OR IMPROVED MODES AND MEAns of ConstrUCTING RAILS FOR RAILWAYS.”
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Lawson, of Crowton, Northwich, in the
County of Cheshire, Contractor, for the Invention of "NEW OR
IMPROVED MODES AND MEAns of ConstrUCTING RAILS FOR RAILWAYS.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Lawson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th March 1875.
I, GEORGE LAWSON, of Crowton, Northwich, in the County of
Chehsire, Contractor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "NEW OR IMPROVED MODES AND MEANS OF CONSTRUCTING RAILS FOR RAILWAYS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has reference to a new or improved mode and means
of forming and fishing or jointing the rails for railways and tramways
into their continuous lengths or tracks, which will make them more
uniformly rigid and durable than heretofore, and the nature and
novelty of the Invention consists in rolling or forming the rails in two

page_text: parts, or with a joint up and along the centre of the middle of the
central web or body part. Each length or half rail so made is formed
with a shallow (and preferably broad) groove and tongue longitudinally
in a reverse manner in and on the adjacent upper and lower opposite
faces of the two half rails to be jointed together, so that the tongue of
the one will enter the groove of the other (or it might be tongues and
grooves respectively), and enable them to be bolted together by bolts
through the two half webs so laid together with the end joints of each
set of half rails on the one side placed in the middle parts of the others
(to
"break joint" or "bond" as it is sometimes termed), preferably
with a short fish plate at or over each of these end joints. The holes for
the bolts through the webs of one or both sets of half rails and of the
fish plates would be made slightly oval or oblong, and a small space left
between the end joints of the rails to allow of the expansion and con-
traction of the half rails. In other respects these rails may be made of
any of the ordinary sections or forms with middle vertical webs, either
as the double-headed reversible rail or single head with chairs, or with a
horizontal web below.
-
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Lawson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd September 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
LAWSON, of Crowton, Northwich, in the County of Cheshire, Contractor,
send greeting.
2
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 2
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said George Lawson, Her
special licence that I, the said George Lawson, my executors, admi- a
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Lawson,
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,

page_text: use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"NEW OR IMPROVED MODES AND MEANS OF CONSTRUCTING RAILS FOR RAILWAYS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Lawson, 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
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Lawson, 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 in writing, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon,
that is to say -
My said Invention has reference to new or improved modes and means
of forming and "fishing" or jointing the rails for railways and tram-
ways into their continuous lengths or tracks, which will make them
more uniformly rigid and durable than heretofore, and the nature and
novelty of the Invention consist in rolling or forming the rails in two
parts, or with a joint up the centre and along the middle of the central
web or body part. Each length or half rail so made is formed with a
shallow (and preferably broad) groove and tongue longitudinally in a
reverse manner in and on the adjacent upper and lower opposite faces
of the two half rails to be jointed together, so that the tongue of the one
will enter the groove of the other; or it might be tongues and grooves
in each rail respectively, or tongues in the one-half of the rail and
grooves in the other, so as to enable them to be bolted together by bolts
through the two half webs so laid together, with the end joints of cach
set of half rails on the one side placed in the middle parts of the others
(to "break joint" or "bond," as it is sometimes termed), and preferably
with a short fish plate at or over each of these end joints. The holes for
the bolts through the webs of one or both sets of half rails (or of the
fish plates) would be made slightly oval or oblong, a small space being
left between the end joints of the rails to allow of the expansion and
contraction of the half rails. In other respects these rails may be mado
of any of the ordinary sections or forms with middle vertical webs, either

page_text: as the donble-headed reversible rail with chains or the single-headed rail
with a horizontal web below.
10
F...
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood,
will now proceed to describe the several Figures on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings which I have hereunto appended for the purpose of
showing the best modes and means I am at present aware of for
performing or carrying the same into effect or practice; the same
reference letters indicating the same or like parts in all the Figures
where shown.
+
:
Figure 1 shows a transverse section of an ordirnary form of double. 1
headed rail A (as fixed by the key z in an ordinary chair Z), constructed
in accordance with and illustrative of one modification of my said
Invention, and for forming these rails A in two parts a and a¹; and
Figures 2 and 3 show a side elevation and sectional plan of the rail
joints corresponding to Figure 1, while Figures 1ª, 1°, 1°, and 1ª, are 1
transverse sections of double-headed rails illustrating different arrange.
ments of the grooves and feathers from that shown in Figure 1:
Figures 4 and 5 show an elevation and plan to a small scale of a lino
of rails A of the construction shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, to illustrate
the mode of jointing and fixing the parts or sections a and a'; while 2
Figures 6 to 17 are transverse sections of various other forms of rails
constructed in accordance with and showing the application of my said
improvements to such forms of rails.
Referring to these Figures, each line of rails A is in accordance with
my Invention made in two halves or parts a, a', divided up the middle of a
the web at 11. Each part or section a, a', has a longitudinal feather
or tongue a¹¹ and groove a² formed or rolled on the joint faces at 1-1,
so as to fit into cach-other-when-bolted together and form-one continuous-
rail A, as shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, with the end joints b of
the parts on the one side a opposite the solid parts of the other side a¹, all
so that they may "break joint" or "bond" with each other. These
end joints are cach left slightly open and preferably secured by a fish
plate B on the one side with one or two screw bolts B¹ on cach side of
the joint passing through it and the webs of both sections, and have the
bolt holes in these slightly open or oblong to admit of expansion and
contraction, all as shown particularly in Figures 1, 2, and 3, and with
the end joints and fish plates b, B, on opposite sides alternately, as

page_text: shown in Figures 4 and 5, the continuous rail A so jointed being
preferably inserted and fixed into their chairs Z between the fish plates B,
and shown in Figures 4 and 5.
---
In these Figures 1 to 5 just described the joint a* at the upper and
lower bearing part is shown exactly in the centre 1 1 of the rail with
the recess a², and projecting tongue or ridge a¹ equidistant from that
centre, so that both halves or sections of the rails are equal and similar
and rolled or formed by the same rollers so as to fit into each other when
inverted, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1ª is similar to Figure 1, except that the joint a on the upper
and lower bearing surfaces is thrown slightly to each opposite side of the
central line 1 1; while in Figure 1' two narrow recesses and tongues
or feathers a³, a¹, are shown near the top and bottom of the thick part
of the rail with the joint as in the middle coinciding with the centre
line 1 1; otherwise this modification is the same as Figure 1°,
with the upper and under joint a* on opposite sides of the centre
line 1-1.
---
Figure 1 is shown with two recesses or checks at top and bottom with
the joint a* on opposite sides of the centre line 1---1, but has the
centre joint a cut angularly to reverse sides of the centre linc, so as to
form angled checks a", a³, as equivalents for the square ones shown in
Figures 1, 1º, and 1', for holding the two parts of the rail a, a¹, from
shifting vertically when bolted together, as shown in Figures 1, 2,
and 3.
--
In these modifications both halves of the rail are the same as each
other, and can be rolled in the same grooves and rollers; in Figure 1ª,
however, this is not the case, two narrow grooves being formed in the
upper and lower thick part of the one-half a¹ of the rail with the joints a*
on the same side of the centre line 1. 1, and with the centre joint a³
parallel to and on the opposite side of the centre line, thus forming a
long shallow recess a² in the middle or web part of the other half a of
the rail, so that the two parts or halves a and a¹ of these rails being of
different forms must be rolled in different grooves or rollers, and in this
case the lower head of the rail might be made of a different size or shape
from the upper head, as shown with a small head in red lines in this
Figure 1ª.

page_text: ---
Figure 6 shows a rail with a small head below with the joint a, a³,
coinciding with the centre line 1- 1, and with the two feathers a
formed in one-half a of the rail fitting into two corresponding grooves a²
in the upper and lower thick part of the other half a, the feathers and
grooves
in this case being shown rounded instead of square, as in the
former Figures.
Figure 7 shows a modification analogous to Figure 6, but with a
square head below and one rounded feather and groove a", a³, formed in
the upper head part of the rail, and a square feather and recess in the
lower part, and Figure 8 shows a corresponding rail A with a dovetailed
head below, and only one feather and groove in the upper head of the
rail, and with the joint a* formed on the opposite side of the centre line
to the feather and groove.
Figure 9 shows a single-headed frail A with a broad horizontal web a*
below for fixing it to its sleepers without chairs, and having the feathers
and recesses a¹¹, a², and joints a*, a³, formed otherwise as described in
reference to and shown in Figure 1ª.
Figures 10 and 11 show a double-headed reversible rail A with the
two parts or halves a, a, made with the heads solid above and below,
and jointed only in the middle of the central vertical web, either with
the joint a plain coinciding with the line 1---1, as shown in Figure 10;
or with the broad feathers a" and grooves a² on cach side of the centre
line 1 1, as shown in Figure 11.
Figure 12 shows a single-headed rail A with a broad lower flange as
in Figure 9, but otherwise made with the solid head and central joint a³,
as shown in Figure 10.
Figures 13 and 14 show single solid headed rails a, a', with dovetailed
heads below, the former with a central joint a³ and recess a² formed in
the middle of the web between the upper and lower heads, into which a
fcather web a is fitted to form the other half of the vertical web of the
rail A, or otherwise, as shown in Figure 14, the half a¹ might extend to
- 1, or
the bottom, either with the joint coinciding with the line 1.
with a recess a² in the lower head part, as shown in red lines in Figure 14.
In all these Figures, 6 to 14, the two parts a and a¹ of the rails A are
firmly secured and "fished together by the fish plates B and screw
bolts B', as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, and the two parts a, a², being
different would require to be made in different grooved rollers, with the
"

page_text: exception of Figures 10 and 11, which have the upper and lower parts
of the rail alike, and which would enable them to be formed in the same
grooved rollers.
Figures 15, 16, and 17, show transverse vertical sections of rails con-
structed under another modification of my said Invention. In this case,
instead of the two halves of the rail being made with corresponding
tongues or feathers and grooves respectively fitting into each other, both
halves of the rail are made with corresponding grooves a², which when
the halves are laid together form a longitudinal recess in the centre
joint, and which may either be square, rectangular, oval, round, or other
shape as desired, and a longitudinal tongue, bar, or rod of iron or steel c
is made to fit and fill, and laid or passed into this recess before the two
halves of the rail are bolted together.
Figure 15 shows a two-headed rail with the top one solid as in
Figures 10 to 14, made in two halves a, a¹, up the centre joint 1---1
(but it might be made with the joint up through the head also, as in
Figure 6), and has the said separato longitudinal, oval, or oblong
feather c, placed in the grooves a² formed transversely in the thick parts
of the lower head, as a tongue or key to prevent the two parts a, a¹, of
the rail from shifting.
- -- ->
""
Figure 16 also shows a double-headed rail with the joint up the
centre 1 1, and the broad grooves formed vertically in both
halves a, a¹, of the rails with the feather c in the form of long "fishing'
bars, as well as keys for holding the two parts a, a', of the rails from
shifting laterally, either in the vertical direction of the joints or sideways
when bolted together.
-
Figure 17 shows a solid single-headed rail with broad base a' made in
two parts a, a¹, up the centre 1 - 1 of the vertical web with the central
feather or "fishing" bar c between them. When the two parts a and a'
in Figures 16 and 17 are bolted together, the bolts B' may pass through
corresponding holes in these and in the central bar or feather c, and when
the whole are bolted firmly together, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, a
very rigid and secure joint is formed, either with or without the use of
the common fish plates B shown in these Figures and in Figures 1, 2,
and 3. The central tongue or bar c may either be continuous or placed
only across the end joints of the rails as a fish plate; in cither case the

page_text: effect would be a firm joint with an internal instead of an external "fish"
bar or plate.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature and
mode of performing my said Invention, I would observe 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, the mode and means of forming rails for railways in two parts
or halves up the middle of the central vertical web, so as to securely fix
these together as one long rigid rail with the end joints on the one side
opposite the solid parts on the other alternately, all substantially in the
new or improved manner herein described and shown in the accom-
panying Drawings, or any more modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Georgo Lawson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-
fivo.