A NEW OR IMPROVED Apparatus FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS ON Railways.”
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Sutcliffe, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
Apparatus FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS ON Railways.”
APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS ON RAILWAYS.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Sutcliffe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th January 1872.
I, JOHN SUTCLIFFE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of “A
NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS ON RAILWAYS," to
be as follows, that is to say :-
-
This Invention has for its object to prevent that class of collisions
which occur on railways by the following of one train or engine within
a short time after another, and commonly known by the phrase of "a
train or engine running into another.”
The apparatus by means of which this object is effected consists of a
two-armed lever carried in a bracket fixed to the sleepers or to the side

page_text: of one or both of the lines of rails, one end of which is so situated
relatively with the wheels of a passing train or engine that the flanch
of the tyres depress it, and therefore raise the opposite end of the lever
to which one end of a chain or link is secured, whilst the other end
thereof is coupled to a cam, and as this end of the lever becomes raised
in the manner herein-before described, it at the same time pulls round
the cam in an upward direction, bringing its major radius immediately
beneath the said long arm of the lever, and therefore supporting the
lever in that upraised position, which being above the level of the line
of rails is struck by a lever depending from a passing engine and coupled
by intermediate levers or links to the regulator or throttle valve. As
the depending lever is therefore moved backwards in order to pass the
upraised end of the lever herein-before referred to, that motion closes
the regulator or throttle valve, and therefore instantaneously shuts off
the steam from acting in the engine.
The apparatus herein-before referred to is situated at any suitable
intervals along the railway, or along a section thereof or siding, and the
cams are coupled together by chains, so that as the wheels depress cach
lever in succession as they are reached, the motion of the cam which
supports the upward end of the lever last struck pulls the chain by
which it is coupled to the cam of the preceding lever, lowers the cam,
and therefore allows the lever which it had supported to fall down
sufficiently low to pass beneath the lever of the engine. Thus by the
apparatus herein-before described any one train or engine proceeding in
any given direction is enabled to shut off the steam from acting in a
following train or engine and at any required distance from itself
sufficient to prevent a "running in."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Sutcliffe in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th July 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SUTCLIFFE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send
greeting.

page_text: upraised position, which being above the level of the line of rail is
struck by a lever depending from a passing engine and coupled by
intermediate levers or links to the rgulator or throttle valve. As
the depending lever is therefore moved upwards in order to pass the
upraised end of the lever herein-before referred to, that motion closes
the regulator or throttle valve, and therefore instantaneously shuts off
the steam from acting in the engine.
The apparatus hercin-before referred to is situated at any suitable
intervals along the railway or along a section thereof or siding, and the
cams are coupled together by chains, so that as the wheels depress cachi
lever in succession as they are reached, the motion of the cam which
supports the upraised end of the lever last struck pulls the chain by
which it is coupled to the cam of the preceding lever, lowers the cam,
and therefore allows the lever which it had supported to fall down
sufficiently low to pass beneath the lever of the engine. Thus by the
apparatus herein-before described any one train or engine proceeding in
any given direction is enabled to shut off the steam from acting on a
following train or engine at any required distance from itself sufficient
to prevent a "running in."
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, that is to say :-
:―
On the Sheet of Drawings hercunto appended, Figure 1 is a side
elevation, and Figure 2 a plan of the apparatus for preventing collisions
on railways as constructed in accordance with this Invention. As
shewn by these Figures the mechanism consists of a lever A centred on
a fulcrum B .which is supported in brackets or pillow blocks C fixed
on the upper side of a beam D as shewn. The end E of the lever A is
arranged so as to project above the upper surface of the rail F to such
an extent that the flanches of the wheel tyres of the engine in a passing
train shall depress the extremity E of the lever A through an arc
sufficient to raise the opposite extremity G of the lever A to the position
shewn at that part of Figure 1 marked X. The extremity G of the
lever A is attached by means of a link H to a cam I centred on a short
shaft J, on which is also fixed a lever K, as shewn more particularly at
Figure 1, and as the extremity G of the lever A becomes raised in the
manner herein-before set forth, the said extremity at the same time

page_text: through the intervention of the link H pulls round the cam I in an
upward direction, and brings the part thereof immediately underneath
the extremity G of the lever A, by which means the lever is supported
in its upraised position. Each lever A along a line of railway is
connected to the preceding and succeeding levers by wire ropes or
chains M, which are attached at one extremity to the lever K, and at the
opposite extremity to a rod N, which is acted upon by the lower
extremity of the lever K, as shewn at Figure 1. The rod N is supported
in a bearing o formed on or fixed to the side of the beam D as shewn.
In carrying out this Invention locomotive engines are provided with
a lever P, as shewn at Figure 1 of the Drawings, which is centred on a
fulcrum Q, and preferably provided at its forward extremity with an
antifriction roller R, the opposite extremity of the lever P being
attached to the lower end of a vertical rod S which is provided with
a tappet a, and connected at its upper extremity to the whistle of the
engine, through the intervention of the arm or link T. As an engine
or train proceeds along a line of railway provided with the apparatus
herein-before described, the flanch on the tyre of one of the leading
wheels of the engine periodically comes in contact with the upraised
extremity E of one of the levers A, and depressing the said extremity of
the lever A raises the extremity G into the position shown at that part
of Figure 1 marked X, so that on the occasion of a second engine or
train following another engine or train upon the same line of rails the
antifriction roller R of the lever P of such engine will come in contact
with the upraised end G of the lever A, over which a former engine or
train has passed, whereby the forward extremities of the lever P of the
second engine will be raised, thereby depressing its opposite extremity
and with it the rod S; the tappet a or equivalent mechanism in
connection with which acting on the regulator or handle U of the
throttle valve instantaneously shuts off the steam from acting in the
engine, and warning is simultaneously conveyed to the engine driver
through the whistle being opened by the arm or rod T; thus a collision
by one train or engine running into another which it has followed on
the same line of rails is prevented. When the extremity G of a lever A
is raised by the depression of the extremity E in the manner hercin-
before described, the said extremity G by drawing upwards the cam I
through the intervention of the link H also turns the shaft and with it
the lever K in the direction of the arrows, which lever by pushing

page_text: backwards the rod N to which the wire rope or chain M of the preceding
lever A is attached lowers the extremity G of the said lever, and raises
the extremity E into position to be acted upon by a succeeding engine
or train. Thus no two succeeding levers A are left with their
extremities G at the raised position.
The levers A and mechanism in connection therewith are placed at
suitable intervals along the railway or along a section thereof, and the
apparatus constituting this Invention whilst applicable to main lines of
railways is specially applicable to sidings, junctions, level crossings,
quick and dark curves and other dangerous situations at which collisions
more frequently occur, as by the employment of this Invention any one
train or engine proceeding in any given direction is enabled to shut off
the steam from acting in a following engine or train and at any required
distance from itself sufficient to prevent a "running in," such 'distance
being regulated by the distance apart of the levers A.
Figure 3 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings is a Diagram
shewing in plan the application of my Invention to a junction of three
lines of rails. The lever at B on the line A is connected by wire ropes
or chains to the levers at C and C¹ on the lines D and E in such a
manner that an engine or train passing along the line A in the direction
of the arrows, by depressing with the flanch of the tyre of one of the
leading wheels one extremity of the lever at B raises simultaneously the
opposite extremity of the said lever, and the corresponding extremities
of the levers situate at C and C' on the lines D and E, so that in the
event of a train or trains proceeding simultaneously with the train on
the line A in the direction of the arrows on either or both of the lincs D
and E a collision is prevented. The same arrangement applies to all
three lines, so that a train proceeding in the direction of the arrows on
any one line prevents an engine or train from running into it from
either or both of the other lines. On the arrival of an engine or train
at the point F on the line A, the levers B, C, and C¹are depressed in the
manner herein-before described, and the rear end of the lever F remains
clevated until the train or engine has passed over the next lever on the
linc, when it in its turn is depressed and so on throughout the whole
course.
In applying this Invention to junctions, crossings, or other situations
at which it is required to raise simultaneously the corresponding
extremitics of levers situate at two or more points it is preferred to attach

page_text: both extremities of the chain or rope shewn at M, Figures 1 and 2 to
opposite extremities of the lever K in lieu of attaching one extremity of
the rope or chain thereto and the opposite extremity of the rod N, as
herein-before described and shewn on the Drawings.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
system, mode, or manner in or under which the same is or may be used
or practically carried into effect, I would obscrve in conclusion that
what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First. The general arrangement and construction of mechanism herein-
before described and shewn on the annexed Sheet of Drawings for
preventing on railways the class of collisions herein-before referred to.
Second. The arrangement of apparatus whereby as the extremity G of
one lever is raised the corresponding extremity of the lever immediately
preceding it in the same scries is lowered as hercin-before described and
shewn on the accompanying Drawings.
Third. The arrangement of mechanism herein-before described and
indicated in Diagram plan at Figure 3 of the Drawings, whereby an
engine or train proceeding along one line of rails is enabled to shut off
steam from an engine or train proceeding in the same direction on one
or several other lines of rails diverging into or crossing the line of rails
first referred to.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sutcliffe, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of July One thousand eight