IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY PERMANENT WAY
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Richardson, of Great George Street, West-
minster, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY PERMANENT WAY."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Richardson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd April 1868.
I, ROBERT RICHARDSON, of Great George Street, Westminster, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY PERMANENT WAY," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in new descriptions of railway sleepers, and a new
method of fastening the rails in those sleepers. The sleepers are constructed of
cast or wrought iron or wood, or of any or all of these materials, in combination
with cheeks, jaws, or chairs arranged in such manner that they receive keys
placed on both sides of the rails alternately, or two or more on each side of the
rails alternately, and by the assistance of the cheeks, jaws, or chairs on these
sleepers the rails are held firmly in place throughout the line, including the
joints of the rails, by a system of alternate keying.
My next improvement consists in new cast or wrought-iron chairs or jaws
to be attached to sleepers, of such form that the rails are secured by alternate
keying as before described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Richardson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd October 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
RICHARDSON, of Great George Street, Westminster, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS er most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Iler reign, did, for Herself, Ier heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert Richardson, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Richardson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Robert Richardson, 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 " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RAILWAY PERMANENT WAY," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Robert Richardson, 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 Robert Richardson, 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 Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention consists in new descriptions of railway sleepers, and a new
method of fastening the rails in those sleepers. The sleepers are constructed
of cast or wrought iron or wood, or of any or all of those materials, in com-
bination with checks, jaws, or chairs arranged in such manner that they receive
keys placed on both sides of the rails alternately, or two or more on each side
of the rails alternately, and by the assistance of those cheeks, jaws, or chairs
on those sleepers the rails are held firmly in place throughout the line,
including the joints of the rails, by a system of alternate keeping.
My next improvement consists in new cast or wrought-iron chairs or jaws

page_text: to be attached to sleepers, of such form that the rails are secured by alternate
keying as before described.
The object of this Invention is to improve the construction of the permanent
way of railways, and to increase its durability, for which purpose I employ
wrought-iron sleepers, which are stamped or rolled in the ordinary manner to
suitable forms, having wrought or cast iron jaws attached to them by keys,
rivets, bolts, and nuts, or by welding; or the jaws may be formed by cutting
and turning up a part of the metal sleeper; or cast iron may be used for the
jaws on a wrought-iron sleeper. The jaws may be attached by melting cast-iron
filings with calcined borax sprinkled on both cast and wrought iron, and then
welded together, or the cast metal may be run in and about the wrought-iron
sleeper in suitable forms; or the sleepers and checks or jaws may be formed
entirely of cast iron, or cast-iron sleepers may be cast on wrought-iron jaws,
or the jaws may be attached to the sleepers by keys, rivets, bolts, and nuts, or
by welding or other suitable means; or the jaws, either of wrought or cast
iron, are formed with elastic cushions of wood or other suitable material either
under or at the side of the rail, or the ordinary wooden or iron sleepers may
be used, having wrought or cast iron chairs or jaws to receive the rails to be
fastened thereto; or where longitudinal supports for the rails are used, I
arrange a number of jaws, cheeks, or chairs alternately on the sleepers, in
some cases using wrought or cast iron, and in other cases fastening the rails
by means of alternate clips, combined or not with the mode known as the
Desbriere ring system, and adopted in France; or the same modes of fastening
are applicable to cross sleepers.
The jaws are so arranged on the sleepers as to be on the inside of the line
of rails on one sleeper, and on the outside of the line of rails on the adjacent
sleeper, and so on alternately inside and outside the rails; or two or more inside
jawed sleepers may be placed together, and two or more outside jawed sleepers
placed together, as the case requires. I do not confine myself to one or any other
number of jaws on each sleeper. The rails are secured in some cases by keys
driven in between the rails and the jaws, forming a double cushion to hold the
rails in their places on the same sleeper, and in other cases on alternate sleepers.
My system of alternate keying, and the arrangement of the sleepers, jaws,
or chairs as above described, are applicable to every form of rail, chair, sleeper,
or fastening, also to turntables, switches, crossings, sidings, and the whole
arrangement of permanent way.
Many improvements result from the arrangement of alternate keying; when
the rails are worn, they are quickly and easily turned, readjusted to guage, or
new rails added, and in less time than by the old system of keying. In fact,

page_text: by the old system the rails are seldom adjusted to guage after having been
once laid, and when some rails are turned and others not turned the guage is
not uniform, and produces a dangerous oscillation of the rolling stock, which
is avoided by alternate keying.
Another advantage consists in there being fewer parts to put together and
keep in repair than in the present modes. When the rails are attached to the
sleepers by my alternate system of keying, the keys are much less liable to
become loose, and the road is in better working guage order, consequently
safer to travel over, and cheaper to uphold.
Another advantage of my system is, that when transverse sleepers are used
they are placed nearer together than usual, giving an increased bearing surface
in the ballast and a stronger road.
In the accompanying Drawing, Sheet No. 1, Figure 1 is a plan of the
general arrangement of a permanent way according to my system of alternate
keying Figure 2 is an elevation of a turntable with the roller path alter-
nately keyed to the sleepers; Figure 3, Sheet No. 1, is a general plan of
Greaves sleepers with the rail keyed alternately thereto, with taper keys for
the adjustment of the guage, and shewn to an enlarged scale in Sheet No. 2,
Figure 3, in plan and elevations; Figure 4, Sheet No. 1, shews the same
description of permanent way, having two alternate cheeks or jaws and keys
on each sleeper, and an elastic substance to carry the rail on each sleeper;
Figure 4, Sheet Number 2, represents the same in plan and elevation to an
enlarged scale.
Figure 5, Sheet No. 1, is a plan of a cast-iron transverse sleeper road
alternately keyed, and shewn again in Figure 5, Sheet Number 2, in plan
and elevations on an enlarged scale.
Figure 6, Sheet No. 1, shews the plan of a cast-iron transverse sleeper
road having alternato keys in jaws on the same sleeper, shewn enlarged at
Figure 6, Sheet Number 2.
Figure 7, Sheet No. 1, shews an arrangement of alternate jaws and keys
on cast-iron longitudinal sleepers, also shewn in Sheet No. 2, Figure 7, to an
enlarged scale.
Figure 8, Sheet 1, is a plan of a wrought-iron longitudinal sleeper road
having alternate jaws and keys on the same sleeper. In this case the jaws
are stamped and turned up in the necessary form to receive the keys, as shewn
in the enlarged views, Figure 8, Sheet Number 3; Figure 84, Sheet 3, shews
a mode of attaching the jaws to the sleepers by rivets.
Figure 9, Sheet Number 1, is a plan of a longitudinal sleeper road with the
rail fastened alternately to the sleeper by keys and iron jaws, as shewu

page_text: enlarged in Sheet Number 3, Figure 9. When these jaws are of wrought
iron, they are rolled and cut off in lengths in the ordinary well-known manner.
The lipping over the key is afterwards swaged or done by the hammer.
Figure Number 10, Sheet 1, shews an arrangement similar to the last applied
to the bridge rail, and enlarged in Figure 10, Sheet Number 3.
Figure 11, Sheet Number 1, shews a road with wrought-iron jaws spiked
to transverse timber sleepers with the rail resting on the jaw to which the
system known in France as the Desbriere ring system is applied for more
effectually securing the spike in its place in the sleeper, as shewn enlarged on
Sheet 3, Figures 11, 12, and 13; other adaptations of this system are shewn
in Figures 32, 33, 35, and 36, Sheet 5.
Figure 12, Sheet 1, is a similar arrangement to that last described, having.
the rail bearing directly on the transverse sleeper, and shewn to an enlarged
scale in Figure 12, Sheet Number 3.
Figure 13, Sheet Number 1, shews an arrangement similar to Figure
Number 11, excepting that the jaws are of cast instead of wrought iron, and
have a recess cast in them to receive an elastic cushion for the rail to rest
upon, and as shewn to an enlarged scale in Figure Number 18, Sheet
Number 8.
Figure 14, Sheet Number 3, shews the alternate system of jaws applied to
the fish plates that secure the joints of the rails. Washers or distance pieces
are threaded on the bolts for the purpose of adjusting the guage, as shewn in:
the Drawing.
:
Figure 15, Sheet Number 3, shews another form of wrought-iron jaw, which
is rivetted to the iron sleeper and the projecting piece below.
Figure 16, Sheet Number 4, shews an arrangement of iron sleepers at the
joint of the rails alternately keyed thereto. The same arrangement of double
keying may be used throughout the line when great extra strength is
required.
Figures 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, and
34, Sheets 4 and 5, shew various combinations of sleepers, jaws, and keys
arranged on my system. In Figure 18, the chain or jaw is cast in and about
a wrought-iron sleeper.
Figure 19, Sheet Number 4, shows a hollow elastic metal key, and an
elastic medium between the jaw and the sleepers; a similar arrangement
applied to cast-iron sleepers is shewn at Figure 27. Figure 24 shews a cast-
iron backing to the jaw.
Figure 25 shews a taper iron key passed over the top of the jaw into its
place.

page_text: In the modes of fastening with wooden keys which are described, the ad-
justment of the guage of the rails is preserved by the taper on the keys, or the
taper is given in the jaw and not on the keys.
Figure 33, Shect. 5, shews the application of alternate keying where the
ordinary cast-iron chairs are used. In this case the rail is adjusted to guage
before the chairs are fastened to the sleepers.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention for an improved mode of
securing tho rails of railways to sleepers, and in chairs, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise disposition or shape of the sleepers, jaws,
keys, chairs, or other parts described in my Drawings and written description;
but what I claim,-
First, is the new method of fastening the rails to sleepers by means of alter-
nate keying.
Secondly, the new method of securing the rails in chairs by alternate
keying.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Richardson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
DIA
ROD. RICHARDSON. (L.
(..)