IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF FACILITATING TRANSIT ON STEEP INCLINES, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND CARRIAGES TO BE USED THEREFOR.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Hunt, of Scarborough, in the County
of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF
FACILITATING TRANSIT ON STEEP INCLINES, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND
CARRIAGES TO BE USED THEREFOR.'
"
Sealed the 11th January 1876, and dated the 11th November 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Hunt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th November 1875..
I, RICHARD HUNT, of Scarborough, in the County of York, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MEANS OF FACILITATING TRANSIT ON STEEP INCLINES, AND IN THE APPARATUS
AND CARRIAGES TO BE USED THEREFOR," to be as follows:-
This Invention, which relates to improvements in the means of
facilitating transit on steep inclines, and in the apparatus and carriages
to be used therefor, has for its especial objects,-
Firstly. The provision of means for conveying passengers, and when
required merchandise or other articles, up-and-down inclines having

page_text: steep gradients, being particularly applicable to effecting the ascent and
descent of seaside cliffs, and of those parts of mountains or other steep
inclines over which, owing solely to their steepness of gradient, it has
hitherto been considered impossible to effect any conveyance of
passengers or goods.
And, Secondly. The effecting such transit or conveyance by or with
the aid of gravity.
In carrying my Invention into practice I first reduce the inequalities
of the incline to a plane surface, or I make a road or carriage way
thereon, and I construct such roadway as a double lined railroad, and
provide it with platforms at the top and bottom, or at any required
intermediate points.
In the most simple application of the Invention, namely, when
required to effect transit between stations at the extremities of a steep
incline, say of one hundred yards or so in length, the further apparatus
would be arranged and worked as follows:-At each extremity of the
incline would be fixed a grooved guide or balance wheel or drum, and
round each such wheel would pass crucial steel ropes connecting two
carriages, each built with an under tank carried by a car framing having
a horizontal top surface and a bottom surface formed to the inclination
of the roadway, and mounted upon suitable flanged travelling wheels,
and with an upper saloon or compartment suitably fitted for the use of
passengers or for the packing of goods. The tank is used to contain
water which is pumped thereinto at the top of the incline to be used as
the gravitating power of the descending carriage, the descent of which
draws the other carriage up the other line of rails on the incline, its
water having previously been let out of its tank, so as to lessen its
resistance in its ascent. For the purposes of supplying and emptying the
tanks; the latter are supplied. with suitable taps or cocks. The carriages
are preferably supplied with end sliding or folding doors.
The above described construction of carriage and the use of water as
the gravitating power form material features of this Invention.
The upper balance wheel is provided with a powerful brake by which
the motion of the carriages can be stopped, or their speed regulated at-
will on any part of the inclinė.
The steel ropes are attached to the carriages by means of draw rods,
which are provided with powerful springs to prevent jerking, and with-

page_text: an arrangement of safety rail clutches to prevent the carriages leaving
the rails, and in the event of accident to grasp the rails and prevent the
running down of the carriages.
For the purpose of still additional security I suspend a strong drop
hook by a loop on a bar attached to the draw rod, so that upon the
sudden recoil of the spring and draw rod in the event of the ropes
breaking, the drop hook will immediately fall and catch in a sleeper and
prevent further motion of the carriages.
Inasmuch as another feature of this Invention consists in the employ-
ment of duplicate traction steel ropes, each of a breaking strain equal to
many times the weight or tension to which in working it will even be
subjected, the above described automatic clutch and hook appliances it
is believed will never be required to act. Nevertheless, under such
especial conditions which require effectual and instant means of control
in the event of accident such safety contrivances are very desirable, and
the provision of the above auxiliary controlling and safety appliances is
most useful, as in this construction and description of carriage it will
be seen that no description of breaks acting upon the wheels would be of
the slightest service, and that the safety appliances must be of such a
kind as automatically to clutch the rails, sleepers, or other fixed parts of
the permanent way immediately upon accident occurring before the
carriage has been enabled to commence any downward movement.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Hunt in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th May 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
HUNT, of Scarborough, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand, eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Richard Hunt, Her
special licence that I, the said Richard Hunt, my executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Hunt, 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF FACILITATING TRANSIT ON STEEP INCLINES, AND IN
THE APPARATUS AND CARRIAGES TO BE USED THEREFOR," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Richard Hunt, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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 Richard Hunt, 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 in writing, and on reference being had to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, that is to say:-
This Invention which relates to improvements in the means of
facilitating transit on steep inclines, and in the apparatus' and carriages
to be used therefor, has for its especial objects,--
Firstly. The provision of means for conveying passengers, and when
required merchandise or other articles, up-and-down inclines having
steep gradients, being particularly applicable to or in effecting the
ascent and descent of seaside cliffs on the same or opposite sides of
hills, and of those parts of mountains or of other steep inclines over
which, owing solely to their steepness of gradient, it has hitherto been
considered practically impossible to effect any conveyance of passengers
or goods.
And, Secondly. The effecting such transit or conveyance by or with
the aid of gravity.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention, I will now
proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which I carry the same
into practice, and in order that the Invention may be completely under-
stood, I have annexed hereunto one sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof,

page_text: and have marked the same with figures of reference corresponding with
those in the following explanation thereof, that is to say :-
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, Figure 1 represents a plan
view, and Figure 2 a side elevation; Figures 3 to 7 are detailed views
and will be herein-after more particularly referred to.
In carrying my Invention into practice I first reduce the inequalities
of the incline to a plane surface, and construct it as a double lined
railroad or carriage way 1 (see Figures 1 and 2), and I provide it with
suitable platforms 2 at the top and bottom, or at any required inter-
mediate points.
In the most simple application of the Invention, namely, when
required to effect transit between stations at the extremities of a single
steep incline, say of 100 yards or so in length, the further apparatus is
arranged and worked as follows, and as illustrated on the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings:-At each extremity of the incline 1 I imbed
or secure a suitable foundation plate 3 for carrying a double grooved
guide or balance wheel or drum 4, and round each such wheel 4 I pass
crucial steel ropes 5 connecting two carriages 6, cach built with an
under tank 7 carried by a car framing 8 having a horizontal top surface
and a bottom surface formed to the inclination of the roadway 1, and
mounted upon suitable flanged travelling wheels 9, and with an upper
saloon or compartment 10 suitably fitted for the use of passengers or for
the packing of goods. The tanks 7 are used to contain water which is
pumped or let thereinto from a reservoir 11 at the top station or
platform 2 of the incline to be used as the gravitating power of the
descending carriage, the descent of which draws by means of the said
ropes 5 the other carriage up the other line of rails on the incline, the
water from the tank of which latter carriage is previously let out into a
reservoir 12 at the lowest or last station or platform 2, so as to lessen its
resistance in ascending. For the purposes of supplying and emptying
the tanks 7 they are provided with suitable taps, cocks, or connections
13, which may be attached to connections 14 with which the reservoirs
11 and 12 are provided.
The reservoir 11 may be replenished from the reservoir 12 by suitable
pumping machinery, actuated by an engine placed at the lower or any
intermediate station. The carriages are also supplied with end doors,
the front with a sliding door 15, and the back with a folding door 16,

page_text: These doors can only be opened from the outside by the guard, see
Figures 3 and 4.
The above described construction of carriage and the use of the sea or
other water as the gravitating power form material features of this
Invention.
The upper balance wheel 4 is provided with a powerful brake strap or
other brake arrangement of ordinary construction (not illustrated on the
accompanying Drawings), by which the motion of the carriages 6 can
be stopped, or their speed regulated at will on any part of the incline 1.
The ropes 5 passing round the upper guide wheel 4 are attached to
the carriages by means of draw rods 17 (carried by stay bars 26 affixed
to the car framing 8), which are provided with powerful springs 18 to
prevent jerking, and with an arrangement of safety rail clutches 19 (see
Figures 5 and 6, plan views) to prevent the carriages leaving the rails,
and in the event of accident to grasp the rails and prevent the running
down of the carriages, but also so placed as at other times to allow the
carriages to run up and down freely. This safety rail clutch consists of
the conc 23 fast on the draw rod 17, the clutch bars 19, and the levers
24, centred at 25. Figures 5 and 6 shew the action of this arrange-
ment; Figure 5. shewing the rail clutches open, and Figure 6 showing
them closed.
For the purpose of still additional security I suspend a strong drop
hook 20, see Figure 7, by a loop 21 on a bar 22 carried by the draw rod
17, so that upon the sudden recoil of the springs 18 and draw rod 17 in
the event of the ropes 5 breaking, the drop hook 20 would immediately
fall and catch in a sleeper of the roadway and prevent further motion of
the carriages. The action of the rail clutches is instantaneous, that of
the drop hook immediately follows.
Inasmuch as another feature of this Invention consists in the employ-
ment of duplicate traction steel ropes 5, each of a breaking strain cqual to
many times the weight or tension to which in working it will ever be
subjected, the above described automatic clutch and hook appliances it
is believed may never be required to act. Nevertheless, under such
special conditions which require effectual and instant means of control
in the event of accident, such safety contrivances are very desirable, and
the provision of the above auxiliary controlling and safety appliances is
most useful, as in this construction and description of carriage it will be

page_text: seen that no description of brakes acting upon the wheels would be of
the slightest service, and that the safety appliances must be of such a
kind as to automatically clutch the rails, sleepers, or other fast or fixed
parts of the permanent way immediately upon accident occurring,.
before the carriages have been enabled to commence any downward
movement.
These carriages may be similarly worked on inclined ways on opposite
sides of hills, a station and platform being provided at the apex, top, or
meeting of the inclines, so that the passengers or goods may be trans-
ferred from the ascended carriage on the one incline to the carriage
about to descend on the other incline.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature and
objects of my said Invention, together with the manner in which I carry
the same into practice, I would remark in conclusion that I claim as
my Invention, the above described improvements in the means of
facilitating transit on steep inclines, and the application of the same to
the purposes specified, substantially as described and as illustrated on the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings; and especially I claim the abovo
described construction of carriage, and the use of sea or other water as
the gravitating power, and the use therewith for the purposes of safety.
of the said duplicate traction steel ropes. And the arrangement and
combination therewith of the above described auxiliary automatic
controlling and safety appliances and their method of acting, all sub-
stantially as described and as illustrated on the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Hunt, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Witness,
BRISTOW HUNT,
Solicitor and Patent Agent,
5, Serlc Street,
Lincoln's Inn.
R. HUNT. (L.S.)