IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MEANS AND APPLIANCES EMPLOYED IN THE LOADING UNLOADING AND CONVEYING OF MERCHANDISE AND IN THE ROLLING STOCK OF RAILWAYS AND IN MACHINERY USED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Sir Henry Bessemer at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th January 1883.
Sir HENRY BESSEMER of Denmark Hill in the County of Surrey " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MEANS AND APPLIANCES EMPLOYED IN THE LOADING UNLOADING
AND CONVEYING OF MERCHANDISE AND IN THE ROLLING STOCK OF RAILWAYS
AND IN MACHINERY USED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH "
This Invention has for its object improvements in the means and appliances
employed in the loading unloading and conveying of merchandise and in the rolling
stock of railways and in machinery used in connection therewith.
In a Provisional Specification N° 5171 filed by me on the 30th day of October
last I described a system for the conveyance of merchandise on railways in the
same waggons or vehicles in merchandise is brought to the railway and afterwards
delivered to its destination.
A feature in this system is the employment of railway platform trucks onto and
from which the road waggons pass from the side of the line the railway being laid
at a suitable level.
"
My present improvements are as follows:-
I make the road waggons with their front wheels closer together than the hind
wheels and I provide ruts or grooves in the platform truck to receive the several
wheels, lead them into position and keep the waggons in their places on the.
platform
The outer side of the groove or rut forms the guide for the hind wheel and its
inner side the guide for the fore wheel of the road waggon
By corresponding guide ruts or grooves at the side of the railway the waggons
are controlled as they approach the trucks-Also to retain the waggons in their
places whilst travelling by railway I provide on each side of every waggon a
butting piece to rest against the corresponding piece on the next waggon or against
an abutment provided at the end of the platform truck
The butting pieces are inclined to facilitate the entrance of the waggons to
their places and keys dropping between them prevent all movement.

page_text: Also to prevent the waggons moving towards one side or the other of the
platform truck I provide each waggon with a claw and in the platform there is
a corresponding groove or slot with which the claw is made to engage
By the same means I secure the trucks whilst waiting at the side of the line for
the train to take them forward-These waiting places I arrange to incline towards
the line of railway so that when the platform truck is ready to receive the waggon
very little labour is needed in order to roll the waggon into its place.
Where the waggons are to be removed from the trucks I lay the railway line
with one rail higher than the other so that when one of the waggons on the
platform truck is set free very little labour is required to run the waggon off at
the side of the line-The ground at this place is laid at a proper level to receive
the waggons and inclines away from the railway to facilitate the removal to a
convenient distance.
I provide locking appliances to retain the platform trucks in place whilst the
waggons are run on and off.
Sometimes I provide stops on one side of the platform to stop the waggons
when in running on they arrive in their places and I provide clips to hold the
wheels against these stops or bolts to shoot into corresponding holes on the
platform.
I make the pole of the waggon telescopic so that it may be thrust in out of the
way when the waggon is upon the truck.
When it is inconvenient in consequence of the narrowness of the space between
the up and down lines of the railway to carry the waggons transversely and more
convenient to arrange them longitudinally upon the trucks I provide a light turn-
table upon each platform truck so that the waggons may be run on at the side,
turned, and then pushed either way along the truck. The last waggon, completing
the load, remains on the turn table and blocks the other waggons in their places.
The platform trucks are kept low by allowing the tops of their wheels to project
up through the platform.
Sometimes when the waggons are carried longitudinally upon the trucks I make
the trucks as long as convenient and also provide flaps between the trucks so that
the guide track may be continuous along the train from end to end. I provide
then a turn table on one or more of the trucks as may be required, run the waggons
in from the side, turn them, and pass them along the train to their places. Stops
at the ends of the trucks can be turned up to hold the waggons in place whilst
travelling.