IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SIGNALLING TRAINS ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Ernesto Spagnoletti, of the Telegraph
Department, Great Western Railway, Paddington, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
SIGNALLING TRAINS ON RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 10th February 1863; and dated the 14th August 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Ernesto Spagnoletti
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th August 1862.
I, CHARLES ERNESTO SPAGNOLETTI, of the Telegraph Department, Great
Western Railway, Paddington, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SIGNALLING
TRAINS ON RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for signalling
trains on railways. For the purpose of signalling trains on railways from one
point to another when a train passes and when the line becomes clear, I
employ instruments, each having a dial and two finger keys. In connection with
the dial is a magnetic needle surrounded with coils of insulated wire, and
having mounted on it two screens; on one of these are written the words
"line clear, and on the other the words "train on the line," and the screens
are so arranged in connection with a hole in the dial plate, behind which they
work, that when the needle inclines to one side the notice on the screen on

page_text: one side of the needle becomes visible, and similarly when the needle inclines
to the other side the notice on the other side is read. The screen with the
notice "line clear" I color white, and the screen with the notice "train on
the line" I color red, so that the signalman may readily see from a distance
how the needle is standing. The finger-keys of the instrument are similarly
colored, and the parts are arranged so that depressing the red finger key will
make such contacts as will cause a current of electricity to pass from the
battery which works the instrument through the coils around the magnetic
needle in such a direction as to cause the said needle so to incline as to shew
the words "train on the line" on the red screen. By depressing the white
finger key a current of electricity will be similarly caused to traverse the coils,
so as to cause the needle to incline in such manner as to shew the words "line
clear" on the white screen. The correspondence in color of each finger key
with the screen agreeing therewith renders it almost impossible for mistakes
to be made in working the instrument, and renders it unnecessary to instruct
the signalmen in a cypher code. When in use, two instruments, such as
above described are placed at any desired distance apart, and are connected
together electrically by conducting wires, so that the needles of the two
instruments will move in unison, and there is a signalman at each instrument.
When a train passes the first of these, he, by depressing the appropriate finger
key causes the dials of the two instruments to shew "train on the line," and
the red screen, and the signalman at the other end to shew that he has
properly received the signal, depresses and pegs down his red key, and by so
doing secures the needle in this position. This signal remains on until the train
passes the second signalman, when he, by freeing his red key and putting down
the white finger key, causes the instruments to indicate "line clear," and shews
it
the white screen, and then the first signalman knows he may, if required, allow
another train to pass on; he also, to shew that he has properly received the
signal, pegs down his key "line clear," so that one or other of the two signals
is constantly kept visible on the faces of the dials. The centre of gravity of
the needles being under the centre of motion, should any accident occur to the
conducting wire the needle will immediately place itself vertically, and so
indicate the defect. The instruments may be made double for double lines,
or, as I prefer, separate instruments may be employed. In place of employing
magnetic needles surrounded by coils of insulated wire, electro-magnets and
armatures may be used. Bells are employed to call attention to the signals.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Ernesto Spagnoletti in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th February 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
ERNESTO SPAGNOLETTI, of the Telegraph Department, Great Western Railway,
Paddington, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Ernesto Spagnoletti, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Ernesto Spagnoletti, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles Ernesto Spagnoletti, 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 APPARATUS POR SIGNALLING TRAINS ON RAILWAYS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Ernesto Spagnoletti,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Charles Ernesto Spagnoletti, 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 has for its object improvements in apparatus for signalling
trains on railways. For the purpose of signalling trains on railways from one
point to another when a train passes and when the line become clear, I
émploy instruments, each having a dial and two finger keys. In connection
with the dial is a magnetic needle surrounded with coils of insulated wire, and
having mounted on it two screens; on one of these are written the words
"line clear," and on the other the words "train on the line," and the screens
are so arranged in connection with a hole in the dial plate, behind which they
work, that when the needle inclines to one side the notice on the screen on
one side of the needle becomes visible, and similarly when the needle'inclines

page_text: to the other side the notice on the other side is read. The screen with the
notice "line clear" I color white, and the screen with the notice "train on
the line I color red, so that the signalman may readily see from a distance
how the needle is standing. The finger keys of the instrument are similarly
colored and the parts are arranged so that depressing the red finger key will
make such contacts as will cause a current of electricity to pass from the
battery which works the instrument through the coils around the magnetic
needle in such a direction as to cause the said needle so to incline as to show
the words "train on the line" on the red screen. By depressing the white
finger key a current of electricity will be similarly caused to traverse the coils,
so as to cause the needle to incline in such manner as to show the words "line
clear" on the white screen. The correspondence in color of each finger key
with the screen agreeing therewith renders it almost impossible for mistakes
to be made in working the instrument, and renders it unnecessary to instruct
the signalmen in a cypher code. When in use, two instruments, such
as above described, are placed at any desired distance apart, and are
connected together electrically by conducting wires, so that the needles
of the two instruments will move in unison, and there is a signalman at
each instrument. When a train passes the first of these, he, by depressing
the appropriate finger key, causes the dials of the two instruments to show
"train on the line" on the red screen, and the signalman at the other
end, to show that he has properly received the signal, depresses and pegs
down his red key, and by so doing secures the needle in this position. This
signal remains on until the train passes the second signalman, when he,
by freeing his red key and putting down the white finger key, causes the
instruments to indicate "line clear," and shows the white screen, and then
the first signalman knows he may, if required, allow another train to pass on;
he also, to show that he has properly received the signal, pegs down his key
"line clear," so that one or other of the two signals is constantly kept visible
on the faces of the dials. The centre of gravity of the needles being under
the centre of motion, should any accident occur to the conducting wire
the needle will immediately place itself vertically, and so indicate the defect.
The instruments may be made double for double lines, or, as I prefer,
separate instruments may be employed. In place of employing magnetic
needles surrounded by coils of insulated wire, electro-magnets and armatures
may be used. Bells are employed to call attention to the signals,
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.

page_text: Figure 1 is a front view of an instrument arranged in the manner I prefer ;
Figure 2 is a horizontal section, and Figure 3 is a side view, partly in section,
of the same; Figure 4 shews a front view of the magnetic needle, with the
coils of insulated wire surrounding it; Figure 5 is a side view of the same.
a, a, are the coils of insulated wire; b, the magnetic needle, with its axis b',.
carrying also the outer needle or pointer 62; the parts b, b', and b³ are all fixed
together, and work as if they were in one piece; c, c, are light screens, also
fixed to and moving with these parts; they are inscribed and colored as the
Drawing shews. Instead of being fixed to the upper portion of the needle or
pointer 6, these screens c, c, may be fixed to the lower part. d, d, are stops
of felt for limiting the deflection of the needle. In some cases I hang the
needle on knife edges, as scale beams are commonly hung. In front of these
parts, as is seen at Figure 1, is a dial plate e, with a hole in it at e', through
which the screens c, c, can be seen when they are brought opposite to it. The
dial plate is colored, by preference, green. At the bottom of the instrument
underneath the needle and coils, are two standards f. f, carrying the centres
on which the two metal finger keys g, g, turn; these keys are constantly
pressed upwards by the springs g³, which, however, yield to pressure on the
keys. Each key has upon it near its outer end, and insulated from the metal
forming the body of the key, a metal contact piece g*, which by a wire or
flexible conductor is connected with the piece h; when either key is depressed,
its contact piece g* comes down on to the metal spring i, the ends of which at
other times rest on contact screws in the pieces k; but when a key is put
down, the end of the spring i, on which the contact piece 9* presses is moved
out of contact with the piece k at the same time that metallic contact is
established between the pieces g* and i. At the inner end of each key is a
spring 9 in metallic contact with the key, and this when the outer end of the
key is pressed down comes against a contact screw on the corresponding
piece l. On the sides of the case of the instrument are four binding screws
m, m, and n, n; the screws m, m, receive the ends of the wires of the circuit,
which includes the two signal instruments which work together, and the
screws. n,n,.receive the battery terminals. Each of the binding screws is in
the Drawing distinguished from the others by being tinted with a distinctive
color, and the parts which are so connected with each binding screw as to be
always in metallic connection with it are tinted with the same color as the
screw, the coils a of the needle being in connection with one of the binding
screws of the line wire, viz., that which is colored yellow. It will now

page_text: readily be seen that when the finger keys are both up, a current coming
through the instrument from the line wire is free to pass, being carried by the
spring i from one piece k to the other; also that when a key is depressed,
one battery terminal is, by the spring g³ on the key coming against the contact
screw of the piece l, put in contact with the line wire, whilst the other battery
terminal is put in contact with the earth connection through the contact
piece 9* on the key, the spring i and the piece k with which the spring i
remains in contact. It will be observed that the keys make the contacts in
opposite directions. is a pin, which by being placed through one or other
of the sockets p on the case can be made to hold either of the keys depressed
when required.
o
I would remark that the arrangement of the apparatus may be much
varied without departing from my Invention, and that, as before mentioned,
electro-magnets may be substituted for the needle coils, as will be well under-
stood without any detailed description; I, however, prefer to employ the
arrangement.shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Ernesto Spagnoletti, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
CE SPAGNOLETTI