IMPROVED MEANS OF COMMUNI- CATION BETWEEN THE PASSENGERS AND GUARDS OF RAILWAY TRAINS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Symons, of Dunster, in the County of
Somerset, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS OF COMMUNI-
CATION BETWEEN THE PASSENGERS AND GUARDS OF RAILWAY TRAINS."
Sealed the 22nd December 1857, and dated the 23rd June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Symons, at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd June 1857.
I, WILLIAM SYMONS, of Dunster, in the County of Somerset, Chemist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS
OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE PASSENGERS AND GUARDS OF RAILWAY TRAINS," to
be as follows:-
I fix a bell in the carriage or compartment occupied by the guard, the bell
is hung on a spring, rather low, and when at rest is supported in a socket in
a board, or in any other suitable way. The board or support is so arranged
that when a weight falls upon it or upon a lever connected with it, the support
is allowed to fall, and the bell being set free sounds an alarm or gives a
distinct or audible note. This weight I connect with and support by a cord
passing along the train of carriages, through every compartment, within reach
of the passengers conveyed therein; each carriage having separate cords,
which may be joined on to and separated from each other, as the carriage is
joined on to or separated from the train, the weight being so adjusted as to

page_text: allow of considerable expansion and contraction of the cord without affecting
the alarum. When a passenger wishes to communicate with the guard, he
cuts the cord or disconnects it in some other way, and the weight suspended
by it in the guard's carriage descends immediately and sets free the alarm bell
or apparatus for giving the required note.
To enable the guard personally to communicate with the passenger making
such signal, I construct a moveable and adjustable hand-rail in connection
with each railway carriage, for forming a continuous connection along the
train, by which hand rail the guard can immediately proceed to the passenger
making the signal. To provide for the carriages turning the curves I connect
the hand-rails by ropes or self-adjusting rails. At the same time, to make
the communication of the guard safe, the steps of the railway carriages are
elongated and connected, such connections turning on pivots to allow of their
following the curvatures of the rails.
Written communications may be conveyed to the guard by attaching, a
pocket or pockets to the connecting rope or tape, and placing the written
message therein, and by cutting or disconnecting the rope when the alarm
bell is rung, and the guard draws the severed end of the rope with the pocket
attached to his compartment, and may, if necessary, communicate with
the engine, or, by a modification of the apparatus, reply to the passenger. To
facilitate the drawing of the rope or tape, rollers or other suitable apparatus
are employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Symons in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SYMONS, of Dunster, in the County of Somerset, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria,. by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her.reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs. and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Symons, Her special licence that I, the said William Symons, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Symons, 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,"

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Mau, an Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS OF
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE PASSENGER AND GUARD OF RAILWAY TRAINS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Symons, 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 William Symons, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings (that is to
say):
The object of my Invention is to allow any passenger to convey a note or
signal to a guard while the train is in motion, and to provide a safe method
for allowing the guard to reach the passenger to investigate the case, and
then for the guard, if necessary, to communicate with the engine driver. For
the above purposes a bell is fixed in the guard's box, and hung on a spring,
as low down in the carriage as practicable, and when at rest is supported in a
socket in a board B, or in any other suitable way. The board or support B
is so arranged that when a weight D falls upon it, or upon a lever C connected
with it, the board falls and the bell being set free rings. The weight D is
supported by a cord E passing along the train of carriages within reach of
the passengers. Each carriage has a separate cord which may be joined to
or separated as the carriage is joined or separated from the train, by a ring,
link, or other suitable fastening, which will admit of the cords being instantly
separated or joined. Bolts, screws, or hooks, must also be provided at the
ends of the carriages H to keep the cord in its place when the carriages are
separated. The cord E may or may not be provided with loops or links Lat
equal distances, so that two shall always be in each compartment of a
carriage, these may be constructed so as to allow of an easy separation of the
cord or not; tape, chain, or wire may, if thought desirable, be substituted for
the cord E. Rollers or drums W must be fixed at the top of the guard's box
(over the weight), on which the signal can be wound by the guard. In each
compartment of the carriages near the signal cord, a small reel K is provided,
on which sufficient cord is wound to reach the guard's box; to this cord is.

page_text: and 2 or 3 inches long.
attached a pocket of linen or other yielding material, from 1 to 2 inches broad
When a passenger wants to use the signal he places
his note or signal in this pocket, and attaches the pocket to the loop of the
cord E, which is nearest the guard (which there will be an arrangement to
point out to him), and attaches the other loop of the cord E to a hook or
other fastening T provided at the top of the carriage, he then cuts or separates
the cord E between the two loops, the weight D thus at liberty rings the bell,
the guard winds up the signal cord E on the wheel W until the note reaches
him, and as the cord from the reel K is attached to the pocket containing the
note, the passenger can, if desired, draw it back with an answer, and again
reply if required. Friction rollers are provided at the top of each compart-
ment, to facilitate the motion of the cord E, or a semicircular tube is provided
continuously through each carriage, with a flat smooth top, on which the
cord E can easily slide, and within this tube can be placed a similar signal
from the guard to the driver, which, being thus enclosed, is inaccessible to
passengers. To enable the guard to reach the passengers a hand-rail R is
provided, so that the guard can walk between it and the carriage. This rail
may bang about 18 inches from the carriage and turn on a pivot at P, so that
it may be easily turned on the roof of the carriage when not required, as R²,
but would always be down on the off side of a train in progress; or the rail
may be hung on supports V, which turn on pivots at the top or side of the
carriage O, and usually bang close to the carriage, as V¹, but may be easily
moved out, as V2, to a distance of 16 or 18 inches, but no further. The
rail R slides in a socket in V, so that when not required, or when the doors
are required to be opened, it can be raised to a place of rest near O. The
continuous wooden steps of the carriages S can be so connected by pieces
about the same width as the steps, and sufficiently long to allow for turning
corners, &c.; they are kept in their place by iron pins or projections on the
under side, which slide in sockets made in the steps .S; these sockets are
made sufficiently long to allow of the requisite motion. Where the cord is
cut would indicate from what compartment the signal is given, or with the
smooth continuous surface for the signal to slide on; the sides may be secured
by strips of paper, which must then be broken to get at the cord E.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
claim any of the parts of the apparatus when taken separately; but what I
claim is the application of apparatus adapted and arranged, as above described,
for the purpose, first, of ringing a bell; secondly, of transmitting a message;

page_text: and lastly, of connecting the steps of adjoining carriages, so as to com-
municate between the passenger and guard and different parts of railway
trains.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Symons, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
WILLIAM SYMONS. (L.s.)