AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE FASTENINGS OF IUAILWAYS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to the Honorable William Erskine Cochrane, of Osna-
burgh Terrace, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE FASTENINGS OF IUAILWAYS.
Sealed the 22nd February 1859, and dated the 14th September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Erskine Cochrane
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th September 1858.
I, the Honorable WILLIAM. ERSKINE COCHRANE, of Osnaburgh Terrace,
Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
the Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE FASTENINGS OF RAILWAYS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention has for its object an improvement in the fastenings of rail-
ways. Heretofore in using wood wedges or fastenings in railway chairs, the
same have been liable to shrink and to become loose. Now, my improve-
ment consists in the introduction of pins or rods of a hard material, which
will not shrink transversely through the wood fastenings, so that the ends of
the metal, or other pins or rods may come flush with the sides of the wood

page_text: fastenings. By these means when a wood fastening is driven in between the
cheek of a railway chair and a rail or rails therein, the ends of the pins will
come in contact with the inner surface of the chair, and with the rail or rails
therein, and will notwithstanding the shrinking of the wood still retain the
rail or rails secure. And when using means to hold the ends of two rails
together in a joint chair are resorted to, such as were described in the Specifi-
cation of a former Patent granted to me, the ends of the pins of metal or other
material passing through the wood fastening will respectively come against
the inner surface of the chair, and against the outer surface of the instrument
used for connecting the two ends of the rails within the chain.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Erskine Cochrane in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th March 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, the Honor-
able WILLIAM ERSKINE COCHRANE, of Osnaburgh Terrace, Regent's Park, in
the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Erskine Cochrane, Her special licence that I, the said William
Erskine Cochrane, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Erskine Cochrane, 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 Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE FASTENINGS OF RAILWAYS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Erskine Cochrane, my exe-
cutors 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, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Erskine Cochrane, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention bas for its object an improvement in the fastenings of rail-
ways. Heretofore in using wood wedges or fastenings in railway chairs, the
same have been liable to shrink and to become loose. Now, my improvement
consists in the introduction of pins or rods of a hard material, which will not
shrink transversely through the wood fastenings, so that the ends of the metal
or other pins or rods may come flush with the sides of the wood fastenings.
By these means when a wood fastening is driven in between the check of a
railway chair and a rail or rails therein, the ends of the pins will come in
contact with the inner surface of the chair and with the rail or rails therein,
and will notwithstanding the shrinking of the wood still retain the rail or rails
secure. And when means are resorted to such as were described in the Spe-
cification of a former Patent granted to me, to hold the ends of two rails
together in a joint chair, the ends of the pins of metal or other material,
passing through the wood fastening, will respectively come against the inner
surface of the chair, and against the outer surface of the instrument used for
connecting the two ends of the rails within the chair.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is an end view of a joint chair with the ends of two rails laid
within it, and secured by a fastening constructed according to my Invention;
Figure 2 is a plan of the same; and Figure 3 is a side view of the
fastening. a is the chair; b, b, are the ends of two rails; c is an instrument
employed to hold the ends of the two rails together in the chair; this instru-
ment is similar to that shown and described in the Specification of a former
Patent granted to me, but is slightly modified in form. It consists of a plate
of wrought-iron bent to the form shown, and bulged at the points c¹, c', to
enter holes formed through the ends of the rails; d is the fastening; it is
formed of wood, and is the same size from end to end; it has driven into it
iron pins d', d', d², d². When the fastening is in its position, the pins d', d',
rest at one end against the plate c, where it abuts on the web of the rail, and
at the other end against the side of the jaw of the chair; the pins ², d², rest.

page_text: at one end against the plate c, where it abuts on the lower flange of the rail,
and at the other end against the upper edge of the jaw of the chair. For
securing rails to intermediate chairs a similar fastening is used, but the plate c
is omitted, and the fastening rests directly on the rail.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Erskine Cochrane, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
W. E. COCHRANE. (L.S.)