IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILS FOR RAILROADS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Curtis Tuttle Forrest, of the City and County of
San Francisco, State of California, United States of America, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILS FOR
RAILROADS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left, by the said Curtis Tuttle Forrest
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 6th June 1870.
I, CURTIS TUTTLE FORREST, of the City and County of San Francisco,
State of California, United States of America, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
RAILS FOR RAILROADS," to be as follows:-
In the manufacture, employment, and repairing of nearly all known
forms and descriptions of rails for railways certain practical defects and
difficulties have been encountered. The favorite and most generally
adopted rail in use at the present time is known as the "American" rail,
having a cross section somewhat like the letter T. With this rail chairs

page_text: are dispensed with, the base of the said rail being very broad, and being
laid upon the cross ties and fastened to them by broad headed spikes. A
notch is cut near the end of the rail on each side somewhat longer than
the width of the spike which is driven through the notch, thus per-
mitting the rail to expand or contract while the flat head of the spike
confines it firmly to the cross ties. Sometimes a plate is placed under
the ends of the rail to prevent their bedding themselves into the wood.
When the rail is thus laid directly upon the transverse or cross ties the
web or middle part of the rail must be somewhat stronger than when
laid upon longitudinal sills resting upon the said transverse ties, but if
the road bed is solid the longitudinal sills can be economically dispensed
with. This rail after having been worn until defective can be turned
end for end, and thus be caused to present a new wearing surface to the
action of the wheels, but it is found in practice that it becomes flattened
or injured at its ends so much as to necessitate its removal before it is
otherwise worn out. The injured ends may be cut off or upset and
repaired at an ordinary blacksmith's forge, but as this cutting off or
upsetting involves the shortening of the rail a re-adjustment of the ties
becomes necessary to correspond to this reduced length when the rail is
laid directly upon the transverse ties.
The great and leading objection to this rail is that in proportion to
its actual wearing surface a very large amount of iron enters into its
structure for the purpose of giving rigidity to or properly supporting the
said wearing surface during the action of the wheels upon it, the whole
rail becoming useless as soon as the top part upon which the wheels
bear becomes worn. This objection holds whether the iron employed is
of a good or bad quality, and if it is proposed to use steel instead of iron
in their manufacture so much steel would be required as to make the
rail exceedingly expensive.
To devise a form of rail that shall have a large amount of wearing
surface in proportion to its weight has been the object of many
Inventions, nearly all of which involve the use of heavy chairs and
troublesome devices for keying or securing the rails to the chairs and
foundation.
The object of my Invention is to provide a rail that shall have a broad
base and a strong web in order that it may be secured without chairs
to the ties or sills in the same manner as the herein-before described
favorite "American" rail, and be in its character so far a continuous rail

page_text: as to obviate the necessity of using even these plates to prevent the ends
from bedding into the tie or sill, and which shall be so constructed or
compounded that the wearing faces or parts may be made of steel or the
very best quality of iron, and be easily renewed at a comparatively small
expense without involving the abandoning or removal of the web and
base, and consequently that said web and base not being subject to wear
may last indefinitely, and that the parts may so break joints and said
joints be so well supported by the parts of the rail itself that the
transverse ties may be placed without regard to the length of any of the
parts of which the rail is composed or compounded, and that in case of
the shortening by upsetting or cutting off of the top or wearing part the
said shortened pieces may be used again without further inconvenience
than that occasioned by the necessity of properly breaking the joints of
the component parts of the rail.
My said Invention consists in a continuous compound rail composed
of bars or parts of three distinct forms firmly and rigidly secured
together by means of bolts and nuts, the top or wearing part resting
upon and being grasped, clamped, and held by the parts forming the
base and web, substantially as herein-after described. The top piece and
the two side pieces constitute three bars or parts firmly secured together
by bolts. The top or wearing piece has a T shaped cross section of
which the upper portion is flat or of a form similar to the "American"
Trail, and is connected to the lower portion by a short or narrow web
in such a manner that the sides of this web form the bottom or inner
sides of longitudinal wedge-shaped grooves that extend throughout the
length of the rail, the upper faces of the said grooves being horizontal
and the lower faces inclined. The lower portion of the top piece is
somewhat similar in form to but many times smaller than the upper
portion. Into the grooves formed between the upper and lower portion
and the web of the top piece flanges project from the inside of the top
of the vertical part of the side pieces. The vertical part of the side
pieces corresponds to the web of the aforesaid "American" Trail, and
the foot or base of the said side pieces to the base of the said rail. The
side piece is provided with a small groove on the inside of its base
extending throughout its length, into which groove fits a corresponding.
tongue on the base of the side piece. The parts are so proportioned that
when the side pieces are drawn together by the bolts the inner faces of
the flanges are brought firmly against the sides of the web, and when

page_text: the pressure of the wheels comes upon the rail the top piece will be
brought down to a broad level bearing upon the top of the side pieces.
I prefer to use a washer formed with projecting blades that enter the
bolt holes to prevent the turning of the said washer, but ordinary washers
may be used if desired. The bolt holes or slots should be at equal
distances from each other and from the half slots at the ends of the side
pieces, in order that the side pieces may break joint. Thus it will be
seen that the side pieces with the bolts constitute an efficient clamp and
firm support for the top piece.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Curtis Tuttle Forrest in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CURTIS
TUTTLE FORREST, of the City and County of San Francisco, State of
California, United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Curtis Tuttle Forrest, Her special licence that
I, the said Curtis Tuttle Forrest, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Curtis Tuttle Forrest, my exe-
cutors, 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 CONSTRUCTION OF RAILS FOR RAILROADS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Curtis Tuttle Forrest, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Curtis Tuttle Forrest, 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
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
In the manufacture, employment, and repairing of nearly all known
forms and descriptions of rails for railways certain practical defects and
difficulties have been encountered. The favorite and most generally
adopted rail in use at the present time is known as the American rail
which has a cross section somewhat like the letter T. In using this rail
chairs are dispensed with, the base of the rail being very broad, and
being laid upon the cross ties and fastened to them by broad headed
spikes. A notch is cut near the end of the rail on each side somewhat
longer than the width of the spike which is driven through the notch,
thus permitting the rail to expand or contract while the flat head of the
spike confines it firmly to the cross ties. Sometimes a plate is placed
under the ends of the rail to prevent their bedding themselves into the
wood. When the rail is thus laid directly upon the transverse or cross
ties the web or middle part of the rail must be somewhat stronger than
when laid upon longitudinal sills resting upon the said transverse ties,
but if the road bed is solid the longitudinal sills can be economically
dispensed with. This rail after having been worn until defective can be
turned end for end, and thus be caused to present a new wearing surface
to the action of the wheels, but it is found in practice that it becomes
flattened or injured at its ends so much as to necessitate its removal
before it is otherwise worn out. The injured ends may be cut off or
upset and repaired at an ordinary blacksmith's forge, but as this cutting
off or upsetting involves the shortening of the rail a re-adjustment of
the ties becomes necessary to correspond to the reduced length when
the rail is laid directly upon the transverse ties.
The great and leading objection to this rail is that in proportion to its
actual wearing surface a very large amount of iron enters into its structure
for the purpose of giving rigidity to or properly supporting the said
wearing surface during the action of the wheels upon it, the whole rail
becoming useless as soon as the top part upon which the wheels bear
becomes worn. This objection holds whether the iron employed is of a
good or bad quality, and if it is proposed to use steel instead of iron in

page_text: the manufacture so much steel would be required as to make the rail
exceedingly expensive.
To devise a form of rail that will have a large amount of wearing
surface in proportion to its weight has been the object of many
Inventions, nearly all of which involve the use of heavy chairs and
troublesome devices for keying or securing the rails to the chairs and
foundation.
The object of my Invention is to provide a rail that shall have a broad
base and a strong web in order that it may be secured without chairs to
the ties or sills in the same manner as the herein-before described
favorite "American "rail, and be in its character so far a continuous
rail as to obviate the necessity of using even the plates to prevent the ends
from bedding into the tie or sill, and which shall be so constructed or com-
pounded that the wearing faces or parts may be made of steel or the very
best quality of iron, and be easily renewed at a comparatively small expense
without involving the abandoning or renewal of the web and base, and
consequently that said web and base not being subject to wear may last
indefinitely, and that the parts may so break joints and the said joints
be so well supported by the parts of the rail itself that the transverse
ties may be placed without regard to the length of any of the parts of
which the rail is composed or compounded, and that in case of the
shortening, by upsetting or cutting off of the top or wearing part the
said shortened pieces may be used again without further inconvenience
than that occasioned by the necessity of properly breaking the joints of
the component parts of the rail.
My said Invention consists in a continuous compound rail composed
of bars or parts of three distinct forms firmly and rigidly secured
together by means of bolts and nuts, the top or wearing part resting
upon and being grasped, clamped, and held by the parts forming the
base and web, substantially as herein-after described.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved rail; Figure 2 shews the
under side of the same; Figure 3 is a transverse section of the said rail;
Figure 4 is an edge view of an improved washer that may be used
under the nuts of the bolts employed therewith. Like letters indicate
the same parts in all of the Figures.
A is the ton piece, and B and C the two side pieces constituting the

page_text: three bars or parts, which are firmly secured together by bolts D. The
top or wearing piece A has a T shaped cross section, of which the upper
portion a is flat or of a form similar to the American Trail, and is
connected to the lower portion by a short or narrow web 6 in such a
manner that the sides of this web form the bottom or inner sides of
longitudinal wedge-shaped grooves that extend throughout the length
of the rail; the upper faces of the said grooves being horizontal, and
the lower faces inclined. The lower portion c of the top piece A is
somewhat similar in form to but many times smaller than the upper
portion a. Into the grooves formed between the upper and lower portions
and the web of the piece A fit flanges d projecting from the inside of
the top of the vertical part e of the side pieces. The vertical part of the
side pieces e corresponds to the web of the "American" T rail, and the
foot or base of the said side pieces to the base of the said rail. The side
piece B is provided with a small groove on the inside of its base g
extending throughout its length, into which groove fits a corresponding
tongue fon the base h of the side piece c. The parts are so proportioned
that when the side pieces are drawn together by the bolts D the inner
faces of the flanges d are brought firmly against the sides of the web b;
and when the pressure of the wheels comes upon the rail the piece A. will
be brought down to a broad level bearing upon the top of the side pieces
B and C; E is a washer having projecting blades i that enter the bolt
holes to prevent the turning of the said washer; but ordinary washers
may be used if preferred. The bolt holes or slots ; should be at equal
distances from each other and from the half slots at the ends of the side
pieces in order that the side pieces may break joints, as shewn in the
Drawings. Thus it will be seen that the side pieces B and C with the
bolts D constitute an efficient clamp and firm support for the top
piece A.
From the foregoing description it is obvious that a rail constructed
according to my Invention will if nut together with
proner rocard to

page_text: Second. The side pieces B and C in combination with the bolts D,
substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.
Third. The top piece A having the longitudinal groove substantially
as described and for the purpose set forth.
Fourth. The employment for railway purposes of a rail composed of
the three parts A, B, C, secured by the bolts D, substantially as described
and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Curtis Tuttle Forrest, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
CURTIS TUTTLE FORREST.
(L.S.)