevated railway with lines arranged one above
another, provided with one rail only, substantially as described and shown.
3. The construction of an elevated railway with lines arranged one above
another, carried by single strong columns or turrets, or by four lesser columns
connected together by arches, substantially as described and shown.
Da
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