A NEW OR IMPROVED METALLIC PERMANENT WAY FOR RAILWAYS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Brookes, of 62, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention
of "A NEW OR IMPROVED METALLIC PERMANENT WAY FOR RAILWAYS."—A
communication from abroad by Léon Ulens, of Antwerp, in the Kingdom
of Belgium, Engineer.
Sealed the 16th August 1864, and dated the 22nd February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Brookes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents with his Petition, on the 22nd
February 1864.
I, WILLIAM BROOKES, of 62, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED METALLIC PERMANENT WAY FOR RAILWAYS,"
communicated to me from abroad by Léon Ulens, of Antwerp, in the Kingdom
of Belgium, Engineer, to be as follows:-
This Invention, as communicated to me, consists in an improved metallic
permanent way for railways, made either of iron or steel, or steel and iron, or
other suitable metal, as required.
The said permanent way is composed of continuous metallic longitudinal

page_text: sleepers or girders of a T-form section or nearly so. They are placed parallel
to the axis of the line, and are connected together at suitable distances by
transverse metallic cross bars or tie bars in order to maintain the accuracy of
guage. The vertical or lower web of the said sleepers lies in the ballast,
and their horizontal webs or wings bear upon the ballast, and on the upper
surface of the said sleepers is formed a longitudinal groove or cavity, the
bottom of which groove is perpendicular to the axis of the vertical or lower
web, and its sides are parallel or nearly parallel to one another, and oblique
with regard to the bottom of the said groove. In the said groove are placed
the rails, the bottom parts of which are shaped so as to fit into the said groove,
and the bottom parts of the said rails are secured to the T-sleepers or girders
on one side by taking into the angular cavity at the inner side of the groove
and on the other side by a nut upon a bolt passing through the sleeper. The
horizontal webs or wings of the sleeper may be of equal length, the outward
wing being bent upwards and horizontally at a suitable distance from the
centre line of the sleepers, so as to form one side of the groove for holding
the rail, and the other side of the said groove may be formed by the inner
web or wing of the sleeper having upon it a longitudinal rib or projection
placed obliquely as regards the bottom of the groove, and so as to make an
acute angle with it. The upper or outer surface of the rails may be of any
ordinary or convenient shape or curve. The said sleepers or girders may be
joined end to end by fishes or cheek plates, bolted or rivetted to the lower webs,
or to both the lower webs and the horizontal wings of the said sleepers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Brookes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROOKES, of 62, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer
and Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Brookes, Her special licence that I, the said
William Brookes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others

page_text: as I, the said William Brookes, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
sbould 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 "A
NEW OR IMPROVED METALLIC PERMANENT WAY FOR RAILWAYS," communicated to
me from abroad by Léon Ulens, of Antwerp, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Engineer, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Brookes, 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 Brookes, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention, as communicated to me, consists in an improved metallic
permanent way for railways, made either of iron or steel, or steel and iron, or
other suitable metal, as required.
The said permanent way is composed of continuous metallic longitudinal
sleepers or girders of a T-form section or nearly so. They are placed parallel
to the axis of the line and are connected together at suitable distances by
transverse metallic cross bars or tie bars, in order to maintain the accuracy of
gauge. The vertical or lower web of the said sleepers lies in the ballast, and
their horizontal webs or wings bear upon the ballast, and on the upper
surface of the said sleepers is formed a longitudinal groove or cavity, the
bottom of which groove is perpendicular to the axis of the vertical or lower
web, and its sides are parallel or nearly parallel to one another and oblique
with regard to the bottom of the said groove. In the said groove are placed
the rails, the bottom parts of which are shaped so as to fit into the said
groove, and the bottom parts of the said rails are secured to the T-sleepers or
girders on one side by taking into the angular cavity at the inner side of the
groove, and on the other side by a nut upon a bolt passing through the
sleepers. The horizontal webs or wings of the sleepers may be of equal
ength, the outward wing being bent upwards and horizontally at a suitable
distance from the centre line of the sleepers, so as to form one side of the

page_text: groove for holding the rail, and the other side of the said groove may be
formed by the inner web or wing of the sleeper having upon it a longitudinal
rib or projection placed obliquely as regards the bottom of the groove, and so
as to make an acute angle with it. The upper or outer surface of the rails
The said sleepers or
may be of any ordinary or convenient shape or curve.
girders may be joined end to end by fishes or cheek plates bolted or rivetted
to the lower webs, or to both the lower webs and the horizontal wings of the
said sleepers.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention as communicated to me,
I will proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the
manner in which the same is to be performed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING,
Figure 1 represents a plan view of the metallic permanent way; Figure 2
is a longitudinal vertical section of the same through the line A, B, Figures 1
and 4; Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same through the
line C, D, Figure 5; Figure 4 is a transverse section of the same through the
line E, F, Figure 2; Figuro 5 is a sectional view through the line G, H,
Figure 3; Figure 6 is a full-size view of Figure 4. In all these different
Figures the same letters are used to indicate the same parts.
A, A, represents the continuous longitudinal T-shaped metallic sleepers,
consisting in three arms or webs a, b, c, the vertical or lower arm or web c
being at right angles, or nearly at right angles, to the horizontal arms a, b,
which are parallel or nearly parallel to each other. The outer horizontal
arm a, projecting outwards from the axis of the line, is bent upwards and then
bent horizontally at a suitable distance from the centre line of the sleeper, as
is shown at a', Figure 6. The inner horizontal arm b, which projects towards
the axis of the line, has upon its upper surface a longitudinal rib or projec-
tion 6', extending the whole length of the sleeper, and situated at a convenient
distance from the centre line of the vertical web c of the sleeper. The said
horizontal webs or arms a and b, and the vertical web c, are tapered towards
their ends so as to have nearly the same resistance throughout their length.
The abrupt bend a' of the arm a, and the rib b' upon the arm b, form between
them on the upper surface of the sleeper a longitudinal cavity or groove x, x,
the bottom surface of which is perpendicular to the centre line of the vertical
web c, and its sides and y are parallel or nearly parallel to each other, and
oblique as regards the bottom a, a, so that the side makes an acute angle,
and the side y an obtuse angle, with the bottom surface a, x, of the said

page_text: groove or cavity. The upper surface of the projecting rib is perpendicular,
or nearly perpendicular, to the side z, its third side 2 is curved off to the
arm b, or the projecting rib may be made of any other convenient figure so
long as it form an acute angle with the bottom of the groove, and the sides, ¹,
may also be of any convenient form, or may be replaced, if required, by a
series of broken lines or curves; D represents the iron or steel rail, which is
formed so as to fit into the groove or cavity a, a, on the sleeper A, and it is
shaped so as to cover and fit the rib b', upon which it partly rests. It is
preferred that the side of the rail facing the axis of the line should not project
over the side of the rib, but forin a continuous surface with it, curving
down to the arm b, as represented. The outer side of the rail is made with a
projecting foot e to fit into the groove or cavity a, and rest against the side y, x.
The foot e of tho rail may, if required, be made of any convenient size or
shape, according to the mode adopted for securing it to the sleeper. f are
bolts which attach the outer side of the rail to the sleeper; the nuts f¹ aro
tightened on to the foot e of the rail so as to maintain the said foot firmly in
the groove. The bolt head, shown in the Drawing, is formed like a hook,
so as readily to fit the bottom surface of the web of the sleeper; or the rail
may be held in the groove x, x, by rivets or any other convenient mode of
connecting it thereto; 9 are fish plates or cheek plates connecting together
the ends of the sleepers; they may be formed as shown in the Drawing, or
they may be made of any other convenient shape, so long as they maintain the
ends of the sleepers suitably in position. The sleepers are connected together
transversely by tie bars or traverses h, which may be of angle iron, as shown,
or of any other convenient section; they must be sufficiently strong to main-
tain the accuracy of gauge to the two lines of sleepers and their proper
inclination. The said tie or cross bars are attached by rivets h' or by bolts
to the arms b and c of the sleepers.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention as communicated to me,
and the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood
that I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing
from the nature of this Invention, but I claim as the Invention,-
Firstly, the longitudinal metallic T-shaped sleepers for railways above
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, such sleepers being
formed on their upper surface with a longitudinal groove or cavity to receive
the foot of the rails and hold them in position.
Secondly, the shape and arrangement of the said groove in the upper surface

page_text: of the said sleepers as described and represented, the inner side of the said
groove being shaped so as to firmly secure the rail thereto without other
fastening on the inner side of the rail.
Thirdly, the form and arrangement of the rails in substance as described
and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brookes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
WILLIAM BROOKES. (L.S.)