IMPROVEMENTS IN NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS, AND IN ÅRRANGEMENTS FOR WORKING THE SAME.
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Barraclough Fell, of Spark Bridge, near
Ulverstone, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS, AND IN ÅRRANGEMENTS
FOR WORKING THE SAME.
"
Sealed the 7th October 1871, and dated the 9th May 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Barraclough Fell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 9th May 1871.
I, JOHN BARRACLOUGH FELL, of Spark Bridge, near Ulverstone, in
the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS, AND IN
ARRANGEMENTS FOR WORKING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to peculiar narrow gauge railways whereby
cuttings and embankments are dispensed with, the railway being formed
upon a structure raised above the surface of the ground, parts of the

page_text: engines and carriages working thereon coming on each side of the
structure and below the level of its carrying rails.
My Invention consists in the mode of constructing the railway of
wrought iron, cast iron, or wood, or a combination of two or more
of these, so as to obtain a strong and efficient structure with economy
by forming the superstructure of two deep beams or rails connected
together by cross ties to form a double beam. The carrying wheels of
the engines and carriages run upon the upper heads, and the guide
and gripping wheels work upon the outside lower heads of the beams or
rails. For wide spans two beams or rails are used on each side, placed
one over the other and connected and braced together by lattice bars,
the head of the upper rail forming the carrying rail. The carrying and
guide rails may be made separate from the beams, the one secured to
the upper flange of the beams or upon cross planking bolted to the
beams and the other to the side of the beams. Fishing plates are used:
both in iron superstructures and those formed of wood, which fishing
pieces are of wood and come between the two beams in the latter case.
The-superstructure-is-carried-upon-supports-varying-in-height-according
to the undulations of the ground, and they are formed of T or angle
iron, or cast iron of any suitable section or wood, or a combination of
these consisting when of iron of two inclined sides connected by cross
bracing and when formed of wood of a central post having a lateral
strut on each side resting upon or secured to a cross sleeper sunk to a
sufficient depth in the ground, and from the central part or side frames
there are longitudinal struts to strengthen and support the super-
structure.
· In order to pass an engine or train from one line to another line of
these railways, the beams forming the superstructure at the required
point are arranged as a switch to turn upon a pivot at one end, the
other end being carried by wheels or rollers that work upon segmental
rails so as to oscillate between the two lines of railway, and turntables
are also formed by arranging the beams of the superstructure to turn'
upon a central pivot with supporting wheels or rollers at each end
working upon circular rails and for unloading minerals from waggons
used upon these railways a length of the superstructure where required
is mounted upon an horizontal axis, so as to tip over the waggon or
waggons upon it.

page_text: My Invention also consists in working these narrow gauge railways
wholly or partly by stationary engines and an endless rope or ropes
which is connected with the train or waggon by a clamp or clip, the
up side of the rope passes on one side and the down side upon the other
side of the structure but below the level of the guide wheels when used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent;
filed by the said John Barraclough Fell in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BARRACLOUGH FELL, of Spark Bridge, near Ulverstone, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Barraclough Fell, Her special
licence that I, the said John Barraclough Fell, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Barraclough Fell,
my executors, adminstrators, 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 NARROW GAUGE RAILWAYS, AND IN ARRANGEMENTS FOR
WORKING THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Barraclough Fell, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 Barraclough Fell, do hereby

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement and the accompanying Drawings (that
is to say) :-
My Invention relates to peculiar narrow gauge railways whereby
cuttings and embankments are dispensed with, the railway being formed
upon a structure raised above the surface of the ground, parts of the
engines and carriages working thereon coming on each side of the
structure and below the level of the carrying rails.
My Invention consists in the mode of constructing these railways
of wrought iron, cast iron, or wood, or a combination of two or more
of these so as to obtain a strong and efficient structure with economy.
The superstructure is formed of two deep beams or rails connected
together by cross ties to form a double beam. It is carried on supports
placed at suitable distances apart and varying in height according to the
undulations of the ground. Guide bars or rails are attached to the sides
of the beams on which run the guide wheels on vertical axes of the
engines and carriages. When the beams are made of wood, the per-
_manent_way_is_formed-of-two-flat-bottomed-rails-spiked-into-the-upper-
surfaces of the beams, and when of iron the beam and the carrying and
guide rail may be rolled in one piece in the form of a deep double-
headed rail, the upper head being the carrying rail and the lower one
.the guide rail, but the beam and the rails may also be made in separate
pieces and secured together. The supports when of iron are made
of two inclined sides connected by cross bracing and may be with
or without an intermediate vertical suppport; when the supports are
.formed of wood a central post is used with a lateral strut on each side
resting upon and secured to a cross sleeper sunk to sufficient depth in
the ground to give steadiness to the structure. From the central post or
from the side struts there may be fixed longitudinal struts to strengthen
and support the superstructure.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation, and Fig. 2
is a cross sectional elevation shewing the design of a wooden structure.
a are the vertical posts or pillars; b, the side struts resting on the sleeper
c and tied together by cross pieces d and d¹; e, are the corbels; f, the
carrying beams; g, the fishing pieces; h, the rails; and i the guide bars
or rails on which the horizontal guide wheels of the carriages run. The
longitudinal struts are in pairs, the lower ends secured on each side of

page_text: the central post, and the upper ends to the beams fand to the bridging
pieces which relieve the beams (f) from the thrust in the longitudinal
direction.
I
Fig. 3 is a side elevation, and Fig. 4 is a cross sectional elevation
shewing a structure of wood and iron combined; the middle post (a), side
struts b, and longitudinal struts c, corbels d, cross braces d³, sleepers e,
are of wood and the beams f (the upper and under heads of which serve
for carrying and guide rails) are of wrought iron and are fastened to the
supports by the cross plates or boxes g and to the longitudinal struts c
by the cross frames or bracings g', the lower ends of the longitudinal
struts resting upon the cross braces d', and against the central post a.
Fig. 5 is a side elevation, and Fig. 6 a cross sectional elevation
shewing an iron structure, the supports a being formed of two or more
angle or T or other iron of suitable section, connected and tied together
by the cross bracing b, c, d, e, and resting on the sleeper of iron or
wood f to which they are fastened by means of the plates or chairs g.
The wrought-iron beams h are of the form above described in reference
to Figs. 3 and 4, fished at the joints by the plates i and strengthened
by the longitudinal struts j passing between the side supports a¹ and the
rails h.
In order to pass an engine or train from one line of these railways to
another the beams of the superstructure at the point required are
arranged as a switch turning on a pivot at one end, the other end being
carried by wheels or rollers that work on segmental rails so as to move
freely between the main line of railway and the siding.
Fig. 7 shews a side elevation, and Fig. 8 a plan of this kind of switch.
a are the beams of the superstructure jointed to the main line bat one.
end by the hinge or pivot c, the other end being supported by the
roller d upon the segmental rails e and moving between the continua-
tion of the main line and the siding 9; h are the vertical supports of
the structure; i and j the carrying guide rails; check or guide rails may
also be used at the junction of the line with the switch at both ends of
it. The turntables are formed of a convenient length, the superstructure
being made to turn on a central pivot, as shewn in Figs. 7 and 8. k is
the length of superstructure used at the turntable which turns on the
central pivot and is supported at both ends by the flanged wheels m
travelling on a circular rail n; these wheels may also be used in pairs

page_text: placed underneath as shewn, or at each side of the beams of the
superstructure k; b is the main line and 2 one of the diverging lines
with which the former is placed in communication by the turntable.
Fig. 9 shews the side elevation of an arrangement to allow a road
to cross the railway. The beams of the superstructure are strengthened
by cross bracing as shewn, and are supported and made to turn upon
the hinges 8 at one end, and upon the roller or rollers at the other.
u are the beams and v the supports of the railway. It will be seen that
this arrangement serves also as a gate for the crossing. Tipping frames
for unloading minerals and other materials are formed by a length of the
superstructure being mounted on a horizontal axis and so arranged as
to allow the waggon upon it to be tipped over to the angle required for
discharging its load. In Fig. 9 w is the tipping frame turning on the
pivots x, u being the beams, and v, the supports of the railway, and y,
sliding bolts for securing the frame in its vertical position. These narrow
guage railways may be wholly or partly worked by stationary engines and
endless wire ropes, to which the carriages are connected by a clamp or
clip. The-up-strand_passes on one side and the down strand on the other
side of the structure, and below the level of-the-rails_and_carriages.
The rope is carried on cylindrical or grooved pulleys or rollers and guided
upon curves by cylindrical rollers or pulleys with their axes, upon which
they rotate, placed in a vertical position.
I have now particularly described the nature of my Invention and
the mode of carrying it into effect, and claim as my Invention in narrow
guage railways where the engines, carriages, or waggons that work
thereon have parts of their framing or their guide wheels upon each side
of the carrying rails and below their level,―
Firstly. The several modes of constructing the structure and super-
structure of such railways as herein-before described and illustrated by
the Drawings, especially the use of the lateral struts when of timber
brought up to the under sides of the corbels upon which the carrying
beams rest, combined with the mode of "fishing" and strengthening by
longitudinal struts.
Secondly. The mode of constructing the structure and superstructure