Improvements in Railway Rails.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Nov., 1892-Accepted, 31st Dec., 1892
Improvements in Railway Rails.
I PLIMMON HENRY DUDLEY of 54 Pine Street in the City, County, and State
of New York, United States of America, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to improvements in railway rails, having for its object the
particular disposition of the metal composing the rail, with a view of obtaining
maximum strength and stiffness, and long life, with a minimum amount of metal.
It has been a commonly accepted theory that the life and service of a rail will
depend upon the depth of its head, the other dimensions remaining the same, and
hence, where traffic became heavier, the rails with deeper and heavier heads were
laid to provide for it. The result of this has been, not only that rails have worn
very rapidly, but heads which were not half worn out, have become permanently
set, or otherwise distorted, so as to render their removal necessary.
I have found, by careful experiment, that, if the metal which has commonly
been added to the depth of the head of the rail, with the object in view to lengthen
its life, and fit it for heavier traffic, be disposed in the form of broader and shallower
heads, having wider fillets between the under side of the head and the web, in
widening the lower portion of the web, and in thickening the central portion of
the base, at the same time making the edges thick, the stiffness of the rail will be
very greatly increased, it will carry heavier loads without injury, and its life will
be prolonged.
My present invention, therefore, consists in a railway rail in which the head is
comparatively broad and shallow, the fillets upon opposite sides of the web, at the
point where the web and head unite, merge into the under side of the head, at
points well out toward the edges of the head and into the web, at points well down
from the under side of the head, the lower portion of the web being gradually
widened as it approaches the base, and the base thick, and having its upper face
steeply inclined from its outer thick edges toward the web.
A practical embodiment of my invention is represented in the accompanying
drawings, in which,
and
Figure 1 represents a vertical cross section of a rail embodying my invention,
Figure 2 represents a vertical cross section of a rail of ordinary form, as it
appeared when removed from the track.
A represents the head of the rail, B the web, and C the base.
The fillets which connect the opposite sides of the web with the under side of the
head, are represented by a, the widened portion of the web, near the base, by b,
and the inclined portions of the base, which diverge rapidly from the bottom line,
by c.
The exterior faces of the web are curved in vertical transverse planes, the centres
from which the curves are struck, being located upon a transverse line above the
middle point of the web.
In Figure 1, the line on which the centres are taken for determining the curves
of the opposite sides of the web, is represented by a, a, and the curves are swept by
a radius about three times the height of the rail. To be exact, the height of the
rail being four and one-eighth inches, the radius with which the sides of the web
are determined, is twelve inches.
The pitch I prefer for the under sides of the head A, before they merge into the
fillets a, for rails of 50 to 65 pounds per yard, and under four and three-quarters

page_text: inches high, is equal to a depression of one inch for every three inches in extension
(though this may be modified, to better suit the grade of metal used), and for rails
of 75 or more pounds per yard, and over five inches high, it is equal to a depression
of one inch for every four inches of extension, and the pitch of the inclined
faces c of the base, is equal to a vertical' rise of one inch in every four or five inches
of extension; this feature also I modify to suit the metal employed.
The width of the head is about one half the height of the rail, or it may be
somewhat more, and the depth of the head, measuring from the top to a point
where the planes of its under side intersect, is equal to about one-half the width of
the head. This makes a head having an eminently wide and shallow form, and in
connection with the heavy base and thickened web as it approaches the base, carries
the neutral axis below the middle point in the height of the rail.
The curve of the fillets a is not sharp, but very gradual, carrying their vanishing
points, or their points where they merge into the under side of the head, and into
the opposite sides of the web, well away from the angle, and thereby forming a
firm support for the edges of the head, to prevent it from yielding under heavy
vertical or lateral pressure, so as to become displaced relatively to the web and
hase.
The web, as it gradually widens toward the base, and unites with the base by
broad curves, is prevented from assuming a "set" out of its proper relation to the
base, and the base itself being stiff and heavy, resists all strains, both vertically
and laterally, and is not liable to become affected by oxidization sufficiently to
materially weaken it.
The location of the line on which the centres are taken, for determining the
curves of the sides of the web, above the centre of the web, and the consequent
thickening of the lower portion of the web, in addition to lowering, the neutral axis
of the rail, better equalizes the strain of the metal between the base and head,
checking the tendency to permanent set, and checking the tendency of the web to
bend near the base of the rail, under heavy traffic; also increases the moment of
inertia of the section, and becomes an important feature in the manufacture of the
rail, by more nearly equalizing the heat of the section between the base and the
head, permitting colder rolling, and lessening the amount of cold straightening
required.
The effect of the rolling is, by the above structure, carried to such a depth, that
the head becomes substantially homogeneous in structure, the elastic limit of the
metal, its hardness and toughness, being well within the control of the operator.
By examining the section Figure 2, it will be observed that the web has taken a
permanent set out of its true position relatively to the base; the head has rolled
over, and the wear has consequently taken place more upon one edge of the head,
so that the rail under unusual strain would be liable, in its present condition, to
spread in the track or break. Its fillets are upon sharp curves; its web is not
thickened at the base, and the pitch of the base and under side of the head are not
such as to afford the necessary strength. The head is comparatively deep, and the
proportions are such as to render it impossible to set up such a condition of the
metal as to prevent it from rapid wear.
In the form shown in Figure 1, in which the metal in the head of the new rail is
even less than that in the worn out rail shown in Figure 2, the head may be worn
down to half its present thickness, without disturbing the relative positions of the
head, web, and base, thereby rendering its life long, and its reliability at all times
certain.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:―
1. A railway rail, the head of which is united with the web by fillets having a
broad or open curve, the web being gradually thickened as it approaches the base,
the gradual thickening of the web beginning at a point above the centre of the web,

page_text: and the base increasing rapidly in thickness from its thick edges toward the web,
substantially as set forth.
2. A railway rail, having the width of its head equal to about one-half the height
of the rail, the depth of the head, from the top to the intersection of the planes
bounding the under sides of the head about one-half the width of the head, the
head being joined to the web by fillets having a broad or open curve, and the
neutral axis of the rail lying below the middle point of the height of the rail,
substantially as set forth.
3. A railway rail, having the width of its head equal to one-half or more of the
height of the rail, the depth of the head about one half its width, and the curves of
the opposite sides of its web, taken in a vertical plane transverse to the rail, drawn
from centres above the middle point of the web, whereby the web is thickened more
at its lower portion than at its upper portion, exclusive of the fillets, substantially
as set forth.
DALL
1002
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.