IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS, AND SIGNALS FOR WORKING THE SAME
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Livesey and John Edwards, of No. 10, Park
Street, Westminster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
Sealed the 19th February 1867, and dated the 23rd August 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Livesey and John
Edwards at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 23rd August 1866.
We, JAMES LIVESEY and JOHN EDWARDS, of No. 10, Park Street, West-
minster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS, AND SIGNALS FOR WORKING THE
SAME," to be as follows:-
Our improvements consist in making iron keys for keying up the rails;
these keys are made of any desired thickness and are formed into a tube, the
edges of which abut against each other; in the front of this key we make two
slits about two inches in length from the end; the piece between these cuts is
turned outwards after the key is driven in to prevent it from coming out. Also in

page_text: forming a sleeper of cast iron for a flat bottom rail; this sleeper is made with
two jaws on one side to overlap the bottom of the rail, and one jaw on the
other side; this the centre jaw is corrugated to fit into corresponding corru-
gations on the key; this sleeper is so formed along the centre that when the
key is driven in the rail bottom is made to yield or bend downwards, thus
allowing the corrugations to pass each other. Also in making what is known
as a locking signal apparatus for railway junctions, the main levers of this
apparatus are connected to cranks, which cranks are connected to locking
levers fixed on a level with the handles of the main levers. When the main
levers are pulled over to open the points to allow a train to pass into a branch
line the same movement is made to lock and unlock the handles of all the
main levers necessary to shut up the main line, both up and down, and thus
prevent the possibility of a wrong signal being given. Also in forming a chair
of cast iron, in which a filling piece is inserted between the rail and chair
jaw. A hollow spike is driven in between the filling piece and jaw of the
chair, which acting as a spring forces the filling piece firmly against the rail.
In order to remove a chair without drawing out spikes or bolts slots are
made instead of holes, as made at present.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Livesey and John Edwards in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd February 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
LIVESEY and JOHN EDWARDS, of 10, Park Street, Westminster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said James Livesey and John Edwards, Her special licence that we, the said
James Livesey and John Edwards, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said James Livesey and John Edwards,
our 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

page_text: "
THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS, AND SIGNALS FOR WORKING THE SAME," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said James Livesey and John
Edwards, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our, 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 we, the said James Livesey and John Edwards, do
hereby declare the nature of our 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 Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Our Invention of "Improvements in the Permanent Way of Railways, and
Signals for Working the same," consists, with reference to the permanent way of
railways, in the first place in forming a sleeper of cast iron for a flat bottom
rail; this sleeper is made with two jaws on one side to overlap the bottom of
the rail, and one jaw on the other side; this the centre jaw is corrugated to fit
into corresponding corrugations on the key. This sleeper is so formed along the
centre that when the key is driven in the rail bottom is made to yield or bend
downwards, thus allowing the corrugations to pass each other and hold the
key tight.
Our Invention with reference to the permanent way of railways consists, in
the second place, in forming a chair of cast iron in which a filling piece is
inserted between the rail and the jaw of the chair. A hollow spike is driven
in between the filling piece and the jaw of the chair, which acting as a spring
forces the filling piece firmly against the rail. In order to remove a chair
without drawing out spikes or bolts slots are made instead of holes, as at
present.
And our Invention with reference to railway signals relates to what is
known as a locking signal apparatus for railway junctions. The main levers
of this apparatus are connected to cranks, which cranks are connected to
locking levers fixed on a level with the handles of the main levers.. When
the main levers are pulled over to open the points in order to allow a. train to
pass into a branch line, the same movement is made to lock certain of the
handles of the main levers necessary to shut up the main lines and unlock
the main levers of the branch line, and thus prevent the possibility of a wrong
signal being given. By locking the levers at the handles or upper part thereof

page_text: instead of underneath the quadrant bars as usual, the locking gear is brought
in sight of the signalman, and he is prevented from throwing any undue strain
on the working parts by attempting to pull over a wrong lever.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, we will proceed to
describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be performed by
reference to the accompanying Drawings, in which are represented the im-
provements in permanent way and locking signal apparatus above referred to.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The Figures in Sheet I. relate to our improvements in the permanent way
of railways. Fig. 1 is a plan or horizontal view, Fig. 2 is an end view, and
Fig. 3 a transverse vertical section of a cast-iron sleeper with a flat-bottomed
rail resting thereon.
A is the sleeper having two jaws B, B, cast upon it on one side, which
overlap the bottom flange of the rail; C is a jaw on the other side between
the two jaws B, B. This jaw C is corrugated, as shewn in Fig. 1, so as to
fit into corresponding corrugations on the iron key D. It will be seen on
reference to Fig. 3 that the centre of the sleeper lengthwise is formed so as
to admit of a portion of the bottom flange of the rail yielding or bending
downwards when the key is driven in, thereby allowing the raised parts of the
corrugations to pass one another as required.
Fig. 4 is an elevation of our improved cast-iron chair, having a filling
piece E inserted between the rail and the jaw. F of the chair. G is a hollow
spike, which is driven in between the piece E and the jaw F, and forms a
spring at the junction of the two, as shown in the plan view Fig. 5 and serves
to press the filling piece F closely against the rail. The hollow spike G is
shewn detached in Fig. 6. The dotted lines in Fig. 5 shew the slots which
admit of a chair being removed by moving it horizontally without the necessity
of drawing the spikes or bolts.
The Figures in Sheet II. relate to our improved mode of locking the levers
which govern the switches or points and signals at railway junctions, stations, or
sidings, so as to put it out of the power of the signalman to give erroneous
or contradictory signals. For this purpose our Invention consists of a series of
locking levers, so arranged as to be capable of holding or locking the main
levers at the handles or upper part instead of underneath the quadrant bars as
usual. The object of locking the main levers at the handles or upper parts
is to bring the locking gear under the observation of the signalman, so that
he can at all times see which of such levers are locked, and which are

page_text: unlocked or free to be moved; and when working the said levers he is able to
see plainly the action of the locking gear, as it is all in sight, instead of being
obliged as at present to trust to the machinery being all right without
knowing from actual observation whether it is really so or not. By having
the main levers locked at their upper parts, the signalman in attempting to
pull over a wrong lever is prevented from throwing any undue strain on the
working parts, which consequently are less liable to derangement than when
the stops or checks are placed underneath the quadrant bars or at the lower
parts of the levers. The signalman in attempting to pull over a wrong lever
in the latter case (as is not at all unlikely from the fact of the locking gear
being out of sight) exerts upon it an enormous destructive force, owing to
the length of leverage with which he acts, the locking gear acting as a
fulcrum. In order to resist this great force the working parts of the appa-
ratus have to be made of considerable strength, which necessarily increases
the friction and renders the machinery difficult to work. When, however, the
main levers are locked at the handles or upper part, as under our Invention,
the machinery can be made of a light and simple character, having but little
resistance to encounter, and the friction is thereby reduced to a minimum.
The main levers in consequence work freely and can be moved with ease,
which enables the operator to detect anything wrong with the points or
signals which may have arisen either from accidental or other causes.
In Sheet II. of the Drawings, Fig. 7 is a front elevation, Fig. 8 a back
elevation, and Fig. 9 an end elevation of an apparatus for a single junction,
the locking levers of which are worked by diagonal rods, as herein-after
described, and which is a simple and direct means of giving motion to the
locking levers, but which may be varied.
In Fig. 7 all the main levers, numbers 1 to 9, are shown in their normal
positions, all the signals indicating "danger" or "stop," so that no train can
come on until the signal is altered, and to these levers all the points and
signals are connected. To the lever No. 1 is connected the up branch line
distant signal; to the lever No. 2 is connected the up branch line semaphore
signal; to No. 3 the up branch line or trailing points; to No. 4 the up main
line distant signal; to No. 5 the up main line semaphore signal; to No. 6 the
down branch line or facing points; to No. 7 the down branch line semaphore
signal; to No. 8 the down main line semaphore signal; and to No. 9 is con-
nected the down distant signal which is used to give the distant signal for
both the down main line and the down branch line. The counterbalance
weights B, B, raise the locking ends of the levers or holders C, C, from off

page_text: the handles of the main levers, and they are brought down upon them by rods;
as herein-after described. D, Fig. 9, is a connecting rod between the main
lever No. 3 and the crank E, and F is a rod connecting the crank E with the
locking lever or holder C, so that when the point lever No. 3 is pulled over
motion is given to the crank E and the connecting rod F, and the locking lever
or holder C is thereby pulled down on to the handles of the main line signal
levers Nos. 4 and 5, and the locking levers or holders are at the same time
raised from off the up branch line signal levers Nos. 1 and 2 by the con-
necting rod G. The rods G, G, are connected at one end to the point levers
Nos. 3 and 6 below their centre of motion, and at the other end to the
cranks E, E, and the connection between the cranks E, E, and the locking
levers or holders C, C, is formed by rods F, F, so that the said point levers
Nos. 3 and 6 are connected by a rod F to the locking levers or holders for
the levers Nos. 1, 2, and 7 (which in their normal position are locked, as
shewn in Fig. 7). Hence when the lever No. 3 is pulled over it unlocks
through its connections the signal levers Nos. 1 and 2, and the lever No. 6
unlocks the signal lever No. 7. The above rods and connections are shewn
more particularly in the back elevation Fig. 8.
Fig. 10, Sheet III., represents another mode of conveying the required
motion from the main levers to the locking gear by means of crank rods K.
To these rods are fixed hooks or catches, as shewn at L; these hooks or
catches work in slots formed in the end of the rods F, as shewn in Fig. 11.
These crank rods are connected to the main levers by the cranks M and
rods D, and as the necessary main lever is pulled over motion is given to the
locking levers C by the hooks or catches L pressing on the bars left between
the slots, as shewn in Fig. 11.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we would remark with reference to the
locking signal apparatus described, that although we have represented and
described the mechanism which we prefer for conveying the required motion
from the main levers to the locking levers or holders, yet such mechanism
may be varied without departing from the essential character of our Invention,
which relates not to any particular mode of conveying such motion, but to the
arrangement of the locking gear, so as to be capable of locking the main
levers as required at the handles or upper parts for the purposes described.
And we would further remark that we do not claim as of our Invention
any of the mechanism represented and described otherwise than as forming
parts of apparatus for locking the main levers at the handles or upper parts;

page_text: but what we do claim as of our Invention is, with reference to the permanent
way of railways, the sleeper and chair as described, and with reference to
locking signal apparatus the adaptation and application of locking levers (of
the form described or of other suitable form) for the purpose of locking the
main levers at the handles or upper parts, so as to bring the locking gear in
sight of the operator, and avoid the risk of injury to the working parts of the
apparatus, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said James Livesey and John Edwards, have
hereunto set their hands and seals, this Twentieth day of February in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
WILLIAM SPENCE,
8, Quality Court,
Chancery Lane,
Patent Agent.
JAMES LIVESEY. (L.S.)
JOHN EDWARDS. (L.s.)