MEANS TO PROLONG THE DURABILITY OF THE RAILS ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANNET
GERVOY, of Lyons, in France, Director of the Lyons Railway, 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 Thirteenth day of
February, 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 Annet Gervoy, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Annet
Gervoy, my exors, adññors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Annet
Gervoy, 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, my Invention of
"MEANS TO PROLONG THE DURABILITY OF THE RAILS ON RAILWAYS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Annet Gervoy, shall
cause a particular description of 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, to be enrolled in Her said 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Annet Gervoy, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
It is found that the wrought-iron rails of railways become crystallized and
weakened by the repeated vibrations caused by the passage of locomotive and
other carriages along them, and their durability is lessened as compared with
those which are treated acccording to my Invention, which consists of taking
up the rails after they have been in use during several years (generally from
eight to ten years) and heating them for the purpose of restoring or bringing
them again to a fibrous and tenacious character. And it will be evident that
the time for taking them up will depend on the quality of the iron and on the
extent of traffic on a particular railway, all which an engineer will be able to
judge of.
The heating of the rails after they have been taken up, in order to
restore them to a proper condition to be relaid, may be done in any suitable
furnace or oven; I, however, prefer the one shewn in the Drawing, which I
will now describe.
Figure 1 is a horizontal section; Figure 2 is a section taken through A, B;
and Figure 3 is a section taken through C, D. The furnace is divided into
two compartments, as is shewn. The fire is at J, and the heat and products
pass through this compartment and descend the flue F into the flue G,
and pass up through F¹ into the second compartment, and thence
up the chimney H.
There are two slide valves K, L, by which
the products from the fire may be shut off from the second compartment
of the furnace, and be caused to pass from the flue G up to the chimney
I. The rails are to be introduced into the first compartment of the furnace,
and are to be supported at intervals so as to keep them off the bottom or bed
of the furnace, such supports being sufficiently near to each other to prevent
the bending of the rails when heated. Several rails having been introduced into
the first compartment, and raised to a red heat, they are then to be introduced
into the second compartment, and the furnace is so worked that when the rails
in the first compartment have been raised to their highest degree of heat the
valve L is to be closed and the valve K opened, so that the rails in the second
compartment will cool down so as to loose all redness of heat, when these rails
are to be taken out, and the rails from the first compartment are to be
removed into the second compartment. The valve K is to be shut and the
valve I opened, and another quantity of rails are to be introduced into the first

page_text: compartment of the furnace, and so on. E is a roller to support the rail when
it is being pushed into the furnace. The rails so treated will be in a condition
to be again used on railways.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim are, the
means herein described of prolonging the durability of rails used on railways.
In witness whereof, I, the said Annet Gervoy, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
Taken and acknowledged, by Annet
Gervoy, at Paris, in France, on this
Eighth day of April, 1852, before me,
ANNET (L.S.) GERVOY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED that on the oath of Samuel Carpmael,
the Specification aforesaid was enrolled, word for word, as above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the First day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-two.