AN IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING INSTANTANEOUS COMMUNICATION ON RAILWAYS BE- TWEEN PASSENGERS AND OFFICIALS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Christopher Batty, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Collector, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MEANS OR
APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING INSTANTANEOUS COMMUNICATION ON RAILWAYS BE-
TWEEN PASSENGERS AND OFFICIALS."
Sealed the 15th July 1859, and dated the 19th April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Christopher Batty at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th April 1859.
I, CHRISTOPHER BATTY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Col-
lector, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING INSTANTANEOUS COMMUNICATION ON RAIL-
WAYS BETWEEN PASSENGERS AND OFFICIALS," to be as follows:-
The improvement is designed for the purpose of enabling the engine driver
and others in charge of the train to become instantly acquainted with any
occurrence or accident which may take place in any portion of the train
behind the observer. The improvement consists in the novel application,
employment, and use of any description of polished reflector or reflectors as a
mirror, to be attached or fixed at each side of the engine or other part of rail-
way trains, and so placed or arranged that the engine driver or guard may
detect any irregularity or accident, or passengers' signal occurring in any part
of the train, by its reflection in the said mirrors, and at the same time the
engineer may see before him through a clear glass in a similar manner to that
at present employed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Christopher Batty in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHRISTOPHER
BATTY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Collector, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Christopher Batty, Her special license that I, the said Christopher
Batty, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Christopher Batty, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING INSTANTANEOUS COMMUNICATION ON RAIL-
WAYS BETWEEN PASSENGERS AND OFFICIALS," upon the conditions, amongst others,
that I, the said Christopher Batty, by an instrument under my hand and
seal, 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 Christopher Batty, 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):
The improvement is designed for the purpose of enabling the engine driver
and others in charge of the train, to become instantly acquainted with any
occurrence or accident which may take place in any portion of the train
behind the observer. The improvement consists in the novel application,
employment, and use of any description of polished reflector or reflectors as a
mirror, to be attached or fixed at each side of the engine or other part of
railway trains, and so placed or arranged that the engine driver or guard may
detect any irregularity or accident, or passengers' signals occurring in any part
of the train by the reflection in the said mirrors, and at the same time the
engineer may see before him through a clear glass in a similar manner to that
at present employed.

page_text: In order that the Invention may be perfectly understood and explained in
detail, I have hereunto annexed a Drawing illustrative of the same.
Fig. 1 represents an end view of a locomotive engine and tank or tender,
and shews clearly one method of applying the reflectors, and in the position or
situation which they will actually occupy, being the most convenient for the
observation of the engine driver. In Fig. 1 a, a, are the reflectors, which are
hinged upon or are attached to the "weather board" 6, 6; such mirrors being
capable of adjustment to any angle by means of quadrants and set screws c, c;
or it may be mounted upon an universal joint; d, d, are clear glass windows in
the "weather board," as at present employed, to enable the engine driver or
other attendant to see before him. It will be evident that the whole or any
particular portion of the train may be caused to become reflected in the mirrors
according to the angle given to the mirrors or reflectors, and that the said
reflectors are applicable to any part of the train, the guard's van for example,
where an official is placed to attend to the safety of the train.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood, that I claim the novel application, employment, and use of mirrors
or reflectors upon certain parts of trains upon railways that may be found most
convenient, to enable the engine driver or others in charge of the train to see
and become acquainted with any accident, occurrence, or passengers' signal
that may take place in any part of the train behind him by its reflection in the
said mirrors.
In witness whereof, I, the said Christopher Batty, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
CHRISTOPHER BATTY. (L.S.)