IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CROSSINGS FOR THE PERMANENT WAYS OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Lloyd Wise at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th July
1867. A communication from abroad by Monsieur Clerc, of Paris, in
the French Empire, Chief Engineer of the Western Railway of France.
I, WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of the Office for Patents, Chandos Chambers,
Adelphi, in the City of Westminster, do hereby declare the nature of the
said. Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CROSSINGS FOR THE
PERMANENT WAYS OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
crossings for the permanent ways of railways, and according thereto in
constructing crossings (which I make non-reversible) I take conveniently
formed blocks of steel or other suitable metal in a cold state, and I submit
the same to the action of planing or shaping machinery in such manner as to
form grooves or recesses in such blocks of steel or other metal to bring out in
relief the various portions constituting the point and side rails and other raised
parts of the crossings, which I in some cases subsequently temper and to other-
wise prepare them for use, the crossings, as will be readily understood, being
in one piece, and being moreover so formed or proportioned as to render them
capable of ready and thorough renewal or repair for farther use by the simple
and inexpensive process of planing whenever the wear and tear (which is more
rapid in some portions, such as the point and side rails, than in other parts)
has brought them to an unfit condition for service. In forming these improved
non-reversible crossings so as to render them capable of the renewals above

page_text: mentioned, I make the depth of the grooves proportionate to that of the
flanges of the wheel tyres and to the amount of metal requisite to admit of the
necessary renewals; hence the blocks of metal to be employed must be primarily
of such size as to admit of the production therefrom of crossings having sufficient
substance to allow for the aforesaid periodical renewals and to withstand the
impact of the rolling stock. I fix the crossings on the sleepers by bolts passing
through the thickness of the metal, thus dispensing with the necessity for
special chairs, at least in so far as regards the intermediate sleepers. In some
instances it may be found convenient to temper the crossings after renewing
them in the manner already referred to.
This Invention enables me to construct various descriptions of crossings,
single or double, and with different angles without any modification of the
machinery employed for the purpose, thus greatly lessening the cost of pro-
duction, while at the same time the inconveniences attendant upon reversing
are entirely avoided, and the crossings are likewise rendered capable of under-
going a much longer term of service than is ordinarily the case even with
reversible crossings before being finally worn out, while moreover attaining
the further advantages over crossings of the latter description that the strain
upon the metal is always in the same direction, and that the bearings on the
sleepers remain unaltered.