RONMENTS IN STREET TRAMWAYS, LIGHT PERMANENT WAY, AND TEMPORARY RAILROADS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Livesey, of 9, Victoria Chambers, West-
minster, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention
IRONMENTS IN STREET TRAMWAYS, LIGHT PERMANENT WAY, AND
TEMPORARY RAILROADS,"
Sealed the 10th June 1870, and dated the 13th December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Livesey at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th December 1869.
I, JAMES LIVESEY, of 9, Victoria Chambers, Westminster, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STREET TRAMWAYS, LIGHT PERMANENT
WAY, AND TEMPORARY RAILROADS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the
adapted to meet the difficulties
destructive effects of climate
formation of a permanent way specially
of paved streets, and to avoid the
timber as usually employed.
Also
for a light permant way both for railways and temporary lines, and
consists in the adoption of a continuous rail of either iron or steel, or a con-
Price 8d.1

page_text: tinuous iron girder having a top of steel forming a compound rail. and having
for their base either solid stone, concrete, asphalte, or iron plates forming a
sleeper, or the same in combination.
Firstly. In the formation of an iron sleeper having a base by preference
of wrought iron, on to which is secured a wrought or other iron standard
of sufficient elevation to throw the rail high enough to permit of
large and rough pavement being laid alongside the rail and over the base of
the sleeper. This sleeper is arranged so that the lines of the vertical
plates may come between the pavement without offering the least
obstruction. The base may be either square, rectangular, or other
convenient form, on to which is fixed a vertical plate forming a chair, into
which the rail is secured by a corrugated or other iron key. Also
wrought or other iron or steel plates or bars bent in the form of an
inverted letter U, on the top of which is secured a rail of ordinary section
or a rail having a groove for the flange of the wheel to run in,
or a peculiar section of flat bottom rail having one side of the flange flush
or nearly so with the head of the rail, and the other side sufficiently
wide to keep the pavement at a convenient distance to form the groove
for the wheel flange, or a section of rail having on one side a projecting
lip for the same purpose. A tie bar passes from one sleeper to the
opposite sleeper, in order to keep the road correct to gauge as well as to
give strength and stiffness to the base plates and vertical plates. When a deep
section of rail is employed the bent vertical plates are in halves and the rail
secured between them. With a flat section of rail having sufficient base to dis-
pense with sleepers the bent under plates serve as a means of holding down the
rail as well as forming a fish joint.
Secondly. In the formation of a permanent way having a longitudinal timber
of slight scantling on to which the rail is secured, having for a base plates of
wrought or cast iron or stones.
Thirdly. The formation of a road having for a base an ordinary pine plank
with a keel or centre piece at right angles to it on to which a light rail is secured.
In some situations the keel will be downwards in order to give lateral security,
and thus dispense with altogether or greatly lessen the number of
tie bars.
As a method of securing flat sections of rails to iron sleepers I employ a
bolt, the head of which is conical so as to fit in a taper or countersunk hole in
the rail, the end of the bolt being formed with an elongated eye through which
is driven a taper cotter pressing against the upper part of the sleeper. This

page_text: is also a very convenient way for securing rails to longitudinal girder irons
forming a compound rail.
And, lastly. My Invention relates to the formation of a permanent way
having the rails secured to a rod twisted in the form of a corkscrew which
may be screwed into the ground or made at a pitch sufficiently coarse to allow
the screw to be driven, or a cast-iron screw having a broad flat thread which
would give sufficient bearing surface without the necessity of having iron cover
plates.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Livesey in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LIVESEY, of 9, Victoria Chambers, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Livesey, Her special licence
that I, the said James Livesey, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Livesey, 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
STREET TRAMWAYS, LIGHT PERMANENT WAY. AND TEMPORARY RAILROADS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Livesey, 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 per-
formed, 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.
i

page_text: 1011owing statement, reference Deng nau Το The Drawings nereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in Street Tramways, Light Per-
manent Way, and Temporary Railroads," has for its object the formation
of sleepers especially designed to meet the difficulties of placing rough
pavement over a base of iron so that the one shall not interfere with or
be in any way destructive to the other. The usual form does not
give sufficient depth from the top of the rail to the crown of the sleeper to
admit of large stones, and if smaller ones are selected they either
shake loose or are crushed through the body of the sleeper, and the fastenings
usually employed interfere and prevent the proper setting of the
pavement. It is also important in the construction of street rail-
ways that the surface of the rail should be as small as possible,
otherwise the inconvenience to the ordinary traffic is very great and
greater expense is incurred by the extra amount of metal required,
besides which a broad rail, by offering a convenience for the wheels of
ordinary vehicles, not only impedes the progress of the tramway
carriages but causes an extra amount of wear and tear to the line
itself.
The permanent way of a street tramway differs materially from that of
an ordinary railway, inasmuch as in the latter the sleepers are
always accessible and can be adjusted by merely running in a small amount
of loose ballast, but in the case of a street tramway the construction ought
to be such that when once laid there will be little occasion. to
remove the pavement for repairs. A greater amount of bearing surface
to each sleeper would to a certain extent meet this difficulty, but
the additional amount and weight of material would make it very expensive. In
order to meet this difficulty I propose to form under each sleeper a bed of
solid pavement composed of large rough stones well rammed to the required
level and covered over with concrete or asphalte so as to bind the stones well
together and form an even bed for the sleeper to stand on; or if such pave-
ment is not easily obtainable a foundation of concrete would answer the purpose
nearly as well.

page_text: тап.
Figures
ата
SHIT WS
principle.
CANDRACINNS
Figures 4 and 10 represent a narrow section of rail secured in a manner
similar to that shewn in Figures 2 and 3 to a sleeper or standard analogous
in principle also to Figures 2 and 3. The formation of the groove for the
flange of the wheels is obtained by the shaping of the adjacent stones on the
inner side of the tramway.
Figures 5, 11, 6, and 12 are sleepers made from a bent bar or plate and
form in themselves the standard and base, or they may be made sufficiently
light and small to act simply as a means for keeping the road in guage and
preventing the uplift or rebound of the rail, which instead of depending upon
the standards as a means of support may be laid the whole length
on a bed of concrete or asphalt
combination, as shewn
in Figures 5 and 6.
The dovetail section of rail shewn in Fig. 32 is also employed in the for-
mation of a road laid on asphalte or concrete. The channel of the rail is filled
with asphalte or concrete, and is then laid on the bed already prepared whilst
in a soft state. The two surfaces become united, forming a solid mass, the
rail being held down firmly in position by means of its being dovetailed into
the material forming the base.
Figures 13 and 23 shew a method of securing a deep section of rail either
single or double headed.
Figures 14 and 24 shew a peculiar flat bottom section of rail arranged.
especially for street pavement. It will be seen that on one side of the rail
the flange projects farther than on the other. The narrow side is made to
allow the stone sets to be paved close up to the head of the
rail as at C whilst the broader side is sufficiently wide to form a groove for the
flange of the wheel to run in as at E. The rail is secured in position by
means of two clamps and a bolt, or one clamp only may be used,
and the end of the bolt formed as a hook, as shown in Figures
29 and 30.
Figures 15 and 25 represent a compound rail formed of a rolled girder with
a loose head of steel or fine quality of iron. To the base of
this girder plates are fixed at suitable intervals to give a sufficient
bearing.

page_text: top to the girder.
Figures 20 and 26 shew a grooved rail having a centre rib mounted on a
wrought-iron standard fixed to a bent plate forming the base.
Figures 29, 30, 35, and 36 shew a cast-iron standard fixed on a wrought-
iron base, the rail being secured by a hook bolt.
Figures 31 and 32 shew a channel rail with the sides bent in so as to form
a dovetail, which is very convenient as applied to a tram rail, as the key
shewn in Figures 31 and 38 which secures the rail is clear
altogether of the pavement. A similar form of rail was shewn in the Specifi-
cation of my Patent No. 976 (1869).
Figures 33, 34, 39, 40, and 41, shew a sleeper with two vertical plates
or standards fixed on one base, which may be either of wrought iron or of
cast iron, the object being to have a small number of sleepers in a given
length, and yet to have the bearings near together so that a light section of
rail may be used.
Figures 20 and 21 represent a longitudinal piece of timber, by preference
of hard wood, on to which is secured a top of iron or steel
which really forms a compound rail of iron and wood. The base for this rail
may be formed either of iron plates placed at suitable intervals, or of detached
pieces of timber, or it may be a longitudinal base of timber or
iron plates.
For the formation of a light railway or temporary road arrangements are
shewn at Figures 42, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, and 54, and they differ only
slightly from the combination shewn in Fig. 21. A longitudinal timber is
placed vertically and secured to a base of timber, by preference an ordinary
pine plank. A bar of iron or steel is secured on the top of
the vertical timber by means of countersunk screws or dog spikes,
as shewn at Figures 42, 44, 48, and 50. The vertical timber may be secured
to the base by means of small brackets or angle iron placed
at intervals. This arrangement is convenient on account of its
allowing the rail and its timber to be bent to any required curve and then fixed
0 the base, which should be placed at an angle to each other,
as in Fig. 45.
Fig. 44 shews the vertical timber inverted and sunk into the ground. This
orms an excellent road where animal traction is employed, because
he tie bar may be altogether dispensed with, the keel or centre. piece F

page_text: being sufficient to keep the road in guage, or if at any part the road should
get wide it may easily be brought back by driving a stake into
the ground, as shewn at G; or these stakes might be fixed at intervals when
the road is laid out. The rail may be a simple bar of iron or an ordinary flat
bottom section secured by dog spikes. A rail so placed can easily
be laid to any curve however severe, as shewn at Fig. 45. In
order to give strength at the joints the vertical pieces are carried
some distance over the ends of the flat timbers, and the rails also may break
joint in a similar manner, and fixed so that the joints of the rail shall be brought
over or near the centre.
Figures 51 and 54 shew another method of strengthening and securing the
ends of the longitudinal timbers admitting of their being laid to suit a curve
of any radius.
Figures 46, 47, 52, and 53 shew a permanent way made from peculiarly
formed screws, one of which is of SO coarse a thread that it
may be driven instead of being screwed into the ground, as shewn at Fig. 46.
Fig. 47 shews a broad bladed screw, 8 series of which would be
screwed into the ground at proper intervals. On the top of this
screw is fixed either a rail of deep section or a flat bottom rail of ordinary
section, or the screws may be formed so as to resemble an ordinary cork-
screw either of round or flat iron.
Round dogs might be driven into holes
cast slightly twisted in the sleeper.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim as of my
Invention is,
First. The formation of a permanent way for street tramways, the sleepers
of which are constructed of standards of wrought or cast iron
secured to iron plates arranged SO that the various parts shall
come between the divisions in the pavement without offering any obstruction,
and for the fixing of two standards on one base plate, as herein-
before described.
Secondly. The use of a section of rail having a projecting piece to form the
groove for the flange of the wheel to run in, and with pieces projecting down-
wards in order to give greater vertical strength and form a dove-
tail section which admits of being secured without external fasten-
ings, and also for a flat bottom rail having one side broader than
the other for the purpose of forming a groove, as represented and
described.

page_text: Thirdly. The use of a compound rail of steel and iron, as shewn at
Figures 2 and 15, or of iron and wood, as at Figures 21, 22, 42, 43,
and 44.
Fourthly. The use of a rail laid on a bed of asphalte or concrete, as shewn
in Figures 5, 6, and 32, and described.
Fifthly. The use of a longitudinal timber rail with an iron top having a
base of iron or iron plates as shewn at Fig. 22, and described.
Sixthly. The formation of a light temporary portable permanent way, as
shewn at Figures 42, 43, 44, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, and 54, and
described.
And, lastly. The formation of a permanent way having various forms of
screw piles to form the sleepers, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Livesey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy.
1
TAMING TUNAY
Witness,
HENRY CARTER,
6, Louvaine Road,
New Wandsworth, S.W.,
Engineer.
!