IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY KEYS FOR SECURING RAILWAY LINE IN CHAIRS, AND IN THE CEMENT EMPLOYED, WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO SIMILAR PURPOSES AND TO STRUCTURES
Year: 1874

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LETTERS PATENT to John Tugwood, of Beale Street, Dunstable, in
the County of Bedfordshire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
RAILWAY KEYS FOR SECURING RAILWAY LINE IN CHAIRS, AND IN THE
CEMENT EMPLOYED, WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO SIMILAR PURPOSES AND TO
STRUCTURES."
.
Sealed the 18th September 1874, and dated the 20th March 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Tugwood at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th March 1874.
I, JOHN TUGWOOD, of Beale Street, Dunstable, in the County of
5 Bedfordshire, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY KEYS FOR SECURING RAILWAY LINE IN CHAIRS,
AND IN THE CEMENT EMPLOYED, WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO SIMILAR PURPOSES AND
TO STRUCTURES," to be as follows:-
Hitherto railway keys made of wood (of about 6 inches long, 3 inches
wide, and 2 inch thick) used by platelayers for securing railway line
in chairs soon wear away, get loose, and split through being exposed to

page_text: the rain and sun, also by railway trains passing over them and from
the vibration of same, whereby the become useless after 2 or 3
years.
.
By my Invention I obviate all the above. I preserve the keys by
dipping them in a cement of tar, pitch, rosin, and sand, viz., to every
10 gallons of tar I add 2 pounds of pitch and 1 pound of rosin, and boil
the same for 5 hours, it then becomes as thin as water; whilst boiling
I take a key in my hand and dip it halfway (3 inches) into the boiling
liquid for a second and then immediately dab or beat the same into fine
hot sand, I then do the other half in the like manner; it dries as hard
as iron in less than a minute, and not at all brittle; will stand any
amount of blows whilst being driven between the rail and chair.
Neither the rain or sun can cause the wood nor the cement to rot and
split the action of the sun and air will cause the cement to swell at
cach side of the chair, also grip it to the rail, whereby it cannot get
loose or cause any vibration. When worn away through number of
ycars the keys can be re-dipt.
Railway sleepers and the wooden pegs employed to secure the chairs
on the sleepers can be preserved in the same manner, so greatly add to
the strength of them.
For cementing houses, roofs, &c. I put the cement on boiling hot,
having a man by my side to throw with force by hand or pair of
bellows hot fine sand as fast as I lay it on; if by bellows I make a hole
on the back of it near the handle, into the orifice I put hot fine sand,
filling the bellows about %, full; I then put a cork in the orifice and
blow the sand out on to the cement. By having colored sand or white
I entirely do away with the black appearance of the tar and pitch.
(The sand can be added whilst in the process of boiling but not with so
good a result.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Tugwood, Her special
license that I, the said John Tugwood, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Tugwood, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAILWAY KEYS FOR SECURING RAILWAY LINE IN. .CHAIRS, AND IN THE CEMENT
EMPLOYED, WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO SIMILAR PURPOSES AND TO STRUCTURES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Tugwood,
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 John Tugwood, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
Hitherto the railway keys used for securing a line of railway to the
chairs have been very liable to get loose, split, and decay, both through
being exposed to the rain and sun, and from the passage of the trains
over them and the great vibration incidental thereto, whereby they
become uscless after two or three years.
Now to obviate these disadvantages and in order to preserve the keys
from the detrimental effects of such exposure and vibration I coat them
over with a cement which effectually preserves them from the injurious
effects of the weather, and to a considerable degree lessens, if it does not
totally prevent, the vibration which accompanies the passage of trains
over the line of railway. The cement is composed of a mixture of tar,
pitch, turps, resin, and sand in the following proportions, vizt., to one

page_text: gallon of tar I add 1lb. of pitch, 1 quart of turps, and 1lb. of resiu; I
boil the same until it becomes a liquid, and I then dip the railway keys
therein a sufficient number of times to coat them thoroughly with the
cement; as it dries it obtains greater hardness without becoming brittle,
and the keys so preserved will stand any amount of blows whilst being 5
driven in between the rail and chair without sustaining any injury.
therefrom; while another advantage is that the action of the sun and
air causes the cement to swell at each side and grips it to the chair,
thereby causing it to obtain a firmer hold than heretofore and thus
preventing vibration arising from the passage of trains, as above 1
mentioned; and when the cement wears away the key has only to be
re-dipped in the cement to render it as good as it was before, and it may
thus be preserved from decay for an indefinite period of time.
My improved cement is equally adapted to preserve railway sleepers,
.telegraph posts, iron or brickwork, the bottoms of ships and boats, the 1
roofs and walls of houses and other buildings, and in fact anything
which requires to be rendered impervious to the action of wet or
damp.
In applying my improved cement to the roofs and walls of houses or
other buildings, I proceed as follows:-I apply the cement in a liquid 2
state by means of a brush to a surface of about 4 or 5 feet square (but
I regulate the extent of surface according to the state of the atmosphere,
a smaller surface being desirable in cold than in warm weather), and
whilst still warm I cover the surface so cemented with sand or grit in
order to obviate the bright black appearance which the cement assumes 2
when dry. This application of sand or grit is also of advantage when
the cement is applied to telegraph posts, as the roughness of surface thus
produced assists in maintaining it in the ground in the required position
by causing it take a firmer hold.
My improved cement is also particularly valuable for preserving the 8
bottoms of ships and boats, or of anything exposed to the continuous
action of wet and weather as it is thoroughly impervious to the corrosive
action of salt water.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
means of carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood a
that what I claim is the manufacture and use of the cement sub-

page_text: stantially in the manner and for the purposes herein-before set forth and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Tugwood, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this 11th day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.