A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OR METHODS OF CONVEYING GOODS, PASSENGERS, OR INTELLIGENCE
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LAWRENCE
HOLKER POTTS, of Greenwich, in the County of Kent, Doctor of Medicine,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen, Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of February, in the sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Lawrence Holker Potts, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Lawrence
Holker Potts, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, and such others as I, the
said Lawrence Holker Potts, my exors, admors, or 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,
use, exercise, and vend, within that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention "A NEW OR IMPROVED
METHOD OR METHODS OF CONVEYING GOODS, PASSENGERS, OR INTELLIGENCE;" in
which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso,--that I, the said
Lawrence Holker Potts, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date

page_text: of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Lawrence Holker Potts, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
ascertained and described in and by the following Specification thereof,
reference being had to the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, marked A
and B, that is to say:-
The methods of conveyance secured by these Letters Patent are not
subversive of or incompatible with the ordinary mode of railway conveyance,
but on the contrary may advantageously precede, assist, and accompany them.
In the first place, I construct, for the transmission of letters, parcels, -and-
persons, a railway consisting of metallic rods or wires stretched from one place
to another, united by metallic joints or clenches, or by any other suitable
means. A clinch for this purpose is shewn at Figure A, Sheet A. The ends
of the two lengths of wires a, a, intended to be clenched together, are carried
round washers b, b, fixed between two iron plates c, c, and bent sharply down
upon the outer ends of the plates, and twisted, if necessary. Instead of wire
strap or rolled iron may be employed to form the rails, and in that case the
lengths of of iron may be joined in the manner represented in Figures B and
C, Sheet A. Figure B is a side elevation, and C a sectional elevation; d is a
vertical piece to which the rails e, e, are to be attached in manner shewn.
Figures D and E, Sheet A, represent two modifications of the plan of
connection last described. Where a series of such unions is formed, I take
advantage of any existing natural or artificial elevations which may be met
with in the line of railway to give stability as well as support to the same,
and at other points make use of wedges, pins, and earth screws fixed deep in
the soil to obtain the necessary degree of tension. One of these earth screws,
formed of cast iron, and turned into the earth by means of a key, is represented
at A, Sheet B. The screw is forced as deep as possible into a hole previously
formed by a long bar worked so as to leave a conical perforation. Links of
iron wire or rod, defended from decomposition by paint, varnish, or cement,
connect it with the tension post or standard to which it is attached. The
standards are of the triangular form, of which several representations are
given in Sheet B, and are either fixed in the soil by means of the earth
screws, or raised on existing buildings or other elevations, or on structures
erected for the purpose. In many situations, buildings for stores or
inhabitancy may be constructed so as to serve as supports for the tension line,
whilst in others a plain vertical support will suffice. I propose to carry the

page_text: railway so high above the roads already existing as to obviate the necessity
for any breaks or gates in the latter. On lines of great traffic I propose to
combine airways with the tension railway; that is, tubes suspended in most
cases above the ground, assisted by and assisting the tension line, to which it
is attached, through which tubes letters, goods, and passengers are to be
propelled, as afterwards mentioned. I carry the airway below the surface of
the soil, where necessary or convenient, by means of tunnels. Although in
general the tension railway is intended to be supported at a considerable
height above the ground, it may also be carried occasionally upon the level
ground where local circumstances render it necessary or expedient. I prefer
constructing it of iron wire wherever that is applicable, because it possesses
greater tenacity than most other substances. I make use of iron tubing,
where stiffness or resistance is necessary, in preference to solid rods or bars of
iron. Wooden tubing may be employed with advantage in some cases, and
strengthened by screwing on tension straps fastening the ends above and
below the tubes, and of course causing the lines of tension to extend from the
tops of the extremities of the tubes to the bottom of their centres. I employ
the wire either singly, or in two or more lengths laid together in parallel rows.
The wire or tubing employed as aforesaid. may be inclined at an angle with
the horizon, forming a slope on which carriages may run by means of their
own gravity. Having arrived at stations, the carriages may be elevated by
counter weights, and again proceed to descend and progress as before. In
some cases I impel the carriage at starting by means of inclined planes, or
by the descent of a weight connected by a rope and fusee to the carriage, in
the manner represented in Figures F¹ and F, Sheet A. I keep up the
velocity by means of human muscular effort, condensed air, the extrication of
gases, steam, or by any other suitable motive power. The combination of the
airways with the tension line has this great recommendation, that advantage
may be taken of the wind in one direction, and progression in an opposite
direction meet with little resistance. The carriages are protected from the
weather, conveying a portion of the atmosphere with them. When the wind
is favorable, sails are rigged out to give impluse to the carriages travelling on
the outer or upper tension rails; and in some situations, where the wind shifts
little for a season, the power of transit thus rendered available may be
important. By connecting balloons to the railway cars, as shown at B,
Sheet B, on their receiving impulse from superior strata of the atmosphere,
they will, by means of the pied-a-terre afforded by the railway, become of
greater utility than they have hitherto been: The line or rope of traction
should be connected by a safety line to a valve, so that the hydrogen might be

page_text: are
allowed to escape when necessary. The carriages which run on the tension
rails are made as light as is consistent with the purposes to which they
applied, and the weight is distributed over a large extent of surface. A side
elevation and section of one of these carriages, adapted to a single line of
railway, is given in Figures C and D, Sheet B. a, a, are grooved wheels,
which run on the rail 6; and c, one of the boxes for holding the letters or other
articles conveyed, of which boxes there are two, one on each side. The
construction of a carriage for travelling through the air tubes is shewn in
Figures G, H, I, Sheet A. G is a side elevation; H, an end view; and I; á top
view. A prominent feature of this combined tension and air way is that,
being for the most part suspended over the country which it traverses, a useful
shelter rather than inconvenience is afforded to feeding stock, agricultural
operations are unimpeded, and fences and enclosures are not interfered with.
At suitable distances the railway must, as before stated, be supported on
towers or posts or pillars or iron frames; but other standards and means must
be provided at each turning or resting point for maintaining the railway
between that and the next adjacent resting point in a state of tension. Where
new artificial structures must be erected for the support of a railway, I propose
that they should consist of iron, and wherever practicable be turned to other
useful purposes, such as dwelling houses, belfries, mills, &c. Iron structures
of this sort would be cheap, undestructible by fire, and, if properly painted or
varnished, very durable. When supports of no great elevation are required;
poles with cross heads may serve the purpose, each braced and secured to
a large iron male screw, by which it is to be made fast in the ground, such as
represented at A, Sheet B, and before described. Where turnings or
deviations have to be made in a line of railway to avoid 'insurmountable
impediments, I drop for the occasion the tension principle, and form the curve
in the ordinary way; but wherever it is practicable I prefer establishing a
terminous or station at any point where a deviation from a straight line
occurs. The airways may consist of single tubes, but I prefer having two
tubes with a space between them, which may be appropriated to "the
holding of electro-magnetic wires of communication, gas pipes, water pipes,
and steam pipes, or other purposes. The insulation and protection afforded
these tubes being so perfect, they will convey water pipes in a position
most useful for extinguishing fires. To keep them from freezing in cold
weather, the middle water pipe, being emptied, may be made a steam pipe
of, or a circulation of hot water may be carried on in it.
In Sheet B of the Drawings hereunto annexed are shewn several lengths,
1, 2, 3, of a tension railway erected on the plan before described; and with air

page_text: tubes also attached to it. d, d, d, are the tension rails; e, e, e, air tubes; f. f. f,
stations; 9, 9, 9, standards of the description before mentioned as being held to
the ground by earth screws or raised upon buildings. Figure K of Sheet A
represents a transverse view of the railway and its appliances as carried over
and supported by an iron house built for the purpose, and Figure L another
transverse view of it as carried over and supported by the standards 9,. g. In
the two last Figures'e, e, are the airways, and d, d, are the tension rails.
The most simple and cheap application of the tension principle is where one
line only is necessary; as, for instance, where letters are to be distributed. The
bags may be transmitted from an elevated situation, in various directions, with
great speed on inclined wires, being sent off as soon as made up; and sails and
.balloons would impel the cars containing the letter bags when the wind'
was favourable. When it was adverse, to give an impulse and adequate
velocity, I propose to make use of pyrotechnic mixtures or combinations of
combustible bodies with other bodies capable of giving out or producing
oxygen and other gases; among the latter, nitrate of potash or any other salt
that may be found effective in giving out oxygen when brought to a high
temperature and mixed with sulphur, carbon, or other combustibles. The use
of such materials I find to be applicable, not only from vis a tergo, or
resistance they afford to the atmosphere from behind, as in the well-known fire-
work the sky rocket, but in consequence of the rapid combustion vaporising
water and other fluids, and rendering them available by their recoil or retro-
propulsive power, and by their action on rotary and other engines and
machinery applied to the purposes of locomotion either on the earth or on the
water, or in the water or the air. If a railway consists of a series of inclined
planes, and the work is all in the down direction, the letter cars may be
worked by the force of gravity, the vehicles, when they reach the bottom of
each incline, being raised to the top of the next by counterweights of
water, sand, gravel, or other material, preferring water for the purpose where
it can be conveniently procured in sufficient abundance. Stores of water,
sand, gravel or other materials might be leisurely accumulated for this
purpose at the summit of each incline, by means of a windmill placed thereon,
as shewn at H, Sheet B, or by a crane or other machine worked by manual
.or other power. If the railway is on a level, or consists of combinations of
level or
inclined parts, I attach the letter box or car to a rocket car propelled
by the means of pyrotechnic mixtures, on the well-known principle of the
rocket. The construction of this rocket car is shewn in Figures M, N, O, P,
and Q, Sheet A of the Drawings hereunto annexed. Figure M is a side
view, and Figure Na back view of a single car of this description.

page_text: Figure O is a bird's eye view of a double car. Figures P and Q are views
on an enlarged scale of the ends of the cylinder part m. The cylinder m is
filled with water; n, n, are tubes or rocket cases, which pass right through
the cylinder, and are securely fixed thereto at the ends by the most approved
means employed for the like purpose in the construction of locomotive
boilers. The tubes or rocket cases n, n, are contracted at the back end,
which contracted end becomes the mouth of the rocket. The other end is
provided with an air-tight door or cover o, which is firmly kept in its place
by the strap p and the nuts r, r. At the upper side of the external case or
boiler, and on the back end, there is a small aperture t, through which the
steam generated by the heat from the combustion of the rockets is allowed to
'issue, thereby giving additional impulse to the car. Although the boiler is
sented as being cylindrical, it may be of any other convenient form. When
the rocket' cases have been filled with any of the before-mentioned materials,
I then insert into the mouths of the rockets portfires of such lengths as to accord
'with the times at which they are required to be fixed, or by means of meal
powder trains passing from the end of the expiring rockets to the mouth of
those to be brought into action.
repre-
On common roads, on the water, and in the air, I propose to make
use of what I call a chiropedal machine, of which an elevation is given
in Figure R, Sheet A. Deeply impressed with the advantage, in a
country so populous as this, of employing manual power, I have con-
trived this machine for the purpose of enabling men to bring their whole
weight and muscular power into beneficial action, not only in the propulsion
of carriages on the tension railway system, but for various other locomotive:
and impulsive purposes, to be herein-after exemplified. t, t, are treadles, on
which the person driving the machine stands with his whole weight resting
upon them; v, v, poles rising in front from the treadles, which he lays hold of
with his hands; and x, x, are guides to maintain the parallelism of the poles
v, v. By pressing alternately on these treadles a rotary motion is commu-
nicated through the double crank Z to the wheels W, W, whereby the
machine and its driver, and any load attached to it, may be propelled at a
very considerable velocity.
In impelling aerial machines, this alternate power is applicable simply
to move or actuate the wings or oars, and so to take as much as pos-
sible the place of the pectoral muscles of a bird. In such a case the
power will be applied by lever, or directly to the wing or oar, & cord
passing over the pulley being used for the purpose; if required, a sail may
be hoisted on the machine, to be made use of when the wind is favorable

page_text: to assist in propelling the machine. The body and frame work of the
machine might consist of sheet iron tubing, into which air might be pumped
at leisure; those wheels which serve for directing or supporting the person
when travelling, acting as fly wheels when he was pumping. I know of no
better mode of communicating power from steam or air than the crank and
cylinder engine with valves or four-way cock. In making use of. the air
tubes, the car may be made of any form to suit the tubes, but should be as
light as possible, and provided with friction rollers or wheels to work laterally
against the sides of the tubes. At the front and back they should also have
a packing all round of elastic gum cloth or any other suitable material, to
prevent the passage of air by the sides. An inclined plane may be formed
at the commencement of the line of tubes, by the descent down which (by
the force of gravity) the car or train of cars may be set in motion, and speed
may be given to them by means of a rope and fusee, or by any other power
acting with gradually accelerating velocity. The friction of the elastic gum
or other packing will not be much, and may be readily overcome by the
action of endless ropes, chains, or wires acting on V holders, clenches, or other
fixtures placed in the top, bottom, or sides of the cars. The employment of
the means just described need not be extended far in any one place, as the
current of air through the tubes will counterbalance the effects of friction and
loss of air by the sides, particularly where a regular succession of carriage is
kept up. Where there are two tubes or tunnels, an endless band may be
made to act in both airways, so as 'to promote a current of air in both
directions. As the airways may in some cases be separated by passages of
greater width than the airways themselves, I propose that doors should be
placed transversely like the bulk. heads in a ship, and also side doors for
purposes, of ingress 'and egress, and especially to admit of carriages being
introduced or removed when necessary at any part. The stations may be
numerous, as the velocity established will carry on the carriages which are
not intended to stop from one air tube to another, while those which it is
desired to stop may be readily turned to the right or left. A series of signal
rods, each acted on by a spring and trigger, as shewn at a, in Figure L,
Sheet A, may be employed to indicate externally the passage of the carriage
within the tube. The desire of the passengers to stop at any station may be
indicated by pulling a string within, which will raise a board or frame
(y, Figure H, Sheet A,) with a black surface on one side, which it may be
agreed upon shall indicate the word "stop," when pyrotechnic machines are
made use for propelling packages in the iron tubes. . I proportion the nature
of the charge to the weight to be impelled, and leave apertures at certain

page_text: distances, so that the expansion and contraction of the gases may be made
to produce a propelling force.
Secondly, I propose to convey goods, passengers, and intelligence on water,
in boats or punts propelled by machinery on the plan of the chiropedal car-
riage before described. Paddle wheels are to be impelled by crank eccentrics
or click wheels on the axis. The treadles may be doubled, acting both
behind and before the axis. Four or more cranks or eccentric pullies may
be advantageously employed, so that there can be no dead point in the revo-
lution of the paddle wheel. By means of ropes, bars, or the like, every one
on board may
contribute his strength, or part of it, to the work of locomotion,
one end of the rope being attached to the crank; the assistants may then
apply a pulling or rowing motion to it by cross bars or hoops; the ropes may
of course be extended from stem to stern of the vessel, and power given in
both directions. Floats may also be constructed, consisting of two hollow
cylinders with conical ends, connected by a platform carrying the chiropedal
machinery and the person to work it, and having rudders at the stem and
stern to act simultaneously.
And, thirdly, I propose to employ a chiropedal carriage, constructed as
aforesaid, for travelling on common roads. I may here observe, generally, of
this mode of applying human power to locomotive purposes, that it is so
contrived as to bring all the larger muscles into play, such as the pectoral,
serrati, and other muscles of the trunk, and the glutei vasti and others of the
lower extremities, and to cause them to act in a manner which is by no
means laborious, and of an invigorating rather than exhausting tendency;
persons who have grown stout or even corpulent may exert a degree of mus-
.cular force in this way which they could do in no other. As the body
increases in weight, the muscles of the lower limbs become gradually adapted
to the load they have to carry, and by this arrangement weight becomes
power. The muscles of the chest assist those of the arms, and a beneficial
action of the lungs combines to urge the circulation and activity of the whole
system.
And having now described my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is,-
First, the employment of tension rails as aforesaid, either in combination
or not in combination with air tubes, for the conveyance of goods, passengers,
and intelligence:
Second, the employment of rockets and rocket cars as aforesaid, for the
transmission of goods, passengers, and intelligence along such tension rails
or other ways or roads, and for other locomotive purposes: .

page_text: Third, the employment of steam or vapour generated from water or other
fluids by the combustion of pyric compounds, to actuate carriages or other
vehicles employed in the conveyance of goods, passengers, and intelligence,
and for other locomotive purposes, as before exemplified:
Fourth, the employment as aforesaid of the chiropedal carriage before
described, on tension and other railways and roads:
Fifth, the transmission of parcels, goods, or passengers through air tubes
by propulsive power, whether such power is obtained by means of endless
ropes or rockets as aforesaid, or by any other equivalent means:
Sixth, the employment of balloons and sails in conjunction with the said
tension railway as aforesaid, for the conveyance of goods, passengers, and
intelligence:
And, seventh, the employment of machinery constructed as aforesaid on the
principle of the chiropedal carriage, to propel boats and other vehicles floating
in water or in air.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lawrence Holker Potts, have hereunto
set my band and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.