A NEW AND IMPROVED SYSTEM OF CONSTRUCTING RAILROADS WITH Jaunting CARS. AND POSTS. AND RAILWAYS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Temple Humphreys, Civil Engineer,
County Surveyor, West Limerick, Ireland, and of 28, Westbourne
Park Road, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"A NEW AND IMPROVED SYSTEM OF CONSTRUCTING RAILROADS WITH Jaunting
CARS. AND POSTS. AND RAILWAYS."
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Temple
Humphreys at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 12th January 1870.
I, HENRY TEMPLE HUMPHREYS, Civil Engineer, County Surveyor,.
West Limerick, Ireland, and of. 28, Westbourne Park Road, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said. Invention
for "A NEW AND IMPROVED SYSTEM OF CONSTRUCTING RAILROADS WITH JAUNTING
CARS, AND POSTS, and Railways," to be as follows :—
.
In so arranging the component parts of the system that the whole
rolling stock shall be divided longitudinally into halves, and these halves
separated also longitudinally by spaces which are connected at their
upper and middle parts by special roof girders and ties placed transversely

page_text: at proper intervals. The whole rolling stock shall also hang upon
wheels free to revolve at any height within the said longitudinal spaces
and upon a narrow gauge line consisting of two light rails of steel or
iron so connected to an under member or members of the same material
as to form a strong and cheap girder, or these wheels may revolve on
one central deep rail with steel or iron top or 'bottom flanges, but in
which case the whole rolling stock must be provided with lateral guide
wheels or equivalents. This line of rail or rails arranged as a con-
tinuous girder shall be braced together supported by and connected with
timber or cast iron or wrought iron or other posts, piles, screw piles, or
cylinders, or on brick, stone, or concrete, or other piers, dwarf walling,
or any combinations of the same as may be found most practicable on
any part of the site of railway, and these said posts, piles, cylinders, or
alternatives may be varied in height to suit the undulations of the
ground whilst conforming to the railway gradients, and moreover they
can be inclined to the vertical at any angle on the occurrence of curves
or at other places requiring lateral rigidity, or they can be grouped and
braced or strutted together for the same purpose and pitched or spaced
apart at any convenient distances, as from the nature of the soil may be
found most suitable or economical, whilst due allowance is made for
expansion and contraction of continuous railway girders on their tops.
At points and crossings special constructions are necessary and a certain
length of rails moveable radially and laterally:
With the foregoing arrangement the centre of gravity of the whole
rolling stock is greatly lowered compared with that in use on ordinary
railroads, whereby a single central rail ar a considerably narrower
gauge of rails is rendered both practicable and desirable, whilst at the
same time a great reduction in the constructional cost and maintenance
of the railroad is effected. Moreover in respect of original cost of the
post and railway system, the ground simply requires clearing in most
cases to be ready for use. As rain and land drainage cannot affect the
permanent way, no ballast being necessary, the cost of maintenance is
reduced most considerably, whilst culverts and side drains are dispensed
with altogether and the natural drainage of the country traversed is not
interfered with, very sharp curves also are permissable from the nar
rowness of the gauge rendering it easy to contour round spurs &
valleys, thus avoiding heavy banks and cuttings. The gradients of most
of the roads crossed can be left unaltered by simply raising the heights

page_text: of the posts and alternatives in their vicinity, obstructions on, and .
running off the line, are practically prevented. Root and other crops
can be grown-around the posts on the enclosed railway land; steep
gradients are also permissable with lateral clipping wheels to locomotives.
Telegraph wires can be slung from the railway posts and liability to
snowing up the line is diminished..
"
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Temple Humphreys in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 9th July 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
TEMPLE HUMPHREYS, of West Limerick, Ireland, and of 28,. Westbourne
Park Road, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer and Surveyor,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her.
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-.
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Temple Humphreys, Her special.
licence that I, the said Henry Temple Humphreys, my executors, ad=.
ministrators, and assigns, or such others: as I, the said Henry Temple
Humphreys, 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 "A NEW AND IMPROVED SYSTEM OF CONSTRUCTING RAILROADS WITH JAUNTIN
CARS, AND POSTS, AND RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said 'Henry. Temple Humphreys, my executors or adminis.
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of tho
said Letters Patent.
.

page_text: NOW. KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Temple Humphreys, 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, that is to say :-
The improvements have for their object, the economically constructing
and working of railways and rolling stock, and as regards railways
consists in so suspending or supporting plates, planks, rods, bars, rails,
girders, and such like, one or more of them on posts, cylinders, pillars,
walls, and such like, that such plates, planks, or equivalents as above.
may be raised at any convenient and desired height off or from the
ground, and so fashioning such plates or equivalents that they may be or
form suitable supports, guides, rails, grooves, flanges, or otherwise suitably
arranging such suspended or supported plates, planks, rails, or equivalents
to receive for the purposes of working, driving, or moving thereon, and
thereunder, the driving, gripping, or other wheels or equivalents of the
improved rolling stock next to be described.
Also in constructing rolling stock to be used with the improved
railway above described, or with other suitable railway with a frame, or
skeleton, or members consisting of or composing a series of longitudinal
girders placed parallel to each other or nearly so, and forming a longi-
tudinal way or channel through the carriage open at the ends, and in
applying the driving, gripping, or other wheels or equivalents, on or by.
which such carriage is or may be carried, or driven, or "braked," on
the improved or other suitable railway, within such way, or channel, or
otherwise. And in so suspending or supporting such rolling stock that
the axles of the carrying and driving wheels thereof for working upon
the railway as above may be at or near the centre of gravity of such
carriage, preferably above such centre of gravity.
Also in applying to rolling stock above described gripping wheels and
skid break acting on the under side of rails by levers, or screws, or both
combined when increased adhesion is required to the driving wheels of
the locomotive.
Further in the construction of engines fashioned as above described,
having their various working and driving parts, such as the cylinder,
slide valve, chests, boilers, and so forth in duplicate arranged side by
side and supported on or suspended to the frame as above described.

page_text: The improvements may be performed by making the plates, planks,
or equivalents and the guides or rails thereon of metal, or of wood, in one:
or more pieces, or of both combined, and of any suitable form for
receiving the carrying, driving, and gripping wheels, and the pillars or
walls for carrying such plates, planks, or equivalents constituting the.
road or railway may be constructed of metal, or of wood, in one or more
picces, or of both combined, or they may be made wholly or partially of
brick, cement, concrete, or stone; the said pillars or walls may be spaced
and erected at equal distances or otherwise, and may be erected plumb
or at an angle and varied in height to suit the desired gradients. .
Where points and crossings are necessary any suitable modifications
of construction may be used whereby a convenient length of planks,
rails, or equivalents, constituting the road with or without its supports
may be rendered moveable radially or laterally. In cases where it may
be desired to use only one rail or groove and only one wheel running
thercon, and when using two wheels I employ guides or rails and use
side guide wheels and bottom or under wheels running therein, thercon,
or thereunder, inclined at an angle, or when working thereunder inclined
or vertical and made to run on the sides, and to run or grip underneath
the plates, planks, rails, or equivalents proper or on or underneath
additional plates, rails, or supports prepared to receive them. And I,
apply a skid brake suspended by links from the leading or other wheels
of the locomotive and in the same manner as the under gripping wlicels,
and connected with a transverse worm wheel shaft in order that the
skids on either rail should act together. I prefer to use two wheels
with a short axle, and also to make the guage of the rails or grooves on
the plates or girders above described about eighteen inches, and so to
dispose such rails or equivalents that the carrying or driving wheels
may work vertically or nearly so on the upper part, surface, or table of
such rails, and the gripping or under wheels when used and when in
play work vertically, or at a slight angle, against or upon the under part,
surface, or table of such rails.
The improvements in rolling stock may be performed by making the
frame, skeleton, member, or girder above described of metal, or of wood,
or of both combined, in- such shape that the carriage, truck, or loco-
motive shall have when built up two main longitudinal side compart-
ments or platforms which may be subdivided, if, desired, cither trans-
versely or longitudinally, and fitted for the reception of passengers, fuel,

page_text: machinery, steam generators, water, goods, or apparatus for obtaining:
motive power, and also have one main longitudinal top compartment,.
platform, or girder which may be also subdivided either transversely
or longitudinally, and form the roof or top of the carriage, truck, or
locomotive, which carriages. in some cases may be fitted with seats for
passengers or receptacles for goods, and to which the two side longi-
tudinal compartments, platforms, or girders may be conveniently
suspended or affixed. Between the two suspended side. longitudinal
compartments, platforms, or girders, and in the space or channel thus
formed, may be arranged and fitted the axles and wheels for carrying
and driving the carriage, truck, or locomotive, also. in some cases the
motive power gearing preferably as near to the top as convenient, and
the gripping or under wheels may be so constructed that by means of
levers or by other suitable means they may be kept constantly or other-
wise bearing against, upwards or upon the under surface of the rail or
equivalent as may be required when, ascending steep inclines or other-
wise, and when intended for and to be used as a brake only a flat or
other convenient skid may be substituted for the gripping or under
wheels..
It is obvious that the details of the said improvements may be
considerably varied without departing from the spirit of the Invention..
The accompanying two Sheets of Drawings therefore are intended
only as an illustration of a convenient mode of performing the said
improvements, in which in Sheet 1, Figure 1 shows a longitudinal
elevation of the railway, and longitudinal section of a carriage on same,
in this case a, Figures 1 and 2 are wooden piles driven at convenient
intervals along the line of route; 4, Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent the
plate, plank rail, or equivalent constituting the road, which in this case is
made girder fashion and formed with two double headed rails 1, Figures
1, 2, and 3, one on each side suspended or supported on or by the metal
cap or shoe d, Figures 1, 2, and 3, fashioned to receive said rails, also
the bolts for securing them and the top or head of the pile a, to which
said cap or shoc may be secured in any convenient manner. Figure 2
shows a plan view of the railway. Figure 3 is a cross section of the
carriage and railway on a larger scale. In crossing large valleys or.
towns, or under other circumstances, the piles, pillars, or supports may
be furnished. with ties, struts, braces, and when desired with side or
bottom or under rails or pieces to receive the guide wheels m, m, or

page_text: under gripping or guide wheels mentioned above. e, e, Figures 1 and 3-
show the longitudinal side compartments of the rolling stock as men-
tioned above, and h, Figures 1 and 3, the longitudinal roof or top com-
partment; k, k, Figure 3, are ties or braces furnished at intervals to
strengthen the side walls of the side compartments e, e; f, f, Figures 1
and 3, are the upper carrying wheels in the position shown, though
they may be placed nearer the roof or nearer the base if desired; m, m,
Figures 1 and 3, are the under wheels; 9, 9, Figure 1, are steps for
passage to and from either side of the carriage.
In Sheet 2, Figures 3, 4, and 5 show sectional elevation, plan, and sectional
cnd view respectively of some arrangements of a locomotive as described
above, in which b is the railway; a, Figure 5, one of the piles or supports
thereof; ff, the upper driving wheels; m, m, lower gripping wheels; c, c,
Figures 3 and 4, bogic wheels; d, Figure 3, skid or brake; g, g, Figure 4,
steps for passage from one side to the other; h, h, Figures 3, 4, and 5,
vertical boilers. The lower gripping wheels m, m, are shown barely
touching the rails (their. natural position), when required to grip they
åre pulled forward by the screw apparatus of the adjusting rod k, and
caused by the shifting from the vertical of the suspensory rods 1, 2, to
grip to any extent required on the under surface of the double headed
rail b, as shown by a similar arrangement, the skid or brake d is brought
into play; the spaces o, o, Figure 4, are for tanks to hold water; p, p,
for bunkers for fuel; q, q, platform. I would mention that the
following advantages among others may be obtained by the use of the
foregoing improvements:-The centre of gravity of the whole rolling
stock being greatly lowered compared with that in use on ordinary
railroads a considerable narrower guage of rails or a single central rail
is rendered practicable, whilst at the same time a great reduction in
the constructional cost and maintenance of the railroad is effected.
Morcover in respect of original cost of the system the ground simply
requires clearing in most cases to be ready for use. Rain and land
drainage cannot affect the permanent way, no ballast is necessary,
culverts and side drains are dispensed with altogether and the natural
drainage of the country traversed. not interfered with. Very sharp
curves are permissable from the narrowness of the guage rendering it
casy to contour round spurs and valleys, thus avoiding heavy banks and
cuttings. The gradients of most roads crossed can be left unaltered by
simply rising the height of the posts and alternatives in their vicinity.

page_text: '
Obstructions on and running, off the line are practically prevented.
Root and other crops can be grown around the posts on the enclosed
railway land. In some cases in towns the line can be carried well
over streets and houses, and thus necessitate very little outlay for
land. Also by means of the use of vertical under gripping wheels
great adhesion is obtained; and very steep gradients can be worked and
under guide wheels may be applied to every carriage if desired. Telegraph
wires can be slung from the railway posts, and liability of the line
being blocked up by snow is greatly diminished.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Temple Humphreys, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
I
Witness,
JAMES C. COOPER, J. P.
Cooper Hill,
Limerick.
H. TEMPLE HUMPHREYS. (L.S.)