AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN RAILWAY. PASSENGERS, GUARDS, AND ENGINE DRIVERS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Heron Hudson, of Melton House, Oaks' Crescent,
Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN RAILWAY.
PASSENGERS, GUARDS, AND ENGINE DRIVERS."
Sealed the 11th February 1870, and dated the 13th August 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Heron Hudson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th August 1869.
'I, HERON HUDSON, of Melton House, Oaks' Crescent, Wolverhampton,
in the County of Stafford, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN RAILWAY PASSENGERS, GUARDS, AND ENGINE DRIVERS," to be as
follows:-
To any suitable part of one or more compartments of a railway
carriage I attach an air chamber, which air chamber is arranged with a

page_text: in any
cock or valve to allow of attachment to an air pump hereafter referred
to, through which cock or valve it (namely, the air chamber) is supplied
with compressed air. To the air chamber above mentioned is connected
a whistle, with which it is put in communication, or the communication
cut off by means of a cock or valve, and the air from the pump may be
admitted through this cock or valve instead of through the cock or valve
mentioned before, but in that case the whistle would be removed to
attach the pump.
There may also, if necessary, be a safety valve
attached to the air chamber to prevent explosions occurring from any
<cause, for instance, unusual heat or overcharging. I also place an arm
suitable position on one or both sides of the compartment to
which the air chamber is applied. This arm or arms is or are provided
with a spring or springs or its or their equivalent in order that it or
they, namely, the arm or arms, may be thrown out into the "danger"
'position, and when it or they are back in its or their ordinary position
it or they will be held there by a catch or catches. To a handle within
the compartment I connect, by cords or other suitable means, both the
catch or catches which retains or retain the spring or springs or its or
their equivalent above mentioned, and also the lever or other suitable
mechanism which works the cock or valve between the air chamber and
whistle, also above mentioned. The connection is so effected that the
cock or valve last mentioned is opened, and consequently the whistle
blown at the same time that the catch or catches is or are pulled back,
and the arm or arms allowed to spring out. The catch or each catch is
so arranged by means of a spring or otherwise that upon being pulled
back it remains so until altered by the guard or other authorized person,
as it is so placed that it cannot be reached by any person in the carriage,
and thus the arm itself, which may be within the reach of a passenger,
cannot be fixed in its former position except by the guard or other
authorized person. The object of this arrangement of the catch is to
prevent practical jokes. I supply the air chambers (required for a
number of carriages) with air by means of an air pump referred to above,
which may be worked either by steam or by any other efficient method.
The air chambers may be moveable, so that empty ones may be replaced
by full ones without causing any delay, as might be the case in fixing
the pump to one not moveable from the carriage.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Heron Hudson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 12th February 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HERON
HUDSON, of Melton House, Oaks' Crescent, Wolverhampton, in the
County of Stafford, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said. Heron Hudson, Her special licence, that I,
the said Heron Hudson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Heron Hudson, 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 "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN RAILWAY PASSENGERS, GUARDS, AND ENGINE DRIVERS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Heron Hudson,
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 Heron Hudson, 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 accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
,i
My Invention has for its object an improvement in effecting com-
munication between railway passengers, guards, and engine drivers.
Within a case fixed upon one end of the roof of a railway carriage
I place an air chamber, made of wrought iron or other suitable material,
to which are fixed a valve and whistle. The said air chamber is filled

page_text: with compressed air at a pressure of from one to two thousand pounds
per square inch (though the pressure even within these limits is not
arbitrary). This is effected by means of an air pump, which is screwed
into the valve nozzle when the whistle has been removed to admit of it.
The pump may be worked by steam or by any suitable method in use for
working the pumps for charging air guns. The air chamber may be
removed from the case mentioned above when it is to be charged afresh.
The valve is opened by means of a lever, which is worked by a cord or
suitable equivalent running along the top of the carriage to which the
air chamber is applied, and being in communication with a handle in
each compartment of the carriage. This arrangement for working the
lever will be better understood presently by reference to the Drawings.
I also place an arm in any suitable position on one or both sides of each
compartment of the carriage before specified, and provide it with a spring
or its equivalent in order that it may be thrown out into the "danger"
position. It is retained in its "safety" position by means of a catch,
which is connected by a cord or equivalent to the handle before named
as being within the compartment, and is therefore pulled back simul-
taneously with the opening of the valve. The position of the catch just
named is such that it could 'not well be replaced (after being pulled
back) by any person in the carriage, and thus practical jokes are
prevented.
By the above apparatus the guard and engine driver are apprised of
any danger in the train, and will also, by daylight, see in which com-
partment the danger is. The arm above described will act as a tell-tale
against practical jokes either by day or night immediately the train is
stopped.
There is no connection whatever between the communicating apparatus
on one carriage and that on another.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, I now proceed
more particularly to describe the manner of performing the same with
reference to the accompanying Drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a longitudinal and transverse section
of a railway carriage (drawn to a scale of one inch to a foot) with the
communionting annamature shown as anulind T. T

page_text: the carriage is not shewn, for convenience. In Figure 2 the tell-tale
arms are shewn full in their "safety" position, but one of the arms is
shewn dotted in its "danger" position. The connection between the
handle and catches which retain the arms will be distinctly seen from
this view, as also the springs which throw the arms out into their
danger" position on being released from the catches.
"
The method of communicating will however be better understood by a
reference to Figures 3 and 4 (drawn to a scale of three inches to a foot).
A is the air chamber; B, the valve piece; C, a short piece screwed into
the valve piece, a little out of the centre of which is fitted a rocking
spindle V'd out in the manner shewn in order that it may press down a
small fluted pin which bears upon the valve. The said pin is fluted or
flattened on one side to allow of the ready egress of the air on the
opening of the valve. The valve, as it is shewn in Figure 3, is of a very
similar construction to those used for ordinary air guns. D is the
whistle, which is unscrewed from the piece C when the pump is to be
attached; E is the lever on the rocking spindle before mentioned, and is
worked by the cord F passing along to the other end of the carriage,
where it is connected firmly to the carriage; G is a bridle retaining a
pulley H, and having a shank to which the handle in the compartment
is attached. From the top of the said bridle a cord is taken and
connected to another cord, which latter cord passes over two pullies
above, and thence to the catches which retain the tell-talo arms
aforesaid.
The action of the above apparatus is thus:-The handle in a com-
partment being pulled downwards, the cord F is pulled down between
two pullies K, K, and being fastened at that end of the carriage which
is more remote from the air chamber, the lever E will descend and open
the valve, and simultaneously the cords passing to the catches before
mentioned will also be pulled, and the tell-tale arms be thrown out into
the position then required.
It will be seen from Figure 1 that whatever handle is pulled it will in
no way affect the tell-tale arms attached to any of the other compart-
ments.
The air chamber A is shewn in a light sheet-iron case, from which it
may be easily removed and replaced by one newly charged; it is kept
from turning round by a button or stud screwed into the side of the air
chamber and dropping into a slot in the side of the case.

page_text: Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim, the con-
struction and application of machinery or apparatus arranged and
combined substantially as above described and for the purpose of
effecting communication between railway passengers, guards, and engine
drivers.
In witness whereof, I, the said Heron Hudson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
HERON HUDSON.. (L.S.)
Witness,
STEPHEN WATKINS,
Patent Office, Brougham Chambers,
Wolverhampton.