CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF ATMOSPHERIC PROPULSION UPON RAIL- WAYS
Year: 1853

page_text: of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF ATMOSPHERIC PROPULSION UPON RAIL-
WAYS."
Sealed the 8th September 1853, and dated the 16th March 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Malins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th March 1853.
I, WILLIAM MALINS, of Savile Row, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF ATMOSPHERIC PROPULSION
UPON RAILWAYS," (that is to say):
My Improvements are particularly calculated for those atmospheric
railways upon which numerous stations and frequent stoppages of trains
are required, and I therein especially contemplate the occasion which
exists for many such atmospheric railways in the metropolis, because it
is desirable that all the railway termini or terminuses should be con-
nected with each other, and with the Post Office, by railways passing
through tunnels or underground passages, and that these passages

page_text: should not be continually traversed by locomotive engines, which would
produce in them an offensive and noxious accumulation of smoke and
similar matters. Hitherto, in the working of the atmospheric system,
the stopping of a train has been accompanied with or occasioned the
destruction of a great amount of vacuum, which must be reproduced,
with much expense of time and fuel, before the railway can be again
worked. It is the object of my present Invention to diminish the
amount of vacuum destroyed by the stoppage of a train, and to repro-
duce it expeditiously, by dispersing the air which has entered it through
an adjacent vacuum. To effect this purpose, I cause the ordinary
traction tube of the atmospheric railway to be divided into lengths
corresponding with the stations, and each length to be separated from
the next by an air-tight partition; and I cause each length to be con-
nected with an exhaustion or vacuum tube (laid parallel to the traction
tube along the whole line,) by a pipe fitted with a stop-cock or valve,
which stop-cock or valve is connected with suitable apparatus, to be
turned or acted on by the driver or attendant in charge. The action of
this apparatus is as follows:-The exhaustion or vacuum tube is kept by
a pumping engine, or by pump engines, at convenient distances, in the
required state of exhaustion. When the train is to be started, a com-
munication is to be made at the station in advance of that from which
it is to start with the vacuum tube, and so on, from station to station,
throughout the entire distance to be traversed. When a train has
arrived at any station, that length of the traction tube which it has
traversed will have become filled with air, and so on, from station to
station, throughout the entire length of tube or distance traversed.
Thus, the pipe communicating with the exhaustion tube is opened at the
successivo stations, and a partial vacuum being constantly maintained
in the exhaustion tube by the fixed engine, each successive length of
the traction tube is exhausted by being placed in communication there-
with, and becomes adapted to draw any number of trains in succession
over the same ground.
What I claim as now, and of my Invention in atmospheric propulsion,
is the division of the traction tube of atmospheric railways into lengths,
separated by air-tight partitions, such lengths being brought into com-

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Malins, in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 16th September 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM MALINS, of Savile Row, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Malins, Her special licence
that I, the said William Malins, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Malins, 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF ATMOSPHERIC PROPULSION UPON
RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Malins, 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 same 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 William Malins, 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
following statement, that is to say:
My improvements are particularly calculated for those atmospberic
railways upon which numerous stations and frequent stoppages of

page_text: trains are required, and I therein especially contemplate the occasion
which exists for many such atmospheric railways in the metropolis
and other places, because it is desirable that all the railway termini
or terminuses should be connected with each other, and with the Post
Office, by railways passing through arcades, tunnels, or underground
passages, and that these passages should not be continually traversed
by locomotive engines, which would produce in them an offensive
accumulation of steam, smoke, and other similar exhalations or
matters. Hitherto, in the working of the atmospheric system, the
stopping of a train has been accompanied with or occasioned the
destruction of a great amount of vacuum, which must be reproduced,
with much expense of time and fuel, before the railway carriages can
again be worked or propelled forwards. It is, then, the object of my
present Invention to diminish the amount of vacuum destroyed by the
stoppage of a train, and to reproduce it expeditiously by dispersing the
air which has entered for the purpose of propulsion, or by unavoidable
leakage, through an adjacent vacuum in a continuous parallel pipe of
greater capacity than the traction tube from which it will be drawn by
the air pumps of the steam engine or engines. To effect this purpose,
I cause the ordinary traction tube of the atmospheric railway to be
divided into lengths corresponding with the stations, and each length
to be separated from the next by an air-tight moveable partition or
valve; and I cause each length to be connected with an exhaustion
or vacuum tube, laid parallel to the traction tube along the whole line,
by a pipe fitted with a stop-cock or valve, which stop-cock or valve is
connected with suitable apparatus, to be turned or acted upon by the
driver or attendant in charge, or by the wheels of the train in passing.
The action of this apparatus is as follows: the exhaustion or vacuum
tube is kept by one or more pumping engines, placed at convenient
distances, in the required state of exhaustion. (When the propulsion
is required backwards as well as forwards I cause the communication
with the vacuum pipe by means of the valves to be made at or near
each end of the working tube of the distance to be traversed from
station to station, so that, the air being admitted behind the piston
from either end, the train will be propelled in the opposite direction.)

page_text: When the train is to be started, a communication is to be opened at,
or at a suitable distance in advance of that station or place from which
the train is to start, with the vacuum tube. When a sufficient exhaustion
is thereby obtained, the train will be propelled forward by the air
admitted by raising the valve behind the piston; and this being repeated
from station to station throughout, the train will stop or move on again
as required, with very little loss of time, at any required velocity, accord-
ing to the power exerted by the fixed air-pumps and steam-engines
through the entire distance to be traversed.
When a train has arrived at any station, that length of the traction
tube which it has traversed will have become filled with air, and so on,
from station to station, throughout the entire length of tube or distance
traversed; but the communication with the exhaustion tube will be closed
as the train passes the stop-cock by self-acting levers, or by the man in
attendance. Thus the pipe communicating with the exhaustion tube is
opened at the successive stations, and closed at the proper places; and a
partial vacuum being constantly maintained in the exhaustion tube by the
fixed engine, each successive length of the traction tube is exhausted by
being placed in communication therewith, and becomes adapted to draw
any or a great number of trains over the same ground.
But in order that these my said improvements may be more easily
understood and readily carried into effect, I proceed to describe the
accompanying drawings, reference being had to the letters and figures
thereon marked; that is to say :-Fig. 1, of the accompanying drawings
represents a longitudinal section through an arcade or tunnel, in which
a top or plan view of my improved atmospheric railway is shown; and
Fig. 2, a corresponding view, showing modifications thereof. In each
Figure the same letters of reference denote similar corresponding parts.
A, A, arcade or tunnel wall; B, B, house for steam-engine, air-pumps,
and boilers; C, C, exhausting or vacuum pipe, connected with the air-
pumps; D, D, connecting pipes from one series of exhausting tubes to
another; E, E, traction tubes, with longitudinal valves on tops, as at
present in use; F, F, connecting pipe from traction tube to exhausting
pipe; G, G, inlet and outlet valves in pipes connecting E, and F; H, I,
partition or valve dividing traction pipe into sections; I, rails; J, station

page_text: platform; K, K, portion of traction tube, which may be removed or
dispensed with, as more clearly shewn in Figure 2; L, L, the traction
pipe, separated into distinct and unconnected lengths, the train having to
pass by its momentum from one to the other; M, M, the bell mouth of
the traction tube, for the entrance of the piston, entering or traversing
from one to the other without striking.
Having now fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
mode or modes in which I prefer to have it carried into effect, I would
have it clearly understood, that I do not by any means confine myself
to the precise details herein-before given, as the same may be varied
without departing from the general principle of my improvements;
but that which I claim as new, and of my said Invention, in the appli-
cation of atmospheric propulsion upon railways, is the division of the
traction tube into lengths, separated by air-tight partition, such lengths
being brought into communication with the exhaustion or vacuum tube
as the carriages travel from station to station.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Malins, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
WILLIAM MALINS. (L.S.)