An Arrangement of Rails for Towing Locomotives.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Aug., 1899-Accepted, 23rd Sept., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Arrangement of Rails for Towing Locomotives.
We, SIEMENS BROTHERS & Co. LIMITED, of 12, Queen Anne's Gate Westminster,
S.W., Electrical Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (as
communicated to us from abroad by Siemens & Halske Aktien Gesellschaft, of
Markgrafen Strasse, 94, Berlin, S.W., Electrical Engineers,) and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
:―
This invention relates to the rails for towing locomotives employed for towing
vessels with special application to canal work.
For efficient working it is desirable to simplify as much as possible the arrange-
ment of the rails and the means of supporting them. For this purpose as shewn in
elevation and plan at Figs. 1 and 1" of the accompanying drawings, a rail a is
laid alongside the waterway, on which rail one, two, or more wheels of the loco-
motive run, depending on the number placed one behind the other. To give the
locomotive the necessary stability there should be at least one other wheel b not
on the same rail.
In constructing the locomotive the weights are so distributed that the rail
should have to bear the greater part, G¹, of the weight, while the wheel or wheels
necessary for stability bear only a small part, G³, say th or th of the weight.
Thus it is only necessary to give particular care to the construction, material,
and securing of the one rail. The wheels 6 may run on the ground, or if the soil
is soft or otherwise unsuitable, a small side rail may be laid to carry those
wheels.
The tractile force of the locomotive sets up an opposing force Z which is
resolved into two components, the one P in the line of the rail, the other N at
right angles to the rail. The force P is taken up by the running rail either by simple
adhesion, as at Fig. 2, or by rack gear, as at Fig. 3, or by gripping wheels, as
at Fig. 4, which are pressed against the rail by springs or magnetic attraction.
The component N is taken by flanges or by rollers & bearing against the side of
the rail. Thus the main rail has to sustain :-
1. Almost the whole weight of the locomotive.
2. The tractile force of the locomotive.
As nearly the whole force is exerted on one main rail, it is possible to construct
it as a longitudinal sleeper rail, as in Fig. 5, or it may be fixed on a foundation
composed of masonry or concrete, as in Fig. 6, or on uprights sunk in the ground
as in Fig. 7. Where a second, smaller, rail is required, it has to bear only vertical
strain, because the wheels running on it require no flanges, and it is therefore not
necessary to provide ties between the small rail and the main rail, but when the
main rail is carried on transverse sleepers, as shewn in Fig. 8, the small rail c
may be fixed on the same sleepers with the main rail.
The main rail should be on the side farthest from the water as then the com-
ponent N of the force Z increases the stability. This arrangement has also the
advantage of supporting the rail by a greater mass of earth, thus enabling it
the better to withstand the transverse component of the force Z.

page_text: The fixing of the main rail on uprights let into the ground, as shewn in Fig. 7,
is of great importance at such points on the canal where storage places exist and
where between the land and a vessel lying by the bank there is constant traffic,
as then the rail can be carried so high as to allow traffic under it.
This construction is also of advantage in cases where parts of the canal are
formed by river beds, lakes and the like with flat shores, so that the waterway
becomes very wide at these parts.
The component force N could be resisted by flanges on the wheels running
on the main rail. But this would cause a serious friction, occasioning not only
loss of power but also damage to the rails. Moreover, there would be a liability
of the flange to ride up the rail, resulting in the derailment of the locomotive.
This force should therefore be sustained by special rollers d which give rise only
to rolling frictions.
In the arrangement in which gripping wheels are used, as shewn in Fig. 4,
such pressure rollers might be combined with the gripping wheels on the one
side of the rail.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim
is:-
In a single or double rail arrangement for towing locomotives, the method of
arranging one rail (main rail) alone to take up the horizontal tractile force, while
the vertical pressure or load is also mainly taken by such rail, a fractional portion
being transmitted by a wheel or wheels projecting laterally from the locomotive
either to a subsidiary rail or to the ground, substantially as herein described.
Dated this 17th day of August 1899.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.