AN IMPROVED MODE OF SIGNALIZING OR CONVEYING ALARUM AND OTHER SIGNALS BETWEEN ONE PART AND ANOTHER OF A TRAIN OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES
Year: 1853

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Daniel Steevens
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd January 1858.
(Void by reason of notice to proceed not having been given within the
time prescribed by the Act.)
I, WILLIAM DANIEL STEEVENS, of Hart Street, Covent Garden, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF SIGNALIZING OR CONVEYING ALARUM AND
OTHER SIGNALS BETWEEN ONE PART AND ANOTHER OF A TRAIN OF RAILWAY
CARRIAGES" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in certain new mechanical arrangements and
combinations of parts to be applied to railway carriages, in the manner
hereafter described and exhibited, for the purpose of enabling the guard
of the train to convey signals, or give alarum and other signals, to
the engine driver at all times and in all weather with certainty; and
further, by this Invention the guard can, if necessary, so far have
control of the locomotive engine, independently of the engine driver,
as to be able to blow off the steam in case of need. But in order that
this Invention may be better understood I will proceed to describe the
accompanying Drawing.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1, exhibits a plan view of the under framing of a railway
carriage with some of my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2, is
a side elevation of a portion of a locomotive engine, shewing the
application of my improvements thereto. A, A, marks the under
framing of a railway carriage; B, B, a wrought iron tube fixed by
straps C or otherwise to the under side of each and every carriage
composing a train; D, E, spur wheels mounted upon axes attached to
the framing A; G, a drum fixed upon the wheel D; to said drum one
end of a safety line E is securely fixed, and the other end thereof
passes through a slot in the tube B, B, and is connected to the main
line I this line has a hook or cye, or both, fixed upon each end
thereof, for the purpose of connecting thereto the main line of the
adjoining carriages; K, a spring box, to which is attached one end of
a line L, the other end being attached to the main line I. The use of
the spring box K is for the purpose of keeping the main line always
in a state of tension, and it is intended to apply this box, as also the
wheels D and E, and drum G, to the guard's carriage only. At Fig. 2,
M marks a lever, whose fulcrum is a pin at a; to the lower end of
said lever one length of the main line I is connected, and to the upper
end of the lever M a pin is fixed, and takes into a slot in the lever N
fixed upon the cock O, which is ground and fitted in the branch pipe P
for the admission of steam to the whistles Q, Q. R, is a spring attached
to the lever M, which pressing against the pin S returns the lever to its
original position after it has been acted upon. By this Invention it will
be seen that upon the guard of the train turning round a handle fixed
upon the same spindle as the wheel E, the line I will be coiled upon
the drum G, and pulling the main line I, and lever M, will open the
cock O, and allow the steam from the boiler to act upon the whistles
QQ, which cannot fail to attract the attention of the engine driver.