AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE USE OF RAILWAY GUARDS AND PASSENGERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATING WITH THE ENGINE DRIVERS OF RAILWAY TRAINS WHEN NECESSARY
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hawkins, of Lysle Street, London, in the
County of Middlesex, and of Walsall, in the County of Stafford, Bit,
Spur, and Stirrup Manufacturer, and Charles Hawkins, of Walsall,
aforesaid, Manager of the Works of the said John Hawkins, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE USE OF RAILWAY GUARDS
AND PASSENGERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATING WITH THE ENGINE
DRIVERS OF RAILWAY TRAINS WHEN NECESSARY."
Sealed the 6th July 1860, and dated the 7th January 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hawkins and Charles
Hawkins at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 7th January 1860.
We, JOHN HAWKINS, of Lysle Street, London, in the County of Middlesex,
and of Walsall, in the County of Stafford, Bit, Spur, and Stirrup Manu-
facturer, and CHARLES HAWKINS, of Walsall, aforesaid, Manager of the
Works of the said John Hawkins, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE USE OF RAILWAY GUARDS AND
PASSENGERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATING WITH THE ENGINE DRIVERS OF
RAILWAY TRAINS WHEN NECESSARY," to be as follows (that is to say) :-
Our Invention consists in fixing up in any suitable situation of a guard's
van, or a railway carriage or carriages of a railway train with proper con-

page_text: necting rods, so that it may be available for the passengers in any of its
compartments, an apparatus which consists of a piston working in a cylinder
with valves, top and bottom, in connection with a whistle or whistles, which
may be of the ordinary construction of what are termed steam whistles, or
any other that may be desired, and by working the piston backward and
forward, or up and down, as convenient, with a suitable lever handle, a con-
tinuous stream of air may be forced through the whistle or whistles, producing
a sound as continuous and shrill as that produced from the escape of steam to
the ordinary locomotive steam whistle;, and by this means we purpose com-
municating to the drivers of railway trains, by the particular sound made, the
desire of the guard or passengers, whether that be to quicken, slacken, or
stop the train, as may be necessary.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Hawkins and Charles Hawkins in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
HAWKINS, of Lisle Street, London, in the County of Middlesex, and of
Walsall, in the County of Stafford, Bit, Spur, and Stirrup Manufacturer, and
CHARLES HAWKINS, of Walsall aforesaid, Manager of the Works of the said
John Hawkins, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said John Hawkins and Charles Hawkins, Her special license that we, the
said John Hawkins and Charles Hawkins, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said John Hawkins and Charles Hawkins, our
executors, administrators, or 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 "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE USE OF
RAILWAY GUARDS AND PASSENGERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATING WITH THE
ENGINE DRIVER OF RAILWAY TRAINS WHEN NECESSARY," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said John Hawkins and Charles Hawkins, by
an instrument in writing under our hand and seal, should particularly

page_text: 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 we, the said John Hawkins and Charles Hawkins,
do hereby declare the nature of our 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 our Invention is to provide a simple, enduring, and efficient
mode of communicating (by sound) between the guard or guards of railway
trains and the engine driver of such trains, as also to the following or
approaching trains during the time of fogs or accidents, or other occasions
when caution may be necessary to prevent railway trains running into each
other; and if required the same means may be used not only in intermediate
break vans for the use of auxiliary guards, but to the ordinary passenger
carriages to be sounded when occasion may demand the stopping of the train,
but nevertheless for the proper and efficient managing of railway passenger
trains, we believe it to be inexpedient that the passengers indiscriminately
should be allowed free access to any apparatus having for its object the
making of signals so as to cause the engine driver to stop the train, as on
real or extraordinary occasions for such an irregular and time deranging
practice many ways may be resorted to to catch the attention of the inter-
mediate or hind guard, whose duty it is to be constantly watching the safo
progress of their train. And in. producing or making signal by our apparatus,
we prefer it to be as loud or shrill as possible, and capable of being heard and
known as well as the steam whistle now commonly used by the engine driver,
but such sound we prefer to be of such a distinctive character as to be
capable of being at once identified under all and every circumstance as the
guard's whistle in counter distinction to the steam whistle of the engine
driver.
And the manner in which we purpose carrying our Invention into effect
consists in providing a suitable cylinder and piston with piston rod to be
worked by a lever handle, or by a crank and wheel, or by a connection with a
crank or an eccentric or friction wheel on the axle of the carriage, to which
the apparatus may be attached with suitable connecting pipes or airways, that
when in work the air will be drawn in and forced out of the cylinder alter-
nately, if preferred, on each side of the piston through the airways to
suitable whistle or whistles, or other sounding apparatus advantageously placed
on the top or other part of the break van, or other carriage or carriages of an

page_text: ordinary railway train, around which whistle or whistles a sound-directing
shield or other means may be applied for throwing the sound forward or
backward as may be required. In practice, we have found whistles con-
structed similar to steam whistles to answer well for our purpose, the action
of the piston producing a pulsating noise or sound peculiar to itself, from
their being an audible stopping of the sound at each return stroke of the
.piston.
But in order that we may be well understood as to the nature and character
of our Invention, and the manner in which the same may be carried into
effect, we will now proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed,
reference being made to the various figures and letters marked thercon.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents partly in section our apparatus as applied to the roof of a
break van or other railway carriage, and which roof is represented broken, and
in section marked A, A. B, B, B, is a part external and part sectional view of
a cast-iron or other metal cylinder, showing vertical airways on each side
marked C and C'; these airways extend into an annular airway at the top,
marked D and D' extending beyond which is a projecting flange marked N, N,
for the purpose of securing the cylinder to the roof, as shown by the screw
bolt E, as well as the screwing or connecting the top F, F, to the cylinder,
which may be efficiently done and made air-tight by using white lead or other
suitable material placed between the upper surface of the flange N and the
corresponding under surface of the cover F. G and G are whistles, con-
structed in like manner to the ordinary steam whistle, the one marked G'
being represented in section for the better exhibiting its general construction,
and for convenience a stop-cock is applied to the base of each whistle, in order
that one or both may be used at pleasure; H is the piston, and I the piston
rod connected with a lever handle J, which works on the axis K, and which,
for the purpose of assisting or preserving the vertical action of the piston H
and rod I; the connecting rod L is introduced, which is secured at the top to
a projecting car or ears formed or cast on the cylinder marked M or otherwise,
as convenient. And we will suppose the piston to be ascending, the con-
sequence will be that the valve a will be open for the air to pass out in the
direction of the arrow, to ascend for the purpose of sounding the whistle by its
passing up through the airway b, b, to escape for that purpose; and as we have
supposed the piston H to be ascending, it has not only had the effect of closing
the valve c, but to open the valve d, to allow the air to enter, as indicated by the
arrows e, e, through a circular row of holes in the bottom, and by which means

page_text: that part of the cylinder below the piston becomes full of air, and the moment
the piston H begins to descend the valves a and d close, and the valve f opens
for the air to enter in the direction of the arrows g, g, to fill the cylinder above
the piston with air as the piston descends, and by which descent the air
below the piston is forced through the airway h up to the valve c, which of
course it opens, and escapes, as before described, through the airway b, b, to
the whistle; thus we get a continuous pulsating shrill noise, produced both by
the upward and downward action of the piston, and as the annular airway D
and D' is continuous the same amount of pressure operates on each whistle,
notwithstanding, if desirable, the one whistle may be confined to the descending
and the other to the descending action of the piston, if preferred, or one
whistle only may be used both for the down and upward stroke (of the
piston).
Fig. 2 represents a top view of the cylinder representing the flange N, N,
partly broken away at the bottom for convenience of space, within which is
the annular airway marked D, D, showing the valve as at c, in Figure One,
removed in this for the purpose of showing the vertical airway C', the corre-
sponding airway on the other side being represented in dotted lines below the
valve; the inner circle of this Figure represents the cylinder as described
at B, Figure One.
Fig. 3 represents a top view of Figure One, showing the whistle G and G',
with the cap O that covers over the airway to the valve f, for suplying the
upper part of the cylinder with air; and Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view
of Figure One, taken through the dotted lino k, k, representing the vertical
airways C and C' with the circular and lower valve d, which is held down in
its place by the metal cap 1, the piston rod being represented in section
marked I, as at Figure One.
And although we have now described the general elements of our Invention,
nevertheless we do not purpose confining ourselves to the arrangements as here
given; as, for instance, it may require modifying according to the position in
which it may be applied or set up in the van or carriage in which it may be
desired, as illustrated at Fig. 5, which represents the cylinder placed hori
zontally, and worked by means of the connecting rod P, P, which is attached
to the piston rod Q, Q, and to a crank set up on proper standards or bearings,
here represented at R broken off for convenience of space, and in connection
with the same crank a fly wheel may be placed, as at S, S; thus by means of
an ordinary winch handle the piston T, T, may be made to rapidly work
through the cylinder U, which is represented broken, for the purpose of
showing the piston and the airway and valve by which the air is admitted

page_text: through holes in the ends each side of the piston, as required, the ends
and cylinder being bolted together by screws passing through the flanges
in the ordinary way, and we will suppose that the fly wheel and connecting
rod are moving in the direction of the arrows; it follows as a matter of
'course that the valve has closed over the holes m, m, and that the air in
the part of the cylinder marked V is ascending through the airways n, n,
to the whistle W, and by the time the crank has passed over its dead
point the whistle W will stop, and the air on the side of the piston
marked will be forced out through the airway p, p, p, to the whistle in
connection with it, but which whistle is obscured by a stamped or raised shield
marked Y, and which shield is represented in section in connection with the
whistle W marked Z. The vertical air pipes p and n work through the
hollow axis 7, 9, which we purpose fastening or suitably securing on the roof
of a tail or intermediate break or guard's van, and by suitably securing the
cog wheels 1, 2, to the airways and gearing them together by the middle cog
wheel A' it is evident that by turning the middle wheel by means of the
handle B', B', the whistles may be turned in the direction desired, and by
means of the trumpet-formed shield Y and Z the sound may be thrown
forward to the engine driver, or backward to an approaching train, or other-
wise, as may be desired or occasion demand; and the notes of the two whistles
being slightly varied, a distinct and well understood guard's signal may be
given, and which sound we purpose at all times to so differ from the whistle
of the engine driver as to be at once known and understood to all connected
in and about the transit of railway trains; and if it should be objected that
the production of the sounds are extra laborious or beyond the power of the
guard conveniently to perform, the piston may be easily worked from the axlo
of the carriage or van in which it may be applied, as may be seen by referring
to Fig. 6. D' represents the axle in section, with the pulley E¹ confined to
it; and F¹ is a bent lever, suspended to a strong pin at G", and to the lower
end of this lever the pulley H is applied, on the side of which a strong crank
pin is fixed, to which the connecting rod I, I, is attached, and which rod we
purpose to connect to a vertical piston rod in connection with a suitable
cylinder. The extreme end of the lever F¹ may terminate with a hook that it
may be raised and held up by a chain or other convenient means, so as to
disconnect the pulley H' from the pulley E' when not required to work; but
when in work, as here shown, the guard has only to press on the end of the
lever to generate sufficient pressure between the two pulleys as to make H¹
revolve, and thereby put the piston to work in connection with it for sounding
the whistles. The speed may be readily computed and determined on by

page_text: varying the size of the pulleys, but we believe the proportion here given will
do well, which we compute to be about one hundred and fifty double strokes
of the piston per minute; and this may be further regulated by unequal
pressure applied to the end of the lever by the guard suddenly pressing
or relieving the pulley H¹ from the pulley F¹; by this arrangement the
apparatus is always ready for use at any moment it may be necessary to sound
or make a signal, and subject to no wear and tear but only during the time it
is actually in use. And suppose the train to be stationary and the guard
deems it necessary to make signals of caution to following trains, the apparatus
may be worked either by the lever handle, as described in Figure One, or by
a handle, as described and exhibited at Figure Five; and either of these plans
we purpose using when necessary in connection with any suitable means, as
herein before stated of working from the axle of the carriage in which the
apparatus may be applied.
Having now described the nature and object of our Invention, and the
general manner in which the same may be carried into effect, according to
position or mode of working single or compound, nevertheless it will occur to
any practical mind that the apparatus as here shown and described may be
greatly deversified or altered without departing from the spirit of our Invention,
which we believe will be found not only a convenience, but a great practical
boon to the prevention of accidents to the passengers and trains running on
railways.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Hawkins and Charles Hawkins,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixth day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
KINS.
(L.8.)
Witness,
To the Signature of John Hawkins,
JAMES HUNT,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, W.C.,
To the Signature of Charles Hawkins,
ISAAC B. SAVAGE.
CHARLES HAWKINS.
L.S.)