AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE PASSAGE OF A GUARD OR OTHER PERSON ALONG THE OUTSIDE OF A RAILWAY PASSENGER TRAIN IN MOTION
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William James Baker, of Wakefield, in the County
of York, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE PASSAGE OF A GUARD
OR OTHER PERSON ALONG THE OUTSIDE OF A RAILWAY PASSENGER TRAIN IN
MOTION."
Scaled the 11th December 1866, and dated the 2nd July 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William James Baker
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd July 1866.
I, WILLIAM JAMES BAKER, of Wakefield, in the County of York,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE PASSAGE OF
A GUARD OR OTHER PERSON ALONG THE OUTSIDE OF A RAILWAY PASSENGER TRAIN IN
MOTION," to be as follows:-
In constructing apparatus for the purpose above described I attach to the
sides of railway carriages or vans two parallel rails or guides, one immediately
above the foot boards, the other projecting from and supported by the roofs
or upper portions of the sides of the carriages, these rails or guides being
made continuous along the train or such part as may be requisite to be com-
municated with by couplings constructed of a straight bar of iron or steel,

page_text: supported by a stud at each end working in a slot to admit of the compression
of the buffer springs. Between the rails or guides, and working on them by
means of grooved wheels, runs a cage or receptacle for the guard who to
pass along the train drags or pushes himself and the cage or receptacle along
by hand-irons fixed at a convenient height on the sides of the carriages for
that purpose. The guard may thus propel himself in the cage or receptacle
along the whole or any portion of the train in safety when the same is in
motion. The projecting parts of the cage are fixed on hinges or joints, and
when not in use may be folded close to the side of the carriage or van, and
occupy little space.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William James Baker in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 2nd January 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JAMES BAKER, of Wakefield, in the County of York, Mechanical Engineer,
send greeting.
I
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William James Baker, Her special licence that I, the said William
James Baker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William James Baker, my executors, administrators, 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 "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE PASSAGE OF A GUARD
OR OTHER PERSON ALONG THE OUTSIDE OF A RAILWAY PASSENGER TRAIN IN MOTION,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William James Baker,
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William James Baker, 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 in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention is an apparatus or appliance intended to afford means
of communication for the guard of a railway passenger train or other person
acting as such or in his stead with any van or carriage or vans or carriages,
or any compartment or compartments of any van or carriage, vans or car-
riages, forming such train; and such Invention is intended to be carried out
in manner herein-after described, namely, by fixing to the sides of any van
or carriage or vans or carriages of a railway passenger train rails or guides
made continuous from the guard's van, or one of several guards' vans, the
whole length of such train or. the van and carriage portion of such train, or
continuous from the guard's van or one of several guards' vans to any such
carriage or carriages, or any compartment or compartiments of any such carriage
or carriages; and in case of several guards' vans being used in such train, to
any other or others of such vans it may be considered desirable, expedient, or
necessary to bring within the scope of communication, upon and supported
by which rails or guides runs on grooved wheels a vehicle or receptacle (herein-
after termed "the cage or simply "cage") intended to receive the guard
of any such train, or any person acting as such or in his stead, and in and by
means of which cage such guard or person whilst such train is in motion can
bring himself into communication with any van or carriage, or vans or
carriages, or any compartment or compartments of any van or carriage or
vans or carriages between which and his van such rails or guides are con-
tinuously fixed.
"
Fig. 1 is a side view of two carriages having the rails or guides A and B
for bearing, supporting, and sustaining the cage fixed in the most convenient
position, the lower rails or guides A being fastened to the footboard or to
the iron stays supporting the footboards or steps, and the upper rails B being
fastened by iron brackets to the upper part of the sides or outer edge of the
roofs of the carriages.
Fig. 2 represents a front view and a side view of the cage, C being strong
iron frames or ribs held together by the stays F, and attached to the deeply-
grooved wheels D which run upon the rails or guides herein-before described,
and marked A and B on Fig. 1; E is the foot plate intended as a standing
place for the guard or other person acting as such or in his stead, when such
guard or person wishes to propel himself to or to bring himself into com-

page_text: munication with any part of the train. A light wrought-iron or other fencing
or railing encompasses the outer portion of the cage, in which the guard or
other person as aforesaid stands, to prevent the possibility of such guard or
person falling out from the oscillation of the train or other cause or receiving
injury in his passage. The foot plate E and the iron or other fencing or
railing are attached by joints or hinges to the wrought-iron frames, so that the
cage can be folded close up to the side of any carriage or van when not in
use, and so folded as to occupy little space.
Fig. 3 shews the system of coupling or connecting the rails or guides of
one carriage or van to those of the next carriage or van. A and B are the
ends of the rails or guides of two carriages or vans, of which the end A is
attached by a pin to a connecting bar H, which when coupled is supported at
the opposite end by the rail B, which has a spring falling into a groove in
the bar H for this purpose. The bar H fits into a groove or recess at the
end of the rail or guide B, which groove or recess is made of sufficient length
to allow of the play of the buffers of the carriages, and when the carriages or
vans are uncoupled the bar is drawn out of the groove or recess and falls
into the position shewn by the dotted lines.
The guard, or other person acting as such or in his stead, to propel himself
to or to bring himself into communication with any part of the train, takes his
position in the cage facing the sides of the carriages or vans, and taking hold
of the door handles of each carriage or van his passage obliges him to pass or
partly pass; or of other projections, or of hand rails provided for the purpose,
pushes or pulls or moves himself and the cage along on the rails or guides
until he reaches that part of the train at which he is required, or with which
he desires to communicate; or if preferred or found more convenient one
of the grooved bearing wheels of the cage may be connected by gearing or an
endless chain to a handle within convenient reach of the guard or other person
as aforesaid, so that by turning the handle such connected bearing wheel of
the cage is made to revolve, and thus by its friction on the bottom rail or
guide to move the cage along in the direction required. It may in some
cases be found more convenient for the bearing wheels which carry the
weight of the cage to rest and run upon the upper rails or guides, in which
case the lower grooved wheels would require to run at the under side of
the lower rail or guide; this is the reverse way to that herein-before
described.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed and carried into effect,
it must be understood that I do not restrict or limit myself to the precise

page_text: details herein described or delineated, as the same may admit of slight variations
without departing from the principle or nature of my said Invention; but
what I claim is, the application and adaptation, as applied to railway passenger
trains, of a moveable cage, receptacle, or vehicle, in and by which a guard or
other person acting as such or in his stead can pass in safety to any part of a
railway passenger train in motion within the compass of such rails or guides,
the movement as means of passage or communication of the said cage,
receptacle, or vehicle, the said rails or guides for supporting, sustaining,
bearing, and guiding the same cage, receptacle, or vehicle, the couplings and
fastenings of and belonging to or used in connection with the said rails or
guides, and the use and appliance of an iron or other moveable fencing or
railing intended to preserve such guard or other person acting as such or in
his stead from falling or receiving injury in his passage from his van or any
carriage or compartment to any other van, carriage, or compartment aforesaid
whilst such train is in motion, as shewn in the accompanying Drawings and
berein-before described, or any mere modification thereof, operating sub-
stantially in like and the same manner, or effecting substantially the like or
the same object.
In witness whereof, I, the said William James Baker, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
WILLIAM JAMES BAKER. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by
the above-named William James
Baker, in the presence of
W. ROGERS,
20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane,
London,
Solr.