Im- PROVEMENTS IN SIGNAL ALARUMS FOR RAILWAY TRAINS."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Edwards, of Cassland Crescent, South
Hackney, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN SIGNAL ALARUMS FOR RAILWAY TRAINS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Edwards at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th October 1872.
I, JOHN EDWARDS, of Cassland Crescent, South Hackney, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNAL ALABUMS FOR RAILWAY TRAINS," to be as
follows:-
It sometimes happens that a railway train runs past a signal which
is against it without the driver observing that it is so, also that a signal
is put to "danger" immediately after the passing of a train, which the
signal is intended to stop.
My Invention relates to the construction and working of alarım

page_text: apprise him that the semaphore or other standard signal is against
him.
One arrangement which employ for this purpose is the following :—
I mount by the side of the rail a bar, plate, or board having on it teeth,
projections, or notches, and I make this bar, plate, or board capable of
being moved to or from the rail or vertically up and down by the side
of the rail. On the locomotive or any carriage of the train I fix a blade
spring projecting downwards in such a manner that when the before.
mentioned bar, plate, or board is brought near the rail or raised up,
this spring being carried by the passage of the train along the teeth,
projections, or notches, shall be caused to vibrate and thereby to give
an audible signal. 1 connect the bar, plate, or board to the rods, cords,
or other pulls by which the standard signal is worked in such a manner
that when the said signal is at “safety” the bar, plate, or board is out
of the range of the spring, and therefore the train passes it without any
noise being caused; but when the standard signal is moved to "danger"
the bar, plate, or board is brought by the same action into the position
where the spring will come in contact with it and produce, by its passage
along it, the noise which apprises the engine driver that the signal is
against him.
Several successive bars, plates, or boards, as above described, may be
arranged along the line, as for instance in the space between a distant
signal and a home signal, so that the driver may receive repeated
alarums before the train reaches the latter point.
Instead of mounting the bar, plate, or board by the rail, a rack or bar
with projections or notches may be fixed on the locomotive, or on a
carriage, and a blade spring may be mounted by the side of the rail,
so that it can be brought into range of the said rack or bar by the
moving of the signal to "danger," the effect in this case being similar
to that described above.
: Another arrangement which may be employed for the purpose above
stated is as follows:-I mount by the side of the rail a bar with a
number of projections upon it. This bar rests on springs and it is
connected in a manner similar to that described above to the signal
pulls, so that when the signal is moved to "safety" the bar is simul-
taneously moved downwards or sideways away from the rail; but when
the signal is moved to "danger" the bar is brought up or close

page_text: to the rail in such a manner that the wheels of a passing train, or the
flanges of the wheels when the bar is mounted inside the rail, running
over the successive projections on the bar, cause it to vibrate and make
a noise which serves as an alarum, apprising the engine driver and
guards that the signal is against them.
I also employ the whistle of the locomotive to give an alarum
indicating that a signal is at danger by the following arrangement:-
I mount by the side of the rail a bar connected to the signal pulls
in the manner described above, and I mount in bearings on the loco-
motive a vertical spindle, on the lower end of which is fixed an arm
in such an attitude that it will bear against the aforesaid bar when
it is moved towards the rail simultaneously with the signal being
moved to "s danger," but the arm passes clear of the bar when the
latter is moved away from the rail by the signal being moved to
"safety." On the upper end of the vertical spindle is another arm
which is connected to the cock or valve of the steam whistle in such
a manner that when the lower arm on the spindle is moved by bearing
against the bar the upper arm causes the cock or valve to open, whereby
the whistle is sounded.
Instead of connecting the upper arm directly to the cock or valve
and thereby imposing on the spindle and its arms the whole work
of opening it suddenly, I prefer to arrange a spring or weight so as
to open the cock or valve when it is free to act. While the cock
or valve is closed and the whistle silent the spring or weight is
prevented from acting by a catch or detent connected to the vertical
spindle; but as soon as the spindle is partly turned by its lower
arm coming in contact with the bar the catch or detent is withdrawn,
and the spring or weight then opens the cock or valve so that the
whistle sounds and continues sounding till the engine has passed the
bar, after which the engine driver can shut off the whistle and replace
the catch or detent so as to hold it closed until it be again opened by
hand or by the action of another bar.
When it is desired to give the engine driver an audible signal that
he may go on or that the standard signal is at "safety," I provide
another spindle with its lower arm at a different level from that of the
arm described above, and I mount another bar connected to the signal
pulls, or I so form the bar used for the stop signal that when it is in the
position corresponding to "safety," the arm of the second spindle comes

page_text: in contact with it and is moved so as to sound another whistle which
may be distinguished from the "danger" whistle by the pitch or quality
of its tone; or the same whistle may be employed for both signals by
arranging the second spindle so as to open its cock or valve for a very
short time, so that a brief note is sounded to indicate "safety" instead
of the prolonged sound indicative of "danger."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by tho said John Edwards in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 9th April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN 1
EDWARDS, of Cassland Crescent, South Hackney, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the 1
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Edwards, Her special
license that I, the said John Edwards, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Edwards, 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 SIGNAL ALARUMS FOR RAILWAY TRAINS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Edwards, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of tho
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.

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Shect of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say:
It sometimes happens that a railway train runs past a signal which
is against it without the driver observing that it is so, also that a signal
is put to "danger" immediately after the passing of a train which the
signal is intended to stop.
My Invention relates to the construction and working of alarum
apparatus which shall give the engine driver an audible signal to
apprise him that the semaphore or other standard signal is against
him.
"
For this purpose I employ the whistle of the locomotive to give
an alarum, indicating that a signal is at danger by the following
arrangement:-I mount by the side of the rail a bar or lever con-
nected to the rods, cords, or other pulls by which the standard signal
is worked in such a manner that when the said signal is at "safety
the bar or lever is moved away from the rail; but when the standard
signal is moved to "danger" the bar or lever is moved nearer to the
rail. I mount in bearings on the locomotive a vertical spindle, on the
lower end of which is fixed an arm in such an attitude that it will bear
against the aforesaid bar or lever when it is moved towards the rail
simultaneously with the standard signal being moved to "danger,"
but the arm passes clear of the bar or lever when the latter is moved
away from the rail by the signal being moved to "safety." On the
upper end of the vertical spindle is another arm which is connected
to the cock or valve of the steam whistle in such a manner that when
the lower arm on the spindle is moved by bearing against the bar the
upper arm causes the cock or valve to open, whereby the whistle is
) sounded.
Instead of connecting the upper arm directly to the cock or valve,
and thereby imposing on the spindle and its arms the whole work
of opening it suddenly, I prefer to arrange a spring or weight so as
to open the cock or valve when it is free to act. While the cock
5 or valve is closed and the whistle silent the spring or weight is pre-
vented from acting by a catch or detent connected to the vertical
spindle, but as soon as the spindle is partly turned by its lower arm

page_text: coming in contact with the aforesaid lever or bar, the catch or detent
is withdrawn and the spring or weight then opens the cock or valve,
so that the whistle sounds and continues sounding till the engine driver
shuts off the whistle and replaces the catch or detent, so as to hold the
whistle cock or valve closed until it be again opened by hand, or by the
action of another bar or lever, in the manner above described.
Several successive bars or levers may be arranged along the line, as
for instance in the space between a distant signal and a home signal,
so that the engine driver may receive repeated alarums before the train
reaches the latter point.
Fig. 1 represents an end view of a locomotive with the improved
apparatus applied to it; Fig. 2 represents a plan of part of a line of
railway with the alarum lever or bar mounted by the side thereof; and
Fig. 3 represents a sectional plan of the detent apparatus which will be
presently described.
a is the lever or bar mounted by the side of the rail and connected
by cords or chains to the standard signal in such a manner that
when the said signal is at "danger" the bar or lever a lies in the
attitude shewn in Fig. 2; but when the standard signal is moved
to "safety" the bar or lever a takes the position marked by the
dotted lines a¹ (Fig. 2). c is a vertical spindle mounted in bearings
on the locomotive, having an arm d projecting from its lower end,
so that when the bar or lever a is drawn towards the rail the armi d
comes in contact with it as the locomotive passes, and the spindle c
is thereby partly turned on its axis. At the upper end of the spindle
is fixed another arm e which serves as a detent. f is the handle of the
whistle cock which is connected by a chain or cord to a tube 9 fitted
to slide freely within a tubular bracket fixed to the locomotive.
One end of a spring i bears against the end of the tube g, and the
other end against the cover of the tubular bracket h. The tube g
is held against the spring i by the detent e, but when the detent is
turned aside by the partial revolution of the spindle c, the tube g
being left free, is pressed outwards by the spring i, and the handle f
of the whistle cock is thereby turned so as to cause the whistle to
sound. It will be seen that as this handle is connected to the detent

page_text: apparatus by a flexible cord or chain, the driver can sound the whistle
in the ordinary way without altering the position of the detent.
A vertical spindle, such as c, might be fitted to a guard's van or other
carriage, and be acted on by the bar or lever a, so as to open a whistle
cock for the sounding of an alarum whistle operated on by compressed
air; or when there is no supply of compressed air the movement of the
spindle c instead of removing a detent might be utilized for ringing a bell
or striking a gong.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim, the use of apparatus con-
sisting of a bar or lever mounted by the side of a line of railway and
connected to a standard signal, in combination with a spindle mounted
on a locomotive or carriage of a railway train in such manner that
when the standard signal is at "danger" the said apparatus causes an
audible alarum to be given, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Edwards, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Ninth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.