IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING CHAIRS AND RAILS. WHICH FORM CONTINUOUS RAILS FOR RAILROADS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Lyman Baldwin Prindle (Engineer), of Litchfield,
in the State of Connecticut, in the United States of North America,..
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING CHAIRS AND RAILS.
WHICH FORM CONTINUOUS RAILS FOR RAILROADS."
Sealed the 28th October 1868, and dated the 15th June 1868...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Lyman Baldwin Prindle
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th June 1868.
I, LYMAN BALDWIN PRINDLE (Engineer), of Litchfield, in the State
of Connecticut, in the United States of North America, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CON--
STRUCTING CHAIRS AND RAILS WHICH FORM CONTINUOUS RAILS FOR RAILROADS," to
be as follows:-
My Invention relates to what are called endless or continuous rails,.
and the chairs in which the rails are supported.. The said chairs - ara

page_text: cast or wrought in such form as to hold the rails firmly in their places
and admit of their being reversed, the under edge being substituted for
the upper when they shall have become worn, the durability of the rails
being thereby rendered much greater than that of the ordinary rails now
in use. The rails for each line are double bars of iron or steel of any
desired length. They are wrought a trifle thicker on one edge than the
other, and being thus slightly bevelled on the faces which fit together
longitudinally the outside bar when put in and brought down to a level
with the inside bar holds it down solidly in the chairs. The rails are
provided with a square groove in the flat side opposite the bevelled
face centrally extending their whole length, the chairs being made with
corresponding ribs or projections to fit into the grooves in the rails, and
corresponding grooves or recesses in the risers or outside support of the
chairs, for the purpose of inserting keys. By this means the whole line
is firmly secured to the chairs only. The said chairs may be fastened
to the cross ties in the usual marner. The two bars or rails when put
together to form each line are laid so that the ends of the inner rails
rest in the seats in the chairs in the centre, or at a suitable distance
from where the ends of the outer rails meet so as to break joint, thereby
leaving no open joints or space that can be felt in the carriages passing
over them when the rails contract by heat.
My improvements are equally well adapted to rails made of iron or steel;
and when they and the chairs are put down and secured in the manner
above described the whole forms a continuous railway of great strength
and durability, on which heavy locomotives and trains of carriages may
run at a great speed without the disagrecable noise caused by the
hammering and jolting of the wheels on the joints hitherto so annoying
to passengers, and which also tend to break the wheels, and which
by the constant jarring wear out the carriages much faster than upon
an even and perfect line.
The joints in my improved continuous rails are as firm and solid as
any portion of the line, no more settling of the ties taking place at
the joints than elsewhere. The train will therefore run uniformly
smooth, and even at a greater speed and with less power than has
hitherto been practiceable while the rails and the whole structure will be
more durable and safe, and require less repairing, and when the tops of

page_text: the rails become worn or a single joint gets crushed one length or more
can be taken up, reversed, and replaced without disturbing the chairs or
other portions of the line.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Lyman Baldwin Prindle in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th December 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LYMAN
BALDWIN PRINDLE, Engineer, of Lichfield, in the State of Connecticut,
in the United States of North America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Lyman Baldwin Prindle, Her special
license that I, the said Lyman Baldwin Prindle, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Lyman Baldwin
Prindle, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 CONSTRUCTING CHAIRS AND RAILS WHICH FORM CONTINUOUS
RAILS FOR RAILROADS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Lyman Baldwin Prindle, 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 Lyman Baldwin Prindle, 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

page_text: in and by the following statement, reference being a to Draw
hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is
to say):
This Invention has for its object improvements in continuous rails for
railroads to make them more durable and more convenient to repair, and
also to prevent the noise and jolting caused by the weakness of the
joints and the parting of the rails by contraction, so that the carriage
wheels will not feel the joints between the said rails, but pass over as
smoothly as if each track was one continuous rail.
My Invention consists in the form and construction of the chairs for
holding the rails and also in constructing the rails with longitudinal
grooves in the centre of the face or square side, the opposite side being
bevelled so as to make one edge of the rail about one-fourth thicker
than the other, so that when the two rails are placed with their bevelled
faces together, one thin edge up and the other down, they operate as
.a dovetail to help hold each other, and when laid with their ends
resting in the chairs alternately breaking joints each section, the inside
bar having the narrow rounded edge up the outside, the reverse the
narrow edge down, and are secured by keys driven in the grooves of
the rails and the recesses in the risers of the chairs; they form a
continuous track of great strength on which a train of carriages may
be run at a much greater speed without the disagreeable noise and
jarring now so often experienced on all railroads, and also with much
less wear to the rolling stock.
When any portion of the track becomes so worn as to need repairs
the rails may be easily reversed by taking out the keys and placing
the under edges up, thereby increasing or doubling the wear and length
of time the rails will last. The changing the position of the rails or
inserting new ones may be done without disturbing the chair fastenings,
or any other portion of the road, and therefore can be done very
expeditiously.
That others may be enabled to make my improved rails and chairs,
and construct railroads on my improved plan, I will describe it more
in detail, referring to the several Figures in the Drawings, and to the
letters of reference marked thereon.

page_text: Each line of the track A, A, is constructed with double bars a, a, to
form the rail, both the inside and outside being all the same pattern.
When put together and laid down the rounded corner narrow edge is
put up on the inside of the track where the flanges of the carriage
wheels follow. Each bar or section of rail a has a square corned
groove b, b, longitudinally in its centre on the square or outside face
for the purpose of securing them firmly in the chairs B, as herein-after
more fully described.
I construct my improved railroad chairs B of cast or wrought iron, in
or about the form shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, and secure them to the
timber cross ties C, C, C, by spikes in the ordinary manner. From the
base of the chair B arise two upright supports D and E, their inner faces
being at right angles with the seat of the base B', and at such distance
apart as to admit the two sections a, a, which form the continuous rails
between them. The upright support E is always placed so as to be on
the inside between the two rails A, A, and is made to extend up only
a sufficient distance to be even on the top with the upper side of the
longitudinal grooves b, b, in the rails a, a, and has a projection e on it
so formed as to snugly fit into the groove b on the inside rail. In the
opposite upright brace or support D there is made a square recess d
which exactly corresponds in heighth with the grooves b in the rails a,
so that a square key F made of either hard wood or metal may be fitted
and driven in to hold the rails firmly in the chairs. The upright
support D may extend to a level with the top of the rails a, a, on the
outside and be sufficiently heavy and stiff to hold the side pressure
outward on the track.
In constructing railroads with my improved chairs and double bar
rails as above described the timber and ties C, C, C, on which the
chairs B are fastened are so placed as to have a broad base chair at
each end and in the middle of each section of the rails, as shown in
Figure 4; the narrow rounded edge of the inner rail being up leaves
the wider portion for a base to rest on the inside seat of the chair with
the projection e fitting in the groove 6 of the rail. The other outside
section of the rail being placed in the chairs with the narrow edge
5 rounded corner down with the bevel faces, together leaves the broadest
part of the outside rail up, thus forming a continuous wedge or dove-
tail to hold the inside rail to its place; the back rails or outside portion

page_text: of the track being laid so that the ends meet in the center of the inside
rails, alternately breaking joints (as seen in Figure 4).
When the timbers and cross ties C, C, C, are put down at the
required distance apart, and the chairs B, B, properly secured to them,
the rails a, a, and track A, A, can be laid in the most expeditious
manner, the track being firmly secured by keys F, which may be
made either of metal or of tough hard wood, fitted and driven into
the recesses d in the chair, and the grooves b, b, in the outside
section of the rail a. Thus a continuous rail and track is formed
and may be extended to any distance, so that by the greatest contrac-
tion of the metal by heat and the parting of the rails at the ends the
joints will not be felt by the carriage wheels passing over them, and a
train of carriages will run as smoothly as if miles of the track were
made of two continuous pieces of iron or steel.
It will readily be seen that the advantages of my improved method of
of constructing rails for railroad track, and improvements in the chairs
for securing the same, are many and great over others known or used.
In the first place, each piece or section of rail will be only of about
one-half the weight of the ordinary rails of the same length, and con-
sequently more easily handled for laying down the track and also in
taking up and repairing the road, not requiring so much force or the
number of hands; secondly, the rails being so constructed that both
edges may be used for the top for the carriage wheels to run on,
the track will sustain about double the amount of wear, and the joints
or ends of both the inside and outside sections of the rails being so
supported in the chairs and protected by the solid portion of the rails
breaking cach joint, and held so firmly by the projection (e) fitting in
the groove of the inside rails, with the beveled face of the outside
rails bearing on the corresponding face of its fellow, and there held by
the keys (F, F,) on the outside, the whole structure is very substantial
and compact, and produces a result in railroad transportation and travel
not before attained.
What I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent
is, so constructing rails of iron or steel with longitudinal grooves and
bevel faces to be put together, and their accompanying chairs, that when
the two sections or double rails are placed together and secured in their
seats alternately breaking joints or lapping by each other midway they

page_text: form a continuous rail or jointless track for railroads for any desired
distance, substantially in the manner and for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Lyman Baldwin Prindle, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
LYMAN BALDWIN PRINDLE. (L.S.)