1(J0 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[Mat, 



tlie chains D anil E strained tight, and the crank lever H standing out 

 at a right angle to the side of tiie engine. 



"Now, it is obvious that by fixing any apparatus on the roadway 

 outside of the rails, by means of which the lever H may be pressed 

 acrainst, as the engine passes, to the extent of turning it about one 

 quarter of a revolution, which will cause the two chains D and E to 

 move with it, the steam will be shut off from both the cylinders, and 

 simultaneously turned through the whistle. 



" It may be proper, however, here to i)oint out, that although the 

 steam regulator, and whistle handles A and B, are connected to the 

 lever F by chains, yet those handles can be worked by hand indepen- 

 dently, either for tlie purpose of shutting off or putting on the steam 

 to the engines, or blowing the whistle in the usual manner, leaving the 

 crank lever standing in the position of fig. 1. 



"Rods sliding in tubes on the principle of the telescope, admitting 

 of the requisite contraction and expansion of the intervening distance, 

 may sometimes be found convenient substitutes, for the chain D and E 

 or any other suitable contrivance may be employed. A vertical in- 

 steadof a horizontal action may be given to the lever by fixing it on a 

 short horizontal axis, connected to the top of the spindle G by a small 

 pair of mitre wheels, and supporting it by bearings fixed upon the 

 most convenient part of the engine or carriage, or by any other me- 

 chanical means as circumstances may require." 



II. The apparatus proposed to be affixed to the roadway to act on 

 the combination of levers which has been just described, is also repre- 

 sented in figs. 1, -2, and 3, and in further detail in figs. 5, 0, 7, and 8. 



Fis. 



l'"iK- «• 



Fig. 7. 



Fig 8. 



Fig. 9. 



"There are four sleepers of sufficient length to extend from under the 

 line of rails to receive the apparatus fixed upon them in the manner 

 shown in the fig. 3. Upon the two outside ones are bolted the blocks 

 T T, of which figs. 5 and (i, represent an end and side elevation. The 

 two middle sleepers are connected together about a foot asunder by 

 the cross piece, and they ferni beds fortified with plates for the car- 

 riage N to slide upon ; figs. 7 and S, represent an end and side eleva- 

 tion of this carriage, showing two ribs cast upon the bottom to drop 

 between the beds for the purpose of keeping the carriage in a proper 

 position, during its backward and forward travelling motion. LL, are 

 two pieces of strong angle iron, though any suitable material and form 

 raav be employed, which move on entire pins, fixed in the top of the 

 blocks T T, while their other ends rest upon the end of the sliding 

 carriage N, to which they are coupled by links O O, moving on centre 

 pins fixed in the back end of the carriage N. One end of the rod P 

 is received by tlie jaws cast on the carriage N, in which it moves 

 freelv upon a pin, and the other end is forked, and forms a movable 

 joint' with a piece or tongue projecting from the edge of the lever R 

 (see fig. 1), and the fulcrum of that lever is fixed to the cross timber 

 morticed into the sleepers, fig. .3. By joining the connecting rod P to 

 a piece projecting from the edge of the lever R, the lever and rod, 

 when the lever is put down will form a line occupying the position 

 marked by the dotted lines in fig. 3. 



" 111 the position in which the apparatus is shown in fig. 3, the pieces 

 L L, or the slants as they may be termed, are parallel to the rail S ; 

 and, of course, stand clear of the crank lever H, which is carried by the 

 engine (see fig. 1), but when it is necessary to act upon the lever H, in 

 order to stop the train, the lever R must be depressed, which operating 

 on the sliding carriage X, through the intervention of the rod P, ad- 

 vances or thrusts it forward togeuier with the centre ends of the slants 

 L L, towards the rail S to the extent of the dotted lines (see fig. 3j, 

 which are then in the position to act upon the crank lever H, when 

 brought into contact by the advance of the engine. 



" The break lever K, figs. 1 and "2, moves inside of, and is suspended 

 when out of action on, a projecting stud, inserted in the vertical spindle 

 G. W is a weight to increase its power, or a spring to press upon 

 the lever may be employed for the same purpose : this lever is fixed 

 upon a short spindle passing horizontally through, and having its bear- 

 ii)fs in two plates, K, bolted to the engine frame, one within and the 

 other without; of these, the outside one only, A", is visible in fig. 2, 

 and upon the inside end of the spindle is fixed a short cross lever, the 

 jjosition and form of which is shown by tigs. 8 and 0. The ends of 

 this lever, K, bear upon the breaks // h, when the lever K is down, but 

 eacii end has two cross pins under the straps / 1, secured and screwed 

 on the breaks for lifting them olV the wheels on raising the lever K. 



These breaks are brought into action by lowering the lever K, occa- 

 sioned by the removal of the supporting stud on the vertical spindle 

 G, which is effected when that spindle is turned by the crank lever H, 

 coming into contact with the slants L L in the manner before describ- 

 ed." 



The machinery last described is stated to be as applicable to the 

 breaks, attached to the different carriages in a train, as to the locomo- 

 tive engine; "especially upon such breaks by means of a spindle 

 similar to the vertical spindle G, in the manner before described." 



The lever R that brings the stationary apparatus into use may be 

 worked by hand by any of the policemen stationed on the line, or other 

 person appointed for the purpose. 



The claim of the patentee is as follows : — " I declare that though I 

 ba%'e specified under this head those contrivances and arrangements by 

 which I think the objects in view may be best accomplished, and men- 

 tioned also certain contrivances which may be substituted for some of 

 those so preferred by me, I declare that I do not confine myself to the 

 precise arrangement and construction of the parts shown, as they may 

 be varied under different circumstances without departing from the 

 nature of my invention, but I claim a right to all variations and modi- 

 fications of the same, and to all substitutions of equivalent means, 

 either in whole or in part, by wliich the like effects may in the same 

 general way be produced. And I declare, that what I claim generally 

 is the addition to railway engines and carriages of such a combination 

 or system of levers connected with the steam cylinders, alarums, and 

 breaks, that being acted on in the direction of the line of motion, they 

 shall simultaneously, or nearly so, shut off the steam, sound the alarums, 

 and bring the breaks down on the wheels, and also the fixing to or 

 placing on railways of an apparatus such as that before described in 

 such a position that it can be made to act on the said levers in the 

 direction of the line of motion, (by some projected part or parts thereof^ 

 w ithout the agency, and independently of, the will of the engine-driver, 

 guard, or other person or persons on the engine or train required to 

 be stopped. And I claim both of the mechanical means, or system of 

 means, last herein generally claimed, whether used together or used 

 separately, that is to say, whether both are used together as I have 

 described, or one of them only in combination with some other and 

 wholly different means, or system of means, from that which I have 

 specificed." 



THE PLATE-LAYER'S SCREW. 



Sir — If the above rough sketch of an iiistrurnent fur lifting the rails, 

 &c. on a railway, for the jiurpuse of repairs, be thought of any service 

 to you or others, fur whose assistance it was contrived, (the plate- 

 layer), you are at liberty to use it in any way that you may consider 

 it deserves. The instrument is now generally used among the plate- 

 layers on the "Great North of England Railway," near York, and is 

 found to answer the purpose exceeuingly well. The bottom A, is in- 

 serted sufficiently below the bottom of tlie rail until the claw B, can be 

 applied under the rail, when the instrument is screwed up by the 

 handle C C, lifting the rail and blocks at the same time, when high 

 enough, the plate-layer or repairer commences beating the under side 

 of the block solid. The female screw is in the base of the cross lever 

 at D. 



Y'our's, &c. M. (^. 



York, April S>, 184 L 



