IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS, RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND IN THE MEANS OF PREVENTING ACCIDENTS ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDRÉ
ETIENNE, of Panton Square, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirty-first day of January, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-six, in the ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said André Etienne, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said André Etienne, my exors, admors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said André Etienne, my exors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF RAILWAYS, RAILWAY
CARRIAGES, AND IN THE MEANS OF PREVENTING ACCIDENTS ON RAILWAYS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said André Etienne,
to 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 seal, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: 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
André Etienne, do hereby declare that the nature of my 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 illustrative Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists,―
Firstly, of improvements in the construction of railways..
Secondly, of improvements in railway carriages. And,
Thirdly, of improvements in the means of preventing accidents on
railways.
The accidents which generally may occur on railways, either proceed from
an obstacle laid over or across the road that a train is to travel upon, or of a
defect of construction of all or part of the system, or again of a disorganization
in the harmony of the whole system, or, in fine, the effect of the tendency to
leave the rail is produced from some other cause. To obviate some of these
inconveniences, I propose to cause the railway trains to be preceded by a pilot
waggon of a peculiar form, having a surface in height and width greater
than the most projecting part of the train, and always preceding at a certain
distance the said train; and in making use of the bar or apparatus which
connects or serves to connect the train and the said pilot I propose to stop
instantaneously and without the least commotion the said train every time,
and as soon as the pilot will be stopped by any obstruction, and this must
be done before the train has arrived up to the said pilot waggon. It is
evident that in consequence of this arrangement no accident is likely to
happen to the train. Such is the principle of the system I propose to adopt,
and which I will now proceed to set forth and describe. And,
Firstly, as to Improvements in the Construction of Railways. To avoid the
unevenness of the joints of the rails, and to render them more solid and firm, and
particularly to prevent their lateral movement (see Figures 1 and 2), I form
the two extremities of two rails in the shape of a hook (see Figure 1), in such a
manner as to be enabled to join them by a bolt X, Y, with the piece hereafter
mentioned, so as not to make any hole through the main part of the rail Z.
I afterwards, from the point of junction A of one rail to the point of junction
B of the other rail, lay across the line, from one rail to the other, an iron rod
or bar (half flat) C, with a fork at each of its extremities, in such manner

page_text: that the extremities D, E, F, G, of the four branches of the said forks may.
be connected by each end, two by two, to the two extremities of the two rails,.
each entering into the hook made to the end of the rail R, S, and being held.
by the same bolt which fastens the two hooks of the extremities of the rails,―
in fine, a rod with hooks H, adhering to the main part of the said bar, which
is strongly fixed in the ground, so as to prevent in any case the four extremities
of the rails which it holds from shifting or moving. The iron rod or bar C,,
which crosses the road, must be of a slightly concave shape, such as to be:
entirely hidden by the ballast. It is evident that by this means each rail
will not move at its extremities, and to prevent all lateral movements in the
other parts of the length of the rails, it may be necessary to increase the
number of the said rods. The result of this system is, firstly, that you may
make use of rails of an indefinite length, supposing that they can be manu-
factured; secondly, you diminish greatly the number of the joints of the rails,
and thereby lessen the chances of movement at the joints. The sleepers
which are to support the rails must be held at each extremity and point of
junction, and also at different points of their length by supplementary rods.
I propose to keep the outside rail in curves more elevated than the inside
rail, to obviate the tendency of the train to leave the rails.
I will now proceed to describe another improvement in railways, which
consists in using a single rail only. All that has been already said concerning,
the mode of connecting together and laying the rails on the soil must be
followed in forming a railway with one. rail only. The rails will be of four,
different shapes, the first (see Figure 26) will represent a parallelogram.
A, B, C, D, whose lateral faces A, B, will be higher than the upper and under,
faces C, D. The second (see Figure 27) will have the shape of a T. The
third (see Figure 28) will have in its upper part exactly the shape of, that
shewn in the Figure 26, but it must be so widened as to present two, inclined;
planes E, F, forming with the lateral face G, H, of the upper part, obtuse,
angles I, J. In fine the fourth (see Figures 29 and 30) will be formed of a
large iron plate K, laid flat and framed in thick planks fixed in the ground,.
and strongly fastened by wedges, besides which they will be connected together:
by iron pins l, m, n, so that their lateral faces may be in the direction of their
thickness. The three first sorts of rails may be constructed of wood plated
with iron.
Secondly, of Improvements in the Construction of Railway Carriages.-The
waggons will be of two sorts, that is to say, of single waggons, and of waggons
with several compartments (see Figures 3 and 4, Sheet 2). The under part,
of the waggons, I mean the framework, must be constructed in such a way as

page_text: to be connected together by a joint I, having a bolt instead of chains. The
pivots or bolts will be of two sorts, that is to say, set pivots and moveable
pivots. The joints of the wagons with compartments must have set pins
similar to the joint of a compass, and will be formed of two strong large iron
plates, fixed to each end of each compartment in the centre where they are
joined. The joints of the compartment wagons, and likewise the joints for
connecting together the single wagons to those with compartments will be
moveable, and the pins of these joints will be fixed at the ends of the single
wagons and the compartment wagons by the means of a spring, which will
permit the wagons to be instantaneously separated, if required (see Figures
4 and 5), and the movable pins will have likewise plates similar to those
above mentioned. The hinder part of each plain and compartment wagon
will be provided with strong plates, bored so as to receive the pins of the two
sorts of wagons (see Figure 6º). In each plain wagon, and for each division
of wagons with compartments, the iron plates placed at the ends must be
joined to those of the front part by means of a flat iron rod secured with screw
bolts. The joints of the wagons with compartments and of the plain wagons
must have motion in the pin in a horizontal line only, so as to admit the whole
of the train to take the form of any curve when running; and to render this
motion possible the two extremities of each wagon and compartment will be
cut in such a manner as to leave a space G (see Figure 3). In every train
the locomotive will be joined in the same manner to the first waggon of the
train, but always with a moveable pin. This system of connecting or joining
waggons deprives them of all possibility to strike or come in contact with
each other, and I therefore do not require spring buffers. The tyres of the
wheels of the wagons have grooves like pulleys (see Figure 7), the bottom part
of the groove K being little narrower than the part L, taken inwardly in such
a way that the inner surfaces K, L, and R, M, of these grooves may be always
detached from the rails. Again, for greater safety, more particularly to the
locomotives and first waggons and the pilot wagon, wheels with tyres of this
shape may be used, but with a treble groove (see Figure 7) resting on the
rails in the centre groove, the outer flanches N, O, of the two outside grooves
being narrower than the flanches of the middle groove K, so as not to cause
any stoppage when several rails approach each other. If it is necessary, you can
use wheels with a greater number of grooves (see Figure 8), but you must
always take care to make the two flanches L, M, of the centre groove (see
Figure 7,) acute, to cut the ground and sink into it, so as to give hold to the
side grooves if the wheel rises out of the centre groove. In fine, for the
greater security of the locomotives of the first waggons and of the pilot waggon,

page_text: I propose to use wheels with two grooves having only on the outer side, at
the distance of a foot, a groove P away from the rail (see Figure 9). It is
easy to understand that by the use of wheels with tyres of these forms, greater
safety may be obtained than with those now in common use.
Thirdly, Improvements in the Means of Preventing Accidents on Railways.
These improvements consist in a wagon that I will call the pilot wagon which
is connected to the train by a bar of the following description; which is placed
either under, above, or upon one of the sides of the waggons, and capable of
sliding backwards and forwards upon one of those faces. This piece consists
of two distinct parts. The first (see Figure 10), that is to say, the one which
ought to precede the train up to the pilot waggon, will be with moveable joints,
and is composed of several wooden divisions Q, R, S, T, U, connected
together at their extremities by means of a double steel plate X, with a spring
so arranged as to permit the whole of these divisions to act when passing the
curves, and to become straight of themselves after having passed the curve;
and the second part (see Figure 11), that is to say, the one which is to be
applied to one of the faces as described, must have moveable joints Y, similar
to those which join the plain waggons with the compartment waggons. (see
Figures 5 and 11). It is composed of divisions Z, A, B, each respectively
equal in length to the waggons, upon one of the faces of which it is applied,
and the pins which join these divisions must be such as can be instantly lifted,
so as to separate them or to join them when it is necessary to add a waggon
or to remove one from the train. At the extremity of the piece which
precedes the train must be fixed the pilot waggon C, which has already been
referred to (see Figure 12), and of which the construction and form is shewn
in Figure 13. This pilot waggon must be slightly loaded, and be higher and
broader than the most projecting part of the train which is to follow it, so that
wherever it will pass freely the train will not meet with any obstacles. The
fore part of the pilot waggon is formed by two vertical planes D, E, making
between them an acute angle F. The intersection of these plans will be
vertical. To the upper part of this intersection is strongly fixed a horizontal
wooden bar G, H, of the same length as the width of the waggon and laid
crosswise. On each side of the two planes D, E, forming the acute angle
I place an inclined piece, slightly concave, I (see Figure 14), made of strong
sheet iron, so as to sweep and remove from the rails (outwardly) everything
which might be placed thereon either by accidents, or by unforseen events, or
by ill will. This pilot waggon is supported upon two axles and four wheels,
the hind axle J, K, is fixed to the waggon (see Figure 15), but the forward
axle L, M, works on a pin N, so that this axle may always take the direction of

page_text: the curve, and change the direction either to right or left as hereafter described.
A crank O placed near the pin and fixed to the axle will be moved by a man
placed on this waggon (see Figure 16). The man employed in the pilot waggon
is placed upon a little carriage P mounted upon four wheels, and situated upon a
very inclined plane Q, so that in case of danger this man in letting himself slide
upon this inclined plane may be thrown by the little carriage, without any injury,
upon the ground S outside of the rails. To escape the danger he must raise a
handle R placed near him, which will lift up the pin which keeps his carriage
upon the inclined plane (see Figure 13). The first part T of the piece which
pushes the pilot, waggon (see Figure 12) must have a certain length between
the fore part of the locomotive and the hind part of the pilot waggon; and to
guard against its touching the ground in travelling over it (in the case of its
being placed under the train) one or two cross pieces U, V, will be placed
under this piece at right angles to its direction with grooves (see Figure 17)
and supported by two wheels U, V, running upon the rails; these wheels
should be with grooves like pulleys, and each with several grooves so as to
prevent their leaving the rails. The bars mounted upon those wheels must
slide along the piece X under which they are fitted (see Figure 17), and
must be attached to some part of this piece by a spring Y (see Figure 18), so
that a slight pressure will cause the spring to yield and allow the bar to open.
Through a solid piece Z of the front part of the locomotive A (see Figure 19)
I bore a hole B, which corresponds exactly with a hole of the same size bored
in the piece which pushes the pilot waggon E, and I introduce a wooden bolt
D in this hole, so as to hinder that piece from sliding under the locomotive
and the waggons. It is by the means of this bolt alone that the train when
in motion pushes that piece C forward, and with it the pilot waggon E. In
regard to the second part of the same piece, placed upon one of the faces of the
train, I form upon that face and in each waggon a clip F (see Figure 20) to
receive the bar under the waggons. This clip will be made of iron, or of any
other metal, or in wood. It will be composed of two pieces G, H, leaving
betwixt them an interval I, so as to allow passage for the iron bolts which
keep suspended the brakes hereafter described. To certain parts of this
second part of the piece (see Figure 21), and upon the surface which slides
upon the flanches of the clip, I place iron bolts J, K, L, M, of different
lengths which are to keep the brakes out of action, but only when the wooden
bolt D (see Figure 19) is not broken. There are hanging breaks mounted
upon joints, of which I will speak hereafter, and which will act only when the
train is in motion even after the wooden bolt has been broken. Every great
waggon of a train will be provided on each side with a brake N (see

page_text: Figure 22) suspended over and before the wheel, having a joint O in such a
manner that each pair of brakes are connected together by a cross, bar
carrying an arm M, and when left to their own weight will fall successively
and before the wheels, beginning with the last wheels of the train, gradually
proceeding on all from the hind part of the train and preventing the rotation
of the wheels (see Figure 23) for example; and when the joint P ceases to
be held by the bolt in question (see Figure 23), the brake N being no longer
held will fall under the wheel, the result of which has been explained, and is,
that if the pilot waggon is suddenly stopped in its motion by an impediment,
either by daylight or night, the wooden bolt breaking, all the wheels of the
great waggons of the hind part of the train will be simultaneously pressed
upon, and retard the motion of the train at the moment of the breaking off of
the bolt, and at the same time that the last wheels of the waggons are pressed
upon, a strong bell or a small gun placed on the fore part of the locomotive
near the bolt will give warning to the passengers that the train will be soon
stopped. Two pieces Q, R, S, T, (see Figure 24), furnished with bolts, slide
in two grooves placed right and left of the principal piece U, V, before
described, and adapted to the waggons which precede immediately those whose
wheels are already stopped, and meet one after the other along the piece
which pushes the pilot waggon, by the stops X, Y, fixed to that piece, and
cause to fall successively and at very little distances a further number of
brakes against the wheels, and consequently stops the train gradually and
without shock before the locomotive has reached the pilot waggon, which has
already stopped; and as you have the power to place where you choose along
the bar U, V, the stop pieces X, Y, you will be always enabled to avoid
shocks. The additional bars of which I have spoken are also fixed to the
waggons to which they belong by means of a wooden bolt, which in breaking off
by the meeting of the stop piece which corresponds with it. produces exactly.
the same effect as herein-before explained. The bars Z, A, (see Figure 40);
slide under the waggons and have bolts B, C, D, E, which do not require to.
be as strong as those E, F, which go from the locomotive to the pilot. waggon
G, for it is sufficient that they may keep up the brakes until the breaking of
the bolt placed at the bar H. As the piece is composed of two different parts
of different bulk, you may also form the one which ought to be placed under-
neath the waggons of a flat bar of a sufficient strength. to cause the, bolts
which are adapted thereto to work, and to place on the one which
.goes from
the locomotive to the pilot waggon an iron piece (and in several parts) equal
to the one of which I have already spoken. In this manner the same groove
will be used for the two different parts (see Figure 41). But as, nevertheless,

page_text: it is necessary that this second part of the piece fills the large groove where
the first part must pass, that second part will be furnished at least at intervals
by some pieces of wood to prevent its striking against the clip. This is useless
for the lateral grooves, which may be reduced in their lower dimensions, since
the first part of the large piece does not pass through it. Each train ought
always to have at the end a waggon I (see Figure 25), whose bar at the
extremity J will carry a spring bolt of a similar shape to that shewn at the
Figure 5. The spring bolt is to connect together the bars which pass under
the waggons, and is placed under those bars, and the handle placed under will
slide through the opening in the clip.
Secondly, the form of the waggons and the manner of joining them; the
shape of the wheels, except the wheel shewn by the Figure 9; all that
regards the pilot waggon; the first part of the piece to push the pilot waggon,
and the second part of the same piece, which is placed under the waggons;
and the manner in which the first part of the piece is connected by means of
a hook and a bolt at the front part of the locomotive; the grooves in which
slide the bars; in fine, the brakes to impede the movement of rotation of the
wheels, are exactly the same as before described, when required for a railway
with one rail. The waggons may be of three different shapes, all mounted
upon.large wheels. These wheels, whose form has been set forth above, will
have grooves deeper, and the outer surface of the circumference perfectly
cylindrical and not concave, as the grooves of the pulleys. The solid part
forming the floor (see Figure 31) of the single waggons, or of the waggons with
compartments, will have for each single waggon, or for each compartment, in
the centre, holes C, D, to receive the large wheels. On each side of those
holes, and in the midst of their length, will be fixed on the upper surface
of the floor two iron or wooden standards X, Y (see Figure 32), to receive the
axle of the wheels; and those axles will be fixed at such a height on those
standards that the outer circumference Z of the flanches will pass under the
surface of the floor of the waggon or compartment to the extent of four to five
inches, and that distance must be observed uniformly for all the waggons
where all the compartments of the carriages are used in the same administra-
tion, and it will be exactly the same as regards locomotives and pilot waggons.
The standards (see Figures 37 and 38) carry the two extremities of the axles
O, P, and N, A, as the standard A, B, of the point A, or in a moveable
manner by means of pins, as the standard P, Q, of the point P; but I
place two stops R, S, which will only allow a small movement. Indepen-
dently of the two great wheels described for each waggon or each compart-
ment there are one or two wheels placed either horizontally under the

page_text: carriages or at an inclination, but the plane of each must be perpendicular to
the surface of the rail against which they work. The wheels placed horizon-
tally will belong to the carriages which run on the rails similar to those of
Figures 26 and 27 (see Figures 32 and 33); and for that kind of carriage, to pre-
serve its equilibrium, a shifting weight (see Figure 35) mounted upon a pivot B
will be placed on the top of each waggon, and can be placed right or left by.
means of a handle C. Those weights will be only adapted to the waggons
with flat bottoms, and the axles D, E, (see Figure 32) of the under wheels
pass through the whole height of the waggons, the upper extremities D, E, of
which will show by their rotative motion which side wants the weight to
preserve the equilibrium; for there ought not to be any wheel placed either
horizontally or obliquely under the carriages so as to touch the rail, and those
placed obliquely will belong to the carriages and run upon the rails, similar
to that described by the Figure 28 (see Figure 34). The floors of the
waggons will be flat for the carriages whose wheels underneath will be
placed horizontally, and arched for the carriages whose wheels underneath will
be placed obliquely. Those last carriages will have a double floor, placed one
above another in an arched and concentric shape, and, consequently, paralle!
between them. The upper floor will be mounted upon four little wheels
revolving two by two in grooves made beneath each wheel in each waggon,
or in each compartment, in the direction of their width, so that whatever
may be the motion of the under floor, the upper floor will always preserve
its level. It is on the double floor that will be constructed the wagons
to contain the passengers and goods. A certain number of shifting
weights (see Figure 36) will be connected together by bars E, F, G, H, I, J,
affixed to those weights at their extremities to the side of the pin and
connected to the bar K, L, placed in the same way as the first weight
bearing the handle C. By means of the ropes or chains L, F, F, H, H, J,
K, E, G, I, it is evident that in causing the point M of the handle C to move
either right or left, one man placed at this handle will cause at the same time
all the shifting weights connected together to alter either to right or left.
Each waggon, and each compartment of waggon, in order to keep its equi-
librium by the means aforesaid, will have on each side an iron safety bar
O, P, Q, (see Figure 35) extending to the two extremities, and passing
through the part P at a very little distance above the ground, sufficient
however not to touch. It is only provided to tranquilize the fears of pas-
sengers. For the carriages to run on a way with one rail (see Figure 39)
the passengers will be carried on a floor R, S, supported by four springs T
placed to each of these four angles, and a larger number if it is necessary.

page_text: Having described the method by which I carry my Invention into operation,
I wish it to be understood that I claim,-
Firstly, the method firstly described of securing rails at their joints, and the
method described of forming and working railways formed of a single rail.
Secondly, the method described of constructing and working railway
carriages without buffing apparatus.
Thirdly, the method described of forming and working trains with pilot
waggons, for the purpose of preventing accidents.
In witness whereof, I, the said André Etienne, 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-six.
Enrolled the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-six.