IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS. AND IN SPIKES FOR SECURING THE RAILS IN POSITION
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
RAILWAYS. AND IN SPIKES FOR SECURING THE RAILS IN POSITION."-A com-
munication from abroad by John McMurtry, of Lexington, in the State
of Kentucky, United States of America.
Sealed the 13th February 1866, and dated the 24th November 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the.,
24th November 1865.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
RAILWAYS, AND IN SPIKES POR SECURING THE RAILS IN POSITION," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to improvements in chairs for receiving rails
of the ordinary construction. The chairs may be made of rolled iron or steel
[Price 8d.1

page_text: or cast iron or steel. In one form the chair is made in two parts, which clip
the rail and are secured together by screw bolts passed through the chair and
rail and rivetted at the screwed end. One half of the chair is made stronger
than the other, and it is carried up to a level with the rail for the purpose of
sustaining the passing wheels; each half of the chair is provided at the base
with a vertical flange, and these flanges coming together are let into a groove
cut into the cross ties or sleepers which support the chair. The chair is made
sufficiently long to bear upon two cross ties, and the upper edge of the stronger
half of the chair is rounded off at the ends to prevent the carriage wheels
striking the chair. This chair serves to support the ends of the rails so
effectually as to prevent the excessive wear usual at their junction. Inplace of
dividing the chair into two parts as described it may be made with one jaw, a
counter part iu form of the side of the rail, and a base suitably shaped to form
a bottom bearing for the rail, and an ordinary fish joint may be applied to the
other side of the rail and secured by screw bolts passing through the rail and
chair and rivetted at the end. after the application of the nut to the bolt.
When forming the chair of cast iron with a wheel tread or raised surface the
tread surface should be chilled to harden it, and thus enable it the better to
resist wear and tear.
In order to produce what may be termed a continuous rail, a rail with a
single head and without an expanding base is rolled with longitudinal grooves
under the shoulders to receive the rounded edges of the jaws of the chair.
In this instance, as in the form of chair first described, the chair is made in
two parts, with flanges for entering a cross cut in the cross ties. The two
halves of the chair are counterparts of each other, and screw bolts pass through
the jaws of the chair and the rail to secure the whole together. The lengths
of rail are arranged relatively to the lengths of chair so as to break joint the
one with the other, the chairs being continuous (like the rail) throughout the
track. The continuous rail is therefore really a compound rail consisting of
three members.
As an improvement in spikes for securing the chairs to the sleepers or
cross ties the pointed ends are barbed so that they shall take a firm hold in
the timber into which they are driven. When barbed only on the inner face
the spike will curl outwards in the wood and take a very firm hold therein.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give aud grant unto me,
the said Alfred
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence 'that
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others'
as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS, AND IN SPIKES POR SECURING
THE RAILS IN POSITION," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others), that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be perforined, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates, first, to improvements in the construction of the rails
of railways, secondly, to improvements in the construction of chairs for securing
the ends of the rails now in use; and, thirdly, to improvements in the spikes
for securing the rails in position. The improved rail consists of a compound
or continuous rail, having a fixed or permanent base and removable head.
Of this rail two arrangements are shown in the accompanying Drawing; the
first consists of three parts or members; the two outer members are alike in
shape but reversed in position, and form together a divided base between

page_text: which the middle member is firmly held. The divided base may likewise be
described as a continuous chair for the middle member, no other chair being
needed or used with this form of rail; the middle member forms the head of
the rail. The three parts or members are adjusted to each other so as to
break joints alternately, there being a joint in only one of the three members
at any one place, the joints occurring in the several members successively at
intervals of one-third the length of a rail, and each joint coming over a sleeper
or cross tie; and the parts are firmly bolted or rivetted together. The rail
could be made without this exact uniformity of distance between the joints,
but it is preferable and should only be varied from where part only of a rail
is needed or for some other good reason. The middle member which forms
the head of the rail sustains the wear of the carriage wheels. It may be
removed when worn out and replaced by a new one, while the outer members
will remain unworn and capable of lasting a great length of time. To increase
the capacity of the middle member for sustaining wear it may be made of
steel or extra hard iron, while the outer members are made of ordinary railway
iron, or the entire rail may be made of the same quality of iron or steel. At the
under side of the divided base where the two outer members come together
there is a hanging rib or flange to each of the outer members extending its
whole length, the two forming a continuous double rib underneath the rail
throughout its entire extent. This rib is fitted into recesses or grooves cut
across the sleepers, the grooves for the two rails of the track being at such
distance apart as to give its exact gauge. The double rib thus fitted into the
grooves in the sleepers increases the steadiness of the rail and effectually pre-
vents any lateral motion therein; it also stiffens the rail or adds to its strength
more than the like quantity of metal arranged in any other form.
The second arrangement of the improved rail is composed of only two parts
or members, the base, which is in one piece, and the cap or head, which is
fitted to it, and the two bolted or rivetted together. The joints are broken in
the members alternately at the distance of one-half the length of a rail apart.
The base is made without the hanging rib and beds upon the face of the
sleepers. The cap or head may be made of steel or extra hard iron, while the
base is of ordinary railway iron, or the entire rail may be made of the same
quality of iron or steel. By the mode of construction thus adopted a con-
tinuous rail is secured of great smoothness and steadiness of bearing, and of
nearly equal strength in all its parts, the worn part of which may be removed
and replaced while the remainder of the rail continues good.
In order that the Invention may be readily understood 1 will from time to
time refer to and describe the Figures in the accompanying Drawing.

page_text: Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent the compound rail composed of three parts.
Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section of the rail and longitudinal elevation of
the sleeper on which it rests; Fig. 2 is a top view of the same; Fig. 3 is a
side view or elevation; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view.
In Fig. 1A is the sleeper or cross tic; B, the middle member of the rail,
and C, C, are the outer members, forming the divided base. The middle
member is a single-headed rail with a neck d,d, which is held closely between
the outer members, and the three members are bolted firmly together by
bolts e. The holes in the middle member through which the bolts pass are
elongated so as to allow for any inequality of expansion and contraction in the
different members of the rail resulting from changes of temperature. The
bolts may be fastened either by rivetting, or by a screw and nut, or by a screw
and nut with the end of the bolt rivetted on to the nut, as shewn at f'in the
Drawing, which is perhaps the best method. The outer members C, C, rest
on the sleepers and are fastened thereto by the improved spikes g, g, which
will be hereafter described; h,h, are the ribs pendent from the outer members.
These ribs together fit into recesses or grooves cut across the sleepers, so that
when the rail is in position they abut closely against the opposite sides of the
grooves; but a slight space is left between the ribs themselves to allow of
their being placed in or removed from the grooves without inconvenience from
their fitting too tightly. Underneath the head of the middle member of the
rail, on each side of the neck, there are longitudinal grooves i, i, into which
the upper edges j,j, of the outer members are made to fit. These grooves
and edges are thus constructed and fitted to each other to bind the rail
together when the car wheels pass over it and relieve the bolts from the stiain
produced by the oscillating or lateral motion of the cars. The top view,
Fig. 2, and the side view or elevation, Fig. 3, are on a smaller scale than
Fig. 1, and were made for the purpose of shewing how the joints k, k, of the
several members of the rail are broken, but the members are not represented
of their full length, and the joints are thus brought too near together. These
Figures also show the manner in which the bolts e, c, and the spikes g, g, are
arranged, there being a bolt on each side of and near to each joint, which
it is believed will be sufficient, but intermediate bolts may be employed if
thought desirable. The perspective view, Fig. 4, is intended as a further
illustration of the manner in which the several members of the rail are fitted
together so as to break joint, but, as in Figures 2 and 3, the members are not
represented of their full length, nor is the distance of the joints apart correctly
shewn. The elongated bolt holes l, l, in the middle member, however, are
represented in this Figure. When the head of the rail becomes too much

page_text: worn for further use the middle member B may be removed and a new one
inserted in its place without disturbing the outer members C, C. All that
need be done for that purpose is to clip the rivet of the bolts with a cold chisel
and unscrew them, or, if they cannot be readily unscrewed, to clip off the nut
or head of the bolts, remove the bolts, lift out the worn middle member of the
rail, and then put the new one in its place and bolt the rail together as before.
When lifting out the middle member the outer members will spread a little at
the top by reason of the space between the ribs h, k, which will render the
removal of the old and substitution of the new middle member more easy.
Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section of a modification of the improved
compound rail, shewing the manner of constructing it of two parts, namely,
the base, which is in one piece, and the cap or head fitted to it. B is the
head and C the base or continuous chair grooved sufficiently deep to receive
the whole depth of the neck d. The base C beds upon the sleepers, and is
secured thereto by spikes. There are grooves i, i, underneath the head B on
both sides of the neck d, into which the upper edges jof the base are made
to fit. The two parts Band C are secured together by bolts c. When the rail
is in position the grooves i, i, and the edgesj, j, fitting together serve to lock
the parts of the rail together, and as the carriage wheels pass over it the bolts
are relieved from the strain produced bythe oscillating or lateral motion of the
carriages. The joints are broken in the two members alternately at the distance
of half the length of a rail apart. There should be a bolt at each side of and near
to each joint and an intermediate bolt half way between the joints. The bolts
pass through the two parts of the rail. When the head B becomes too much
wora for further use it may be removed and replaced by a new one without
disturbing the base C. All that need be done is to clip the bolts with a cold
chisel, take them out, lift off the head, put the new one on, and bolt the rail
together as before. It is not anticipated that there is any danger of the bolts e
turning or moving in their holes until they become loosened; but if such
danger should be found to exist the bolts can be prevented from turning by
having their heads square,and recessing them into the side of the chair. The
object in designing the improved chair adapted to the form of rail now in use
is to connect the ends of the rails in such a manner that they will be held firmly
in position, and protected from theactionof the carriagewheels, which hammer
them and wear them out before the remainder of the rails, a contingency due
mainly to the working of the ends of the rails vertically under the weight of
the moving train, and which is attended with great expense in the way of
rerolling or repairing the rails and making good the increased wear of
machinery and rolling stock.

page_text: The improved chair I have shown in five different forms in Figures 6, 7, 8,
9, and 10, but all embrace the same main feature of construction.
In Fig. 6 A is an elevation of a portion of a sleeper or cross tie, and the
remainder of the Figure a transverse section of the rail, the chair, and the
lower portion of a carriage wheel, B being the rail, and D the carriage
wheel; C is a solid block of cast iron or steel, or other equivalent material.
This block is made long enough to rest on two or more sleepers.
The side
of the block which is next to the rails is cast of a curved form to fit the
curvature of the side of the rails, so that the two may be closely adjusted to each
other. The upper surface of the block is on a level with, or slightly above
the upper surface of the head of the rails, so that the carriage wheels (the rim
or tread of which in all ordinary wheels is double the width of the head of the
rails, and in the driving wheels of locomotives wider still), in passing along
the rails will cause the extra width of the wheels to roll over and bear upon
the upper surface of the block C. As this block will thus sustain the pres-
sure of the wheels it should be made of equal strength with the rails them-
selves. E, represents a plate of wrought or rolled iron or steel, which is made
on one side of a curved form corresponding with the curvature of the side of
the rails againstwhich it is closelyadjusted on the side opposite to the block C.
There are four bolts (as indicated in the side elevation Figures 11 and 12)
which pass transversely through the plate E, the rail B, and the block C, and
bind them firmly together the same being fastened in a similar manner to the
bolts in the before-mentioned improved rail. The holes through the rail B
to admit the bolts are elongated so as to allow for any difference in the expan-
sion and contraction of the rails and chair resulting from changes of temper-
ature. The rails are fastened to the sleepers by spikes i, for which purpose
the improved spike hereafter described is preferred, and the block C is kept
in position and held to the cross ties by a bar or slab of hard wood K of equal
length with or longer than the block against which it is fitted, and which is
firmly nailed or spiked to the cross ties on which the block rests. The upper
surface of the block C when the same is made of cast iron is cast with a chill
to resist wear.
Fig. 7 represents another form of the improved chair, which differs only
from that of Fig. 1 in that the lower part of the block C has a base f, which
extends its whole length and is fitted into recesses or grooves cut across the
sleepers on which the block rests, the lower surface of the basef being the
bearing surface of the block. The base fin this modification answers the same
purpose as the flanges 9, 9, Fig. 10, which will be hereafter described, and

page_text: the block C in this modification, as well as that represented at Fig. 8, is spiked
to the sleepers with the improved spikes instead of being fastened by a slab
of wood.
Fig. 8 represents the third form of improved chair, and differs only from
Fig. 7 in the fact that the basef of the block C is cast of a width sufficient
to extend under and support the rails B which rest upon it. This base is
fitted into recesses or grooves cut across the sleepers, and answers the purpose
of the flanges g, g, shown in Fig. 10.
Fig. 11 is a side view or elevation from the outside of the track of the
modifications shewn at Figures 7 and 8. A, A, are transverse sections of the
two sleepers or cross ties on which the chair rests; B, B, are the rails;
C, C, is the cast-iron block indicated by the same letter in Fig. 6; f is the
base fitted into recesses or grooves cut across the sleepers; h, h, are the
bolts; and i, i, are the spikes. There are projections or lugs j,j, over the
sleepers at each end of the outside of the block C, C, which are notched to
receive the spikes and thereby hold the block more securely in its position.
The joint formed by the rails B, B, is at or near the middle of the block C, C,
as shewn by the vertical broken lines in the Figure. The upper surface of
the block should be sufficiently high when compared with the upper surface
of the head of the rails to receive the full weight of the carriages when
passing over it, but not so high as to produce a jar when the wheels pass on
to the block. The difference shewn in the Figure between the height of the
upper surface of the block C, C, and of the rails B, B, is owing to the fact
that the height of the block is graduated to the bevil of the rim of the
carriage wheels, the tread of which at its outer edge is higher than at the
flange, as shewn in Fig. 6. To guard against the jar which would take place
if the block C, C, should be slightly too high when compared with the rails
there is a curved depression at each end of the upper surface of the block, as
shown in the Drawing, but no great inequality of height between the block
and the rails would be allowable. It will thus be seen that in the improved
chair when the wheels pass over the ends or joints of the rails the weight of
the carriages will be supported by the blocks C, C, the wheels rolling over
and bearing upon the upper surface of the block, and that the ends of the
rails will thereby be protected from being hammered and worn out by the
carriage wheels. The only changes required in Fig. 11 to make it correctly
represent the side view or elevation of the modification shewn at Fig. 6 would
be to admit the base f, the lugs j,j, and the spikes i, i, and to indicate on the
Drawing the slab of wood K. In casting the block C, C, it may be found in

page_text: practice that to core it on the outer or inner surface, or both, between the
bolt holes, will make a better casting without diminishing its strength, and
the weight of metal in the block will thereby be reduced.
The chairs shewn at Figures 9 and 10 differ from the three former mainly
in the fact that C, C, instead of being cast-iron blocks, represent plates made
of rolled or wrought iron or steel, or other equivalent material, which should
be of equal strength with the rails, and long enough to rest on two or more
sleepers or cross ties, the upper surface of the plates being on a level with or
slightly above the upper surface of the head of the rails, so that the extra
width of the carriage wheels will roll over and bear upon the plates as the
wheels pass along the rails. The side of the plate C next the rails is rolled
with curved surfaces to fit the head and base of the rails, but a hollow space
is left opposite the central or most depressed part of the rail, to fill which
would only add to the weight of the plate without materially increasing its
strength. The plate C in Fig. 9 is rolled with a basef of equal length with
the plate, and of a width sufficient to extend under and support the rails B.
In the same modification there is also a plate E of wrought or rolled iron or
steel, which is rolled with a curved surface to fit the side of the rails opposite
the plate C. The two plates and the rails are firmly bolted together by four
bolts h, as previously described, and the plate C is spiked to the sleepers by
the spikes i, . In Fig. 10 the plate Cis rolled with a base f of equal length
with the plate, but only wide enough to extend under one-half the width of
the bottom of the rails B. The plate E in this modification is made of
wrought or rolled iron or steel, and is rolled with a curved surface correspond-
ing with the curvature of the side of the rails to which it is closely adjusted
on the side opposite the plate C. The plate E is also rolled with a base f of
equal length with the plate, and of sufficient width to extend under one-half
the bottom of the rails. On the inner edges of the base f, f, of each of
these two plates there are vertical or pendent flanges g, g, which together fit
into recesses or grooves cut across the sleepers on which the plates rest.
When the plates C and E are in their proper positions with the rails between
them the flanges g,g, will abut closely against the opposite sides of the recesses
or grooves in the sleepers, but there is a slight space left between the flauges
themselves to allow of the plates being placed in position or removed without
inconvenience from the flanges fitting too tightly in the grooves. The flanges
g, g, of the plates C and E effectually prevent any lateral motion of the chair.
And it will be observed that from that fact, and by reason of the carriage
wheels rolling upon the upper surface of the plate C, and from the general

page_text: construction and strength of the chair, nearly all the strain caused by the
oscillating or lateral motion of the carriages is withdrawn from the bolts h.
Fig. 12 represents a side view or elevation from the outside of the track
of the modification shown at Fig. 10, similar parts being indicated by like
letters of reference; and by omitting the flange g it will represent a like.
elevation of the modification shewn in Fig. 9. The upper surface of the plate
C, C, has a curved depression at each end similar to though not so great as
those of the block C, C, in Fig. 11. The depressions of the latter are made
in the casting, while those of the former may be made by applying the plate
for a few minutes to the grindstone. The elevations in Figures 11 and 12
so far resemble each other as to render any further explanation of the latter
unnecessary.
But there is one valuable feature of theimproved chair which deserves to be
mentioned, namely, that it may be applied to rails the ends of which are
already partially worn, which will obviate the necessity of rerolling or mending
them.
The improvement in the form of railroad spikes forming the last part
of this Invention consists in this, that there is a bevil or chamfer at the lower
extremity of the spike commencing on the side placed next the rail-in driving,
some distance above the end of the spike and extending to the opposite side,
with which it forms an acute angle at the end of the spike, and having also a
barb across the face of the spike at the commencement of the bevil, forming
a shoulder the full width of the spike with a sharp edge representing the
point of the barb. This spike will describe a curve or clinch itself in driving,
and it has the further property that when driven the shoulder of the barb will
be brought against the end of the fibre of the wood in the sleeper, by which
means a firm hold will be secured.
Fig. 13 shews the form of improved spike before it is driven, m being
the bevil or chamfer at the point; n, the barb; and o, the shoulder. When
driven it forms a curve, as shown in Fig. 1, bringing the shoulder of the barb
against the end of the fibre of the wood in the sleeper. The curvature of this
curve may be increased or diminished by shortening or lengthening the chamfer
at the point of the spike, or even by bending the point one way or the
other before driving the spike.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the Inven-
tion of "Improvements in the Construction of Railways, and in Spikes for
securing the Rails in Position, I wish it to be understood that under the above
in part recited Letters Patent I claim,―

page_text: First, constructing compound or continuous rails in the manner and for the
purpose above described.
Secondly, constructing chairs for receiving rails of the ordinary construction
and of such length that they will rest on two or more sleepers or cross ties,
and will present an upper surface level with or a trifle above the head of the
rail, so as to receive the tread of the carriage wheels in the manner and for
the purpose above described.
Thirdly, chamfering the spike on one side of the point in combination with
the barb having the shoulder and arranged as above described, for the purpose
when the spike is driven of bringing the shoulder of the barb against the
end of the fibre of the sleeper, and thereby securing a firm hold for the
spike.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of May, in the
year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)