IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES WORKING ON THE CENTRAL RAIL' SYSTEM
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Parker, of Leeds, in the County of
York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES
WORKING ON THE CENTRAL RAIL' SYSTEM."
Scaled the 21st September 1869, and dated the 27th March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Parker at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th March 1869.
I, FREDERICK PARKER, of Leeds, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE
ENGINES WORKING ON THE CENTRAL RAIL' SYSTEM," to be as follows:-
My Invention has reference to that system of propulsion or traction
by locomotive engines wherein two pairs of horizontal wheels driven
by steam cylinders are made to grip a central rail between them in
order to obtain greater adhesion than by the ordinary driving wheels,
such as the system described in the Specifications to J. B. Fell's Patents,
No. 227 of 1963, 3142 of 1963, 2171 of 1966, and 766 of 1868.

page_text: My Invention consists in arranging two steam cylinders in the centre
line of the engine, the one in front and the other behind the gripping
wheels, and connecting the piston rod of the one cylinder to two cranks
on the two gripping wheels nearest to it, arranged at or about right
angles to two other cranks on the other two gripping wheels to which
they are coupled with two pair of coupling rods, and to which cranks
the piston rod of the other cylinder is connected, so that the piston of
the one cylinder being at end stroke, the other will be at or about half
stroke, and therefore by the coupling of the gripping wheels the engine
that is for the time at or about half stroke will be enabled readily
to assist the other engine which is at end stroke over the dead centres..
I prefer to arrange the gripping wheels and cylinders on a separate
framing or carriage from that carrying the boiler, which system, as
applied to engines with the ordinary mode of traction, is described in
the Specification to Harrison's Patent, No. 7260 of 1836; such separate
carriage with the gripping wheels may be used either as a goods' waggon,
tender, or oven as a passenger carriage. By this arrangement, if the
carriage with the boiler is arranged with ordinary driving wheels as an
ordinary locomotive, the carriage with the gripping wheels may bo
detached from the train when the auxilliary power is no longer required;
or by simply shutting off the steam (and casing the gripping wheels off
the central rail if necessary) such carriage may continue running with
the train as an ordinary waggon or carriage.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick Parker in the Great Scal Patent Office 2
on the 25th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
PARKER, of Leeds, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of March, in the 3
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, IIer heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Frederick Parker, Her special licence
that I, the said Frederick Parker, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick Parker, my executors, 3

page_text: 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 LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES WORKING ON THE CENTRAL RAIL' SYSTEM," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Parker, my
executors, or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Scal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick. Parker, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say :-
My Invention has reference to that system of propulsion or traction
by locomotive engines wherein two pairs of horizontal wheels driven
by steam cylinders are made to grip a central rail between them in
order to obtain greater adhesion than by the ordinary driving wheels,
such as the system described in the Specification to J. B. Fell's Patents,
Nos. 227 of 1863, 3182 of 1863, 2174 of 1866, and 766 of 1868.
My Invention consists in arranging two steam cylinders in the centre
line of the engine, the one in front and the other behind the gripping
wheels, and connecting the piston rod of the one cylinder to two cranks
on the two gripping wheels nearest to it, such two cranks being arranged
at or about right angles to two other cranks on the other two gripping
wheels to which they are coupled with two pair of coupling rods, and
to which last-named cranks the piston rod of the other cylinder is. con-
nected. By this arrangement when the piston of the one cylinder is at
end stroke the other will be at or about half stroke, and, therefore, by,
the coupling of the gripping wheels the engine that is for the time
being at or about half stroke will be enabled readily to assist, the other
engine which is at end stroke over the dead centres..

page_text: I prefer to arrange the gripping wheels and cylinders on a separato
framing or carriage from that carrying the boiler, which system, as
applied to engines with the ordinary mode of traction, is described in
tne Specification to Harrison's Patent, No. 7260 of 1836, such separate
carriage with the gripping wheels may be used either as a goods' wagon,
tender, or even as a passenger carriage. By this arrangement, if the
carriage with the boiler is arranged with ordinary driving wheels as an
ordinary locomotive, the carriage with the gripping wheels may be
detached from the train when the auxilliary power is no longer
required; or by simply shutting off the steam (and casing the gripping
wheels off the central rail if necessary) such carriage may continuo.
running with the train as an ordinary wagon or carriage.
Having thus set forth the nature of my Invention I will now proceed
moro particularly to describe the manner of performing the same, for
which purpose I shall refer to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Figure 1 shews a longitudinal section, Figure 2 shews a sectional
plan, and Figure 3 shows a transverse section of the arrangement of my
Invention which I prefer to employ. Similar letters of reference indicate
similar parts in each of the Figures.
In this arrangement the horizontal gripping wheels and the steam
cylinders driving the same are placed upon a carriage or wagon G
separate from that carrying the steam boiler and ordinary driving wheels
and engines, as herein-before mentioned.
A', A2, A3, A, are the four gripping or pressing wheels, which arc
firmly pressed by springs B1, B2, B3, B*, against the central rail C. The
shafts D', D, D³, D', of these wheels are each provided with three cranks
a, b, c, a, b, c, &c., of which the cranks a', a, a, a', (sectioned red
in Plan) are the driving cranks, while the others (sectioned blue on
Plan) serve as coupling cranks; the two coupling cranks b', c¹, b³, c³, &c.
to each shaft being arranged at right angles to each other in the manner
usual with coupled crank shafts of ordinary locomotives. The two
steam cylinders E', E³, are in the centre line of the engine and cach
piston rod is furnished with a cross head N projecting some short distanco
beyond its guides M', M, on each side of the centre line, and to the
ends of the cross head are connected connecting rods F1, F2, F', F',
(indicated by red lines), of which F and F are connected at the other
ends respectively to the driving cranks a', a², while F and F are con-
nected to the driving cranks a³, a', so that the power of the piston is

page_text: divided between the two driving cranks nearest to it, and these are thus
caused to move together at all times when the working cranks have an
efficient leverage, through such connection by one pair of connecting
rods to one pair of working cranks does not of itself furnish any efficient
mode of getting over the centres; but by my Invention I accomplish
this most important object, firstly, by coupling the first pair of crank
shafts D', D', respectively to the second pair of crank shafts D³, D',
belonging to the second steam cylinder E³ by means of the before-
mentioned coupling cranks at right angles on each shaft and coupling
rods P1, P2, P3, P', (shewn in blue lines), and, secondly, I place the two
driving cranks a³, a', of the crank shafts D', D', so as always to be at
right angles, or nearly so, to the driving cranks a', a, on the crank
shafts D', D. By this arrangement it will be seen that at all times
when one piston is at end stroke (and has no power for the time to
effect rotation of the gripping wheels for want of leverage in the cranks)
the other piston is at or about half stroke, and thus a most efficient
mode of getting over the centres is obtained, and the rotative power is
at all times nearly equal. In addition to this the engine can start at
any moment with its full load, which has never hitherto been the case
with engines working solely on a central rail.
Another great advantage that I obtain by my Invention in conjunc-
tion with the power in getting over the centres and starting with a full
load, is that I can turn off the steam and altogether cease working the
engine, and also ease the springs B', B3, B³, B', so as to take the gripping
wheels clear of the central rail, when on arriving at a level piece of
railway it is no longer required to assist the ordinary engine (which
supplies it with steam) in drawing the train; this has never hitherto
been accomplished with an engine having driving wheels working both
on a central rail and on ordinary rails in combination. The upper part G
of the engine is availablo for carrying goods or passengers as an ordinary
wagon or carriage. It is connected by a coupling at K¹ to the ordinary
locomotive engine K, from the boiler of which the steam is supplied to
the steam cylinders E', E', through the steam pipe H provided with a
valve for cutting off the steam, and thus causing the gripping wheels to
act quite independently of the ordinary driving gear of the locomotive K.
The action of the springs B', B, &c. against the gripping wheels is
regulated by means of the right and left handed screw spindle I passing
through nuts on the cross heads J, and rotated in one direction or the

page_text: other for increasing or decreasing the pressure of the cross heads on
the springs by means of the worm Q on the spindle I in gear with a
worm R rotated by means of a rod and wheel T (shewn in dotted lines
in Figure 1). I do not, however, claim this arrangement for regulating
the grip of the wheels as forming part of my present Invention, as I am
aware that a similar arrangement has already been proposed. The slide
valves U to the steam cylinders are worked from excentrics V on the
crank shafts D and D' provided with links W for reversing, as indicated.
The crank shafts are contained in a wrought-iron casing L connected
to the framing Z of the engine, to the outside of which casing are fixed
the guides M', M, to the cross heads N', N, of the piston rods. The
shafts A', A', A', A', are carried in bearings at X and Y in frames O, O¹,
fixed to the casing L, the lower bearings Y being arranged to slide in
the frame O' to allow of the adjustment of the gripping wheel to or from
the central rails, as described.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise arrangement thereof, as shewn on the
accompanying Drawing, as this may be variously modified without
departing from the essential feature of my Invention. Thus although
I have shewn the horizontal gripping wheels arranged on a separate
carriage from the steam boiler, yet it is obvious that they can also be
employed on the same carriage therewith; but what I claim as the
Invention secured to me under the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,―
First. The arrangement of locomotive or traction engines working on
the central rail system, wherein two steam cylinders situated in the
centre line of the engine, the one in front and the other behind, two
pairs of gripping wheels are connected, each respectively by two con-
necting rods to the pair of gripping wheels nearest to it, the driving
cranks of cach such pair of gripping wheels being arranged at or
about right angles to those of the other pair, to which they are
coupled, substantially as and for the purposes herein-before set forth.
Second. Arranging such gripping wheels and steam cylinders con-
nected and coupled as described upon a separate carriage from the
ordinary locomotive engine, or from the carriage carrying the steam
boiler, substantially as set forth.

page_text: Third. Arranging such gripping wheels and steam cylinders to be put
in and out of action quite independently of the ordinary driving gear of
the locomotive, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Parker, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand, eight hundred and sixty-
nine.