IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ENABLING THE PASSENGERS IN A RAILWAY TRAIN IN MOTION TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE GUARD OR ENGINE DRIVER
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Anthony Pulbrook, of No. 28, Threadneedle
Street, in the City of London, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ENABLING THE PASSENGERS IN A
RAILWAY TRAIN IN MOTION TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE GUARD OR ENGINE
DRIVER."
Sealed the 15th February 1876, and dated the 18th August 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Anthony Pulbrook at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th August 1875.
"
I, ANTHONY PULBROOK, of No. 28, Threadneedle Street, in the City of
London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ENABLING THE PASSENGERS IN A RAILWAY
TRAIN IN MOTION TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE GUARD OR ENGINE DRIVER," to be
as follows:-
-
My Invention is designed to provide railway trains with effective and
convenient means, whereby when the train is in motion the passengers

page_text: can communicate with the guard or engine driver, and a peculiar and
important feature of the said Invention is the actuating of the signal or
alarm apparatus by the opening of the doors of either of the carriages.
The signal or alarm apparatus may have a bell, gong, detonating
powder, whistle, horn, or other means of producing sound. The said
apparatus can only be actuated while the train is in motion, and when
once started will continue to act while the door remains open until the
train stops. I may provide the train with one signal or alarm bell or
other apparatus in the guard's van, or a separate alarm apparatus for
cach carriage.
The object of my Invention is effected in the following manner, that
is to say I arrange friction rollers in combination with the carriage
wheels or axles, and attach to the carriage door any mechanical
appliance that on the opening of the door will cause the said friction
rollers to be pressed against the wheels or axles with sufficient force to
cause the said rollers to rotate. Attached to these rollers are wheels or
pulleys with endless bands communicating with friction rollers with
similar wheels or pulleys at the end of each carriage and projecting
slightly beyond the buffers. When two carriages of a railway train are
coupled the friction rollers at the adjacent ends of the said carriages
press against each other, and thus when the door of any one carriage is
opened it sets the friction rollers attached to it in motion, and that
motion is by means of the endless bands and friction rollers com-
municated from carriage to carriage throughout the train. Endless
bands or belts in the guard's van or engine extend to machinery attached
to the bell, gong, or other sounder or indicator of the signal or alarm
apparatus.
Instead of the above I may use other suitable means for com-
municating the motion of the said apparatus from one carriage to
another. I may so arrange my apparatus that the opening of the
carriage door will cause fog signals or detonating powder to be dropped
at intervals under the wheels of the train, or that the rotation of the
wheels or axles will by proper mechanical appliances attached to the
door cause the bell, gong, whistle, or other alarm placed under the
carriage to be sounded.
In some instances I employ electricity as the medium by which the
opening of the door is caused to give the signal or alarm. The opening

page_text: of the door completes the circuit and allows a current of electricity to
pass from one end of the train to the other. The communication
between the carriages in this case is obtained by attaching to the end of
each carriage a small buffer constructed of metal or other conducting
material projecting slightly beyond the ordinary buffers of the carriage,
so that on the coupling of two carriages the said small buffers form part
of the circuit.
In addition to the above described apparatus it is convenient to have
small friction wheels or other mechanism arranged in combination with
semaphores or other signal apparatus at the side of each carriage door, so
that on the opening of the same the friction wheel causes the semaphore
to fall or the signal to act, thus indicating the carriage from which the
alarm or signal was given, and the said mechanism and apparatus are
preferably arranged to act in such a manner as to show in which
direction the train was proceeding when the alarm was given.
I may provide each carriage or any desired number of the carriages of
a train with levers, handles, cords, or other means inside the carriage
for operating my improved signalling or communicating apparatus
without opening the door.
By my Invention I greatly diminish the probability of robberies and
assaults in railway carriages by rendering it impossible for any person to
escape from a carriage before the stoppage of the train without alarming
the guard. I provide the means for readily giving alarm in case of
illness or otherwise; I prevent danger to the passengers in a train and
injury to the company's property by the accidental opening of a
carriage door whilst the train is at full speed; I provide unfailing means
for determining whether a train was in motion or not at the time of a
passenger's alighting from a carriage; and whether an accident to a
passenger leaving the train was caused by the recoil of the train due to
the taking off of the brakes; and for the giving of notice to the guard
or conductor of passengers leaving a train before its arrival at a station.
to avoid payment of fare.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Anthony Pulbrook in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANTHONY
PULBROOK, of No. 28, Threadneedle Street, in the City of London,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Anthony Pulbrook, Her special
licence, that I, the said Anthony Pulbrock, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Anthony Pulbrook,
my exccutors, 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 APPARATUS FOR ENABLING THE PASSENGERS IN A RAILWAY
TRAIN IN MOTION TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE GUARD OR ENGINE DRIVER," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Anthony Pulbrook,
my exccutors 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 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 Anthony Pulbrook, 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 :-
My Invention is designed to provide a railway train with effective and
convenient means, whereby when the train is in motion the passengers
can communicate with the guard or engine driver. The peculiar and
important features of the said Invention are,―
First. The actuating of the signal or alarm apparatus by the opening

page_text: 01 a door of either of the carriages through the micutum of any suitabTO
apparatus or mechanism.
Second. The utilization of the motion of the carriage wheels or axles,
as the motive power for a signal or alarm apparatus cither in com.
bination with the part of my Invention relating to the carriage doors or
otherwise.
And, Third. The transmission of the motion from carriage to carriage
by means of friction or other wheels at the ends of the carriages, either
in combination with the above two parts of my Invention or with either
of them, or in combination with other means for actuating the said
wheels or pulleys.
The signal or alarm apparatus may have a bell, gong, detonating
powder, whistle, horn, or other means of producing sound. The said
apparatus can only be actuated while the train is in motion, and when
once started will continue to act while the door remains open until the
train stops.
I may provide the train with one signal or alarm in
the guard's van, or with a separate alarm apparatus for each carriage.
The object of my Invention is effected in the following manner, that
is to say I arrange friction rollers in combination with the carriage
wheels or axles, or friction or cog wheels attached thereto, and attach to
the carriage door any mechanical appliance, that on the opening of the
door will cause the said friction rollers to be pressed against the wheels or
axles with sufficient force to cause the said roliers to rotate.
to these rollers are wheels or pulleys with endless bands communicating
with friction rollers or cog wheels with similar wheels or pulleys at the
end of each carriage and projecting slightly beyond the buffers. When
two carriages of a railway train are coupled the friction rollers or cog
wheels at the adjacent ends of the said carriages press against each
other, and when the door of any one carriage is opened it sets the friction
rollers attached to it in motion, and that motion is by means of the endless
bands and friction rollers communicated from carriage to carriage
throughout the train. Endless bands or belts in the guard's van or
engine extend to the actuating mechanism of the bell, gong, or other
sounder or indicator of the signal or alarm apparatus.
Attached
Instead of the above I may use other suitable means for com-
municating the motion of the said apparatus from one carriage to
another. I may so arrange my apparatus that the opening of the

page_text: carriage door will cause fog signals or detonating powder to be dropped
at intervals under the wheels of the train, or that the rotation of the
wheels or axles will by proper mechanical appliances attached to the
door cause the bell, gong, whistle, or other alarm placed under the
carriage to be sounded.
In some instances I employ electricity as the medium by which the
opening of the door is caused to give the signal or alarm. The opening
of the door completes the circuit and allows a current of electricity
to pass from one end of the train to the other. The communication
between the carriages in this case is obtained by attaching to the end
of each carriage a small buffer constructed of metal or other conducting
material projecting slightly beyond the ordinary buffers of the carriage,
so that on the coupling of two carriages the said small buffers form part
of the circuit.
In addition to the above described apparatus it is convenient to have
small friction wheels or other mechanism arranged in combination with
semaphores or other signal apparatus at the side of each carriage door,
so that on the opening of the same the friction wheel causes the
semaphore to fall or the signal to act, thus indicating the carriage from
which the alarm or signal was given, and the said mechanism and
apparatus are preferably arranged to act in such a manner as to show
in which direction the train was proceeding when the alarm was given.
For this purpose I employ apparatus similar to that above described
for causing the movement of the door to press friction rollers against
the wheels or axles. To the said friction roller two eccentrics or cams
are attached by means of catches, so that each eccentric will turn only
in one direction. Above cach cccentric I arrange a rod attached to a
semaphore. One revolution of either of these eccentrics or cams will
force outward the corresponding semaphore; and as one eccentric acts
only when the train is going forward, and the other acts only when the
train is going backward the direction of the
given will be thereby correctly indicated.
suitable devices in combination with the
purpose.
train when the signal was
Or I may employ other
carriage doors for this

page_text: without opening the door. Or I effect the transmission of the motion
from carriage to carriage by friction rollers or cog wheels at the ends of
the carriages otherwise than in connection with the part of my Inven-
tion that relates to the utilization of the carriage wheels or axles as the
motive power.
To carry into effect this modification of my Invention I use friction
rollers as above described at each end of the carriage connected by an
endless band or revolving shaft, and to each compartment of the
carriage I extend a separate endless band passed over one or the other
of the friction rollers or revolving shaft, so that the pulling of the band
in either of the compartments causes the rollers to rotate, and so to
communicate an alarm to the guard's van as above described, which
alarm will continue as long as the cord is being pulled in the said
compartment.
By my Invention I greatly diminish the facility for robberies and
assaults in railway carriages by rendering it impossible for any person to
escape from a carriage before the stoppage of the train without alarming
the guard; I provide the means for readily giving alarm in case of
illness or otherwise; I prevent danger to the passengers in a train and
injury to the company's property by the accidental opening of a carriage
door whilst the train is at full speed; I provide unfailing means for
determining whether a train was in motion or not at the time of a
passenger's alighting from a carriage, and whether an accident to a
passenger leaving the train was caused by the recoil due to the
slackening of the brakes, and for the giving of notice to the guard or
conductor of passengers leaving a train before its arrival at a station to
avoid payment of the fare.
In witness whereof, I, the said Anthony Pulbrook, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
Witness,
HY. JA. NOONE.
A. PULBROOK. (L.S.)