Improvements in and relating to Urban and Suburban Railways and Appliances in Connection therewith for Facilitating Quick Transit and enabling Passengers to Enter and Leave the Cars whilst in Motion.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 26th July, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 26th Apr., 1889-Accepted, 13th July, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Urban and Suburban Railways
and Appliances in Connection therewith for Facilitating Quick
Transit and enabling Passengers to Enter and Leave the Cars
whilst in Motion.
A communication from abroad by WILHELM RETTIG, of Berlin, and HEINRICH RETTIG,
of Darmstadt, both in the Kingdom of Prussia, Empire of Germany.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E. of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool, & 6 Bank Street, Manchester, both
in the County of Lancaster, & 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This specification has been forwarded to us with instructions to file.
--
The invention relates to urban and suburban railways and is characterised by the
following:-
1. The arrangement of one or more uninterrupted sets of running platforms set in
motion by a suitable motive power, moving by the side of a train running without
stoppage, and permitting persons to get into the train by causing them to undergo a
gradual increase of speed so as to enable them to enter the train whilst it is in motion
without difficulty.
2. The construction of such a set of cars arranged so as to form a continuous train
or complete ring consisting of separate light cars coupled to each other, said train
being provided with wheels in such a manner that only each second car has wheels,
whilst the intermediate one is suspended and has none. This arrangement has for its
object to form a continuous train which can be as short as possible, and suitable for
running over sharp curves, and also to reduce the number of parts. The principles
on which the invention is based are the following:-
It is generally admitted that omnibuses and tramways are insufficient to meet the
requirements of the traffic in the busy parts of large cities. The Cable tramways as
used in America have not fulfilled the expectations of their promoters, except under
circumstances which occur but seldom on European lines. A certain speed cannot,
for the reasons hereinafter set forth, be exceeded when the track is laid on the public
road.
It has been attempted to satisfy the requirements of rapid travelling by the con-
struction of urban railways, the rail level of which is situated either below or above
that of the streets. With the latter arrangements, higher speeds consistent with
security can be attained. The necessity of running over sharp curves and of stopping
at stations which are at short distances from one another, reduces the speed according
to the special circumstances of the case. The nature of a railway requires that the
stopping places shall not be so near together as those of an omnibus or tramway line.
This is the reason why railways proper, which have been so successful and have
extended so much all over the world, do not satisfactorily answer the wants of a con-
siderable urban traffic, for the loss of time arising from the difficulty of access to the
stopping places which are distant from one another and waiting for the arrival of
trains, is so great that the use of locomotives for short railway lines is almost entirely
excluded. It has been proved also that the locomotive is better adapted for suburban
traffic than for use in the centre of a large city. The cost of the construction of
a railway line is in all cases very high, as owing to the weight of the engines the
superstructure must be stronger and heavier in proportion.
of
The hereinafter described invention has for its object to meet the requirements
Paid and neomnt despatch of missenger traffic both on long and short lines.
"

page_text: The invention does not attain the end in view by the application of new motive
agents or of an increased speed, but by this invention the numerous stoppages
which are attendant upon the use of railways are no longer necessary.
There are four factors the effect of which can be diminished or entirely eliminated.
1. The distance to the railway line.
2. The time lost in getting access to stations which are far distant from each
other.
3. The loss of time caused by waiting for the arrival and departure of trains.
4. The delays caused during the journeys by the stops at intermediate stations.
Now if it is possible to find an arrangement whereby it is no longer necessary
to stop the trains, but rather to run them all the time at a constant speed, and also
to allow passengers at any part of the line, to get into them whilst they are in motion,
the three last factors vanish at once. The time occupied by the journey depends
exactly upon the speed of the train, and the additional time required to walk over
the distance from the point where a person decides to ride and the railway, and the
point where he leaves the railway and where his journey ends. If now it is possible
to reduce the latter distances by an arrangement of line specially adapted to run
among the blocks of buildings of a large town more easily than a railway worked
by locomotives could do, the first cause of delay and reduction of speed would be
considerably reduced.
Under the supposition that the aforementioned conditions are fulfilled by the
present invention, it can be shown that a speed of four and a half métres per second
is sufficient for the purpose of conveying passengers on the improved railway for
distances of four kilométres twice as quickly as tramways and one and a half times as
quickly as a railway. On longer distances and up to ten kilométres this would still
suffice to transport passengers nearly twice as quickly as the tramway and ten per cent.
more quickly than the railway.
The means whereby it is rendered possible to get into a train moving with a speed
of four and a half metres per second whilst the latter is in motion, .constitute one of
the improvements forming the object of the invention. The assumption upon which
the invention based, is, that it is possible for any person to get without the least
difficulty on a rolling platform the level of which is ten centimétres above that of the
ground, and moves with a speed not exceeding one and a half métres per second, that
is the speed of an ordinary pedestrian.
If these platforms are provided with railings of which the person can get hold, it is
therefore clear that everybody can easily get on this platform by stepping sideways,
for a person walking at the same rate as that at which the platform rolls, has acquired
already before jumping, the speed of the said platform. He comes therefore to a
state of perfect rest when he is once on the platform, without being exposed to any
further effect caused by the speed of the platform. No special demonstration is now.
required to show that it is just as easy to jump from this first rolling platform ou
another one a little higher, and moving along the first with a speed per second which
is greater by one and a half métres, say the speed of an ordinary pedestrian.
It is evident that the conditions are in this case the same as when jumping from
the solid ground on the first platform. After having jumped on the second platform
the passenger has acquired a speed of three métres per second. On jumping from
this second platform on a third one, the train proper, (moving under the same con-
ditions as the second, that is with a speed which is greater by one and a half métres)
the passenger has finally acquired a speed of four and a half métres.
The aforesaid third platform is provided with seats on which the passengers take
their places until they have completed their journey or have to change on to a neigh-
bouring line. The former operation is as easy as the first.
The two intermediate platforms on which it is necessary to jump successively
before reaching the train proper must, owing to the very nature of the purpose
in view, be continuous, whilst the travelling cars, however, need not be so, they
may form separate trains; but if the traffic should require it, the said train may

page_text: be composed of travelling cars coupled together in sufficient number to form a
complete ring.
The requirements of small traffic would not necessitate the use of more than one
running platform. The speed of the train or travelling ring would in this case
amount to three métres per second only. This speed, however, exceeds considerably
that of tramways, and is even equal to that of urban railways on which the stations
would be five kilométres apart. On shorter distances the advantages of the improved
railway over the two latter modes of conveyance, are still more marked. Owing
to the gradual manner in which the passenger acquires the train speed, and as
in reality this consists in getting up movable steps, the aforesaid invention may
hereinafter be named "Stepped Platform Railway.' It has already been explained
that owing to the division of the stepped platform railway into short portions or
links, the narrow gauge of its rails, and its moderate speed, and also to the fact that
the speed of each ring is independent of those of the others, it is possible to adopt
sharp curves and to construct the line of the stepped platform railway so that it
follows the streets, and thereby offers the advantages which tramways and buses
possess over a railway.
A line of the improved railway should always be constructed so as to form a
circuit, according to the circumstances and conditions under which the town is
situated, the lines may be underground or elevated. It is not necessary, however,
that the circuit line should be of circular form, it will rather follow the direction
of the streets, and be constructed in any suitable form, the only fundamental con-
dition being that it returns on itself. Thus it is not difficult to so arrange the up and
down tracks of the same circuit so that they lie close together on the same street, the
reversal at each end of the line being effected by a loop curved in a suitable manner,
and running round a square or a block of houses. Whether the line is to be under-
ground or elevated, it must always he run in a closed space on the whole of its
length, and be provided at every fifty métres with ingress and egress stairs which
lead from the part of the footpath against the kerbstone up or down to the line.
Points or crossings are out of question. This would be considered as a serious
drawback if the purpose of the arrangements, namely, the possibility afforded to
passengers of getting into the train or leaving it wherever they please, did not in
itself provide a means for the laying down of a net of independent circuits which, at
certain places run along each other so as to render points and crossings unnecessary,
If for instance, a passenger travelling on a line reaches a portion thereof along which
a neighbouring line is running which he must now travel by in order to reach his
destination, a few seconds will suffice to enable him to leave the train in which he
is travelling, descend the running platforms, ascend those of the other line, and get
into the train travelling in the new direction he has to follow.
may
Instead of arranging in the same street several independent lines, each of which
is provided with tracks for the up and the down journeys, the aforesaid trains be
run in such a manner that the up and down tracks of two neighbouring lines run
close together in the same street. This arrangement admits therefore, of establishing
a net work of lines well connected in all their parts, in the business centre of a
large city. At the same time it will be seen that the net work may be so judiciously
arranged that it will not be necessary to change lines too often in order to cross a
large quarter of a town. It must be observed that this always takes place in a
closed space and without the passenger having to leave the substructure of the
railway, and in such a manner that each person manages for himself alone without
being interfered with by others, as it is not possible for several persons to arrive at
the same time, but only one behind the other. Independent lines or circles built as
straight lines as mentioned in the first instance, can branch off to the outskirts of a
town. The lines laid in the centre of the town can be constructed with two or three
rings of stepped rolling platforms. Those which are laid in the outskirts of the town
may only have one running platform for the purpose of reducing the costs of the
plant, working expenses, and the speed, to the lowest extent consistent with the

page_text: requirements of the traffic.
For the same reasons the entrances to and exits from the
line would be close together in the crowded parts of the town, but further apart in
other parts where the traffic would not be so great. The arrangement of the junction
of four circuits is such that a passenger leaving one line shall get free and unhindered
access to any of the three others.
Places of junction should be sufficiently spacious to allow of erecting there stationary
engines supplying the motive power necessary to work the line.
The most suitable manner of working such a railway is to employ stationary
engines, which set in motion cables or chains made of suitable links, to which the sets
of carriages are attached. The difficulties arising from the frictional resistances dne
to sharp curves, and forming one of the great disadvantages of cable working, would
scarcely manifest themselves here, as it is not a question in this case, of pulling an
independent cable round sharp curves, but of maintaining the motion of a series of
cars guided by rails; the cable or chain belonging to this series of cars only
providing the force supplied by the engine. The motive force is best situated close
to the beginning of a curve at the end of a long portion of straight track, so that
the tractive effort to be exerted to haul the load over the curve shall be as small as
possible. The erection of engines at crossings where three or four circles meet
together would be very favourable, as through this three or four circuits could be
worked by only one engine of large size.
It is thought that the cable which has to work the circuit should have connection
with the cars by the intervention of friction, which is produced by causing its own
weight to rest on forked supports fixed to the underside of the carriage, and by the
clamping action produced thereby. The engine revolves at a certain speed and the
cable making one turn on the periphery of a drum keyed on the engine shaft, passes
between the rails at a higher level than that of the aforesaid forked support of the cable,
so that the latter is raised from the said forked support by the tension occurring in the
neighbourhood of the engine shaft. The forked supports are made in two halves when
the cable leaves them in the neighbourhood of the engine, the supports are separated
by a diverging rail along which said halves slide. The object of this arrangment is
to enable the cable to leave the supports and to prevent the supports from coming
into collision with the drum. Each forked support would therefore be attached to the
underside of the cars by means of a hinged device admitting of its being thrown apart.
A simple spring arrangement adapted on each half of the forked support brings
these back to their original position so that the cable, as it gradually sinks down
again after leaving the drum, bears on the bottom of the forked lever.
The cars are about two and a half métres long, and the gauge of the rails may be
from sixty to seventy centimetres.
The cars composing each ring are coupled with each other by means of vertical
bolts, and form an even floor the continuity of which is ensured by covering the
gaps left between each two cars with a plate of metal three millimétres thick, and of
such a width that said gaps will remain covered even when the train runs over the
, sharpest curves, and that the passengers can safely walk along the train. The
stepped platforms are provided with a hand railing one métre thirty centimétres
long and arranged on the side at which the passengers get on the platform. There
remains therefore a free space over one mètre in length for the people to get on the
platform.
The train proper may, like the platforms, consist of a continuous ring of cars
provided with seats for the passengers. The advantage of this system may be
explained as follows:-
Although it may be true that the motive power required by the running of empty
trains in this system of railways is much higher than that of an urban railway, yet
with an hourly despatch of 1800 passengers, the motive power is but a small per-
centage higher than that of a railway. This result is due to the fact that the cars of
the stepped platform railway can be made very light, that the weight of the driving
engines has not to be moved, that the respective speeds of both the platforms and

page_text: trains are much less than those of railway trains, and inore especially because the
mass once set in motion has not to be stopped and put in motion again.
But as the traffic increases, the present system shows extraordinarily advantageous
results over railways. With a traffic of 1200 passengers per hour, the motive power
does not even exceed one fourth of that required by the working of a railway.
Further, the stepped platform railway is very safe, chances of accidents are limited.
The fall of a person passing from one platform to another would not be attended with
serious results, as the difference between the speed of two platforms is equal to the
average speed of a pedestrian. A derangement such as hot bearings or ruptures of
axles, breaking of a coupling, or of a chain would not create serious disturbances in
the traffic, and not endanger anybody's life, owing to the low speed: Besides this,
should any such disturbance occur, to a train, the passenger can always easily leave
the endangered portion of the train.
The advantages of the improved system can be summed up as follows:-
1. The plant requires little room, as its width and height are not great.
2. The construction of the substructure is incomparably cheaper, as it will have to
support only the fifteenth part of the load which an ordinary locomotivo railway would
have to support.
3. Owing to the facility with which the trains travel round sharp curves, the
railway can follow the direction of the streets, and there are in consequence, no heavy
expenses for the acquisition of land.
4. The stepped platform railway will be used more extensively than any other
means of transport. The running power required for a heavy traffic is very low and
renders it possible to convey passengers at reduced fares.
5. The number of employés can be very small.
6. The system of railway is always capable of enlargement.
7. It affords a means of quick despatch.
8. There is neither smoke nor dirt.
9. No getting in or out of the cars in the middle of the traffic of a street.
10. The passengers can move about without hindrance. Each one has his own
There is no crowding at the stations or of the compartments.
seat.
11. No time table, no late arrival.
12. No waiting for trains.
13. No enquiry about certain lines, as the passenger is always travelling on a system
well connected in its whole, and any error can always be made good, as the passenger
can always change trains at once.
14. No danger, no complicated signals.
15. Little noiso owing to the reduction of the weights moved, and to the low rate
at which they travel.
Dated this 25th day of July 1888.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Urban and Suburban Railways
and Appliances in Connection therewith for Facilitating Quick
Transit and enabling Passengers to Enter and Leave the Cars
whilst in Motion.
A communication from abroad by Wilhelm Rettig, of Berlin, and HEINBICH Rettig,
of Darmstadt, both in the Kingdom of Prussia, Empire of Germany.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both in
the County of Lancaster and 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:―
The invention relates to urban and suburban railways and is characterised by the
following
1. The arrangement of one or more uninterrupted sets of running platforms set
in motion by a suitable motive power, moving by the side of a train running without
stoppage, and permitting persons to get into the train by causing them to undergo
a gradual increase of speed so as to enable them to enter the train whilst it is in
motion without difficulty.
2. The construction of such a set of cars arranged so as to form a continuous train
or complete ring consisting of separate light cars coupled to each other, said train
being provided with wheels in such a manner that in some cases only each second
car has wheels, whilst the intermediate one is suspended and has none.
This arrange-
ment has for its object to form a continuous train which can be as short as possible,
and suitable for running over sharp curves, and also to reduce the number of parts.
The principles on which the invention is based are the following
It is generally admitted that omnibuses and tramways are insufficient to meet
the requirements of the traffic in the busy parts of large cities. The Cable tram-
ways as used in America have not fulfilled the expectations of their promoters, except
under circumstances which occur but seldom on European lines. A certain speed
cannot, for the reasons hereinafter set forth, be exceeded when the track is laid on the
public road.
It has been attempted to satisfy the requirements of rapid travelling by the
construction of urban railways, the rail level of which is situated either below or
above that of the streets. With the latter arrangements, higher speeds consistent
with security can be attained. The necessity of running over sharp curves and of
stopping at stations which are at short distances from one another, reduces the speed
according to the special circumstances of the case. The nature of a railway requires
that the stopping places shall not be so near together as those of an omnibus or tram-
way line. This is the reason why railways proper which have been so successful and
have extended so much all over the world, do not satisfactorily answer the wants of
a considerable urban traffic, for the loss of time arising from the difficulty of access
to the stopping places which are distant from one another, and waiting for the arrival
of trains, is so great that the use of locomotives for short railway lines is almost
entirely excluded. It has been proved also that the locomotive is better adapted for
suburban traffic than for use in the centre of a large city. The cost of the con-
struction of a railway line is in all cases very high, as owing to the weight of the
engines the superstructure must be stronger and heavier in proportion.
The hereinafter described invention has for its object to meet the requirements of
a rapid and prompt despatch of passenger traffic both on long and short lines. The
invention does not attain the end in view by the application of new motive agents or
of an increased speed, but by this invention the numerous stoppages which are
attendant upon the use of railways are no longer necessary.
There are four factors, the effect of which can be diminished or entirely
eliminated:
1. The distance to the railway line.
2. The time lost in getting access to stations which are far distant from each
other.
3. The loss of time caused by waiting for the arrival and departure of trains.
4. The delays caused during the journeys by the stops at intermediate stations.
Now if it is possible to find an arrangement whereby it is no longer necessary to
stop the trains, but rather to run them all the time at a constant speed, and also to
allow passengers at any part of the line to get into them whilst they are in motion,
the three last factors vanish at once. The time occupied by the journey depends
exactly upon the speed of the train, and the additional time required to walk over the
distance between the point where a person is when he decides to ride; and the

page_text: railway ; and from the point where he leaves the railway to the point where his
journey ends. If now it is possible to reduce the latter distances by an arrangement
of line specially adapted to run among the blocks of buildings of a large town more
easily than a railway worked by locomotives could do, the first cause of delay and
reduction of speed would be considerable reduced.
Under the supposition that the aforementioned conditions are fulfilled by the
present invention, it can be shown that a speed of four and a half mètres per
second is sufficient for the purpose of conveying passengers on the improved railway
for distances of four kilomètres twice as quickly as tramways and one and a half
times as quickly as a railway. On longer distances and up to ten kilomètres this
would still suffice to transport passengers nearly twice as quickly as the tramway and
ten per cent. more quickly than the railway.
The means whereby it is rendered possible to get into a train moving with a
speed of four and a half mètres per second whilst the latter is in motion, constitute
one of the improvements forming the object of the invention. The assumption upon
which the invention is based, is, that it is possible for any person to get without the
least difficulty on a rolling platform the level of which is, say, ten centimètres
above that of the ground, and moves with a speed not exceeding about one and a
half mètres per second, that is the speed of an ordinary pedestrian.
If these platforms are provided with railings of which the person can get hold, it
is therefore clear that a person can easily get on this platform by stepping sideways,
for a person walking at the same rate as that at which the platform rolls, has acquired
already before jumping, the speed of the said platform. He comes therefore to a
state of perfect rest when he is once on the platform, without being exposed to any
further effect caused by the speed of the platform. No special demonstration is now
required to show that it is just as easy to jump from this first rolling platform on
another one a little higher, and moving along the first with a speed per second which
is greater by one and a half mètres, say the speed of an ordinary pedestrian. It is
evident that the conditions are in this case the same as when jumping from the solid
ground on the first platform. After having jumped on the second platform the
passenger has acquired a speed of three mètres per second. On jumping from this
second platform on a third one the train proper, (moving under the same conditions
as the second, that is with a speed which is greater by one and a half mètres) the
passenger has finally acquired a speed of four and a half mètres.
The aforesaid third platform is provided with seats on which the passengers take
their places until they have completed their journey, or have to change on to a
neighbouring line. The former operation is as easy as the first.
The two intermediate platforms on which it is necessary to jump successively before
reaching the train proper, must, owing to the very nature of the purpose in view, be
continuous, whilst the travelling cars, however, need not be so, they may form
separate trains; but if the traffic should require it, the said train may be composed
of travelling cars coupled together in sufficient number to form a complete ring.
The requirements of small traffic would not necessitate the use of more than one
running platform. The speed of the train or travelling ring would in this caso
amount to three mètres per second only. This speed however, exceeds considerably
that of tramways, and is even equal to that of urban railways on which the stations
would be five kilomètres apart. On shorter distances the advantages of the improved
railway over the two latter modes of conveyance, are still more marked. Owing to
the gradual manner in which the passenger acquires the train speed, and as, in reality
this consists in getting up movable steps, the aforesaid invention may hereinafter be
named "Stepped Platform Railway." It has already been explained that owing to
the division of the stepped platform railway into short portions or links, the narrow
gauge of its rails, and its moderate speed, and also to the fact that the speed of each
ring is independent of that of the others, it is possible to adopt sharp curves, and to
construct the line of the stopped platform railway so that it follows the streets, and
thereby offers the advantages which tramways and busses possess over a railway.

page_text: Sheet 1. shows in side elevation and plan a small portion of the continuous railway,
and,
Sheet 2 a section of same.
J
In this instance the railway is supposed to be underground.
The three moving platforms are marked I, II, III, respectively. Number I being
the platform moving with the least velocity. Number II the intermediate platform,
and number III the train proper.
Sheets 3 and 4 of the drawings represent various details and applications of the
improved system.
In these figures 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, show how the course of the railway may be
adapted to suit the local requirements of different places, figure 3 is a partial section
of a street, underneath which the improved railway and its approaches are shown in
end elevation.
Figures 4, 5, 6, are sectional end elevations of the improved railway as used on a
level above the ground.
Figures 12, 13, and 14 show how either two, three or four moving platforms may
be used according to the final velocity required.
The remaining figures will be hereafter described.
A line of the improved railway should always be constructed so as to form a circuit,
according to the circumstances and conditions under which the town is situated, the
lines may be underground or elevated. It is not necessary, however, that the circuit
line should be of circular form, it will rather follow the direction of the streets, and be
constructed in any suitable form, the only fundamental condition being that it returns
on itself. Thus it is not difficult to so arrange the up and down tracks of the same
circuit, so that they lie close together on the same street, the reversal at each end of
the line being effected by a loop curved in a suitable manner, and running round a
square or a block of houses. Whether the line is to be underground or elevated, it
must always be run in a closed space on the whole of its length, and be provided at
every fifty mètres with ingress and egress stairs which lead from the part of the
footpath against the kerbstone up or down to the line.
Points or crossings are out of question. This would be considered as a serious
drawback if the purpose of the arrangements, namely, the possibility afforded to
passengers of getting into the train or leaving it wherever they please, did not in itself
provide a means for the laying down of a net of independent circuits which, at certain
places run along each other so as to render points and crossings unnecessary. If for
instance, a passenger travelling on a line reaches a portion thereof along which a
neighbouring line is running, for instance see figure 9, which he must now travel by
in order to reach his destination, a few seconds will suffice to enable him to leave the
train in which he is travelling, descend the running platforms, ascend those of the
other line, and get into the train travelling in the new direction he has to follow.
Instead of arranging in the same streets several independent lines, each of which is
provided with tracks for the up and the down journeys, the aforesaid trains may be
run in such a manner that the up and down tracks of two neighbouring lines run close
together in the same street. This arrangement admits therefore, of establishing a
network of lines well connected in all their parts, in the business centre of a large
city. At the same time it will be seen that the net work may be so judiciously
arranged that it will not be necessary to change lines too often in order to cross a
large quarter of a town. It must be observed that this always takes place in a closed
space and without the passenger having to leave the substructure of the railway, and
in such a manner that each person manages for himself alone without being interfered
with by others, as it is not possible for several persons to arrive at the same time, but
only one behind the other. Independent lines or circles built as straight lines as
mentioned in the first instance, can branch off to the outskirts of a town. The
lines laid in the centre of the town can be constructed with two or three rings of
stepped olling platforms. Those which are laid in the outskirts of the town may only

page_text: have one running platform for the purpose of reducing the costs of the plant, working
expenses, and the speed, to the lowest extent consistent with the requirements of the
traffic. For the same reasons the entrances to and exits from the line would be close
together in the crowded parts of the town, but further apart in other parts where the
traffic would not be so great. The arrangement of the junction of four circuits is
such that a passenger leaving one line shall get free and unhindered access to any of
the three others.
Places of junction should be sufficiently spacious to allow of erecting there stationary
engines supplying the motivo power necessary to work the line, see Figure 15.
The most suitable manner of working such a railway is to employ stationary
engines, which set in motion cables or chains made of suitable links, to which the sets
of carriages are attached. The difficulties arising from the frictional resistances due to
sharp curves, and forming one of the great disadvantages of cable working, would
scarcely manifest themselves here, as it is not a question in this case, of pulling an
independent cable round sharp curves, but of maintaining the motion of a series of
cars guided by rails; the cable or chain belonging to this series of cars only providing
the force supplied by the engine. The motive force is best situated close to the
beginning of a curve at the end of a long portion of straight track so that the tractive
effort to be exerted to haul the load over the curve shall be as small as possible. The
erection of engines at crossings where three or four circles meet together would be
very favourable, as through this three or four circuits could be worked by only one
engine of large size, see Figure 5.
It is thought that the cable which has to work the circuit should have connection
with the cars by the intervention of friction, which is produced by causing its own
weight to rest on forked supports fixed to the underside of the carriage, and by the
clamping action produced thereby, as shown in Figures 16 and 17. The engine.
revolves at a certain speed and the cable making one turn on the periphery of a drum
keyed on the engine shaft, passes between the rails at a higher level than that of the
aforesaid forked support of the cable, so that the latter is raised from the said forked
support by the tension occurring in the neighbourhood of the engine shaft. The
forked supports are made in two halves, when the cable leaves them in the neighbour-
hood of the engine, the supports are separated by a diverging rail along which said
halves slide. The object of this arrangement is to enable the cable to leave the
supports and to prevent the supports from coming into collision with the drum.
Each forked support would therefore be attached to the underside of the cars by
means of a hinged device admitting of its being thrown apart. A simple spring
arrangement adapted on each half of the forked support brings these back to their
original position so that the cable, as it gradually sinks down again after leaving the
drum, bears on the bottom of the forked lever. This arrangement is clearly shown in
Figures 16 to 19 inclusive.
The cars are about two and a half mètres long, and the gauge of the rails may be
from sixty to seventy centimètres.
The cars composing each ring are coupled with each other by means of vertical
bolts, and form an even floor, the continuity of which is ensured by covering the gaps
left between each two cars with a plate of metal three millimètres thick, and of such
a width that said gaps will remain covered even when the train runs over the sharpest
curves, and that the passengers can safely walk along the train. The stepped plat-
forms are provided with a hand railing one mètre thirty centimètres long, and
arranged on the side at which the passengers get on the platform. There remains
therefore a free space over one mètre in length for the people to get on the platform.
The train proper may, like the platforms, consist of a continuous ring of cars
provided with seats for the passengers. The advantage of this system may be explained
. as follows:-
Although it may be true that the motive power required by the running of empty
trains in this system of railways is much higher than that of an urban railway, yet
with an hourly despatch of 1800 passengers, the motive power is but a small percentage
higher than that of a railway. This result is due to the fact that the cars of the stepped
B

page_text: 100 (metric) tons. Now if 6 such trains are despatched in an hour's time from a
certain point, and each stops every three minutes, or 18 times in an hour, each stop
being of one minute, then each train runs in an hour over a distance equal to
For the purpose of meeting the requirements of a heavy traffic, it is not advisable to
increase the number of cars on a train running at the same intervals of time as in the
case of a less traffic, but rather to have small trains and despatch them at shorter
intervals of time; thus the above number 58.80 mètres tonnes per person per hour
holds still for each kind of traffic on railways employing locomotives as mode of
traction, because the despatch of a greater number of passengers entails a correspond-
ing increase in the weight of the carriages and locomotives.
2. Stepped platform railway:
This is quite different in the case of the despatch of passengers on the "Stepped
platform railway." The work to be exerted in order to keep the empty cars in
motion remains constant. When the traffic is low there is indeed a great load of
unused cars to draw along; but as the traffic increases the work to be expended per
person constantly decreases.
The following calculations will show this more clearly.
Instead of 6 railway trains which, in the course of an hour are despatched from a
certain place, the two ring platform railway works as follows:
Ring 1 moves with a speed of 1.50 mètres per second on a length of 5400 mètres.
Reckoning the weight of the platforms at 50 kilograms per mètre, the whole ring will
weigh 270 tons.
Ring 2 moves with a speed of 3 mètres per second on a length of 10800 mètres.
Reckoning the weight of the platform at 70 kilograms per mètre, the whole ring will
weigh 756 tons.
The travelling ring or train proper moves at the rate of 4-50 mètres per second on
a length of 16200 mètres. Reckoning the weight of the train at the rate of 100 kilo-
grams per mètre, the whole train weighs 1620 tons.
= 4428 mètre tonnes.
"
"
The motive power absorbed will therefore be
Ring 1. 270 x 0.003045 × 5400
Ring 2. 756 x 0.00318 × 10800 = 25956
Train 1620 x 0.003405 × 16200 = 89244 "
wherein the middle decimal numbers are the co-efficients of resistances for the
corresponding diameters of the journals and wheels.
"
The 3 rings require together for their motion 119628 mètre tonnes as against
86400 mètre tonnes for locomotive trains, that is not one half more than the motive
power required to pull along the empty locomotive trains. That this is possible, even

page_text: though a weight four and a half times greater has to be drawn, is accounted for by the
fact that the working speed is much smaller, and that besides, no power is lost through
stoppages, the cars being run continuously.
With a traffic of 1800 passengers per hour, as supposed in the case of the locomotive
railway, the weight of the passengers to be moved amounts to 6 x 23=138 tons, and
the power absorbed thereby, 138.00 x 0.003405 x 16200=7452 mètre tonnes..
This added to the work absorbed by the motion of the empty sets of cars and platforms
as found above, namely 119628, gives for the total amount of motive power required
119628 x 7452 = 127080 mètre tonnes.
The despatch of each person requires therefore
127080
1800
=
70-6 mètre kilograms,
that is indeed nearly 20 per cent. more than in the case of the locomotive railway
where a motive power of only 58.8) mètre tonnes was required.
The despatch however of 1800 persons per hour corresponds to a comparatively
small traffic. With a traffic of 2400 persons per hour, the motive power required by
each person would be reduced to
119628 x 7452 × 2400
2400
=
54.00 mètre tonnes, and this constantly decreases with
the increase in traffic, so that when the train in the stepped platform system is com-
pletely occupied, say by 12000 persons, the motive power required per person, sinks
to 14 16 mètre tonnes, against 58.80 mètre tonnes required on the ordinary railway,
that is not quite a fourth part thereof.
If the results obtained for a stepped platform railway with two running platforms,
and those obtained for a railway worked by trains of 6 cars each, bo placed opposite
each other, the following comparative table may be drawn up, showing the amount of
motive power required for the despatch of a given number of passengers by both
systems of conveyance.
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE SPEEDS WITH WHICH
PASSENGERS ARE DESPATCHED
WITHIN A LARGE TOWN, 1ST BY THE VARIOUS MEANS OF TRAFFIC KNOWN UP
TO THIS DAY, 2ND BY THE "STEPPED PLATFORM RAILWAY.'
دو
In examining and comparing the performances of the various means of passenger
conveyance, the question as to which of these transports the passengers with the
greatest speed on a given road, was not considered, but rather which accomplishes in
the quickest and most agreeable manner a certain route from the moment the passenger
resolves to ride, to that when he reaches the proposed end of his journey.
When reckoning the time necessary for reaching the station, waiting and starting,
it must be supposed that intending travellers would seek that portion of the neigh-
bouring line track which is nearest to them.

page_text: Tramways and stepped platform railways can, owing to their nature, extend over a
large town in closer network than a railway worked by locomotives, therefore the
former offer a greater number of points at which passengers can enter and leave the
cars than does the latter.
The average duration of time occupied in walking to the railway from any point
and in seeking the station, also that spent in waiting for the arrival of the train,
etcetera, and after leaving the train, the time spent in walking to the end of the
journey, varies according to which of the before-mentioned means of conveyance be
used.
The time occupied in stopping the trains at the various stations on the route is given
as nearly accurate as possible in the following comparative table, and is added to the
duration of the ride so that the figures in the table show the total amount of time
spent on the journey.
5 Going by stepped platform railway.
(a) access to the line from the railway grounds
500 mètres wide at both sides of the line, average
seeking a station
waiting for the arrival of the trains
(d) completing the journey after leaving the
train, same as access

page_text: Tunway.
Length of
Walking
at the rate
of 1.50
the journey mètres per
in kilo-
mètres.
second or
11 minutes
per kilo-
mètre.
2.50 mètres 5-60 mètres
or 6.51,
Cab 24
Tramway
Railway
one plat-
two plat-
mètres in
15 minutes
form
forms 4.50
per second
per second
mètres per
mètres per
second or
second or
per kilo-
mètre.
5.55 mi-
nutes per
kilomètre.
3.70 mi-
nutes per
kilomètre.
or 6-25
minutes
per kilo-
mètre.
minutes
per kilo-
mètre.
or 3.00
minutes

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. The arrangement of one or more continuous sets of running platforms actuated
by suitable motive power, and moving by the side of a moving train, whereby persons
are enabled to enter or leave said train by being caused to undergo a gradual increase
or decrease of speed, substantially as described.
2. A series of cars constructed and arranged so as to form an endless train or
running platform, said series consisting of a number of light cars coupled together
in such manner that only every alternate car is provided with wheels, the remaining
cars being suspended between said alternate cars, substantially as and for the purposes.
set forth.
Dated this 25th day of April 1889
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.