IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PASSENGER CARRIAGES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton of the Office for Patents
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
PASSENGER CARRIAGES."-A communication from abroad by Thomas Castor,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
PASSENGER CARRIAGES."-A communication from abroad by Thomas Castor,
of Philadelphia United States of America
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th October 1860.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF PASSENGER CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates mainly to improvements in carriages suitable for
conveying passengers over city railroads, the object being to render them both
convenient and light when the accommodation afforded is taken into con-
sideration. To permit of the usual light materials being used for the roof, and
at the same time to strengthen it so as to enable it to sustain the weight of
outside passengers walking to and fro over the roof, a double seat is provided
for the outside passengers with a back running along the middle of the seat.
This seat is constructed on the truss beam principle, and bears only on the
framework at the opposite ends of the carriage. To increase the stiffness of
the roof, without adding to its weight, it is connected with the trussed seat by
pendent bolts at suitable distances apart. To either end of the carriage a
detachable spiral ladder is applied to facilitate the ascent of passengers from

page_text: the platform to the roof, the ladder being so connected to the carriage as to
be readily detached and applied to the opposite or rear end of the carriage.
Projecting from the body of the carriage at each end thereof is a platform for
the driver, and over these platforms the roof projects to form landing places
for the passengers.
The ladder by which they ascend to the roof consists of a central pole or
rod surrounded by radial arms which form the rounds of the ladder, and these
are connected together at their outer ends by a helical rib. The lower end of
the central pole fits into a suitable socket carried by the platform, and the
upper end of the ladder is secured by pins or bolts to the roof of the carriage.
To afford every provision against accidents to passengers ascending and
descending from the platforms, adjustable guards covering the wheels are
brought under the control of the driver, who can raise them at pleasure (by
means of rock levers) free from any obstruction on the track, their position
being maintained by the aid of notched guides..
Above the roof a light awning frame is erected to receive an awning for
protecting the outside passengers from the sun or rain, and around the roof a
hand rail is applied to prevent passengers from falling of the carriage. Where
the roof is arched or rounded it is necessary to place foot boards in front of
the seats.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th April 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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

page_text: Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PASSENGER CARRIAGE,"
being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
O to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):—
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates
to improvements in carriages suitable for conveying passengers over city rail-.
5 roads, the object being to render them both convenient and of light draught
when the accommodation afforded is taken into consideration. The Invention
relates,-
Firstly, to a novel method of constructing the seats for the roof, and apply-
ing them to and arranging them on the carriage, whereby the usual light
0 materials may be used for the roof, and the latter at the same time may be so.
strengthened as to sustain the weight of outside passengers while walking to
and fro over it.
Secondly, to the use of a spiral ladder so applied to the carriage as to afford
every facility for the passengers to ascend from the platform to the roof, and
5 so connected to the carriage as to be readily detached and applied to either
end of the same.
Thirdly, to the use of certain guards applied to the car and arranged in
respect to the wheels so as to afford every provision against accidents to passen-
gers ascending and descending from the platforms, such guards being under
o the control of the driver, who can raise them at pleasure, free from any
obstruction on the track.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a side view of a street railway
carriage, with the improvements applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal
section; Fig. 3 is an inverted plan with part of the base broken away at each
5 end; Fig. 4 is an end view; Fig. 5 is a section of the roof seat; Fig 6 is a
plan of the roof showing two ends of the carriage; Fig. 7 is an elevation of
one end of the same; Fig. 8 is an elevation of the other end of the same; and
Fig. 9 is a side elevation. Similar letters refer to simllar parts throughout the
several views.

page_text: A represents the base of the carriage; B, B, the two platforms for the
driver; C and C, the opposite ends of the body furnished with suitable doors
and windows; D, D, the opposite sides of the carriage having the usual sashes
E thereof; e and e' are the opposite overhanging ends of the roofs; F, F, the
axles furnished with flanged wheels G, G, and turning in boxes j, connected to
the hangers i. The above-mentioned parts are similar to those of ordinary
passenger railway carriages, and will require no further explanation. On the
roof of the carriage is erected a framework H, which consists of upper and
lower chords, verticals, and diagonals, framed together after the manner of an
ordinary truss frame girder, the framework being curved on the top and
divided into two benches for the accommodation of passengers by a truss frame
back h.
.
This framework, which composes the seats for the roof, is furnished with
longitudinal rods, or is otherwise so trussed, and is of such a length that it is
free from contact with the roof at all points excepting at its opposite ends,
which coincide with the opposite ends C and C¹ of the carriage body.
The framework, however, is connected to the roof at intervals by small
bolts (see Fig. 5), one of these bolts being in the present instance situated
behind each vertical post of the frame on the opposite sides of the latter. By
this arrangement, the whole weight of the seat with that of the passengers is
supported by the ends of the carriage, and the roof is made of the usual light
materials, being so supported by the above-mentioned bolts that it cannot yield
to the weight of the passengers walking over it. A suitable railing f is secured
to the edge of the roof as well as to the overhanging portion of the same, the
said railing being discontinued at the opposite ends, so as to leave openings
through which the passengers can pass to the seats of the roof.
A light frame is placed above the carriage, as shewn in Fig. 1, for the pur-
pose of supporting an awning when required. A light railing also placed
around the roof, as shewn in the Drawings, will prevent all danger to passen-
gers falling off. Where the roof is round it is necessary to place around the
seats a footboard, as otherwise the seats would be too high for convenient
sitting.
In ascending from the platforms B and B' to the roof of the carriage, a
detachable spiral ladder is employed. This ladder is composed of a single pole
I, extending from the platform to a suitable point above the roof. A series of
rounds m, m, connected together at their outer ends by a spiral rib n, are
arranged helically around this pole, and secured at suitable and equal distance
apart to the central pole, the lowest round being at an appropriate height from
the platform situated within the curve of the splash board p, and at right angles

page_text: or thereabouts to the side of the carriage, while the highest round is situated
a short distance below and parallel with the edge of the roof.
The lower end of the pole I fits into a recess formed by a forked strip q.
one of which is secured to each platform near the splash board, as best observed
on reference to the inverted plan view, Fig. 3, and the upper end of the ladder
is secured by being furnished with two pins, one of which is attached to or
forms a part of the spiral rib n, while the other it attached to the pole, which
pins fit into holes in the plates s, s, two of which plates are secured to each end
of the car on the under side of the overhanging portions e of the roof. A pin t
attached by a cord or chain to the pole, passes through projections on the
latter and through the frame of the splash board, thus securing the ladder
firmly to its proper position, which is such as to afford every facility for passen-
gers to ascend from the platform to the roof, the pole grasped by the hand,
serving to steady the passenger during his ascent. When the ladder has to be
removed from one end of the carriage to the other, the pin t is withdrawn from
its orifice in the projections of the pole and in the frame of the splash board,
the lower end of the pole is moved inwards from its recess in the forked plate
9, as best observed on reference to Fig. 2, which shews it withdrawn. The
pins at the upper end of the ladder may then be readily withdrawn from the
arifices in the plates s, s, and the detached ladder removed to the opposite end
of the carriage, where it is connected by appliances similar to those on the end
from which the ladder has been removed.
It will now be seen that when the horses are changed from one end of the
carriage to the other, the position of the ladder may be altered so as to accom-
modate the ascending or descending passengers at the opposite end to that
on which the driver stands. A guard P, which in this instance consists
of an iron frame, with a wire netting, is arranged to slide up and down
on the hangers i, i, one guard on each side of the carriage. Each guard is
arranged in front of two wheels G, G, and is turned inwards at each end, as
shewn in Fig. 3, the opposite ends of each guard being curved, as shewn in
Figures 1 and 2.
The guards rest at one end on the ends of the short arms of the levers Q
and Q, which have their fulcrums on the under side of the carriage, and the
opposite ends of the guards rest on similar levers situated at the opposite end
of the carriage. The two levers Q & Q are jointed to the vertical rod R,
which passes through the platform, and has above the latter a cap conveniently
situated to receive the foot of the driver, who, by depressing the rod, can raise
the opposite guards simultaneously free from snow or other obstruction upon
the track.

page_text: A notched guide T is secured to each splash board for receiving the sliding
spring U, the latter having two lips, by compressing which towards each other
the slide will be free from the notches, but which will be retained by the
notches when the lips are not so compressed. This spring slide may be raised at
pleasure, so that the plate on the vertical rod R may bear against it and retain
the guards in their elevated position without the assistance of the driver's foot.
It will be readily seen that the guard affords every protection against accidents
which are apt to occur to passengers who ascend and descend from the plat-
form without exercising due care. The guards, instead of being continuous,
may be separated into two sets, one set for one pair of wheels, and the other
set for the other wheels, each set being controlled from the nearest platform by
the above described appliances.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improvements in the
construction of passenger carriages, as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I
wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I
claim,―
Firstly, the trussed frame constructed substantially as set forth, combined
with and connected to the roof of the carriage, and arranged on the same in
respect to the opposite ends of the carriage, as and for the purpose herein set
forth.
Secondly, I claim the detachable spiral ladder above described, arranged in
respect to the platform and overhanging portions of the roof, and connected to
the same substantially in the manner specified.
Thirdly, I claim the guards constructed and applied to the carriage, substan-
tially as set forth, when the said guards are arranged to be controlled by the
foot of the driver, as above explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)