IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Edward Dering, of Lockleys, in the County
of Hertford, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT
WAY OF RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 4th May 1858, and dated the 25th January 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Edward Dering at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th January 1858.
I, GEORGE EDWARD DERING,, of Lockleys, in the County of Hertford, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PER-
MANENT WAY OF RAILWAYE," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to obtain continuous, even, and durable rails,
to effect which I connect the separate rails together by welding or by solder-
ing with any suitable metal or alloy, employing by preference the processes
knows as "brazing" or "hard soldering," or by the processes known as "burn-
ing together" or "autogenous soldering," a sufficient degree of heat being applied
to cause union by the partial or complete fusion of the metal of the rails.
The ends of the rails to be thus united may be shaped to a lap, scarf, or other
suitable joint, and chairs, keys, fish plates, bolts, nuts, rivets, or any suitable
fastenings, or combinations of fastenings, may be employed in conjunction with
the above, the welding or soldering being, if desirable, extended to such
supplemental fastenings. In some cases I unite the rails by the above
processes to chairs or fish plates, or other supports or connections, the ends of

page_text: the rails being in contact, or almost so, with each other, but not united, except
through the medium of the chairs or fish plates, etc., and I sometimes effect
union by the above processes between the rails and the intermediate chairs or
other supports.
The welding or soldering processes may be conveniently
carried out by the use of a portable forge, by which to heat the ends of the
rails, etc., and in some cases I employ a blow-pipe of any suitable description,
and when a rail becomes worn or defective such rail may be separated and
removed by heating the joint, or by the use of a portable sawing machine, and
worn or defective portions of the rails may be removed by like means, and fresh
portions inserted in their place, and firmly attached by means of the processes
above described. In order to protect and preserve the rails, I employ removable
and renewable steel coverings to receive the wear and tear of the traffic, such
coverings being attached to the rails, chairs, etc., by the above processes or
other means, and by preference so applied as to break joint" with the rails.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Edward Dering in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th July 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
EDWARD DERING, of Lockleys, in the County of Hertford, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Edward Dering, Her special licence that 1, the said George
Edward Dering, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said George Edward Dering, 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 IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Edward Dering, 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

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent...
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Edward Dering, 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 follow-
ing statement thereof, that, is to say:-
The object of my Invention is to obtain continuous, even, and durable rails,
to effect which, I connect together the successive separate rails, firstly, by
soldering with any suitable metal or alloy, employing by preference the pro-
cesses known as "hard soldering" or "brazing;" or secondly, by the processes
known as "
antogenous soldering "or "burning together," a sufficient degree
of. heat being applied to canse union by the partial or complete fusion of the
metal of the rails; or thirdly, by a welding process.
The general principles of these several operations, and the manner of
performing them, are too well understood to require minute description; I will
therefore proceed at once to the particulars of my present special applications
of the same.
The heating of the intended joint may be conveniently accomplished upon
the spot, in almost all situations on a line of railway, by the use of a small
portable smith's forge, with bellows or fan. Or, in some cases, 1 employ
a blow-pipe apparatus of any suitable description, in the use of which I prefer
a combined jet of coal gas and atmospheric air, the gas being conveyed in
portable reservoirs, in some cases in a compressed condition, to the parts of
a railway remote from gas works.
With regard to the welding process, I wish it to be understood that I am
aware of there being no novelty in the union of separate railway bars by this
means; but the peculiarity of my system consists in carrying out the operation
when the rails are in their proper position on the permanent way or nearly so,
an excavation being made in the ballast or soil, if necessary, to make room
for the forge, furnace, or other source of heat, and the successive lengths of
rail (which may consist of two or more bars united by any of my processes, or
otherwise,) laid down in their intended permanent position or nearly so, and
forced by wedging or by blows of a hammer or otherwise, up to the length
already laid down and united, and by preference into very close longitudinal
contact therewith.
I prefer to employ the same general system in carrying out the soldering
processes, but I do not confine myself thereto; and to effect the hard-soldering
I prefer to use copper as the solder and borax as the flux, but I by no means
confine myself to these materials.

page_text: It is advisable in both the soldering and welding operations to fix the rails
securely in their position, by means of the intermediate chairs or other
fastenings, or otherwise, before commencing to heat the junction; and such
fixing may, if desirable, be relaxed during the heating, so as to allow of the
bars being forced into closer contact. It is advisable to bring the parts
intended to be joined to a clean surface by filing, or by the use of a portable
shaping-machine, or otherwise; but in the case of new rails this labour may
be dispensed with, if the fresh cut surfaces be covered with a suitable paste,
paint, or varnish, to preserve them from rusting, as is well understood, and
the same not removed until the joint is about to be made.
Thus continuous rails are formed of any desirable length, having not. the
slightest inequality at the points of junction; and this with but little or no
interruption of the traffic of working lines, from five to ten minutes being a
suflicient space of time for practiced hands to complete a joint inclusive of
cooling it for the passage of trains.
The ends of the rails to be united as above may be shaped to a "lap,"
"scarf," or various other forms of joint; 1 find, however, in practice that the
plain "butt," using the rails in fact as they at present come from the manu-
factory, affords amply suflicient strength, such joints standing perfectly under
the very heavy traffic of the up line of the Great Northern Railway. To convey
an idea of the great strength of the joints having a lap of only one-eighth of
an inch, I may mention that they stand the heaviest locomotive engines when
suspended by chairs six feet apart.
Chairs, keys, wedges, fish plates, bolts, nuts, screws, rivets, or any other
fastenings or combinations of fastenings, may be employed in conjunction with
the above, the soldering or welding being in some cases extended to such
supplemental fastenings. I sometimes unite the rails by the above processes,
at or near the extremities, to chairs, fish plates, or other supports or con-
nections, the ends of the rails being in contact, or nearly so, with each other,
but not actually united, except through the medium of the chairs or fish
plates, etc. And I sometimes effect union by the above processes between the
rails and the intermediate chairs or other supports. When a rail becomes
worn or defective, such rail may be separated and removed by heating the
joint, or by the use of a portable sawing machine, or still more readily and
quickly by means of the powerful combined screw and lever apparatus in
common use by platelayers, for straightening, bending, and breaking rails, or
other methods may be employed; and worn or defective portions of the rails
may be removed by like means, and fresh lengths substituted, and securely
affixed by the above processes.

page_text: I find the soldering processes to be of great service in the construction of
points" and "crossings," and various other like portions of the permanent
way.
And a further part of my Invention consists in a means of protecting and
preserving the rails of the permanent way by the application of iron or steel
facings, to receive the wear and tear of the traffic, such facings being attached
to the rails, and in some cases to the chairs or other supports or fastenings, by
any of the processes above described, either continuously throughout their
length, or at intervals, and by preference so applied as to "break joint" with
the rails, which may themselves be united by' such processes or not, as most
convenient, and the facings may be renewed as required.
I would here state in reference to the continuous rails, formed as above
described, that I do not find it necessary in practice to make any allowance
for the effects of expansion and contraction of the metal through variations
of temperature; it is obvious, however, that such allowance can be provided,
And
if desirable, by leaving an occasional open joint, of the ordinary kind.
I may remark, that as far as my present experience extends, an accidentally
unsound joint, from whatever cause, of any of the above kinds, is invariably
broken by the first train passing over the rails, but joints which stand the first
train may be safely relied on to sustain any amount of traffic for an in-
definite period, requiring no attention whatever until the rails themselves are
worn out.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the details herein contained, as the manner of carrying out the Invention
may be greatly varied; but what I claim is,--
Firstly, the use of soldering, and all modifications of the process, employing,
by preference, the methods known as "hard-soldering" or "brazing," in the
formation of the permanent way of railways, to connect the successive rails.
or to attach facings to the rails, or for any or all of the various other purposes
herein described.
Secondly, the use of the processes known as "antogenous soldering," or
"burning together," and all modifications of the same, in the formation of
the permanent way of railways, to connect the successive rails or to attach
facings to the rails, or for any or all of the various other purposes herein
described.
Thirdly, the use of welding, and all modifications of the process, in the
particular manner herein specified, in the formation of the permanent way of

page_text: railways, to connect the successive rails or to attach facings to the rails, or
for any or all of the various other purposes herein described.
Fourthly, the use of any and all combinations of the above processes or
portions of them in one and the same operation, in the formation of the per-
manent way of railways, to connect the successive rails or to attach facings to
the rails, or for any or all of the various other purposes herein described.
And I claim the whole of the above, irrespective of the form or description
of rails used, or the general construction of the permanent way.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Edward Dering, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
GEORGE E. DERING. (L.S.)