IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CROSSINGS OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Howie, of Hurlford, in the County of Ayr,
North Britain, Coal Master, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF THE CROSSINGS OF RAILWAYS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Howie at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
March 1863.
I, JOHN HOWIE, of Hurlford, in the County of Ayr, North Britain, Coal
Master, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CROSSINGS OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows, that is
to say:-
This Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of the crossings
of railways, with the view of making these parts of the permanent way more
durable than at present, and of lessening the cost of their renewal. Under
one modification or system of arrangement embodied in this Invention, in place
of laying down rails of the ordinary kind, fifteen or sixteen feet in length, short
lengths of rails are inserted in the main and siding rails at the parts which are
found to wear away most rapidly by the traffic of the carriages. The parts
which are found to give way so much sooner than the other portions of the
line are those which are contiguous to the tongue or point rails of the crossing.
At these. parts a comparatively short length of rail is interposed in the line
of the ordinary rails, and forming a continuation of the same. These short

page_text: lengths of rail are, by preference, formed of steel or case-hardened iron, in
order that they may wear as long, or nearly as long, as the rails which are
subjected to the ordinary wear and tear of the line. These short lengths of
rail are fastened by means of fish plates extending for some distance beyond
the abutting ends of the rails, and are firmly bolted together; a portion of the
bolts may be passed through both the rails, so as to obtain a very firm junction
and prevent all rocking or lateral motion of the rails; the fastening of the
parts may, however, be effected in various ways. In conjunction with these
short lengths of hard metal rails, it is proposed to make the extremities of the
tongue rails in short pieces fastened by suitable chairs, and extending back-
wards a length of four or five feet, and made, by preference, of steel or of
case-hardened iron, so that these parts may wear in unison with the contiguous
hard metal rails. Another mode of arranging the short rails is to form them
in two parts, the lower portion of the rail being formed with a vertical web or
feather, and the upper half being of a saddle-like figure, with a recess corre-
sponding to the midfeather of the lower part. The upper portion of the rail
is slipped on to the lower one, and the two are firmly secured by being bolted
together by the fish joints. This arrangement admits of the upper portion of
the rail being easily renewed from time to time when worn. With these
improvements the crossings of railways may be rendered far more durable and
more cheaply renewed than heretofore, and additional safety is obtained by the
line being maintained in a more efficient state at the parts which are frequently
the cause of accidents.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Howie in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th 2
September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HOWIE, of Hurlford, in the County of Ayr, North Britain, Coal Master, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Howie, Her special license that I, the said John Howie,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said s
John Howie, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any

page_text: 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CROSSINGS OF RAILWAYS,”
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Howie, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, 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
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Howie, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to t..
; Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is way:
My said Invention relates to the arrangement and construction of the
crossings of railways, with the view of making these parts of the permanent
way more durable than at present, and of lessening the cost of their renewal.
Under one modification or system of arrangement embodied in this Invention,
in place of laying down rails of the ordinary kind, 15 or 16 feet in length,
short lengths of rail are inserted in the main and siding rails at the parts
which are found to wear away most rapidly by the traffic of the carriages.
The parts which are found to give way so much sooner than the other
portions of the line are those which are contiguous to the tongue or point
rails of the crossings. At these parts a comparatively short length of rail is
interposed in the line of the ordinary rails and forming a continuation of the
same. These short lengths of rail are, by preference, formed of steel or case-
hardened iron, in order that they may wear as long, or nearly as long, as the
rails which are subjected to the ordinary wear and tear of the line. These
short lengths of rail are fastened by means of fish plates extending for some
distance beyond the abutting ends of the rails, and are firmly bolted together;
a portion of the bolts may be passed through both the rails, so as to obtain a
very firm junction, and prevent all rocking or lateral motion of the rails; the
fastening of the parts may, however, be effected in various ways. In con-
junction with these short lengths of hard metal rails it is proposed to make
the extremities of the tongue rails in short pieces, fastened by suitable chairs,
and extending backwards a length of 4 or 5 feet, and made by preference.

page_text: of steel or of case-hardened iron, so that these parts may wear in unison with
the contiguous hard metal rails. Another mode of arranging the short rails is
to form them in two parts, the lower portion of the rail being formed with a
vertical web or feather, and the upper half being of a saddle-like figure with a
recess corresponding to the midfeather of the lower part. The upper portion
of the rail is slipped on to the lower one, and the two are firmly secured by
being bolted together by the fish joints. This arrangement admits of the
upper portion of the rail being easily renewed from time to time when worn.
With these improvements the crossings of railways may be rendered far more
durable and more cheaply renewed than heretofore, and additional safety is
obtained by the line being maintained in a more efficient state at the parts
which are frequently the cause of accidents.
And in order that my said Invention of improvements in the construction of
the crossings of railways may be properly understood, I shall now proceed to
describe the several Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings which I
have hereunto appended for the purpose of showing certain modifications
under which my improvements may be judiciously carried out in practice,
that is to say:-
Figure 1 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings represents a plan of a
double line of railway with the crossings arranged according to my improve-
ments; Figure 2 is a plan of another mode of arrangement; Figure 3 is a
transverse vertical section of the crossing taken on the line 1, 1, Figure 1;
Figures 4 and 5 are corresponding sections taken on the lines 2, 2, and 3, 3,
in Figure 2.
Referring to the modification shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the accom-
panying Drawings, it is found in practice that those parts of the main and
siding wing rails which are immediately contiguous to the extremity of the
tongue rail wear away with much greater rapidity than the other parts; this
arises from the concussion of the carriage wheels as they pass from the tongue
rail on to the main or the siding wing rails. To obviate this rapid destruc-
tion of the rails I insert short lengths of steel rails at the parts subject
to the greatest amount of wear. Thus the main wing rail A, Figure 1,
instead of being constructed in a long length of 15 or 16 feet, is made at
the curved or open end in a short length, and is then continued by a
comparatively short length of iron or steel rail B. This interposed length
of iron or steel rail is attached securely to the wing rail A and the main
rail C by the fish joints D, more distinctly seen in the enlarged transverse
vertical section, Figure 3, which are fastened by bolts and nuts in the usual
way. The siding wing rail E is fitted in a similar manner with a length of

page_text: steel rail F, forming a continuation of the siding rail G. At the part on the
line 1, 1, where the two rails are nearest to each other, one, two, or more
hexagonal bolster pieces or tubular bosses H are placed between the rails, and
through each of which a bolt I passes as well as through the several parts of
the fish joints D, and the rails and jaws of the double chair H, the bolt I
firmly securing all the parts by nuts at their outer ends, which are prevented
from loosening by means of the jam nuts J fitted to its screwed ends, as is
shown more particularly in the transverse vertical section, Figure 3, of the
accompanying Drawings. In lieu of this arrangement the parts may be
connected by means of two or other number of bolts, the inner end of the
bolts being secured by nuts, and the ends of the bolts and nuts being caused
to bear one against the other. In like manner, with a view of preserving the
parts of crossings most exposed to wear, I form the tongue or pointed extremity
K, where the main rail C and the siding rail G merge into one, of a short
length of iron or steel. This tongue rail K is formed in two parts, spliced or
dovetailed together near the point in the usual way, and bolted together. At
the backward ends the steel rails or points K are firmly connected with the
continuous lines C and G in a suitable double chair or by means of fish joints,
or in any other convenient manner. With this arrangement either of the
parts B, F, or K may at any time be readily removed and replaced by other
lengths of rails, but these parts being by preference made of steel or of case-
hardened iron they will bear a much greater amount of wear and tear than
the ordinary rails, and thus are not likely to require renewal; but for
re-adjustment or any work of a similar kind, the system of forming these parts
short lengths will be found very convenient.
The modification shown in Figure 2 represents another mode of arranging
the parts of the crossings of railways. In this arrangement the tongue K of
the main and siding rails C and G is made of a saddle-like figure, that is, it has
two lateral vertical webs L, as shown in the enlarged vertical section, Figure 4,
which is taken on the line 2, 2, Figure 2. The extremities of the rails C
and G are made without heads, as shown in Figure 4, the saddle-shaped
tongue K, which is formed of iron or steel, is fitted on to the ends of the rails
formed to receive it. Holes are pierced through the webs of the rails and
saddle piece, and through these holes bolts M are passed, which are secured
by means of jam nuts. The main and siding wing rails A and E are fitted
in like manner with the iron or steel saddle-shaped rails B and F at the
points where the greatest amount of wear takes place. These lengths of
steel rails are made to fit the rail, as shown in Figure 5, and are secured
thereto by bolts and jam nuts N, or in any other convenient manner.
These

page_text: saddle-shaped iron or steel rails are easily fitted to and removed from the rails
when required. Instead of making these steel rails with two pendent or
side webs L, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, they may be made if preferred
with a single web to attach them to the main rails C and G, which in the last
modification, shown in Figure 2, is jointed at their winged ends A and E by
the short pieces B and F. This modification of attachment by a single web,
though not so strong as that of the double web, might however in some cases
be preferred and be quite sufficient for the purpose required. With these
several arrangements the crossings of railways may be rendered far more
durable than heretofore, and consequently much more economical in cost, as
well as being easily accessible at all parts.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is, the system or mode of arranging and constructing
the "crossings" of railways with short lengths of rails formed either of
renewable iron, steel, or case-hardened iron fitted or interposed at the parts
subjected to the greatest amount of wear, and also forming the "tongues" of
"crossings" either of renewable iron, steel, or case-hardened iron, and of the
ordinary or saddle-shaped figures, as herein-before described and shown in
the accompanying Drawings, or any mere modification of the said arrange-
ments.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Howie, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of September, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-three.
JOHN HOWIE. (LS.)