CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OR FORMATION OF THE HORSE AND CARRIAGE WAYS OF STREETS, TURNPIKE AND OTHER ROADS, AND AN IMPROVEMENT OR ADDITION TO WHEELS TO BE USED THEREON
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, the Honorable
JOHN LINDSAY, of the Island of Herme, near Gurnsey, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourteenth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and
twenty-five, in the sixth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs
and successors, give and grant unto the said John Lindsay, His especial
licence that I, the said John Lindsay, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Lindsay, my exors, admors, and assigns, should.at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and also in His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OR FORMATION
OF THE HORSE AND CARRIAGE WAYS OF STREETS, TURNPIKE AND OTHER ROADS,
AND AN IMPROVEMENT OR ADDITION TO WHEELS TO BE USED THEREON;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said John Lindsay,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertaine the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the.
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Lindsay, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof:-
I shall here observe, that the great desire that prevails at present for
covering or constructing streets and roads with broken granite, or other hard
and durable stones, may be productive of much service to the public when
judiciously applied, and more particularly so when combined with certain
portions of pavement so placed as to bear the weight of carriages and receivo
the action of the wheels, which has hitherto been found so destructive to
streets or roads covered with broken stones only. In order to produce the best
effect from a combination of pavement, broken granite, or other hard stones,
I construct streets, turnpike and other roads, in the following manner, that
is to say:-
Fig. 1 represents a portion of a road or street constructed in my improved
way. A, A, represents a line of granite curb stones laid transversly in the
centre of the street or road, being sufficiently wide to permit the wheels of
two carriages to roll upon them and pass each other; these should be laid upon
a firm base of hard materials, by which means they will form a very permanent
and lasting plane surface. B, B, are similar lines of granite or other hard
stones placed parallel to and equidistant from the centre line upon which the
wheels on one side of the carriages roll. These are to be laid transversly
also, and form on each side of the street or road an even and permanent surface
for the wheels on one side of any carriage to roll upon. C, C, represents a
gutter formed of granite hollowed out of sufficient depth to receive the rain
or other water that falls upon the surface and convey it to the gratings as
usual. By these means the gutters will be capable of sustaining the weight of
any carriage without the risk of being disturbed, as is so frequently the case
in the way they are constructed by the common method of paving. D, D, D, D,
represents the intermediate portions of the surface between the lines of stone
before named paved with the common or usual sized paving stones, but the
method of arranging or laying them is as follows:-Instead of laying them
with their broadest ends upwards I lay them with their broadest ends down-
wards, and as each stone is made of a wedge form, this leaves a considerable
space open between the stones; these I close with smaller stones of a wedge
form, which being carefully placed and well rammed down after a sufficient
quantity of fine gravel or grout has been worked between them, will make a
pavement nearly as substantial as a solid sheet of granite, well suited to enable

page_text: horses to travel on safely while the lines of large transverse stones will form a
surface to receive the action of the wheels, and be nearly equal in point of
smoothness to a well-formed railway.
Fig. 2 represents a transverse section of the street or road so formed; in
which the arrangement of the smaller or intermediate pavement will be more
plainly seen. a, a, a, shew the common stones laid with their broadest ends
downwards; and b, b, b; represent the wedge-formed pieces that are driven in
to make the whole as nearly solid as possible. By placing or arranging the
stones in the way herein described, a great quantity of the small wedge-formed
pieces or chips of granite usually produced in working a quarry will be brought
into use and essentially contribute to render pavement with the common stones
much more permanent and effective than any method heretofore known or
made use of.
Fig. 3 represents a portion of the centre of a turnpike or other road with
two lines of my improved wheel tracks formed of large stones laid trans-
versely. The intermediate space is covered with broken granite or other hard
and suitable material; and in order to render the track for horses as permanent
as possible I would recommend the under surface to be covered with rough
stones laid with their broadest ends downwards, as shewn at E, E; and between
these wedge-formed pieces should be laid to fill in the interstices, over' which a
stratum of broken granite should be laid of the usual thickness, and when finished
the whole should lay rather higher than the surface of the transverse stones of
the wheel tracks. F represents the intermediate space of the road between
the wheel tracks madé complété. When roads are constructed in this manner"
they will be capable of sustaining almost any weight, which will be moved.
with much less exertion by the horses, and the great complaint of wear of the
roads will be most materially prevented, it being a well established fact that all
the great public roads are delapidated almost entirely by the action of the
wheels of heavy-laden carriages, and not by the feet of horses. .
The construction of a' cheap and durable railway that might be laid upon a
public road has been very much sought for; yet no plan has hitherto presented
itself that would answer the purpose; but it may be effected with the greatest
ease, durability, and comparative cheapness, in the following manner :-Fig: 3,
G, G, G, represents a line of paving stones laid on the side of the 'road out of
the way of the usual carriage and horse track. c, c, is a triangular wrought
iron bar united in lengths ten feet long and one inch and a half thick; the
end of each length or bar is bent at right angles downwards, the bent ends
being about an inch and half in length; these enter holes formed' in the large
stones H, H, and are made fast by pouring in melted lead in the usual
manner. The line" of stones are laid upon a well-rammed' surface of very

page_text: hard materials, and every care should be taken to make the foundation for
them as permanent as possible, and in this simple way a very effective and
durable railway will be produced. When such a railway is used on cach side
of a road the rims of the two near side wheels of the waggons that are used
upon them should be grooved so as to fit the triangular bar, as shewn by
dotted lines in Fig. 4; the other two wheels may be constructed in the usual
way, as they will have to roll on the line of stones seen at I, I, in Fig. 3, and
for this purpose the stones of that line are made as wide as the centre line, so
that the common carriages may pass on the same line of stones without pro-
ducing any impediment to the carriages on the railway.
Fig. 5 represents a side view of a fragment of the iron rail of the real size.
d shews the end that is bent down to enter the hole formed in the stone, and
being made rather broader at the bottom, and the hole being also rather under
cut, when the lead is poured in, it will be very firmly and immovably fixed.
Fig. 4 shews a section across the triangular bar; the dotted lines represent
the shape of the grooved wheels that are used to run upon the rail, and by
which they are kept in their right course.
Fig. 6 represents a vertical and longitudinal section of a portion of the
paved line that supports the triangular rail; the way it is inserted and secured
in the stone will be clearly understood by this Figure, the same letters of
reference being used as in Figure 3.
Figure 7 represents a line of pavement formed of granite stones; the upper
surface of these are grooved to receive a line of cast-iron plates with cogs
formed upon them as shewn at e, c, e; these plates are fixed to the stones in a
similar way to that described in the triangular bar, the projections on each
plate being cast with it, cach being about three feet long.
Fig. 8 represents a side elevation of a fragment of the iron plate e, e, and
also two of the cogs cast with it: this and Fig. 9 are drawn to a scale of six
inches to a foot.
Fig. 9 shows a transverse section of the plate, the part that is fixed
in the stone is shewn in cach Figure at f, f; when such a railway is laid
down properly, it may be used either with the common sort of rail waggons,
or it may used in combination with a locomotive engine, by applying my
improved wheels to the waggons or carriages.
Fig. 10 represents a front view of a cast-iron cog wheel. The cogs are
formed as usual on the periphery, being about two inches thick, and upon each
side a projecting rim is formed, seen at g, g. h, h, represents a cast-iron ring
made to fit the circumference of the projecting rim g; there is a similar ring
on the other side of the wheel, each being united to the wheel by bolts and
nutts. The front rim has a part removed, in order to shew the cogs on the

page_text: periphery of the wheel, and also to shew that each rim h, h, projects beyond
the ends of the cogs about an inch all round. When a wheel thus constructed is
placed upon the rail, the cogs will gear into those formed on the rail, and the
projecting rims h, h, will rest and roll upon the surface of the granite stones.
It will, of course, be understood that only one such a wheel will be necessary
for a locomotive engine, the other wheel to be used on the same side must be
made the same in every particular, except the cogs, which are to be omitted.
If wheels are constructed as herein directed, without cogs, they may be
cast in one entire piece, and when properly finished they will pass over the
cogs on the rail, while the sides of the line of cogs will serve as well as a
common rail to keep them in a proper direction. Of course it will be under-
stood that it is only on one side of each carriage that such wheels will be
wanted, because the line of granite that is shewn at I, I, will only require
wheels of the common construction.
Fig. 11 represents a vertical section of the cog wheel and the two rings,
taken through the centre of Fig. 10. Where it is necessary that the rail
waggons should deviate from a streight line, the rails may be joined at one
end, as usual, which will enable the driver to shift them at pleasure, so as
to correspond with any new line of direction that may be required.
And I hereby further declare that my improvements consist,―
Firstly, in constructing wheel tracks for carriages on streets or roads, with
curb stones laid transversly.
Secondly, I do not claim the sole right to pave with stones having their
broadest ends laid downwards.
Thirdly, I also claim the sole right to combine a single railway with my
improved wheel tracks, by which means all the advantages of a common rail-
road will be obtained, while the passage for carriages of all other descriptions
remains without obstruction.
Lastly, by combining and adding projecting rings to cog wheels in the way
I have shewn they may be made to support a part of the weight in the
carriage to which they are fixed, while the cogs will be used to propel it
forward, if locomotive engines are used, forming altogether considerable
improvements in the construction of horse and carriage ways in streets,
turnpike and other roads, and an improvement or addition to wheels to be
used therein.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lindsay, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirtieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.
JOHN (L.B.) LINDSAY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the First day of December, in the
year of our Lord 1825, the aforesaid John Lindsay came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Second day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.