Improvements in Signals for Railways.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Dec., 1890-Accepted, 24th Jan., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Signals for Railways.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK REDFERN, of the firm of G. F. Redfern & Co., The General
Patent Office, No. 4, South Street. Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication from abroad
by Otto Emil Joseph Ruttkowski, of Briesen-on-the-Mark, Railway Manager) and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to signals for railways.
Hitherto it has been customary to fix on some railways, at points adjacent to
the convergence or crossing of two lines of rails, what may be termed signal
planks or sleepers or shunting marks to indicate to the driver of a locomotive the
nearest point to the convergence or crossing to which he may approach if the
ordinary signals are against him or at danger and, in order to render such shunting
marks readily discernible they are painted. In practice, however, it is found that not
only do smoke and atmospheric influences destroy the paint very quickly but that in
many cases the shunting mark itself is more or less destroyed by fire, caused by the
hot clinkers which the stoker frequently removes from the furnace and throws onto
the ground whilst the locomotive is at rest; consequently such shunting marks
frequently require to be renewed.
The object of this invention is to obviate these disadvantages and to this end I
provide the weather and fire-proof shunting mark hereinafter described.
In the accompanying drawing,-
Figure 1 is an elevation of a shunting mark constructed according to my invention
and represented as applied to a rail:
Figure 2 a plan of the same; and,
Figure 3 is a section on line a x, Figure 1:
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of the apparatus; and,
Figure 5 is a vertical section :
Figure 6 is a view shewing the position of the ordinary shunting mark; and,
Figure 7 shews the position of the new shunting mark with reference to the
convergence.
The new shunting mark comprises a bell or cover A which is advantageously made
of glass or of china and the surface of which is more or less marked with sharp lines
so as to shew different colours, say, black and white, or otherwise adapted to shew
different colours whereby it can be seen from a distance by day or night. The bell
or cover A is placed over a metallic core or body B of a somewhat smaller diameter
than the inside of the said cover, so as to leave enough space between the inner surface
of the cover A and the outer surface of the core B to allow for the expansion and
contraction of the materials at different temperatures. The bell or cover A is fixed to
the core or body B by means of a screw b, and in order to prevent water or dust and
the like from accumulating between the cover and the core, a packing ring a is
provided between the flange c of the body and the cover A, which packing is com-
pressed and the cover securely fixed by tightening the screw b at the top of the
said cover.
As represented in the drawing the shunting mark is supported from a rail by means
of a bar d, angle irons e, e¹ and screws f, in such a manner that it occupies the
position shewn in Figure 7.
By this invention a shunting mark is provided the colours of which cannot be
damaged either by soot or weather so as to become indistinguishable, and which
cannot be damaged or entirely destroyed by fire.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A shunting mark comprising a bell or cover, the outer surface of which is of
different colour at different parts, and a core or body supporting the said cover in
such a manner that an air-tight space is left between the two parts so as to allow for
expansion and contraction, substantially as, and for the purposes, described.
2. A shunting mark of the kind hereinhefore described provided with a bar d, angle
pieces e, e¹ and screws f, f', so that it can be directly secured to the base of a rail,
substantially as described.
Dated the 3rd day of December 1800
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.