CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING CARRIAGES ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JOHNSON, of Grosvenor Wharf, Milbank, in the City of Westminster,
Gentleman, send greeting
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Ier
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Second day of December, in the tenth year of Her
eign, did, for Heiself, Her heirs and successors, give and giant unto mc,
the said William Johnson, Her especial license, full power, sole puvilege
and authority, that I, the said William Johnson, my exccutois, adminis-
tiators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William Johnson, my
executois, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agice with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years theicin
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, usc, excicise, and vend, within
England, Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark and Man, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROPELLING CARRIAGES ON RAILWAYS;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso obliging me, the said William Johnson, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be molled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and unmediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appeal.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Johnson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had
to the Diawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) -
My Invention of "Certain Improvements in Propelling Carnages on
Railways consists,―
Fustly, in consti ucting the boiler upon a different plan to that usually
adopted in locomotive engines, and mounting the said boiler, together with the
fire box, smoke box, and appurtenances, in a fiame or cradle, which is connected
by swivel Joints to the under carnage, and which latter is divided into two
parts, so as to form two distinct under carnages, that are jointed together at or
near the centre of the boiler, so as to admit of the locomotive going 1ound very
sharp curves with greater facility and less liability of danger than when the
under carriage is constructed in the ordinary mannci, and,
Secondly, my Invention relates to an improved mode of constructing or
mounting the callages that are employed for conveying passengers or mer
chandize
By means of the facilities offered by the before-mentioned improvements, I am
enabled to construct an engine of much greater power than usually employed;
and owing to the additional length I obtain by my improved arrangement, I can
advantageously employ four working cylinders and two pairs of driving wheels
of lange diameter, and can at the same time bring the centre of gravity of the
engine much lower than can be done by the ordinary arrangement of parts.
But in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I have shewn in the
accompanying Diawings various views of the mode whereby I intend to cany
my improvements into effect.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal side elevation of the locomotive engine and carriage
complete; Figue 2 is a longitudinal vertical section, and Figure 8 is a trans-
verse vertical section of the same. It will be seen, by refening to Figures 1
and 2, that the several parts of the locomotive engine and tender are combined
and arranged in such a manner as to be mounted upon one fiaming or callage,
but that the framing or under calage is divided into two parts, and is in fact,
as before mentioned, two distinct framings or carriages A and A but when
Jointed together at a by a vertical pin joint, it constitutes one single fiame or
carnage, which, by being jointed in the middle, allows the fore part to diverge
from a straight line, and permit the locomotive to pass round sharp curves
with fachty when requined Each of these camages on fiamings A and A
is supported by one pau of diving wheels b, b, and two pairs of smaller 1unning 4
,

page_text: wheels c, c, and in order to increase the power of the engine I employ two
pairs of working cylinders and adapt one cylinder to cach driving wheel, as
shewn; or, if thought more desirable, all four cylinders may be made to actuato
either pan of diving wheels. The construction of the boiler will be best
understood by iefening to Figures 2 and 3, fiom which it will be seen that
instead of employing a laigo cylindrical boiler furnished with a great number
of small tubes or flues as usual, I divide my boiler into several paits, and
connect several small cylindrical boilers d, d, d, d, d, d, together, and these
boilers being all furnished with small boiler tubes e, e, e, e, as flues, afford a large
amount of heating surface. The cylindrical boilers d, d, d, communicate
with the water spaces f. ff. f, at the fine-box and smoke-box ends of the
engine; and as the heated air and vapours from the filo pass along the small
tubular flues e, e, e, steam is rapidly generated and ascends from the
cylindrical boilers d, d, d, into the large upper cylinder d', where there is a
steam space, and upon the upper part of which cylinder there is a long steam
chamber and dome, fixed as shown in the Diawing The boiler, fine box, and
smoke box are of course all connected firmly together, and are made sepainte
and distinct from the framing or under carriages, to the latter of which they
are attached by strong swivels on pin Joints g and g, so as to admit of the
caringes and fiaming having a slight motion on these centres, independent of
the boiler, as will be necessary when passing round sharp cuves. And in order
to take off any unequal stiain to which the cylindrical boilers d, d, might be
exposed, the two ends plates of the boiler are held firmly together by means of
a strong wrought-11on 10d m, m, and the boiler and fine box is further sup-
ported and prevented from 1ocking on the pins g and g by means of diagonal
struts or supports, which rest by the lower ends on the top of the framing.
The working or steam cylinders, of which there are two on each side of the
boilci, ale seen at h, h. They aic mounted on and firmly secured to the side
fiaming, as seen best in the elevation Figure 1; and as one of the cylinders
is attached to the front carriage or forc part of the framing, and the other
cylinder is mounted on the hinder carriage or after part of the fiaming, it is
absolutely necessary that their connection with the boiler, or with each other,
should be of such a nature as will yield to the independent motion of the
several parts. I therefore conduct the steam from the dome or steam chamber
d though a pipe i into a steam chest or branch pipe 3, which is common
to both cylinders, and is therefore placed about midway between them. This
steam chest or branch pipe is provided with a sphenical joint at each end, and
short supply pipes k, k, furnished with stuffing boxes, conduct the steam to the
cylinders The slides the valve box I, I, are worked by means of 10ds or

page_text: levels in a similar way to that usually adopted, and therefore do not requie
any detailed description or further explanation. The water tank n, n, is placed
on the fore part of the front carriage, and the water is conveyed therefrom
into the smoke-box end of the boiler through a pipe o, which is either flexible
oi furnished with a spigot joint to allow of its yielding to the curvature of the
road. Instead of the ordinary mode of pumping water from the tank into the
boiler by means of the steam cylinders h, h, I make use of an additional
cylinder oi cylinders for the purpose of pumping water into the boiler, whether
the locomotive is stationary or other wise By thus employing an independant
cylinder or cylinders for supplying the boiler with water, I am enabled to
dispense with a great deal of the gearing usually employed for this purpose,
besides obviating the friction and loss of power incidental to the ordinary plan.
The pumping cylinders may be placed in any convenient position; but as the
water tank is situated at the front part of the engine, I prefer to supply the
boiler by a pipe communicating with the water space in the smoke box, as scen
in the sectional view at p, Figure 2, and to place the pumping apparatus in,
near, or attached to the smoko box But as the water tank and the boiler,
with its appendages, are not connected igidly together, the pipe that com-
municates from the tank to the pumping apparatus must be flexible, or
provided with a spigot jomt, so as to allow it to yield to the independent
motion of the boiler. The receptacle for the coke or fuel is placed at the
back part of the hinder framing, as shown at q, and therefore forms part of the
locomotive, and by its weight, when full of coke, causes the dining wheels of
the hmider framing to impinge or bite inore firmly on the rails. The mode of
conducting the waste or exit steam from the working cylmiders into the funnel
oi chimney, so as to excite the blast, does not materially differ in principle from
the plans usually employed; it will not, therefore, be necessary to give any
detailed explanation the cof further than to remark that as the cylinders are
connected to the framing, the pipes that conduct the waste steam from them
to the funnel must either be flexible or finished with spigot joints, in order
to admit of their yielding to the independent motions of these parts It will
be seen, from what has been said above, that one of the principal advantages
of my improved mode of constructing the fiaming or under callage of
locomotive engines in two parts, and connecting them together by swivels or
vortical pm Joints, is the facility with which I can travel along sharp curves at
high speeds without dangci And as it is of importance that the caniages
which are connected with or attached to the locomotive should possess the
same facilities and advantages, I mount the cannages (whether intended for
passengers, merchandize, or other wise) on platforms or fiamings, constructed

page_text: very much in the same manner as the two fiamings or under carriages of the
locomotive engine just described The caniages usually employed on railways
are of considerable length, and are generally mounted on six wheels, which
being fixed on axles that are parallel to each other, perform their functions
well enough so long as they are running along a straight piece of road, but
immediately that they arrive at a curve, the rigidity of the axles, and the
wheels being fixed fumly thereon, causes the wheels on one side to have a
tendency to ride over and get off the rails. To obviate this and other incon-
veniences, the carriages are placed on and secured to a platform, which is
mounted on two vertical pins or pivots, one at each end thereof, in a somewhat
similar manner to that in which the boiler and its appendages are supported
in Figures 1, 2, and 3. And furthermore I propose to allow the greater part
of the running wheels to revolve ficely on their axlos.
Figure 4, Sheet II, is a longitudinal vertical section of a passenger carriage,
mounted according to my improved plan, Figure 5 is a plan view of the
under faming or platform which supports the body of the carriage, and
Figure 6 is a cross section. b, b, are two large running wheels, and c, c, c, c,
ao two paus of small running wheels which evolve fieely on their axles;
the wheels b, b, and c, c, are connected to the same carriage or fiaming,
which carries a strong vertical pin or stud g at or near each end
theicof There are two of these carriages or framings A and A*, and a
platform or framing r, r, is supported between them by causing its ends to
iest theicon, the two supporting framings or canlages A and A* being con-
nected together by inserting the vertical pins or studs 9, 9*, into sockets or
holes made for that purpose in the platform r, as shown in the Diawing In
ascending or descending inclines the train becomes bent vertically out of a
straight line; and in order to allow the train to suit itself to the undulations
of the road, a horizontal joint is made at s, s. This joint is formed by bolting
01 otherwise firmly securing a strong bar or rod to the under side of each end
of the platform, and allowing the ends of the said bar to project beyond the
platform and take into lugs or sochets in the frame or carriage A or A*, and
thereby form a hinge joint, as seen in the Figuies.
Having now described my Invention, and the best means with which I am
at present acquainted of canying the same into effect, I would observe, in
5 conclusion, that I am aware that the axletice of the driving or running wheels
has, before the date of my present Patent, been made to pass through the
boiler, or through a notch or 1ccess made therein for that purpose; and I am
also aware that additional carriages called "bogy" cannages have sometimes
been employed for sustaining a portion of the weight of locomotive engines.

page_text: I do not therefore intend to clann such plans or mangements as constituting
any part of my Invention, noi do I intend to confine myself rigidly to tho
precise auangement or construction of parts herein set forth, as they may
doubtless be varied without departing from the nature and object of my
improvements. But what I consider to be new, and therefore wish to claim as
the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is,-
Fust, the general construction and arrangement of the sevcial parts of
locomotive engines herein shown and described, or any modification thereof,
whereby I am enabled to build engines of great power, strength, durability,
and safety in travelling.
Second, constructing the boilers of locomotive engines of sevcial small
cylindrical or other suitably shaped boilers containing small tubulai flucs, by
means of which aangement or construction of parts I am enabled to bing
the centre of gravity of the whole engine much nearer the ground than by
the plans usually adopted, and at the same time I obtain a gicat amount of
heating surface and a more free and perfect circulation.
Thud, I claim mounting the boiler, fire box, smoke box, and then appen-
dages, on pins or joints in such a manner as to admit of the carnage or engine
passing round curves of small radius without the usk of deranging or straining
any parts of the boiler or its appendages.
Fourth, I claim the adaptation or employment of two distinct pans of
working cylinders connected to two separate and distinct pans of diving
wheels, and mounted on the framing of the swivel camages, or the adaptation
of all four cylinders to either pair of driving wheels.
Fifth, I claim mounting the whole locomotive, substantially in the manner
heem shewn and described, upon two swivel catages Jointed together at or
near the centic of the boiler, whereby the locomotive may, without danger, bo
made to pass 1ound sharp curves at high speed.
Sixth, I claim constructing the under carriage or fiaming of the carriage
for conveying passengers or merchandize, substantially in the manner heicin
shewn and described, whereby the said camages may be made to traverse
curves on railways with greater facility than those now in use.
In witness when cof, I, the said William Johnson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of Junc, in the year of our Loid
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
WILLIAM (LS) JOHNSON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Second day of June,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Johnson came before
our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above witten
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided
Inrolled the same Second day of