IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Barlow, of Derby, and Henry
Woodhouse, of 23, Parliament Street, London, for the Invention of
"
Sealed the 17th July 1857, and dated the 20th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Barlow
and Henry Woodhouse at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 20th January 1857.
We, WILLIAM HENRY BARLOW, of Derby, and HENRY WOODHOUSE, of
23, Parliament Street, London, do hereby declare the nature of the Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in a method of attaching rails to their sleepers; for
which purpose we employ clamps of metal, having their ends turned inwards
so as to embrace the sleeper and pass over and clip the bottom flange of the
rail. These side clamps are secured to the sleeper by a bolt passing through
the clamps and the sleeper or otherwise. To support the ends of railway
rails when such ends are "fished," that is to say, connected together by means
of plates, one placed on each side and in the channels of the two ends to be
connected, we employ two jaw chairs, one placed at each end of the fish plates,
and the rails and fish plates are fastened to the jaw of the chair by means of
bolts passing through them. If flat-bottomed rails are used without chairs,

page_text: we lengthen the fish plates. so as to let them rest at each end over the
sleepers, or we put the sleepers closer together with the same object. When
we use transverse sleepers of cast iron, we make such sleepers in halves or
portions, which are coupled or bolted together between the lines of rails.
And when using railway chairs with transverse sleepers, we form the under
parts of the chairs with projecting plates attached thereto and turning down-
wards, so as to form a saddle and fit over the-sleeper, thus protecting it from
damage by the plate-layers' tools, and extending the bearing surface of the
chair on the sleeper, and the projecting plates may be further extended to
bear on the ballast, and when this is done the size of the sleeper may be
diminished.
The ordinary method of holding the fish plates to the rails to make a fish
joint has been by means of bolts passing through them and through the rails,
and these bolts are very liable to become loose. Now, we bolt the fish plates
to the chairs in place of the rails, and we employ chairs having a V-formed
opening; through this chair the rail and fish plates pass. The fish plates arc
formed with inclines at the back, so as to correspond with the inclines insido
the chair, and bolts pass vertically through the backs of the fish plates to the
under part of the chair. It will be seen that as these bolts are screwed up, the
inclines act to press the fish plates against the rails.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Barlow and Henry Woodhouse in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 20th July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
HENRY BARLOW, of Derby, and HENRY WOODHOUSE, of 23, Parliament Street,
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said William Henry Barlow and Henry Woodhouse, Her special licence that
we, the said William Henry Barlow and Henry Woodhouse, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Henry
Barlow and Henry Woodhouse, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at 3
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully

page_text: 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 THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said William Henry Barlow and Henry'
Woodhouse, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our or their hands and scals, or under the hand and seal of one of us
or them, 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 Henry Woodhouse, on behalf of
myself and the said William Henry Barlow; do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed; to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in a method of attaching rails to their sleepers; for
which purpose we employ clamps of metal, having their ends turned inwärds
so as to embrace the sleeper and pass' over and clip the bottom flange of the
rail. These side clamps are secured to the sleeper by a bolt passing through
the clamps and the sleeper or otherwise. To support the ends of railway rails
when such ends are "fished," that is to say, connected together by means of
plates, one placed on each side and in the channels of the two ends to be
connected, we employ two one-jaw chairs, one placed at each end of the fish
plates, and the rails and fish plates are fastened to the jaw of the chair by
means of bolts passing through them. If flat-bottomed rails are used without
chairs, we lengthen the fish plates so as to let them rest' at each end' over the
sleepers, or we put the sleepers closer together with the same object. When
we use transverse sleepers of cast iron, we make such sleepers in halves or
portions, which are coupled or bolted together between the lines of rails.
And when using railway chairs with transverse sleepers; we form the under
parts of the chairs with projecting plates attached thereto and turning down"
wards so as to form a saddle and fit over the sleeper, thus protecting it from
damage by the plate-layers' tools, and extending the bearing surface of the
chair on the sleeper, and the projecting plates may be further extended to
5 bear on the ballast, and when this is done the size of the sleeper may be
diminished.
The ordinary method of holding the fish plates to the rails to make a fisli
joint is by means of bolts passing through them and through the rails, and these
bolts are very liable to become loose. Now, we bolt the fish plates to the

page_text: Figure 1 is a transverse section of a railway sleeper, having a rail attached
to it by metal clamps, arranged according to the first part of this Invention;
Figure 2 is a side elevation, partly in section; and Figure 3 is a plan of the
same. The part marked a is the railway rail, and the sleeper, to which it is
attached by the clamps c, c, arranged so as to embrace the sleeper and pass
over and clamp the bottom flange of the rail down to the blocks of wood d, d,
which fit into the recesses of the sleeper. e is a bolt to draw up the clamps, it
passes through the two clamps and through the sleeper.
Figure 4 is a side view, and Figure 5 is a transverse section, of a fished
joint, supported by two one-jawed chairs, one placed at each end of the fish
plate, and having the rails and the fish plates and the ends of the rails fastened
to their jaws by bolts passing through them, according to another part of our
Invention. a, a, are the ends of the rails; b, b, the fish plates; and c, c, the
two one-jawed chairs; d, d, are bolts, each passing through the two fish plates
and through the end of one of the rails; e, e, are bolts, which each pass
through the jaw of one of the chairs, and also through the end of one of the
rails and the fish plates.
Figure 6 is a side view, and Figure 7 is a transverse section, showing flat-
bottomed rails connected together by fish plates, made of sufficient length to
rest at each end over the sleepers, according to another part of our Invention.
a, a, are the ends of the rails; b, b, the fish plates; and c, c, the sleepers. The
fish plates shown in the Drawing are of more than the ordinary length, but fish
plates of the ordinary length may be employed if the sleepers be put closer
together...
Figure 8 is a side view, partly in section, and Figure 9 is a plan, of a,
transverse sleeper of cast iron, made in halves or portions, which are coupled
or bolted together between the lines of rails, according to the next part of our
Invention. a and b are the two parts of a sleeper; the part a has at its end

page_text: (which comes midway between the rails) a fork formed, and the piece b has a
tongue, which fits between the prongs of the fork on the piece a. Through
the prongs of the fork and through the tongue, three ranges of holes are
drilled to receive a bolt c, and the holes are so arranged, that, by shifting the
bolt c from one range of holes to another, the length of the sleeper can be to
some extent altered, so as to adjust it to the guage of the railway.
The sleeper shown carries two joint chairs, and the way in which the ends
of the rails are fixed in those chairs constitutes another part of our Invention,
and will be hereafter described.
Figure 10 is a side view, and Figure 11 a front view, of a railway chair
arranged according to another part of our Invention, and having projecting
plates attached to its under side which turn downwards, so as to form a saddle
to fit over the transverse sleeper and protect it from damage, by the plate-
layers' tools; and as shewn in the Drawing these projecting plates are so
far extended as to bear on the ballast as well as on the sleeper. a is the
railway rail; 6 is the transverse sleeper; and c is the chair, the upper part of
which is of an ordinary description; and c', c', are the projecting plates before
mentioned; d, d, are trenails by which the chair is fixed on the sleeper.
Fig. 11 is an end view; Fig. 11b is a side view, partly in section; and
Fig. 11 is a plan of another railway chair, arranged according to our
Invention, but differing somewhat in form from that just described.
Figure 12 is a plan; and Figure 13 is a transverse section of a chair
supporting a fish joint, made according to the last part of our Invention, by
bolting the fish plates to the chair in place of to the rail. a, a, are the ends
of the rails; b is the chair, having a V-formed opening through it; c, c, are
fish plates formed with inclines at the back, so as to correspond with the
inclines inside the chair; d, d, are bolts, which pass vertically through the
backs of the fish plates to the under part of the chair.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Woodhouse, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
E. BARKER.
HENRY WOODHOUSE. (L.S.)