IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WATER COLUMNS FOR RAILWAY PURPOSES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Rogers, of Scropton Street, Rochdale Road,
in the City of Manchester, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WATER COLUMNS FOR RAILWAY PURPOSES.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Rogers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th February 1875.
I, JOHN ROGERS, of Scropton Street, Rochdale Road, in the City of
Manchester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WATER COLUMNS FOR
RAILWAY PURPOSES," to be as follows :-
The object of my Invention is to simplify the construction of water
columns, and to economise space; this improved water column answers
the same purpose as the ordinary water crane with a revolving arm.
My Invention consists in the use of a pendulum, socket, and pipe,
which is connected by a water-tight swivel joint to the column; the

page_text: feed valve is adapted to the stationary part of the head of the column,
and is worked from the top of the tender by a lever with pinion and
rack, or other equivalent. The water column is placed between the
lines of rails with the pendulum pipe longitudinal with the rails,
or between the rails and the siding, thereby economising space, and
allowing for the three feet of clearance recommended by the Board of
Trade.
I place a lamp at the top of the water column to indicate the level
of the water at night, and I connect a lever to the pendulum socket
to facilitate the guiding of the water pipe to one side or the other.
The pendulum pipe and valve may be connected to a water supply
pipe carried overhead on a bridge or otherwise, thereby dispensing with
the column. By thus combining the pendulum pipe with the feed valve
the fireman of the locomotive is enabled to get water while the engine-
man is oiling or otherwise attending to his engine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Rogers in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th February 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ROGERS, of Scropton Street, Rochdale Road, in the City of Manchester,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Rogers, Her special
licence that I, the said John Rogers, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Rogers, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any 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

page_text: THE CONSTRUCTION OF WATER COLUMNS FOR RAILWAY PURPOSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Rogers, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, 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 Rogers, 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 (that is to say) :—
The object of my Invention is to simplify the construction of water
columns, and to economise space; this improved water column answers
the same-purpose as the ordinary water crane with revolving arm.
My Invention consists in the use of a pendulum, socket, and pipe,
which is connected by a water-tight swivel joint to the column; the
feed valve is adapted to the stationary part of the head of the column,
and is worked from the top of the tender by a lever with pinion and
rack or other equivalent.
I place a lamp at the top of the water column to indicate the level
of the water at night, and I connect a lever to the pendulum socket
to facilitate the guiding of the water pipe to one side or the other.
The pendulum pipe and valve may be connected to a water supply
pipe carried overhead on a bridge or otherwise, thereby dispensing with
the column.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, in which,―
Fig. 1 is an elevation of my improved water column for railway
purposes.
Figs. 2 and 3 are modifications of my Invention.
In Fig. 1a is the main column, and b, the pipe passing upwards
through the column for conveying water into the valve box c; d is an
ordinary slide valve, to the back of which is cast or fixed the rack d'
'

page_text: which is moved up or down by a pinion on the axle of the hand lever e;
f is a swivel elbow pipe which is connected to the valve box c by a
water-tight swivel joint, as shewn best in Figs. 2 and 3; and f¹ is a
lever connected to the swivel elbow pipe for working the pipe partly
round in the direction required; 9 is the flexible hose or pendulum 5
pipe connected to the swivel elbow pipe f; and h is the ordinary
fire-box; is the waste water grid; and j, the lamp at the top of the
water column.
The lever e for working the valve d can be moved from the top of
the tender, and the water column can be placed between the lines 1
of rails with the pendulum pipe longitudinal with the rails, or it may
be placed between the rails and the siding, thereby economising space,
and allowing for the three feet of clearance recommended by the Board
of Trade.
The lamp jis to indicate the level of the water in the tender at night. 1
By thus combining the pendulum pipe with the feed valve the fireman
of the locomotive is enabled to get water while the engineman is oiling
or otherwise attending to the engine.
Fig. 2 represents in section the valve box c with an ordinary
mushroom valve instead of the slide valve above described. The 20
spindle of the mushroom valve ¹ is slotted for the end of the
lever to work in, and this lever is fixed to the axle of the hand
lever e, shewn in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 represents another modification of my Invention. In this
case the water supply pipe 6 is supposed to be carried overhead on 2
a bridge or otherwise, thereby dispensing with the column. In this
arrangement the slide valve d is moved up and down by a lever
connected to the valve spindle, or by rack and pinion, as shewn in
Fig. 1.
The valve may be worked from the lower end of the column by a 30
lever and connecting rod. This arrangement is particularly suitable
when the column is placed at some distance from the rails.
In some cases the pipe 6 in Fig. 1 may be dispensed with, and the
water would then rise in the column itself.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the 36
manner of performing the same, I declare that I claim,—

page_text: First. The general combination and arrangement of the improved
water column for railway purposes, as shewn and described.
Secondly. The application of a swivel socket and pendulum pipe to
water columns, as shewn and described.
And lastly. The apparatus shewn and described in reference to
Fig. 3 for supplying water to railway engines and tenders without
a column.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Rogers, have hereto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-five.