IMPROVEMENTS IN ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Deane John Hoare, of No. 5, Princes Terrace,
Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 3rd August 1869, and dated the 3rd April 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Deane John Hoare
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 3rd April 1869.
I, DEANE JOHN HOARE, of No. 5, Princes Terrace, Bayswater, in the
County of Middlesex, Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS," to be as
follows:-
Heretofore it has been proposed to construct atmospheric railways
with lines of rails for trains of carriages to run upon, and with a tube
laid between the rails in which a piston fixed to one of the carriages was
received, a slot being formed along the top of the tube to allow the
bar or plate which connected the piston with the carriage to pass along
the tube from one end to the other, and valves were employed for closing.

page_text: over this slot, so that the tube could be exhausted of air, and these valves
were raised to allow the rod carrying the piston to pass, and to admit
air behind it, and were then again closed. Great difficulty was however
experienced in obtaining an air-tight joint with the valves employed for
closing over the slot, and consequently such atmospheric railways have
been abandoned.
According to my Invention I employ a slot along the top of the tube,
as heretofore, and from the tube with a vertical flange on each side of
the slot, and to close over the slot air-tight I employ a continuous length
of vulcanized india-rubber, strengthened internally, if desired, with canvas,
and on the upper surface of the strip of india-rubber I fix plates of
metal in short lengths; a recess or groove is also made along the top
of the inner side of each of the vertical flanges at the sides of the slot,
which recess is deep enough for the india-rubber band and the metal
plate fixed above it to lie in, so that the top of the metal plates may be
level with the top of the flanges, whilst the band of india-rubber rests
at its sides on the bottom of the recess. To raise the band to allow air to
pass into the tube immediately behind the piston I pass the band over a
pulley carried by the bar which connects the piston with a carriage,
and to again close down the valve in rear of the piston I employ another
pulley similarly connected to or carried by the carriage; by this means
a free supply of air is admitted directly on to the back of the piston, and
afterwards the valve is pressed down on to its seat, and so a perfectly
air-tight joint may be secured,
In order to allow of the application of numerous exhausting apparatus
to the pipe at distances along its length, and to allow a train in motion
to run past the points where such apparatus is applied without stopping,
I divide the pipe into lengths or sections with valves, which as a train
approaches are withdrawn into a chamber at the side of the tube, and so
leaves the passage through the tube open, and allow the piston which is
drawing or propelling the train to pass. To effect automatically the
opening and closing of these valves by the passing of a train I attach the
sliding portion of each valve to one arm of a lever, the other arm of
which is acted on by two long springs which turn the lever into such
a position as to close the valve, but as a train approaches the valve a
small pulley at the front of the train comes against one of the springs
and presses it inwards, so turning the lever and opening the valve, and
this takes place in whichever direction the train is moving; branch

page_text: pipes are led from the main tube from each side of each of these valves
to an exhauster, so that any one section of pipe can be exhausted from
either end, and thus a train can be propelled in either direction.
In place of working the valves which divide the tube:into sections or
lengths, as above described, an incline at the forward end of the train
may be caused to come against a pulley on an arm from the sliding
valve, and so open and close it, or other arrangements might be employed
for opening and closing these valves.
I prefer to employ revolving fans to exhaust the air from the several
lengths or sections of tube, but other exhausting apparatus might be
employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Deane John Hoare in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd October 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DEANE
JOHN HOARE, of No. 5, Princes Terrace, Bayswater, in the County of
Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Iler
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Deane John Hoare, Her special licence
that I, the said Deane John Hoare, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Deane John Hoare, 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 ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Deane John Hoare, my executors or adminis
trators, 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

page_text: Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Deane John Hoarc, 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:
Iferetofore it has been proposed to construct atmospheric railways
with lines of rails for trains of carriages to run upon, and with a tube
laid between the rails, and in this tube a piston fixed to one of the
carriages was received, a słot being formed along the top of tube
to allow the bar or plate which connected the piston with the carriage
to pass along the tube from one end to the other, and valves were
employed for closing over this slot, so that the tube could be exhausted
of air; these valves were raised to allow the rod carrying the piston to
pass, and to admit air behind it, and were then again closed. Such an
arrangement is described in the Specification of a Patent granted to
Joseph D'Aguilar Samuda and another, on the Thirtieth day of April,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-four, No. 10,167. Great difficulty
was, however, experienced in obtaining an air-tight joint with the valves.
employed for closing over the slot, and consequently such atmospheric
railways have been abandoned.
According to my Invention I employ a slot along the top of the
tube, as heretofore, and form the tube with a vertical flange on each
side of the slot, and to close over the slot air-tight I employ a con-
tinuous length of vulcanized india-rubber, strengthened, if desired, with
canvas or other material, and on the upper surface of the strip of india-
rubber I fix plates of metal in short lengths; a recess or groove is also
made along the top of the inner side of each of the vertical flanges at
the sides of the slot, which recess is deep enough for the india-rubber
band and the metal plate fixed above it to lie in, so that the top of the
metal plates may be level with or below the top of the flanges, whilst
the band of india-rubber rests at its sides on the bottom of the recess;
also a thin band of iron or other metal not quite the width of the open
part of the slot may run along, under, or over the india-rubber to tako
the strain or drag off it. To raise the band to allow air to pass into the
tube immediately behind the piston I pass the band over a pulley, and
to again close down the valve in rear of the piston I employ another
pulley connected to or carried by the carriage; by this means a free

page_text: supply of air is admitted directly on to the back of the piston, and the
tube in rear of the piston is filled with air, afterwards the valve is
pressed down on to its seat, and so a perfectly air-tight joint may be
secured.
In order to allow of the application of numerous exhausting apparatus
to the pipe at distances along its length, and to allow a train in motion
to run past the points where such apparatus is applied without stopping,
I divide the pipe into lengths or sections with valves, which as a train
approaches are withdrawn automatically into a chamber at the side
or bottom of the tube, so as to leave the passage through the tube
open and allow the piston which is drawing or propelling the train to
pass.
The Drawings hereunto annexed shew the manner in which I prefer
to construct the various parts of an atmospheric railway in carrying out
my Invention.
Figure 1, Sheet 1, shews in section a portion of the tube which is laid
between the rails; Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same taken
at the line A, B, Figure 1; Figure 3 shews on a larger scale the
upper part of the tube where the longitudinal slot is formed along it,
and where the recess is formed for the strap valve to lie in. At
Figures 1 and 2 is also shewn a portion of the driving carriage; a is the
tube; b is the vulcanized india-rubber strap valve; c is the lifting pulley
carried by a frame x, which is coupled up with the driving carriage; this
pulley raises the strap valve to allow air to enter the tube a in rear of
the pistons e, e. The lifting pulley shewn at Figures 1 and 2 is shewn
separately at Figures 4 and 5, it is provided with friction rollers c' to
diminish friction, as from the smallness of its diameter it will be required
to revolve at a great speed.
In place of employing a small lifting roller in the manner shewn at
Figures 1 and 2 a lifting roller of larger diameter might be employed
in the manner shown at Figure 6, Sheet 4, but by this arrangement a
wheel narrower than the width of the slot in the tube must be employed.
These lifting rollers might if desired be driven by gearing from one of
the axles. c, c³, are pressing down rollers to hold the strap valve down
on to its seat; the axes of these rollers pass through horizontal slots in
brackets c², c, descending from the frame a which is connected by chains"
with the frame of the carriage; the axes of these rollers are also embraced
by forks on levers c, c, which are linked together as shown, one of the

page_text: levers is prolonged and formed into a lever handle, and by this lever
the position of the rollers can be adjusted so as to admit air at the
back of either or both of the pistons e, so that they may be propelled
in either direction, or be brought to rest, as desired. The frame x has
guards d', d¹, bolted to it, to which a broom may be attached, as shown,
for sweeping away any obstruction it may meet with on the valve, or
revolving brushes might be applied for this purpose. The pistons e are
fixed on the opposite ends of the rod e', which has bosses formed upon
it, through which the supports e, e, which are bolted to the frame x, can
slide freely. es, es, are springs for holding up the rod e¹ in its place.
By this arrangement should there be any obstruction on the rails the
frame can rise and pass over it without straining the pistons carried by
it. The strap valve I prefer to make in lengths jointed together, say,
in lengths of 50 to 60 feet to allow of the easy removal of any part which
may require renewal, and the replacing it without delay by another
length. Lengths of the strap valve should always be kept ready for
this purpose at each of the stations along the line; the several lengths
of the strap valve are each composed of a flat strip of vulcanized india-
rubber, or combined vulcanized india-rubber and canvass, or it might be
leather or other like substance with plates of iron 6' affixed to their
upper surface by means of bolts passing up through the strap and
screwing into them, as shown by the Drawings.
The above is the arrangement I prefer for constructing the strap valve,
but a strap valve similarly independent of the tube might be formed of a
rope of vulcanized india-rubber with an iron or other core, or otherwise
formed of vulcanized india-rubber strengthened with metal, or it might
be otherwise constructed, so long as it is free from the tube and simply
rests upon its seat. Notches may be formed at intervals in the cover
plates of the strap valve for stops formed or fastened on the sides of the
seat in which the strap valve lies to enter and so secure the strap valve
from shifting its position. At Figures 7, 8, and 9, Sheet 1, are shown
a side view, a plan of the upper side, and a plan of the under side
of the strap valve 6 constructed in the manner I prefer, and these
Figures also show the means I prefer to employ for connecting together
the several lengths of the strap valve, but other forms of joint might be
adopted; the manner of forming the junction between two lengths of the
strap is shewn et b'; the two lengths of the strap may be disconnected
from one another by withdrawing the screw 65; a flap of vulcanized india-

page_text: rubber is lapped over the opening, which is held in its place by screw 6³,
and released with the end of the vulcanized india-rubber strap when
it is withdrawn; this effectually closes any air opening at the joining
or separation of the strap. The pieces and with which the strap
valve is shod can either be secured to it, as shown, by countersunk
screws, or by rivetting, the latter I prefer, as it also preserves the
india-rubber from friction, the screw or rivet heads may have washers
under them, as at 67, or a short piece to take the two screws of each plate,
as shown at 8, the latter arrangement is preferred as it also preserves
the india-rubber from friction, or light friction plates may be secured
under the india-rubber the same size as upper plates, or a light iron
band to stiffen it. Valves of vulcanized india-rubber with metal covering
plates attached to them may also be used in a similar manner to the
valves heretofore employed for atmospheric railways, that is to say,
hinged to one side of the channel or seat in which the valve lies. The
frame which contains this arrangement is connected with the driving
carriage by chains, as shewn in Figure 1, to prevent any deviation of the
rails and tube deranging the tube or machinery of the piston.
I will now proceed to describe more fully the manner in which I
prefer to construct and operate the valves by which the tube a is divided
into lengths. These valves are provided at intervals, say, of from 10 to
15 miles along the line, and as before stated proper mechanism is
provided at these points for exhausting air from the tube. On each side
of these valves a branch pipe is led to the exhausting mechanism to
allow the lengths of tube to be exhausted from either end, and so the
trains may be propelle either way at pleasure. I prefer also in some
cases to provide at each exhausting station a large reservoir which may
be kept exhausted of air by the exhausting mechanism, so that by the
merc act of opening a valve a length of the tube a may be put into
communication with such reservoir and be at once exhausted of air, and
the exhausting mechanism need only be kept at work when exhausting
such reservoir. If it should be required to back a train when and at any
point along the rail between the exhausters the position of the pressing
down rollers may be reversed by the reversing lever to shift the inflow
of air into the tube from the rear to the front of the piston, and then
signalling back to exhaust the tube in the rear, which may be done
instantly by putting it in communication with the exhausted reservoir
at the nearest station, or if it be desired to stop suddenly, the reversing

page_text: lover may be brought into an intermediate position between the two
extremes of its stroke, and thus allow air to enter the tube on both sides
of the pistons, and by applying the breaks the train may then be brought
to a standstill. The manner in which I prefer to construct the valves by
which the tube is divided into sections or lengths is shewn at Figures 13,
14, 15, and 16, Sheet 2. Figure 13 is a cross section of the line of
railway through the valve box shewing the valve covering the end of
the tube; Figure 14 is a longitudinal section through the centre of the
tube; Figure 15 is a section similar to Figure 13 through the valve and
box with the valve shewn to be opened. The opening of the valve is
effected by a pulley affixed to the framing of the driving carriage
acting upon a bar in connection with the valve; Figure 16 is a
side view of pulley and pulley carriage; Figure 17 is a plan of that
portion of the rail where this valve is inserted, and Figure 18 is a side
elevation of the same. When the pulley g reaches the bar h it presses
it down while passing over the inclined part of the bar until it reaches
the horizontal part, and while rolling over this the bar is kept down, but
rises again as the pulley is running over the down incline of the bar.
This motion of the bar is communicated by the link i to the lever i¹, and
by it the motion is multiplied to give the necessary amount of action to
the valve j, also a weight is fixed on the other end of the lever to
counterbalance the valve. The valve consists of two-faced plates j¹ and j',
Figure 14, between which the fork of the lever i takes hold of the centre
pin, while the plates are pressed apart to the respective faces of the
box by the spiral springs j. The bar is jointed by the links /' to
the carriages 2 and 3, Figure 18, between which carriages and the bar
are springs h and h³ of sufficient strength to raise the bar to its normal
position and thereby to shut the valve j. The side pipes which connect
the tube with the exhausting apparatus are shown at 1 and 2, Figure 17.
By the above-described mechanism a train may run past the valve
without stopping, as the pulley g on the driving carriage will by
depressing the bar open the valve for the pistons to pass, and when the
pistons have passed the valve will at once close.
I will now describe the arrangement of mechanism I prefer to
employ for enabling a train to run from the main line on to a branch
line, or to a siding. A general plan and side view of the junction
of a main line with a branch line or siding, is shown at Figures 19
and 20. The top of the tube a is kept suciently below the top

page_text: of the rail to prevent any liability of the flanges of the wheels of the
carriage injuring the vulcanised india-rubber strap valve while the
carriages are passing over it. The true form of the tube is not carried
completely up to the union of the branch and the main tubes, but
a chamber me of an U section covered over at the top by a flat plato
takes the place of the tubes at the junction, and to the ends of this
chamber the tubes a, a, are connected. The end of the strap valve of
the main line where the strap valve for the branch line branches off
from it I so form that it may either be connected to the end of the strap
valve of the branch line or to the strap valve of the continuation of the
main line. The arrangement of joint which I prefer to employ for this
purpose is shown on a large scale at Figures 10, 11, and 12. A. hook f
in formed at the end of the main line strap valve, and counterpart
hooks f', f, are fitted on to the end of the branch line strap valve and
to the continuation of the main line strap valve. The ends of these two
latter straps lay side by side, and by shifting them sidewise cither one or
other of them can be caused to couple up with the hook on the end of
the main line strap valve. To effect this the ends of the two straps
where they lie side by side are held between two flat bars n, n, these
bars turn at one end on fixed pins and at the other end of each is a
friction roller o and o, as is shown more clearly in the enlarged views of
these parts at Figures 21 and 22. These rollers come against the two
arms of a U-shaped lever p, which oscillates on the fixed pin p', which is
below the U-shaped chamber n, so that if the U-shaped lever is rocked on
its centre the bars n are shifted sidewise, carrying with them the ends of
the two strap valves. The U-shaped lever p is also connected to the
points q, q, by the links and r, by which arrangement the act of
shifting the points causes the strap valves to be correspondingly shifted.
The pushing bars n and m are reduced in thickness at n' and ', where
they pass under the fixed hook piece f and f, which are used to hold
the ends either of the branch or continuation of main line strap valve,
as the case may be, at the time when either of these strap valves is
disconnected from the end of the main line strap valve. The points and
connections are shown in the Drawings in the required position for a
train to run on to the branch line.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best
Incans I am acquainted with for performing the same, I would have it
understood that what I claim is,―

page_text: First. Forming the valve employed for closing the slot formed along
the tube of an atmospheric railway of a continuous strap of vulcanised
india-rubber or other material, shod on its upper surface with plates of
metal in short lengths, substantially as herein described, or otherwise
forming the valve of vulcanised india-rubber strengthened with metal.
Second. Dividing up the exhausted tube of atmospheric railways by
means of valves which on the approach of a train can be slid into a
chamber formed to receive them, as herein described, in order that
each length or section of the tube may be separately exhausted from
either end.
Third. Combining such sliding valves with mechanism by which as
a train comes up to one of such valves and acts upon the mechanism
the valve shall be opened to allow the driving piston to pass, as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Deane John Hoare, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.