CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILS FOR RAILWAYS, AND IN THE MANNER OF SECURING THEM
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EGBERT
HEDGE, formerly of Number 7, Howard Street, in the Parish of Saint
Clements Danes, and County of Middlesex, now residing at the Commercial
Hotel, Blackfriars Road, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand.
eight hundred and forty-seven, in the tenth year of Her reign, did give and
grant unto me, the said Egbert Hedge, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Egbert Hedge, my exors, adñors, and assigns, and every of them, by himself
and themselves, or by his and their deputy or deputies, servants, or agents, or
such others as I, the said Egbert Hedge, my exors, admors, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, usc, exercise, and vend my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILS FOR RAILWAYS, AND IN THE MANNER OF SECURING THEM,"
within that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, the Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
also in all the Colonies and Plantations abroad; in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso that I, the said Egbert Hedge, shall particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and

page_text: seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Egbert Hedge, 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 these Presents (that is to say):-
My Invention consists in a peculiar form of rail, and in a peculiar manner
of securing such rail in and to the sleeper in and upon which it rests. The
rail is formed with an upper and lower table connected together by a rib, the
upper table being made with projecting shoulders, which rest on the sleeper,
and the lower table to be inserted in the sleeper, so that the rail may be
firmly clamped to and secured in a continuous longitudinal sleeper; and in
order that this my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same into
practice, may be fully understood, I will proceed to describe the Drawings
hereunto annexed, in which the same letters are used throughout to refer to
the same or similar parts.
Figure 1 exhibits an end view of one of the rails. The upper surface I call
the "
upper table;" the under part of the whole rail I call the "lower table;"
and the projecting portions on either side I call the "shoulders." The wheels
of the locomotive engines and train carriages run upon the surface of the
upper table."
The weight is principally sustained by the "shoulders,"
which bear upon the sleeper, herein-after described, and the "lower table"
(which is in fact a tongue) is the main hold of the rail in the sleeper, which,
as herein-after described, is ploughed to receive it. At each end of each
length of rail the shoulders are made with a greater spread than they have at
the intermediate part of their length, and I prefer having them so that where
the separate lengths abut together, as at A, A, Figure 11, the bearing may
be sufficient.
Figure 2 is a section of the same rail where the shoulders are narrower
than in Figure 1.
Figure 3 is an elevation of the same rail, B being the half of a hole or slot
(which the butt of the adjoining rail will complete), through which a bolt or
pin or key or other suitable fastening may be passed, and yet not be interfered
with by any elongation or contraction of the iron rails. The position of this
bolt or pin or key is better seen at B, Figures 9, 11, and 12, where the rails
are seen together, and in combination with the longitudinal sleeper D, D.
On Figures 9 and 12 the "lower table," or tongue of the rail, is shewn, placed

page_text: in the ploughed parts or grooves H, H, of the continuous sleepers D, D,
which are prepared to receive it.
Figure 4 exhibits the cross section of the continuous sleeper prepared, but
without the iron rail. The sleeper consists of two pieces of wood of suitable
scantling and length, with short filling pieces, such as shewn at d, Figures 4,
8, and 9. The parts H, H, may be prepared by what is called "ploughing."
Figure 5 is a cross section of another portion of the same.
Figure 6 is a cross section of another portion of the same.
Figure 7 is a cross section of one of the filling pieces.
Figure 8 exhibits a longitudinal section of the continuous longitudinal
sleeper, and at F is shewn a hole, through which a transverse bolt or key or
tree-nail or other suitable fastening is to be passed, to keep portions of the
continuous longitudinal sleeper together when the lower table or tongue of
the rail (Figures 1, 2, and 3) is introduced into its place.
Figure 9 shews a section of the rail when fixed into the continuous
sleepers.
Figure 10 is an elevation of Figure 9, showing how, the rail being inserted,
a bolt or pin or key, or suitable fastening, may be passed entirely through the
sleepers and the butt ends of the abutting rails at B. The dotted lines in
Figure 9 indicate the position of the holes F, F (Figures 8, 10, and 12), which
are prepared for the transverse bolts, ties, or fastenings which keep the
portions of the continuous sleepers together when the rail is in its place.
Figure 11 is a plan of the rail when fixed in the continuous longitudinal
sleepers, showing the butts of two abutting rails, and shewing how the rails
and the portions of the continuous longitudinal sleepers break joint.
Figure 12 exhibits a dissected elevation of Figure 11, by which the breaking
of the joints may be better understood.
Rails of the form and secured as above described may be made of cast iron,
since, from the continuous support which the rail will receive, both vertically
and laterally, from the timber, and from the manner in which it is clamped to
or secured in the longitudinal sleepers, fractures will be extremely unlikely to
occur, and in case of any fracture the road will not be deranged by the dis-
placement of the fragments. The dimensions and weight of the rails and of
the sleepers may be varied according to circumstances, as is well understood,
but I believe rails and sleepers of the dimensions shown in the Drawing to be
well suited for general purposes. At those parts of the road at which a
change from one set of rails to another set of rails may be required, I adopt
wrought-iron rails of the forms and laid in the manner usually practised for
that purpose.

page_text: -
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I claim as
the Invention intended to be secured by the said Letters Patent is,
Firstly, a rail with an upper and under table and shoulders, as above
described.
Secondly, the securing a rail by clamping the same in longitudinal sleepers,
as above described.
Thirdly, the combining rails with longitudinal sleepers, formed and firmly
secured together, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Egbert Hedge, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
Signed and sealed in the presence of
THO. WEBB,
EDWIN PLATER,
EGBERT HEDGE. (L.S.)
Clerks to Mess. Vacher & Sons,
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of July,
in the year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Egbert Hedge came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Tenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.