US517535A - System of elevated and surface railways - Google Patents

Description

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, G. H. BARROWS.

4 SYSTEM 01? ELEVATED AND SUEEAGE RAILWAYS.

No. 517,535. Patente Apr. 3, 1894.

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O. H. BARROWS. SYSTEM'OF ELEVATED AND SURFAGE RAILWAYS.

No. 517,535. I Patented Apr. 3, 1894.

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SYSTEM- OF ELEVATED AND SUEEAGEEAIEW'AYS. No., 517,535. Patented Apr. 3, 1894.

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CHARLEQH. BARROWS,-OF WILLIMANTIC, CONNECTICUT.

SYSTEM o F ELEVATED AND SURFACE RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 517,535, dated April 3, 1894. Applicationfiled May 17, 1893. SerialNo-4'l4,543. (No model.)

To alt whom it may concern.-

l 3e1t known that I, CHARLES H. BARROWS, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVillimant1c,in the county of Windham and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Systems of Elevated and Surface Railways; and I do hereby declare the following'to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My present invention relates to a system of elevated and surface railways in which I prov1d e an elevated structure to accommodate trains adapted to travel at high speed between main stations-of a railway without danger of obstructions common to surface railways, while on the surface of the ground I employ a single rail track and cars adapted to travel. at a comparatively slow speed, to stop at frequent intervals for the accommodation of the traveling public, and which can be run to any desired points or places to convey the passengers to the main station, so that the passengers can transfer from the slow movlng surface cars to the rapid elevated cars and be quickly conveyed by the latter from one main station to another.

In my new system of railways I employ cars of "l1ght construction to be propelled by electric power and run at frequent intervals as dlstlng lished from long heavily loaded'trains running at long intervals of time; and by this system I utilize the-surface lines as feeders to the elevated rapid cars which are designed principally as a. means for quickly transporting suburban residents to the principal station or stations in a large city.

In addition to the foregoing objects I 'aim to reduce the cost of track construction and ma ntenance in elevated and surface railways, to avoid derailment, and to simplify the construction of both the track and cars, thereby eifecting economy in the primary construction and maintenance of the railway.

The first part of my invention resides in the elevated structure in which I employ two longitudinal girders, and a central guide rail between the girders, which parts constitute the track on which are run the elevated oars. Each girder may be constructed of wood planks, or of metal, or of wood and metal together; and the several pieces are arranged to break joints and are held by transverse fastenings that unite the several parts securely together. The side girders and central guide rail are laid so that their upper surfaces are in about the same level, and on these side girders travel broad fiangeless bearingwheels of the front and rear trucks of the locomotive or car, and on the guide rail between the girders ride the flanged guide wheels carried by the forward and rear axles of the car or locomotive. The body of the locomotive is so arranged or hung that the greater part of the weight thereof is thrown on the larger flangeless driving wheels attho rear of the locomotive to secure the necessary traction between said flangeless drive wheel and the girders on which they ride or bear; while the central flanged wheels of the forward and rear trucks serve as the means for guiding the locomotive or car tocause it to keep to the track and reduce the liability of derailment to a minimum. V In elevated structures, a train of cars is employed consisting of a locomotive carrying the electric motor for driving the rear axle, and one, two or more passenger coaches, each coach provided with front and rear trucks, the axles of which are provided with the broad treadflangeless wheels and with centrally aligned flanged wheels that ride'on the central guide rail of the track.

'In the surface lines of railways that serve as feeders to the elevated main lines, I provide a single bearing rail which may be laid on a suitable road bed, and employ an electrically propelled car which has its front truck furnished with aligned flanged wheels that ride on the rail and the rear truck has its axleprovided with a large flanged wheel and with broad tread flangeless wheels that are adapted to travel on the ground, or on planks or other supports laid on the ground, the car body being so hung or arranged that the single rail will bear its proportion of the weight of said car body while the broad flangeless wheels on the rear axle cause the car to maintain its upright proper position.

And the invention further consists in the combination of devices and peculiar construc- ICO tion and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, I have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my elevated and surface railway, and Fig. 2 is an end view showing cars on the elevated and surface railways. Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the girders and guide rail forming the track of the elevated railway. Fig. 4 is a plan View of the running gear foran eleetri cally propelled car on the elevated railway. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the running gear for a trailing coach to be coupled to the elec; trically propelled car on the elevated or surface railway. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the trucks or running gear for an electricallypropelled car specially designed fora surface railway.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

A designates the track for the elevated structure to sustain the elevated rapid train of cars traveling between main stations on the line of the railway. This elevated track is supported at a suitable height by vertical columns and trestle work constructed in any approved manner to afford the necessary stability and security for the elevated train of cars, and said track consists of the girders B, I3, and the guide rail 0, the latter situated between and equidistant from the girders B, B, and the whole being united or tied together by any approved appliances to insure the girders and rail remaining in their proper relative positions. Each girder is constructed to provide a broad bearing surface for the broad fiangeless wheels of the cars to ride upon so as to maintain the cars in their up right positions; and each girder is constructed of a series of sections a, b, 0, arranged so that the ends break joints with each other, and they are united together by transverse fastenings so as to present a solid substantial structure with a practically level upper surface. The girder may be constructed of wooden planks arranged laterally in contact with each other to present their edges to the faces or treads of the broad fiangeless carwheels, and united together by through bolts D which pass transverselythrough the planks; or the girder may be built up of metallic plates or bars, or it may consist of wood and metal parts united together, the object being to provide a cheap, strong and durable girder or sleeper devoid of the usual rail and having a broad bearing surface for the fiangeless car wheels. The central guide rail maybe the usual T-rail employed in the construction of ordinary railway tracks, and in the elevated railway this rail is arranged so that its upper surface is level with the top or broad surface of the girders or sleepers B, B. This elevated structure accommodates high speed trains which consist of an electrically propelled car or locomotive E and one or more passenger coaches or trailers F which are coupled to the car or locomotive E. This propelled car or locomotive E is provided with a long frame work 6 forming the rear truck and a means for pivotally supporting the front truck e; and these trucks e, e, are connected by a vertical kin g bolt c to enable the front truck 0' to turn horizontally and follow the line or curves in the track.

G is the rear axle which has suitable bearings in the rear part of the truck a, and on this axle are fixed the large central wheel II and the two carrying wheels I, I. Said central wheel H is provided with peripheral flanges that form a deep annular groove in "its wheel II to enable said Wheel to travel on the central rail 0 of the track, while the carrying wheels I are devoid of flanges and provided with broad bearing treads adapted to ride or bear on the broad girders or sleepers B. To this axle G is geared an electric motor (not shown) which is carried by the ear E for imparting motion to the axle to propel the car; and the body of the car is so hung or arranged that the weight thereof is thrown principally on the rear carrying wheels I to secure the traction or friction between the broad wheels I and the girders or sleepers necessary for the propulsion of the car. The electric motor may be supplied with a current of electric energy from an overhead or a track conductor, but this is not an important factor in my railway system forming the subjectof the present application, as such conductor may be arranged, and supplied with energy, in any preferred manner and by any suitable means.

The front truck 6' of the car E sustains an axle or shaft J which carries smaller broad bearing wheels j, j, at its ends to enable the latter to ride on the broad girders or sleepers; and this front truck also sustains the shafts 7t, 7.5, of the flanged guide wheels K, K, which are arranged in line with each other and s1tuated at the front and rear respectively of said front truck (2', said aligned wheels K, K,being each provided with peripheral flanges which are spaced to form a deep annular groove in the periphery of the wheel to enable said wheels to follow and keep to the central guide rail around the curves of the track. The broad fiangeless wheels I, j, that run on the girders or sleepers are designed to sustain the weight of the car and its lead, while the grooved aligned wheels II, K, K, serve to guide the car along the line of the central guide rail so that in elevated structures it is not necessary to use a heavy rail for the central guide rail 0 as thelatter is not designed to sustain a part of the weight of the car although it may be arranged to do so. The front part of the carE is sustained by hangers pivotally connected to the forward truck 6' while the rear part of the car is mounted on suitable springs; and these sustaining devices and the construction of the car body and tracks may be of any form or character having the approval of persons skilled in this art.

- nished with the front and rear trucks L, L,

each of which carries the axle Z provided with the broad flangeless wheels Z adapted to travel on the girders or sleepers B; and each;

truck is further provided with the flanged wheels M, M, situated at the front and rear of the truck and in line with each other to ride upon the central guide rail 0. I I

In the surface railway, I use a single rail track on which slowly moving cars N are de-' signed to run and which stop at frequent intervals for taking on and letting off passen-' ers This rail 0 of the surface line is laid or arranged so that it lies above the surface of the ground a short distance, and it is designed to bear its proportion of the weight of said" car body, which in this instance is arranged or hung so that a part of the weight thereof is thrown on the single rail 0. The car N has the front and rear trucks, the former being furnished simply with the flanged aligned guide wheels 11, n, in the middle thereof to ride upon the rail 0 while the rear driving axle has a motor geared thereto and is provided with the large flanged driving wheel and with the large broad'flangeless wheels. These broad flangeless wheels of the rear truck in the surface car are designed to run on the surface of the ground, although planks or sleepers may be provided for said wheels when the rail 0 is laid on ground which does not admit of the wheels bearing thereon, but this is optional.

The surface railways may be situated directly beneath the elevated track, or they may branch therefrom in any or every direction to accommodate different sections of the surrounding country and transmit the residents thereof to a main station, from whence they can have quick passage to a central or any one of the main stations on the elevated railway.

, The operation and advantages of myinvention will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art from the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and details of construction of the devices herein shown and described as 1. In a railway system, an elevated track having the broad girders and central gulde rail which accommodate respectively the flangeless traction wheels and flanged central wheels of a car, and a single surface rail adapted to receive the flanged wheels of a car provided with traction wheels, substantially as and for the purpose described.

- 2. In a railway system, the elevated track comprising the broad girders or sleepers and a central guide rail between the main stations, an elevated car having its trucks provided with the aligned flanged central wheels that ride on the central rail and the axles provided with the flangeless traction wheels that bear on the sleepers or girders, a single surface rail leading to a main station of the elevated line and a surface car provided with central aligned wheels that ride on said single rail and having the traction wheels designed to sustain the car-body in its upright position, substantially as described.

3. In a railway system, an elevated track comprising a central guide rail and the broad smooth sleepers situated parallel to, and in substantially the same horizontal plane with,

said central guide rail, an elevated car having at its rear end an axle which carries a central flanged wheel adapted to the middle rail and provided at its ends with traction wheels which normally ride upon the broad sleepers of the track, said car having a pivotal front truck which sustains an axle carrying traction wheels adapted to the side sleepers and provided, in advance and rear of said axle, with independent flanged guide wheels which align with the rear guide wheel of the car and are so disposed as to normally ride upon the central guide rail, for the purposes described, substantially as set forth.

4. In a railway system, the elevated track comprising a central guide rail and the side girders or sleepers, an elevated car having its forward pivoted truck provided with the central flanged wheels that ride on said central rail and with the traction wheels to bear on the girders, and a rear power axle provided with the flanged wheel in line with the flanged wheels of the forwardtruckand with the broad flangeless traction wheels that bear on the girders or sleepers of the track, substantially as described.

5. In a railway system, the combination with a guide rail, of a car, the truck connected with said car andcarrying a group of flanged guide wheels all disposed in the longitudinal center thereof, andthe transverse axle journaled in the truck and provided at the ends with broad flan geless traction wheels designed to normally bear on a smooth surface to sustain the greatest weight of the car body, as set forth, I

6. An elevated railway comprising a track embodying a central guide rail between two sleepers or girders which are built up of sections united laterally together to break joints and present a fiat smooth upper surface, a

car, the trucks connected with said car and In testimony whereof I aifix my signaturein each carrying a group of flanged guide Wheels presence of two witnesses. disposed to ride on the central rail and the CHARLES H BARROVS transverse axles j onrnaled in said trucks and 5 provided with broad traction wheels which Witnesses:

ride on the smooth sleepers or girders, snb- DWIGHT A. LYMAN, stantially as described. FRANCIS ODWYRE.

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