IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILS FOR RAILWAYS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Southampton Buildings, London, Patent Agents, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILS FOR RAILWAYS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Adolf Neumann, of Vienna, in the
Empire of Austria, Engineer.
Sealed the 22nd December 1870, and dated the 27th June 1870:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 27th June 1870.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Southampton Buildings, London, Patent Agents, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILS FOR RAILWAYS,"
a communication, to be as follows :-
The said improvements consist in constructing the rail of two pieces,
of which the lower one forms the base of the rail, the upper one the
head, the latter being fixed on to the former from the side. On the side

page_text: against which the flange of the carriage wheeles presses the second piece
forming the head of the rail extends downwards parallel with the web of
the lower piece, thus enabling both to be easily and firmly connected
together by bolts and splint-like wedges passed through suitable slots or
holes in the two parts of the rail. The lower picce of this improved
rail resembles in fact an ordinary rail with a very small head, whilst the
upper piece may be compared to a fish plate of the length of the rail,
extending upwards from one side of the lower piece over the head of the
same. These rails may be used without any sleepers, each pair being
connected together by cross bars or ties fitted with splints and forelocks,
thereby forming an iron permanent way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Southampton
Buildings, London, Patent Agents, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
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 RAILS FOR RAILWAYS," a communication to me from
abroad by Adolf Neumann, of Vienna, in the Empire of Austria,
Engineer, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Robert Lake, my 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,

page_text: 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 William Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings forming a part of this Specification:-
The said improvements consist in constructing the rail of two pieces,
of which the lower one forms the base of the rail, and the upper one
the head, the latter being fixed upon the former. On the side against
which the flange of the carriage wheels press the piece forming the head
of the rail extends downward parallel with the web of the lower piece,
thus enabling the two pieces to be easily and firmly connected together
by bolts and splint-like wedges passed through suitable slots or holes in
the two vertical parts of the rail. The lower piece of this improved rail
resembles in fact an ordinary rail with a very small head, whilst the
upper piece may be compared to a fish plate, extending upward from
one side of the lower piece over the head of the same.
These rails may
be used without any sleepers, each pair being connected together by
cross bars or ties fitted with splints and forelocks, thereby forming au
iron permanent way.
I will first describe the construction of rail to be laid on sleepers, as
shewn in Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 is partly a section of the improved rail, and partly a view of
the eye bolt and splint; Figure 2 is a view of the same from outside the
gauge; Figure 3 is a view of the same from inside the gauge; Figure 4
is a part section and part plan of the same; Figure 5 is a view of the
rail without the fastenings, and from outside the gauge. Figures 1, 2, 3,
and 4, are drawn to about the natural size, Figure 5 to one-twelfth the
natural size.
This rail consists of the lower piece a and the upper piece b, the latter
being fastened sidewise on the former; both pieces are provided with
suitable holes for eye bolts c, which are fitted with suitable keys d, as
shewn in Figures 2 and 4. The eye bolt has at its outer end a taper
eye, into which the key is driven tight and kept from starting back by
having its split end opened, as shown in Figure 2, to the shape of a

page_text: fork; Figure 3 shows the position of the head of the bolt c; Figure 5
shows the arrangement of the holes for the bolts; it also shows that by
my improved construction of rails I dispense with the use of fish plates,
as the upper and lower pieces can be so disposed as to break joint, that
is to say, the solid part of one piece of the rail covers or is covered by
the joints formed by the juxtaposition of two of the other pieces. In
this Figure the joint formed by the upper pieces rests on the solid part
of the under piece.
I will now proceed to describe the construction of rails forming an iron
permanent way independent of sleepers, the principle of the construction
being the same as that of the aforesaid rail laid on sleepers. In Sheet II.
of the accompanying Drawings this construction is clearly shown.
Figure 6 represents a vertical section of the rail pieces and view of the
fastenings at the side of the railway gauge where the head of the cross
bar lies; Figure 7 is a similar view and section at the side of the railway
gauge where the extreme eye end of the cross bar comes; Figure 8 is a
view from inside the gauge; Figure 9 is a view from outside the gauge,
shewing the extreme eye end of the cross bar; Figure 10 is a part
section and part plan of Figure 7; Figure 11 is a transverse section
through the railway; Figure 12 is a view of the rail without the
fastenings, and from inside the gauge; Figure 13 is a horizontal section
of part of the cross bar. Figures 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 13, are drawn to the
natural size, and Figures 11 and 12 to one-eighth of the natural size.
In these Figures e is the under piece of the rail; f, the upper piece;
g, the cross bar; h, a forelock key; and i, i, splint-shaped keys. The
cross bar g holds the pair of rails to gauge, besides serving to fasten the
rail pieces together; its head end is shown in Figure 6, and its eye end
in Figure 7. The use of the splint-shaped keys i, i, is clearly illustrated
in Figures 9 and 10; the use of the forelock key 4, especially in Figures
8 and 10, whilst Figure 13 represents a horizontal section of the extreme
eye end of the cross bar, into which this forelock key is inserted. The
section, Figure 11, shews the arrangement of the different parts;
Figure 12 shows a suitable arrangement of the holes for the cross bars,
and also the mode of overlapping the joints of the upper and under
pieces, as already described with reference to Figure 5, in Sheet I. of
the Drawings. As regards fastening the rail pieces together the cross
bars can be partly replaced by ordinary eye bolts, like those shown in
Sheet I. In all cases screw bolts with nuts can be used instead of eye

page_text: bolts if preferred, and the cross bars can likewise be screw threaded and
secured by nuts, instead of being fitted with eye holes and keys.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
to me by my foreign correspondent, I desire it to be understood that I
do not confine myself to the exact proportions shown in the Drawings,
as these may be varied without departing from the principle of my
Invention; but I claim,-
First. A railway rail composed of two pieces, of which the upper piecc
forming the head of the rail is laid from inside the gauge on the lower
piece so that at the top it has a horizontal bearing surface, whilst at the
bottom it rests against the inner side of the web of the lower piece, both
pieces being firmly held together by bolts or screws passing horizontally
through them, and the whole constructed substantially as described in
connection with Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The same construction of rails to be employed without
sleepers, as an iron permanent way, the pair of rails being held to gauge
by cross bars, and the whole constructed substantially as described in
connection with Sheet II. of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
E. C. JACKSON.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)