IMPROVEMENTS. IN PREPARING COMPOSITIONS TO BE USED IN RAILWAY AND OTHER. STRUCTURES IN SUBSTITUTION OF I, WOOD, AND STONE
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, OWEN
WILLIAMS, of Stratford, in the County of Essex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirty-first day of
January, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the fifteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Owen Williams, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Owen
Williams, my exors, admiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Owen Williams, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the
Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS.
IN PREPARING COMPOSITIONS TO BE USED IN RAILWAY AND OTHER. STRUCTURES IN
SUBSTITUTION OF IRON, WOOD, AND STONE," communicated to me by a Foreigner
residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said Owen Williams, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: by an instrument in writing 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 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
Owen Williams, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say,-
My improvements consist in making and adapting the compositions to be
hereafter described for the permanent way of railways, for blocks of any
size or shape for building purposes, for drains, sewers, cisterns, or any
other purpose to which the same may be applicable. To make &
composition suitable for the permanent way of railways, sleepers, blocks for
building purposes, drains, sewers, cisterns, and other structures, I tako
about 180 lbs. of pitch, 4 gallons of dead oil or creosote, 15 lbs. of raw
brimstone, 18 lbs. of rosin, 45 lbs. of finely powdered lime, 108 lbs. of finely
powdered gypsum, 27 cubic feet of sand, gravel, breeze, scoria, pieces of
stone, brick, or other hard material, having been passed through a half
inch seive. The sulphur is melted in a proper boiler with about 30 lbs. of
pitch, then the resin is added and heated till the mixture boils, the remainder
of the pitch is then added, and mixed and boiled up, and then the lime
and gypsum are introduced little by little and well mixed up and brought
to boil, then the sand, gravel, breeze, scoria, pieces of stone, brick, or other
hard material, which must be perfectly dry and have been previously heated,
is to be added, and then the dead oil, the whole being constantly stirred up,
well mixed and worked together, till it is sufficiently heated; it is then to be
thrown into moulds of any required shape, and well pressed in, till the mould
is properly filled, and when cold, it is ready to be taken out of the moulds for
use. For pavements, floors, and like structures I take about 10 lbs. of pitch,
1 quart of dead oil, 2 oz. of rosin, 5 lbs. of gypsum, 5 lbs. of lime, 4 lbs. of
sulphur, cubic foot of sharp sand, cubic foot of gravel, about the size of
peas, treated the same as mixture for sleepers, &c.
For joining, or cementing pieces together, or as a mortar for cementing the
blocks n building :-20 lbs. tar, 2 quarts dead oil, 1 lb. of tallow, 2 lbs. of
sulphur, 20 lbs. of lime, 4 lbs. of rosin, boiled and applied hot.
For covering roofs, bridges, viaducts, and other structures :-40 lbs. of tar,

page_text: 4 quarts dead oil, 4 lbs. sulphur, 2 lbs. rosin, 6 lbs. tallow, 10 lbs. lime, boiled
and heated same as No. 1.
To adapt this composition to the permanent way of railways, I mould
pieces (a) of convenient size for handling, say about 3 ft. x 18 in. × 4 in., and
bring them side by side longitudinally, as shewn in the Drawing. The
transverse pieces (6) having holes cast in them for passing through them the
holding down bolts, and holes are made at (a) in the blocks (a) to receive the
transverse slabs (b) of the same material, as is shewn. The holes for the
holding down bolts and for the transverse pieces or slabs are made when
moulding the pieces, by the introduction of rods or cores of iron of the
required size. The composition is pressed into the moulds round the
rods or cores of iron, which are afterwards drawn out, leaving the holes
clear. The ballast is pressed under and between the openings in the
longitudinal and transverse pieces, as shown; and planks of wood (d) are laid
on the surface of the ballast (e) and fastened down to the transverse pieces (b)
by bolts and nuts, or other fastenings (f), so that the nuts or other fastenings
may be slackened, and the rails raised or lowered by adding to or taking from
the ballast under the planks (d). The rails or chairs are fastened to the plank
in any convenient way. The surface of the permanent way between the
longitudinal pieces, which are cemented together, and the rails, is covered with
blocks of the same composition, about two inches thick, and of any convenient
length and width, so as to prevent the water from penetrating from the surface
to the ballast; drains (9) are introduced for carrying away the surface water
into the grips or side drains, as shewn. The grips or drains are made of blocks
of convenient width and thickness, as shewn, and the ramparting (h) of blocks
about three inches thick. I consider it necessary to keep the ballast from
shifting by enclosing it, as shewn, and as dry as possible, to prevent the
moving or knocking about the permanent way, and thus ensure its durability..
I would remark, that I do not confine myself to the precise quantities of the
materials above given, and some of them may be omitted or others added;
the peculiarity of this Invention consists of the mode of employing such
materials, and particularly the use of sulphur combined with the matters
above described, when making compositions for the purposes herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Owen Williams, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
OWEN (L.s.) WILLIAMS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Owen Williams came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
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.
WOOK of our Lond
Enrolled the Thirty-first day of July in the voo
Enrolled the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord Ons
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.