Improvements in Locking or Controlling Railway Switches and Signals.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 31st May, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 23th Feb., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 6th Apr., 1889
Improvements in Locking or Controlling Railway Switches and
Signals.
JESSE DRAGE, Ash Cottage, Eastleigh near Southampton, Civil Engineer, EDGAR
WILLIAM VERRINDER, Holly Lodge, St. John's Hill, New Wandsworth, S.W. Traffic
Superintendent, JAMES PHILIP ANNETT, The Elms, Eastleigh, near Southampton,
Signal Superintendent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
Our improvements in locking or controlling Railway Switches consists of apparatus
which take it out of the power of the signalman to alter any part of the route set for
a traffic movement until the said traffic movement has been completed irrespective of
the number of switches to be past over or whether they be provided with locking bars
or not.
It prevents the signalman after having once given a signal or set of signals for a
train to start from one bay altering them before it starts and giving a different
set.
It dispenses with multiplicity of signals and the necessity for safety bars, rear bars,
and bars at the facing points. It can also be worked in connection with audible
or fog signals.
When the necessary sets of switches and signals have been set, and all conflicting
switches signals &c. are locked, it requires the concurrent action of the engine driver
and signalman to alter the switches &c., to do this the engine driver must perform the
movement that was intended by passing his engine or train over a certain place in
advance of the switches which takes off the automatic back lock that has been put
upon the switches or sets of switches, so that our invention really forms a link as it
were between the engine driver and the signalman, preventing the shifting of the road-
and splitting up of the train as the train must have passed clear over all the switches
either trailing or facing before any of them can be shifted or unbolted no matter
what number there may be as the road when once set is automatically back locked

page_text: and the levers appertaining to that road are held in that position and the signalman
powerless to shift them until the train has reached a point in advance where it is clear
of the switches although the signalınan is free at all times to replace the signal
to danger.
Our invention consists as follows we provide an apparatus in advance of the switches
to be worked either by a point, facing point lock, or other lever but preferably by
a separate lever which lever we will call a route lock lever, when worked by a separate
lever we make this route- lock lever to precede or release the signal lever and this
route lock lever to be released by the point and all necessary levers in the ordinary
manner in the locking apparatus in the signal cabin so that although the signal lever
when pulled over is always free to be replaced to danger without the route lock lever
being replaced yet the switch and other levers cannot be replaced or altered until
the route lock lever has first been replaced to its normal position, this the signalman is
powerless to do until the train has arrived at the point in advance of the switches
when the wheel or some part of the engine or the weight of the engine has caused the
automatic back lock that is put on the route lock lever when it is pulled over to be
taken off, thus enabling the signalman to replace the route lock lever and so free
the switch and other levers in their turn of the back lock on them.
One method of carrying out our invention the apparatus at the point in advance
of the switches consists of a fixed frame or support with suitable rollers or guides
for two blades or bars to work in and across each other one working horizontally
and the other vertically the latter having a projecting part with a bevel pawl attached
to its upper ond and a joint at its lower end which joint is attached to a treadle or its
equivalent either by a cross-bar--or any suitable connection, and is actuated when in
one position by passing trains, the other or horizontal blade having a notched or
narrow part is actuated or moved from the signal cabin by the route lock lever or
other lever as required, the rod connection from the route lock lever in the signal
cabin. on its way to the horizontal blade bolt locks each tongue of the switches or
_sets of switches and actuates a locking bar placed near the treadle thus ensuring that
the entire train must pass over the treadle or its equivalent before the route lock
lever can be replaced to its normal position. The normal position being that the
treadle or its equivalent is not actuated by passing trains as the projection on the
upright or vertical blade is resting on the wide portion of the horizontal blade so
keeping the treadle or its equivalent free from action by passing trains, the horizontal
blade is free to be moved by the route lock lever (the necessary switches &c. having
heen first set) in so moving, the horizontal blade draws its wide part from under the
projection on vertical blade until the narrow or notched part of the horizontal blado
comes directly under the projection on the vertical blade when the vertical blade falls,
its projection dropping into the notch or narrow part of the horizontal blade and
also rasing the treadle so that it can be actuated by passing trains, the projection on
the vertical blade now being in the notch of the horizontal blade prevents the
horizontal blade from being returned to its normal position by the signalman,
this automatic back lock can only be taken off by the engine driver taking his
train over the treadle or its equivalent which causes the vertical blade to raise its
projection out of and above the notch in the horizontal blade when the aforesaid bevel
pawl in the upper end of the vertical blade is pushed out by a fixed projection on the
frame or support so that its lower end rests on the notched or narrow part of the
horizontal blade, holding the projecting part that formed the back lock up above the
level of the wide part of the horizontal blade and so freeing the route lock lever that
it may be replaced to its normal position as the wide part of the horizontal blade in
being replaced strikes the bevel on the pawl pushing that back and setting the apparatus
normal again with the projection of the vertical blade resting on the wide part of the
horizontal blade and the treadle or its equivalent free of action of passing trains, one
movement only taking place on the treadle by the train passing over and not a succession
of movements.
To ensure that the treadle or its equivalent is set right to be actuated by passing.
trains we attach to the fixed frame a weighted quadrant lever fitted with a pawl at its

page_text: lower end and working across the cross bar so that unless the treadle is up the pawl
prevents the quadrant lever from being moved, this quadrant lover or its equivalent
is actuated by the wire or rod working the signal which wire also detects the position
of both tongues of the switches as well as detecting the position of the route lock
apparatus.
JESSE DRAGE.
EDGAR WILLIAM VERRINDER.
JAMES PHILIP ANNETT.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
°
Improvements in Locking or Controlling Railway Switches and
Signals.
We JESSE DRAGE, Ash Cottage, Eastleigh, near Southampton, Civil Engineer,
EDGAR WILLIAM VERRINDER, Holly Lodge, St. John's Hill, New Wandsworth, S.W.,
Traffic Superintendent, and JAMES PHILIP ANNETT, The Elus, Eastleigh, near
Southampton, Signal Superintendent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention.
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The object of our invention is to take it out of the power of the signal-man to
alter any part of the route, when once set for a traffic movement, until the said traffic
movement has been completed, irrespective of the number of switches to be passed
over, or whether they be provided with locking bars or not. Also to dispense with
multiplicity of signals, and the necessity for safety bars, rear bars, and bars at the
facing points, as heretofore,
Our invention consists in apparatus placed in advance of the switches to be worked,
either by a point, facing point, lock, or other lever, but preferably by a separate lever,
which lever we will call a route lock lever, by which the switches and signals may
be locked until the train has passed.
When the necessary sets of switches and signals have been set, and all conflicting
switches and signals are thus locked, it requires the concurrent action of the engine
driver and signalman to alter the parts. To do this, the engine driver must perform
the movement that was intended, by passing his engine or train over a certain place
in advance of the switches, which will take off automatically the back lock that has.
been put upon the switches or sets of switches. Thus, our invention forms a link, as

page_text: it were, between the engine driver and the signal-man, preventing the shifting of the
road by the latter while the train is passing over, and the consequent splitting up of
the train, as the entire train must have passed clear of all the switches (either trailing
or facing) before any of them can be shifted or unbolted, no matter what number there
may be. The road, when once set, is automatically back-locked, and the levers apper-
taining to that road are held in the locked position, and the signalman is powerless
to shift them until the train has passed, although he is froe at all times to replace the
signal to "danger."
The apparatus consists of a route lock, a signal lock, point lock mechanism, and a
locking bar arrangement. We will first describe the route lock mechanism, which
consists of a fixed frame or support, with suitable guides, in which work two notched
bolts or bars at right angles to one another, one horizontally, and the other vertically,
but in the same plane. The vertical bar has a bevel pawl attached to its upper end, and
to its lower end is connected a treadle lever or equivalent arrangement, which is
actuated, when set in position, by a passing train. The horizontal bar is actuated
from the signal cabin by the route lock or other lever, the rod connection from which
may lock each tongue of the switches or sets of switches, and actuate a locking bar
placed near the treadle, thus ensuring that the entire train must pass over the treadle
before the route lock lever can be replaced to its normal position. The normal position
of the treadle is down, as the vertical bar is resting on the top of the horizontal bar,
and the treadle is thus free from action by passing trains. The horizontal bar is thus
free to be moved longitudinally by the route lock lever (the necessary switches &c.,
having been first set), and in so moving, presents its notched part to the vertical bar,
which drops into the notch, and raises the treadle into-the-position to be actuated by
passing trains. The vertical bar now being in the notch of the horizontal bar,
prevents the latter from being returned to its normal position by the signalman. This
automatic back lock can only be taken off by the engine driver taking his train over
the treadle, which raises the vertical bar, in which position it is held by the bevel pawl
-until the horizontal bar-is-again-set, by means of the route lock lever, one movement
only of the treadle lever taking place as the train passes over, and not a succession of
movements.
To ensure that the treadle is set right to be actuated by passing trains, we provide a
weighted quadrant lever fitted with a pawl at its lower end, which is arranged to
catch against the treadle lover, or its equivalent, when it is not set, so that the
quadrant lever cannot move, neither can the dangor signal with which tho quadrant
lever is connected, be pulled off.-The signal wire or rod works in connection with a
bar which locks both tongues of the switches in position, so that by means of the
signal wire or rod, the signalman can detect the position of the switches as well as the
position of the route lock apparatus.
In the accompanying drawings:-
Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a railway line, shewing a main line and a branch
line, with our improvements adapted to the main line only, by way of example.
Fig. 2 is a plan view, on an enlarged scale, of our routé lock and signal lock
apparatus in position.
Fig. 3 is an end elevation, and
Fig. 4 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the same, as it would be seen on the
line, Fig. 2.
Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views of the vertical bar in two positions.
Figs. 7 and 8 show in side elevation, partly in section, and in two positions, the
signal locking arrangement.
Fig. 9, Sheet I, shows, in perspective view, a single treadle lever arrangement.
Figs. 10 and 11 show, in plain and sectional elevation, an arrangement of point-
locking mechanism.
A A are the main line rails, and B B the branch line rails, A' and B' being the
respective points or switches. C is the rod connecting the point bar with the
point lever. D is the signal wire or rod in connection with the signal lever, and E
is th route lock rod connected with the route lock lever. Neither of these levers
•

page_text: are shown in the drawings, but we may find it convenient to refer to them by name,
in which case we shall use the letters CDE for convenience. F is a locking
bar, the construction and operation of which is now well known, and G generally
represents the route locking apparatus.
To each of the points A B is connected a rod, A2 B2, provided at its outer end
with a notched plate A B³. These plates work longitudinally of, and in a box or
casing arranged across the path of the rods D, E, which, where they traverse the box,
consist of notched plates D, E, and work in the notches A³ B³, and vice versa.
When the notches A³ B3 coincide, the plates D' E' will slide across them, but if,
from any cause (the breaking of the rod C, for example), the points A' B¹ are not
moved simultaneously, an obstruction will be offered to the movement of the rods DE,
and the parts connected therewith, as will be well understood, and thus a fault at the
points will be detected by the signalman.
The route-lock apparatus consists of a plate or frame G, set on edge, and secured,
near the rails, in any convenient manner to two sleepers. In this frame G are fixed
stud pins a, on which guide rollers bare mounted.
e is a flat metal bar or bolt, which works vertically between four of the guido rollers b.
This bolt is slotted longitudinally at its upper end, to receive a pawl c', the face of
which is bevelled off towards the left side. The bolt carries at its lower part a pin c²,
and at about the centre of its length is notched or recessed transversely. The pin c
projects on both sides the bolt, and at the rear also, through a slot made in the frame
or plate G.
d is another flat bar or bolt, which works horizontally in the recess of the bolt c,
and between four other guide rollers of the frame G. This bolt d, which is
connected to the route lock lever E, has a notch dat its upper edge, and a slot 2
to receive a stop pin by which the travel of the bolt in either direction is
regulated.
Upon the pin c, and in front of the bolt c, is mounted a beam f, the outer ends
of which are pivotted to arms g of rock shafts g', to which are also connected
arms 2. The arms g2 lie alongside the rails, one outside each rail, and form the
treadles or depressing levers, which are operated by the wheels of the engine or
train passing over them..
At the back of the plate or frame G is pivotted a counterweighted bell crank or
quadrant H, to which the signal lever D is connected. This bell crank carries a
pawl H, which, under certain conditions, comes into contact with the pin c*, and
cannot therefore be pulled over. This last named combination of parts constitutes
a signal lock, which will be seen more clearly in Figs. 7 and 8.
The normal position of the route lock and signal lock is shown at Figs. 4 and 7,
that is to say, the bolt c is raised, and supported on the edge of the bolt d, which is
pushed to the right; the pin is in the path of the pawl H, and the treadles g
are depressed. In this position it is impossible to pull off the signal, so that a train
cannot go forward until the attention of the signalman and pointsman has been called
to the state of the road.
In setting the apparatus, the signalman first sets the points according to the road
it is desired the train should take (say, the main line, see Fig. 1), and the next pulls
over his route lock lever E. This causes the plate E to enter the notches A³ B³,
and locks the points, and at the same time frees the signal. The action of the route
lock apparatus is as follows, viz. :-In pulling over the route lock lever E, the bar d
is drawn to the left, and the notch d' is brought opposite the bolt c, which drops
into the notch (see Fig. 5), thereby locking the route, which cannot be unlocked
except by the train passing over the route. The descent of the bolt c takes the pin c³
out of the path of the signal pawl H, and at the same time, through the parts f, g, g',
raises the treadles above the top of the rail, as seen in Fig. 8. The signal can then
be pulled off, and the train can proceed. -On-its-way, the train depresses the
treadles g, and raises the bolt c, so that the bevelled pawl c¹ catches on the edge of
the bottom of the notch d' (see Fig. 6). This movement of the pawl is ensured by
a pin c³, projecting from the plate G at the back, striking against the back of the

page_text: pawl. The bar d can now be pushed over again to its normal position (Fig. 4),
which movement must take place before the apparatus can be again set. As the bar
moves, the edge of the side of the notch strikes against the bevelled edge of the
pawl c, pushes the pawl back, and allows the bolt c to drop onto the top of the
bar d, and the parts are then in position to be again set.
In Figs. 10 and 11, we show, in plan and sectional elevation, a modification in the
mode of locking the points, combined with an additional signal lock, though the
movement of the signal still depends on the route lock.
The bar E', which forms that part of the route lock rod E, where it passes
through the point lock box, is slotted to receive a lever J, pivotted below the box,
and to which the signal wires or rods D are attached. This bar E¹ has, on its
underside, a projection or feather E, which is intended to work across the notches in
the point lock bars A³ B³.
With the lever J in the position shown, the danger signal is on, and it will be
clear that until the route lock lever E is pulled over, it will be impossible to pull off
the signal.
The lever J may be connected with the signal lever D by a wire, but the connection
between the lever J and the signal will be by a rod D³.
This rigid connection with the signal has two important uses. First, it ensures
the raising of the danger signal when the route lock is not set, and secondly, it
prevents the lowering of the signal by hand, under the same circumstances.
For example, a wire may get jammed, and the signal could not rise to "danger,"
so that the road would be signalled "clear," although it would not be locked, and
might not be clear. Again, with a wire it is possible to raise the signal weight, and
give "line clear" when such is not the case, but with a rigid, connection, neither of
thoso difficulties can occur.
When the route lock is pushed over (to the right in the Figure), the lever J must
go with it, and pushing on the rod, the signal must be raised to "danger,"
and so long as the route lock remains in the same position, the signal cannot bo
lowered by hand.
The locking bar F (Fig. 1), which will be of sufficient length to take the longest
wheel base, will be connected to, and work with the route lock rod E, so that it will
be impossible to manipulate the route lock until the train is clear of the locking
bar.
In the single treadle route lock arrangement, Fig. 9, the signal quadrant lock
may be arranged in front of the mechanism G, so that the pawl H' may catch against
the rear end of the treadle lever, when the treadle is depressed.
By means of our invention, it will be seen that with route lock we lock the points,
and lock or unlock the signal, while the route lock is itself locked by the locking bar,
and all is done by the movement of the route lock lever.
A route lock mechanism will be adapted to each line of rails, and the points will
be locked by either one or the other, according to the route to be taken; thus, the
two bars shown in Fig. 10 will apply respectively to the main and branch lines of
Fig. 1.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we would here remark that
we do not intend to confine ourselves to the exact mechanical details above
described, as these may be varied without departing from the nature of our invention,
but what we claim is :-
1. The combination of a point lock, a signal lock, a route lock, and a locking bar,
for the purpose of locking or controlling railway switches and signals as set forth.
2. A route lock mechanism in which the unlocking is effected by means of a
treadle or lever arrangement operated by a train passing over it, as herein
described.
3. The route lock mechanism as herein described and shown with reference, to the
drawings.

page_text: 4. Arranging the signal lock in relation to the route and point locks in such a
manner that the position of the route lock treadle or lever may be ascertained by
pulling the signal wire or rod as described.
5. The arrangements of signal lock as herein described and shown in the
drawings.
6. The use of a locking bar in combination with an automatic lock arranged to
be unlocked by the passing of rolling stock, as herein described.
7. The arrangement of combined point and signal lock as described and shown
with reference to Figs. 10 and 11 of the drawings.