IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARS OR CARRIAGES FOR TRAM- WAYS, AND IN THE APPLICATION OF POWER THERETO
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick James Rowan, of 9, Victoria Chambers,
in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
" IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARS OR CARRIAGES FOR TRAM-
WAYS, AND IN THE APPLICATION OF POWER THERETO.'
"
Sealed the 5th December 1871, and dated the 11th July 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick James Rowan
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 11th July 1871.
I, FREDERICK JAMES ROWAN, of 9, Victoria Chambers, in the City of
Westminster, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said.
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARS OR CARRIAGES FOR
TRAMWAYS, AND IN THE APPLICATION OF POWER THERETO," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the application of an under carriage or bogey
with wheels of different sizes under one end of a tramway car in such
a manner as to form at one and the same time a support for the car
and a bed or base for a steam, air, electro-magnetic, or other engine,
which may be used for the purpose of propelling the said car, while the
'

page_text: said bogie carries also a cylinder or part of a cylinder of wrought iron or
other suitable material so arranged as to cover and conceal the engine,
and to have the appearance externally of being a portion of the car
itself.
The bogey may consist of a frame of wrought iron or of wrought iron
and wood combined, or of other suitable material, supported on two
pairs of wheels keyed fast on wrought iron or steel axles. One pair of
wheels must be so small as to pass freely under the bottom of the tram-
way car when going round a curve, and the other pair which form the
driving wheels for the engine may be made of any suitable size, and
the axle belonging to them may be furnished with cranks, eccentrics,
or other appendages necessary for working the engine. The bogey is
attached to the car by a strong central pin or king bolt passing freely
through the frame of the bogey and through a wrought-iron lug strongly
secured to the end framing of the car. The car rests upon a cylinder of
vulcanized india-rubber, through. which the king bolt passes, and upon
rollers one at each side of the car, having vulcanized india-rubber
interposed between them and the bottom of the car, so as to prevent
concussion. These rollers work upon flat iron rails forming short
segments of circles of which the king bolt is the centre, and of such
length as to allow free traversing space for the supporting rollers in
passing round curves.
The cylinder or portion of a cylinder of wrought iron or other suitable
material which is placed upon the bogey, and which is intended to cover
and conceal the engine must have a radius equal or very nearly equal to
half the external width of the car. And the sides of the car must be so
prolonged by sheet iron, thin wood, or other suitable material as to
cover and overlap a portion of the cylinder, so that during the partial
revolution which it makes in passing round curves no part of the
interior is exposed.
The end of the tramway car next the engine must be so formed that
the cylinder or portion of a cylinder which covers the engine can revolve
sufficiently to enable the vehicle to pass round a curve of twenty feet
radius without the cylinder and the end of the car coming in contact,
and this can be accomplished either by making the end of the car convex
inwards towards the car and the engine cover a complete cylinder, or
by making the end of the car concave inwards, and by cutting off
a portion of the cylinder next the car sufficient to prevent contact..

page_text: The choice of these alternatives will depend upon the amount of
room required for the engine. The other end of the car farthest from
the engine may be of the ordinary form and construction, and may
be supported either upon a single pair of wheels or upon a bogie as
5 preferred.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick James Rowan in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th January 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
JAMES ROWAN, of 9, Victoria Chambers, in the City of Westminster,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the 35th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Frederick James Rowan, Her special
license that I, the said Frederick James Rowan, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick James
Rowan, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CARS OR CARRIAGES FOR TRAMWAYS,
AND IN THE APPLICATION OF POWER THERETO," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Frederick James Rowan, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Frederick James Rowan, 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

page_text: Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
:-
My said Invention consists in the application of an under carriage or
bogie with wheels of different sizes underneath one end of a tramway
car in such a manner as to form at and the same time a support for the
car and a bed or base for a steam, air, gas, electro-magnetic, or other
engine, which may be used for the purpose of propelling the said car,
while the said bogie carries also a cylinder or part of a cylinder of
wrought iron or other suitable material so arranged as to cover and
conceal the engine and to have the appearance externally of being a
portion of the car itself.
The bogie may consist of a frame of wrought iron, or of wrought iron
and wood combined, or of other suitable material supported on two pairs
of wheels keyed fast on wrought iron or steel axles. One pair of
wheels must be so small as to pass freely under the bottom of the
tramway car when going round a curve, and the other pair which con-
stitute the driving wheels for the engine may be made of any suitable
size, and the axle belonging to them may be furnished with cranks or
other appendages necessary for working the same. The bogie is attached
to the car by a strong central pin or king bolt passing freely through
the frame of the bogie and through a wrought-iron lug strongly secured
to the end framing of the car. The car rests upon a cylinder of vul-
canized india-rubber, or upon a metal volute or other suitable spring,
through which the king bolt passes, and rests also upon rollers, one
at each side of the centre line of the car, having vulcanized india-rubber
interposed between them and the bottom of the car so as to prevent
concussion. These rollers work upon flat iron rails forming short
segments of circles, of which the king bolt is the centre, the said
segments being of such length as to allow free traversing space for
the supporting rollers in passing round curves.
The cylinder or portion of a cylinder of wrought iron or other suitable
material, which is placed upon the bogie, and which is intended to cover
and conceal the engine, must have a radius equal or very nearly equal
to half the external width of the car, and the sides of the car must be
so prolonged by sheet iron, thin wood, or other suitable material as to
cover and overlap a portion of the cylinder, in order that during the
partial revolution which it makes in passing round curves no part of the
interior is exposed.

page_text: The end of the tramway car next the engine must be so formed that
the cylinder or portion of a cylinder which covers the engine can revolve
sufficiently to enable the vehicle to pass round a curve of twenty-five feet
radius without any portion of the cylinder and the end of the car coming
in contact, and this can be accomplished either by making the end of
the car convex inwards towards the car, the engine covering a complete
cylinder, or by making the end of the car concave inwards and cutting
off a portion of the cylinder next the car sufficient to prevent contact,
or the end of the car itself may be square if preferred. The choice of
these alternatives will depend upon the amount of space required for
the engine. The other end of the car furthest from the engine may
be of the ordinary form and construction of tramway cars, and may be
supported either upon a single pair of wheels, or upon a bogie, as
preferred.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheets of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) of my Drawings represents a side elevation of
one end of a tramway car constructed according to my Invention;
Figure 2 is a corresponding sectional plan of the same; and Figure 3 is
a longitudinal vertical section of one end of the said car. A is the
under carriage or bogie which supports one end of the under frame B
of the car, and is fitted with a pair of axles C, C', carrying each a pair
of wheels D, D', the pair of wheels D being smaller than the pair of
wheels D', in order that they may be free to move underneath the
bottom of the car when passing round sharp curves. The axle C¹
carrying the larger wheels D¹ constitutes the driving axle of any motive-
power cugine which may be employed for propelling the car, the said
engine being wholly mounted upon and supported by the bogie frame
and wheels. E is a partial cylinder constructed, by preference, of sheet
iron, upon the bogie frame, and made so as to enclose and conceal
the motive-power engine employed for propulsion. This cylinder or
partial cylinder is to be provided with a door and windows as look outs,
as shewn in my Drawings. The roof or cover F of the cylindrical
engine house may be connected by hinges a, a, to the roof of the car,
as shewn clearly in Figures 1 and 3, in order to permit access to water

page_text: tank, gas holder, or other apparatus in connection with the upper part of
the engine if found requisite. G is the pin or king bolt which serves to
connect the car body to the bogie, the said bolt passing through the
framing A of the bogie and through the wrought-iron lug H, which is
firmly bolted to the bottom of the car body B. The end of the said lug H
rests upon the vulcanized india-rubber cylindrical spring or cushion I
placed vertically upon the centre frame of the bogie, through the centre
of which cushion passes the king bolt G. K is a wrought-iron bridle piece
which is bent so as to project over the end of the lug G, and under the
main centre framing of the bogie, and is traversed by the king bolt,
thereby serving to secure the connection between the car and the bogie
frame; L, L, are two supporting rollers carried by vertical spindles b, b,
situate one on each side of the centre line of the car framing, and
passing up through the centres of the vulcanized india-rubber springs
or cushions c, c, (shown by dotted lines) contained inside the metal boxes
or caps M, which are bolted down upon the car framing. The springs c
are supported on metal discs d, which rest upon a shoulder on the
spindle, whilst the weight of the car is borne by the springs. The upper
ends of the spindles b, b, which carry these rollers L, L, play freely
through the tops of the boxes M, according to the load in the car. The
rollers L work upon the flat iron plates or rails N, N, secured to the
surface of the bogic frame and forming short segments of circles of
which the king bolt is the centre, the length of the segments being
sufficient however to allow of free travelling space to the rollers L on
passing round curves.
The diameter of the cylinder or partial cylinder E which encloses the
motive-power engine should be about equal to the outside width of
the car body, so that the sides of the car body shall be tangential or
nearly so to the sides of the cylinder or partial cylinder. By this
arrangement, and by prolonging the sides of the car by means of the
overlapping or projecting pieces of sheet iron O, O, as shewn clearly in
Figure 2, the joint or division between the car body and the cylinder
or partial cylinder is effectually concealed, whatever angle the car
body may assume with the bogie which carries the cylinder or partial
cylinder E. P represents the end of the car itself, which is here shewn
as convex on the outside, but it may obviously be made square with the
two sides of the car.
In Figures 4, 5, and 6, on Sheet 2 of my Drawings, I have shewn
views corresponding to those on Sheet 1 of a slightly modified arrange-

page_text: ment of car, the partial cylinder E being replaced by a complete
cylinder formed with lateral openings to admit of the curved end B of
the under frame or carriage of the car projecting inside the same, as
shewn clearly in Figures 5 and 6. The end P of the car is in this case
shewn as square.
In Figures 2 and 5 the dotted lines represent the position of the car
body with relation to the bogie when passing round a curve.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of
my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be
used or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The combination with a bogic and tramway car connected
together, as herein set forth, of a cylinder or partial cylinder mounted
on the bogic, the division between the sides of the body of the car and
the said cylinder or partial cylinder being concealed by prolonging the
sides of the car, substantially as and for the purpose herein-beforc
described and illustrated by my Drawings.
Second. The interposing between the bogie and the car body a
vulcanized idia-rubber or a metal spring, substantially as and for
the purpose herein-before described and illustrated by my Drawings.
Third. The combination of the rollers L, L, and their spindles b, b,
with the springs c and boxes M, arranged and operating substantially in
the manner and for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated
by my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick James Rowan, have to
this my Specification set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of
January One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.