IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Walter Gale, of 5, Woburn Place,.
Russell Square, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF
RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 27th October 1853, and dated the 27th April 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Walter Gale
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 27th April 1853.
I, JOSEPH WALTER GALE, of 5, Woburn Place, Russell Square, in
the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF
RAILWAYS" to be as follows:-
The employment of certain materials, consisting of clay, or com-
pounds of clay with other materials of a harder nature, containing
quartz or other siliceous materials, for the purpose of railway sleepers,
by the use of which materials sleepers can, with great facility, be
manufactured of various forms, and in one or more parts, the materials
being of a nature to resist the action of natural decay or corrosion for
a considerable period. The use of these materials will also involve the

page_text: rails, parts of which may be applicable to ordinary-sleepers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Walter Gale in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 27th October 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOSEPH WALTER GALE, of 5, Woburn Place, Russell Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her mest Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give, and grant unto me, the said Joseph Walter Gale, Her special
licence that I, the said Joseph Walter Gale, my exccutors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Walter Gale,
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 con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Walter Gale, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Joseph Walter Gale, 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 accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say

page_text: My said Invention relates, first, to an improved construction of
sleeper for the permanent way of railways; and secondly, to an improved
construction of chairs, with an improved system of securing the rails to
the same. The improvements consist in the employment of certain
materials, consisting of clay, or compounds of clay with other sub-
stances of a harder nature, containing quartz or other silicious mate-
rials, for the purpose of manufacturing railway sleepers, by the use of
which substance sleepers can, with great facility, be manufactured of
various forms, and in one or more parts, the materials being of a nature
to resist the action of natural decay or corrosion for a considerable
period. The use of these substances will also involve the adoption of
improved chairs, and method of fastening chairs or rails, part of
which may be applicable to ordinary sleepers.
The principal feature in this Invention is the employment of a
compound of one or more kinds of clay, and pulverised stone, sand, or
ground pottery, or all combined, the object being to mix and temper the
stronger descriptions of aluminous earths with the milder ones, or with
sand, so as to produce a compound of considerable tenacity and hardness
when fired. The earths I prefer are the various kinds of pottery clay,
mixed with the ordinary loam employed in brick making which is found
in the London basin, and which contain a certain amount of silicious
matter; but, should the clay employed be difficient in that substance,
fine sand should be added. A sleeper thus composed is made in
a similar manner to drain pipes, either by machinery or by hand, or
by both combined; when properly dried, it is burnt or fired in the
ordinary manner. For facilitating the drying and firing, the sleepers
are moulded or formed with longitudinal openings within them, as
shewn in the annexed Sheet of Drawings. This construction of sleeper
affords greater durability, with facility of manufacture in the neigh-
bourhood of the railway at a comparatively cheap rate, and will not
have the extreme rigidity of those composed of iron or stone. The
sleepers may be formed in one piece, or in several pieces cemented
together; or they may be composed of ordinary bricks or tiles, laid in a
trough, and grouted with cement, as shewn in Figures 7, and 8, of the
Drawings. Bond iron, metal wire, hempen yarn or rope, rushes, or

page_text: of the sleeper,
The chair is
the other, and
other bonding material, may be interposed between the bricks or tiles,
to give tenacity to the mass; the whole of these sleepers may be used
either longitudinally or transversely. The chair I employ for holding
the rails is attached to the sleeper by means of screw bolts, formed
with stirrups, for the reception of a bar of iron, which serves as a tie
bar, to preserve the guage of the line; one of these bolts serves to
fasten the rail, by keeping a metal jaw in close and firm contact with
its side, thereby obviating the use of keys or wedges. A second form
of chair is fitted with a pair of lugs, which clip the sides
being secured thereto by a transverse cottar or key.
formed of two distinct pieces or checks, fitting one into
the rail is held between them by driving up the cottar before men
tioned. I also attach the first form of chair, or any other form of
chair, to these sleepers; or, if no chair is employed, then the rail may
be attached by the employment of lead, which I run into a cavity
left in the sleeper for that purpose, either round a bolt with a ragged
end, and with a thread cut in the upper end, fitted with a nut; or it
may be run in first, and a hole bored in it, for the reception of the
screwed end of a bolt, which has a head formed on the upper end, and
passes through the chair or rail, thereby effectually securing the same
to the sleeper, by screwing it up. The cavity is made larger at the
bottom than at the top, to keep the lead securely in its place. Either
of these chairs may be employed with other sleepers, the ends of the
bolts, in the first arrangement, being screwed or not, as found neces-
sary, or trenails may be substituted for them.
Figure 1, on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, represents a
transverse section of a rail, with its chair, and transverse sleeper.
Figure 2, is a plan, and Figure 3, is an end view of the same.
a, a represents the sleeper, with the openings b, b, to facilitate the
drying and firing of the same. These holes answer the double pur-
pose, also, of effectually draining the ballast upon which the sleeper
rests; and, when longitudinal sleepers are employed, they will serve
to conduct telegraph or signal wires, if desirable. The chair c, is
attached to the sleeper by the bolt f, which is formed with a stirrup at
one end, through which passes the tie bar h, h. The side piece d,

page_text: -
which is fitted into the chair, is for the purpose of holding the rail
securely in its place, without the use of keys or wedges; this! side
piece is hield down by the bolt g, which is also formed with a stirrup
end, and embraces the tie bar. Beneath the chairs is fitted a slightly
elastic bearing surface, i, i, which may be composed of wood, soft
metal, gutta-perchia, vulcanized 'india-rubber, felt, or other suitable
material, to deaden the shocks occasioned by the passage of trains
along the line.
Figure 4, represents a side elevation of another, modification of
chair and fastening and Figure 5; répresents à horizontal section
of the same. This chair is composed of two pieces, c, and d; the
sleeper upon which it rests being composed of two or more pieces a, a,
formed with overlap joints. The pieces or jaws c, and d, fit into each
other, and are brought together and tightened up by the key g, which
passes through them at their lower extremities, and through the side
lugs ff, which fit over the sleeper. Thus, by drawing up the key g,
the rail contained between the jaws of the chair is securely held in its
place, and the chair is fastened on to the sleeper simultaneously.
-1
Figure 6, represents another form of sleeper, with the chair attached
by means of lead or other soft metal. a, a, is the body of the sleeper,
formed with longitudinal openings b, b, as herein-before described.
A dove-tailed cavity 1, is formed in the upper portion of the sleeper,
and filled with lead; into this lead are screwed the bolts f, for securing
the chairs.
Figure 7, represents an end view of a sleeper composed of tiles or
brick work; and Figure 8, is a partial side elevation of the same.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not
confine or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which
I have had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations may
be made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main
features of my Invention; but what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―

page_text: First, the general arrangement and construction of permanent way, as
herein-before described..
Second, the application and use of plastic or aluminous and silicious
earth, for the manufacture of railway sleepers, such sleepers being com-
posed of one or more pieces, as herein-before described.
Third, the application and use of bricks or tiles, separately or com-
bined, for the construction of railway sleepers, as herein-before de-
scribed.
Fourth, the system or mode of constructing earthenware sleepers,
whether longitudinal or transverse, with passages or openings through-
out their entire length, in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
set forth.
Fifth, the peculiar construction of railway chairs herein-before de-
scribed with reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3, on the Sheet of
Drawings annexed.
Sixth, the peculiar mode of securing railway chairs to their sleepers,
as described with reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3, on the accompany-
ing Sheet of Drawings.
Seventh, the peculiar form of chair, with its fastenings, as herein-
before described in reference to Figures 4, and 5, of the Drawings
hereunto attached.
Eighth, the application and use of lead, or other soft metal, for
securing railway chairs to the sleepers, in the manner herein-before
described, and shewn at Figure 6, of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Walter Gale, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
J. WALTER GALE. (L.S.)