IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES WITH GAS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hollinshead, of Peckham, in the County
of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF
AND APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES WITH GAS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hollinshead
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th July 1871.
I, WILLIAM HOLLINSHEAD, of Peckham, in the County of Surrey,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING RAILWAY CARRIAGES WITH GAS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the manufacture of gas in and
supply of gas to railway carriages for the purpose of illuminating them,
and is carried out by means of the following arrangement:-The material
employed is oil, petroleum, or other liquid gas producing substance or
substances which may be rendered fluid by the application of heat.

page_text: .
The apparatus consists of a retort (by preference of a peculiar form
divided into three or more compartments) set in brickwork, and having
wrought-iron binders. The retort is supplied with oil or other suitable
material from a cistern placed above it, the head or pressure in which
is regulated by means of a ball cock connected to a second or supply
cistern. A certain proportion of water is admitted with the oil for the
purpose of preventing the formation of any carbonaceous deposit in the
retort, and the operation of gas production is thereby made continuous
and self-acting. The gas generated passes through an annular con-
denser of sufficient power, and from thence into a gas holder which is in
the form of a parallelogram. The tank is also of an annular construction
so as to require but little water. The gas holder is counterbalanced
so as to give no more pressure than is absolutely necessary, the counter-
balance weights being guided in their rise and fall by means of a rod
fixed to the floor of the carriage and sliding within a hollow tube which
carries the weights. The gas holder is guided by means of four internal
guide rods fastened to the floor and roof of the carriage, and placed
within four seal tubes attached to the interior of the holder and of the
same depth. The supply of oil to the retort can be regulated by means
of a series of levers extending from the holder to the feed cocks, the
rise of holder closing and its descent opening them.
All parts of the apparatus where necessary are firmly attached to the
floor of the carriage, which is perfectly protected by sheet iron plates
and is thoroughly ventilated.
The gas is conveyed to the burners in the usual way by means of
flexible tubes between and iron tubes over each carriage. A regulator
is also fixed on each carriage to prevent oscillation or irregularity of
the lights.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Hollinshead in the Great Seal Patent 3
Office on the 11th January 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HOLLINSHEAD, of Peckham, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of July, in the year of 3

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Hollinshead, Her special
licence that I, the said William Hollinshead, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Hollinshead,
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 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING RAILWAY
CARRIAGES WITH GAS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Hollinshead, 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 William Hollinshead, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:
This Invention has for its object the manufacture of gas in, and
the supply of gas to railway carriages, and is carried out by means of
the following arrangement, the material employed being oil, petroleum,
or other liquid gas producing substance or substances, such as resin or
bitumen, which may be rendered liquid by the application of heat.
The apparatus consists essentially of a retort, condenser, and gas
holder, with their adjuncts or appurtenances. The retort is formed in
three compartments and is of cast iron, but may be made of any other
suitable material. The compartments communicate with each other at
alternate ends, and are so arranged that when the retort is fixed in its
proper position they form a continuous slope or incline from the inlet
to the outlet. The retort is enclosed in an iron case lined with fire-brick
and is placed horizontally, it is also fitted with a door, opening and
closing gear furnace, sheet iron chimney and damper.

page_text: The apparatus for feeding the retort with material consists of a feed
cistern and feed reservoir, supported above the retort stack by cast-iron
brackets bolted to the side of the carriage. The feed reservoir is used
for maintaining an equal head or pressure of fluid in the feed cistern in
order to ensure uniformity in the flow of liquid into the retort, and is
fitted with a ball-cock, cover, filling funnel and cock, and gauge for
showing the height of the fluid. The feed cistern is fitted with a feed
cock, lever, and cover. Both the feed reservoir and the feed cistern
are divided into two compartments, the second compartment in cach
being required for supplying water in small proportion along with the
oil or other fluid for the purpose of preventing the formation of any
carbonaceous deposit in the retort. The compartments for containing
water are fitted precisely in the same manner as those containing the
gas making liquid. The feed pipe connected to the retort is made of
wrought iron, and is provided with two syphons and funnels. A seal
box and dip pipe are fixed behind the retort stack for the purpose of
preventing the return of gas from the gas holder, the scal or dip given
to the pipe being preferably about one inch.
The condenser may be of the ordinary description, but the one
preferred is on the annular principle, formed of sheet iron and having
dip pipes and boxes for receiving the condensed vapours. The gas
holder is of sheet iron suspended in a tank, also of sheet iron and of an
annular form, in order to reduce the quantity of water to a minimum.
The gas holder is suspended by a chain passing over pulleys fixed to the
roof of the carriage, and is counterbalanced by weights attached to
the chain, undue oscillation of the weights being prevented by their
sliding up and down a guide fastened to the floor. The gas holder is
also guided by means of four guide rods fixed to the floor and roof of the
carriage and sliding within four tubes fixed within the gas holder
and of equal depth thereto. The connecting pipes are all of wrought
iron. The supply of oil or other substance to the retort can be regu-
lated if required by means of levers attached to the gas holder and
feed cocks, the rise of the gas holder closing and its descent opening
the feed cocks.
In order that the foregoing may be more readily understood Drawings
are attached hereto of which the following is a description:-
Fig. 1 shows a ground plan of the apparatus; Fig. 2, a vertical section
of retort stack; Fig. 3 exhibits a vertical section of the gas holder

page_text: and tank and front elevation of the retort stack; Fig. 4 is a cross
section of retort through E, F, Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is an elevation of
the condenser and dip boxes. The same letters of reference apply to
all the Drawings.
A is the retort stack; B, the feed apparatus; C, the seal box and
pipe D, the condenser; E, the dip boxes; F, the inlet pipe to the gas
holder; G, the gas holder and tank; H, the outlet pipe from the gas
holder; I, the carriage or van in which the apparatus is fixed or placed;
a is the retort, which is of the form and construction shown and dc-
scribed; b, b, b, are flues in brickwork for heating the retort; c, the
furnace chamber; d, the furnace bars; e, the ash-pit; f, the dip pipe;
g, the seal box; 1, the feed pipe and syphons; i, the feed cistern; k, the
feed reservoir; l, l, the brackets for supporting cisterns; m, the feed
cocks, the ball cocks; o, the sheet iron chimney; p, the damper to
chimney; ; q, the internal face of tank shown in dotted lines; ", the gas
holder; s, the external face of tank; t, t, t, the guide rods; v, the
suspension apparatus; w, sight boxes for retort stack; x, pipes con-
necting dip cisterns and receiver; y, pipe connecting scal box and
condenser, the dip pipes from condenser.
The gas holder is separated from the remainder of the apparatus by a
partition.
The method of manufacturing the gas is as follows:-The oil or other
liquid gas producing substance being poured into the feed reservoir k,
the liquid runs from thence to the feed cistern i. It then flows
through the cock m into the funnel h, and passes through the syphon
into the top compartment of the retort. Water is admitted in small
quantity at the same time in a precisely similar manner. The oil on
reaching the retort which is heated by the furnace below is imme-
diately converted into gas and makes its escape by the opening in
the bottom compartment of the retort through the pipes f and y into
the condenser D. Here the condensable vapours are separated from the
permanent gas, the former running into the syphon boxes attached to
the condenser while the latter passes onwards and into the gas holder.
The gas is conveyed from the gas holder to the roof of the carriage by
means of the pipe H and is there distributed to the burners through
wrought-iron pipes fitted with cocks and unions across the top of each
carriage, the connection between separate carriages being made with
india-rubber tube.

page_text: In order to prevent oscillation of the lights a small india-rubber
holder or suitable regulator may be placed on each carriage.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of this
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used o̟r
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine
or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have
described or referred to, as variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of this Invention; but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the method of manufacturing gas (from liquid gas producing
substances, or substances which may be rendered liquid by the appli-
cation of heat) in railway carriages and the arrangement of apparatus
for that purpose, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hollinshead, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
WILLIAM HOLLINSHEAD. (L.S.)