IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAMWAYS
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Hill Rowan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th November 1880.
ARTHUR HILL ROWAN, of 6, Westminster Chambers, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAMWAYS."
My Invention relates to a construction of tramway rails, and their supports and
fastenings, so that a comparatively small quantity of the more costly material,
steel, is used for those portions of the rails that are most subjected to strain and
wear, that the sectional form is such as can be easily rolled with the rail head,
rendered sound by being subjected to the direct rolling pressure, and that the
fastenings can be got at without interfering with the paving or surface of the road
in which the rails are laid. The rail, according to my Invention, consists of two
parts. The one part, which is preferably of steel, is rolled to a form resembling
that of the letter Z, the upper limb being the head on which the wheel runs, the
lower limb being a flange which rests on the sleepers or supports, and the middle
limb being a vertical rib connecting the head to the flange. Against or on the
outer edge of the flange is fixed a bar which may be of iron of rectangular section
extending up to the level of the rail head, the space between the rail and the bar
forming a deep groove for the wheel flanges. The bar is secured to the rail by
bolts passing transversely through both, with washers or distance pieces in the
groove space between them. As the groove has greater depth than is required for
the wheel flange, part of the depth may be filled in with wood or other material,
or a flat iron bar can be laid into it above the transverse bolts to form a bottom for
the groove.
When such a bar is employed the side bar may be rolled with a lip or
fillet projecting inwards, so that one edge of the bottom bar is engaged under its
shoulder. Or the bar forming the bottom of the groove may be an angle iron
engaging with the transverse bolts. As the upper limb constituting the rail head
overhangs the vertical rib, I support it at intervals by blocks, preferably wedge
shaped, introduced between it and the support of the rail, which for that purpose
is made wider than the rail flange that rests on it. When cast iron standards, or
separate wooden blocks, or continuous wooden sleepers are employed to carry the

page_text: rail, I secure these and the rail itself to iron plates laid on the concrete or other
bed by fastenings, which admit of the rail being removed vertically without
disturbing the road at either side. For this purpose bolts, secured to the bottom
plates, or having T heads engaging under them, project vertically upwards through
the standard, block, or sleeper, and also through the flange of the rail, presenting
their ends in the groove between the rail and the side bar. Near the end of each
of these bolts is cut a lateral notch into which is driven a key that, bearing on the
rail flange, tightens down the rail and its supports to the bottom plate. When it
is necessary to remove the rail, the bottom of the groove is exposed or cleared out,
these keys are driven back, and the rail with the side bar attached to it can be
raised vertically out of its place. In many cases, where the rail is carried on
continuous wooden sleepers, the bottom plates may be dispensed with, the rail in
that case being secured to the sleepers by vertical bolts, as described above, or by
driving spikes through holes in the rail flange into the timber, preferably in an
oblique direction, or by clip spikes engaging holes in the vertical rib of the rail.
At the junctions of the rails the bolts which secure the continuous side bars are
passed through fish plates laid against the upright rib of the rail under the over-
hanging head.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Arthur Hill Rowan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th May
1881.
ARTHUR HILL ROWAN, of 6, Westminster Chambers, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TRAMWAYS.""
My Invention relates to a construction of tramway rails and their supports and
fastenings, so that a comparatively small quantity of the more costly material,
steel, is used for those portions of the rails that are most subjected to strain and
wear, that the sectional form is such as can be easily rolled with the rail head,
rendered sound by being subjected to the direct rolling pressure, and that the
fastenings can be got at without interfering with the paving or surface of the road
in which the rails are laid. The rail, according to my Invention, consists of two
parts. The one part, which is preferably of steel, is rolled to a form resembling
that of the letter Z, the upper limb being the head on which the wheel runs, the
lower limb being a flange which rests on the sleepers or supports, and the middle
limb being a vertical rib connecting the head to the flange. Against or on the
outer edge of the flange is fixed a bar, which may be of iron of rectangular section
extending up to the level of the rail head, the space between the rail and the bar
forming a deep groove for the wheel flanges. The bar is secured to the rail by
bolts passing transversely through both, with washers or distance pieces in the
groove space between them.
As the groove has greater depth than is required for
the wheel flange, part of the depth may be filled in with wood or other material,
or a flat iron bar can be laid into it above the transverse bolts to form a bottom for
the groove. When such a bar is employed the side bar may be rolled with a lip
or fillet projecting inwards, so that one edge of the bottom bar is engaged under
its shoulder. Or the bar forming the bottom of the groove may be an angle iron
engaging with the transverse bolts. As the upper limb constituting the rail head
overbangs the vertical rib, I support it at intervals by blocks, preferably wedge
shaped, introduced between it and the support of the rail, which for that purpose
is made wider than the rail flange that rests on it. When cast iron standards or
separate wooden blocks, or continuous wooden sleepers are employed to carry the
rail, I secure these and the rail itself to iron plates laid on the concrete or other
bed by fastenings, which admit of the rail being removed vertically without
disturbing the road at either side. For this purpose bolts secured to the bottom
plates or having T heads engaging under them project vertically upwards through
the standard, block, or sleeper, and also through the flange of the rail, presenting
their ends in the groove between the rail and the side bar. Near the end of each
of these bolts is cut a lateral notch into which is driven a key that, bearing on the
rail flange, tightens down the rail and its supports to the bottom plate. When it is
necessary to remove the rail the bottom of the groove is exposed or cleared out,
these keys are driven back, and the rail with the side bar attached to it can be
raised vertically out of its place. In many cases where the rail is carried on
continuous wooden sleepers, the bottom plates may be dispensed with, the rail
in that case being secured to the sleepers by vertical bolts, as above described, or
by driving spikes through holes in the rail flange into the timber, preferably in an
oblique direction, or by clip spikes engaging holes in the vertical rib of the rail.
At the junctions of the rails the bolts which secure the continuous side bars are
passed through fish plates laid against the upright rib of the rail under the
overhanging head.

page_text: '
wheels run, a vertical rib B and a base flange C projecting at one side of the
vertical rib; the other part of the rail is a bar D, between which and the main rail
is the wheel groove. This bar is secured to the main rail by transverse bolts E,
distance pieces being interposed between D and B. As the groove is deeper than
required for the wheel flanges, a horizontal bar F may be introduced between D
and B to form a bottom to the groove, and this bar may be held in place by being
engaged under a shoulder d of the bar D as shewn. To support the head A of the
rail, wedge pieces G are driven in at intervals between it and the general support
of the rail. According to a modified construction shewn in Fig. 2 the side bar D is
made with a flange D₁ passing under the flange C of the rail, and the supporting
pieces G² are held in place by their bases being notched and engaged behind a
rib d formed on the edge of the flange D¹. Another modification is shewn at
Fig. 3 the flange D¹ of the side bar D having in this case a rib d² of such height as
to extend up to and support the head A of the rail. For fixing down the rail I
employ bolts H which extend down through the supports of the rail, whether those
be continuous sleepers or separate standards, and have heads engaging under the
supports or under plates K below the supports; these bolts project up through
holes in the flange C of the rail into the groove space between D and B, and are
notched to receive keys or taper pins I driven in over the rail flange. By driving
back these keys or pins the rail is liberated, and it, as well as the bar D, can be
raised vertically from the supports without disturbing the road or paving on either
side of the rail. When the rail is supported on timber sleepers it may be secured
to them by spikes L driven obliquely through holes in the rail flange into the
timber. When the form of rail and bar shewn in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3 is adopted, the
support may consist of concrete laid on the plates K. Also the rails may be tied
together by tie bars M notched to receive the base D¹.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, I claim :-
First. Constructing tram rails in two parts, the one consisting of the head
vertical rib and base flange of the rail, and the other forming a side to the groove
for the wheel flanges, substantially as described with reference to the accompanying
Drawings.
Second. Fixing tram rails of the kind referred to in the preceding claim by
means of bolts projecting up into the groove of the rail, and notched to receive
keys, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Hill Rowan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord,
One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
ARTHUR H. ROWAN. (L.S.)