US549851A - Elevated railway - Google Patents

Description

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No. 549,851. Patented Nov. 12,1895.

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No. 549,851. Patented 110V. 12,1895.

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R. M. PRYER. ELBVATED RAILWAY.

Patented Nov. 12, 1895.

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ROBERT M. FRYER, OF VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, OF ARIZONA.

ELEVATED RAsLwAY.

SPECIFICATION. forming part of Letters Patent No. 549,851, dated November 12, 1895.

l Application filed .Tilly 30, 1895. Serial No. 557,560. (No model.)

To aZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT M. FRYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vashington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevated Railways; and I do 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, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to that class of elevated railways in which the track or roadway is sustained from above by depending frames or hangers connected with columns or shearpoles extending up from the ground past the sides of the track or with a longitudinallyextending cable sustained by shear-poles or columns after the manner shown and described in Letters Patent No. 541,663, granted to me on the 25th day of June, 1895.

The objects of this present invention are, irst, to simplify and improve the construction, to render the track structure more stable and durable, and to facilitate the erection of the same; second, to provide a flexible cable adapted to be substituted in the construction of the roadway for the ordinary twisted-wire cable, vto be manufactured from the product of the rolling-mill without the use of special machinery, to be easily and economically transported, and to be pnt together as required at the place where it is to be used.

To these ends the invention comprehends the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents in front elevation a pair of supporting shear-poles, showing the track or roadway in transverse section and the depending connections whereby the track is sustained. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through my improved cable rail. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing an auxiliary frame adapted to be suspended from an overheadl cable or support after the manner shown and described in my prior patent referred to. Fig. i is a plan view of the frame shown in Fig 3. Fig. 4 is a broken plan view of two connected shear-poles, showing the interposed plate or washer for holding them in proper relation. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a section of my improved laminated cable. Fig. 6 is a transverse section through a track-rail adapted to my improved cable, with the latter in place therein. Fig. 7 is a side view of a section of track without its supports and a motor-car thereon, and Fig. 8 is a perspective showing a section of track or roadway.

D D designate shearpoles bolted together in pairs, as shown in Fig. 1, their upper ends crossing each other and extending upward and outward beyond the bolts X,which unite them a suflicient distance to form outriggers for sustaining the track or roadway. The crossed upper ends areconnected bytie-rods F", bolted thereto to give strength and rigidity. The lower ends are also connected near the ground by tie-rods F'", the whole thus forming a strong, rigid frame. These frames form the track-supports whereby the track or roadway is sustained above the ground, as shown in Figs. 1 and 8, and for this purpose they are erected at intervals of, say, fifty feet, more or less, according to the strength and rigidity required. Connected,also,with the upper ends of the respective shear-poles are verticallydepending hanger rods or bars C C, to the lower ends of which cross-ties B are connected by means of clips E E.

The rods C C are arranged at opposite sides of the respective shear-poles-that is to say, in the same transverse plane-and in order that they may hang vertical the two poles of each pair are separated by an interposed plate or washer Q, through which the bolt X also passes, the thickness of said plate or washer being proportioned to the thickness of the hanger-rods C.

At their points of intersection the hangerrods and the shear-poles are connected by tierods F', and below these, approximately midway between the same and the cross-ties B, the rods C are further connected with the respective shear-poles by tie-rods F F,bolted thereto, as shown.

IOO

In my former patent referred to I show and describe a roadway for pedestrians and light vehicles located in the space between the hanger-rods, the track-rails for the suspended cars being located outside of said rods on the projecting ends of the cross-ties. The latter ar 'angement is the same in this case; but I now propose to utilize the space or passage between the hangers for an additional track, of which K I( are the track-rails for ordinary cars such as are used 011 surface roads or on the ordinary type of elevated roads. It will thus be seen that by this arrailgement I provide a double system of tracks on the same cross-ties within the same space with only such additional expense as may be involved in the use of heavier and stronger materials necessary to support the additional weight, and on which I may operate a double system of cars running simultaneously iu the same or in opposite directions, one line above and the other beneath the suspended roadway.

As above stated, the shear-poles D D, or, rather, the supporting-frames formed th ereby, are to be erected some distance apart, at intervals of iifty feet, more or less, according to the nature of the traflic for which the road is designed and the weight and strength reqired. Of course it will be necessary to sustain the track-rails intermediately--that is, between the main frames or ground supports D I). This I accomplish by the use of auxiliary or intermediate cross-ties B, disposed at suitable intervals (see Fig. S) and sustained by stay-rods Ct, running from the respective ties to the tops ofthe nearest shear-poles I) D, the structure thus partaking of the nature of a cantaleve'r bridge. As represented in the drawings, the center tie is doubly supported by stay-rods running in opposite directions and connected with both pairs of shear-poles.

Of course it will be understood that the cr0ssties and the track-rails are to .be securely fastened together, as otherwise the ties would drop away from the rails, or under the weight of the latter and the cars thereon and the consequent strain on the stay-rods the ties would be drawn along the rails toward the ends of the section, giving the stayrods slack and allowing the track-rails to sag.

In Fig. 3 I show a frame similar in every respect to that shown in Fig. l, with the exception that it is of less height, the lower ends of the poles D being cut off a short dis tance below the tie-rods F. These frames are not designed to rest on the ground, but are intended to be suspended from overhead cables or supports to sustain the track in localities where it is not .feasible to use the frames or shear-poles shown in Fig. l, as in crossing swamps or morasses, wide streams, deep gullies or ravines, or deep narrow Valleys bctween elevated uplands or table-lands. This method of sustaining the track being fully described in my prior patent referred to, to which reference may be had for a better understanding, it is not deemed necessary to repeat such description herein, the only difference residing in details of construction.

While I have described a track structure with two sets of track-rails thereon adapted to be occupied by cars or trains running si multaneously in the saine direction or in opposite directions, it will be understood that either track may be dispensed with without in any wise impairing the efficiency or operativeness of the other. L designates the body ofthe suspended car, N N the truck pivotally connected to the top of the body, and O O the truckavheels adapted to run on the track-rails ,I J, sustained on the outer ends of the ties B B/ outside of the hanger-rods (l C and stay-rods C C. The truck-frame is longitudinally divided and the members hinged together by hinges I), applied to the under sidesthereof, (SeeFigs. l. and 3.) The car-body is suspended from the truck by pivotally-conneeted hangers s s. (Shown in dottedlines in Fig. l.) This construction and mode of connection permit the wheels at opposite sides to move laterally with respect to each other, so that they may be removed from or replaced on the track-rails at any point in the line. This permits a car to be taken off or put on at any intermediate station or point, whereas without such provision these operations could be effected at terminal stations only.

For suspended cars I preferably use doubleiianged wheels, as shown; but sin glo-flanged wheels maybe used, if preferred. To remove the former from the track it is of course necessary to raise the truck high enough to enable the fianges to clear the rails. The wheels being on the track, the weight of the suspended ear drawing down on the hinged ends of the truck-frame will keep themv in place thereon.

In a prior patent, No. 541,662, granted to me on the 25th day of June, 1895, I have shown and described a system of elevatedrailway construction in which inverted, U- shaped track-rails are mounted on and sustained by twisted-wire cables. These wire cables, the manufacture of which requires .special machinery and facilities, are necessarily expensive, so that where large quantt ties are required the cost becomes a matter of importance. Further, when used in exposed situat-ions, where they are liable to become wet, the water or moisture entering between the strands into the interior and retained therein induces oxidation and rapid deterioration. This oxidation produces an enlargement or swelling of the cable, and being more rapid at some points th an at others the enlargement or swelling is uneven, the result of which is an uneven or undulating exterior surface and uneven wear of the outer strands, for it is evident that at the bulging points, where the outer strands are more exposed by reason of their prominence, the wear IOO IIO

will be more rapid than at points of less prominence. In view, therefore, of the expense of these wire cables, as well as of the diiiiculties attending their use in railway construction,

especially when used as wheel-tracks or asv track-supports, I have invented and devised the laminated structure particularly4 illus- 'trated in Figs. 2, 5, and 6 of the accompany-l .the required size and strength of the cable.

In the construction of roads according to my system as described in my former patent No. 541, 663, above referred to, greater strength of cable is required at some points than at others, particularly in the overhead cable which supports the roadway between ground supports when the stretchers between the latter are of unequal length. In any case it is desirable that the cable be of uniform size throughout its length, and therefore at points where less strength is required, I use strips of different material, as iron or steel and wood alternated, the metal strips A, being used for strength and the wooden strips A for filling to maintain a uniform size, the relative number of metal and wooden strips employed at any point depending upon the strength required at that point.

The successive metal strips, and, if preferred, the wooden strips also, prepared in suitable or convenient lengths, are connected together end to end by means of dovetail or similar joints S, as shown in Fig. 5, such continuity adding materially to the tensile strength of the cable as a whole.

The strips having been properly prepared in uniform sizes, punched orv bored and dovetailed at the ends to form interlocking joints, are assembled and bolted or riveted together, care being taken to break joints at regular intervals, the resulting structure being a flexible cable rectangular in cross-section and admirably adapted, by reason of such shape, to the purposes for which it is intended.

G designates the track-rail, which is to be mounted on and sustained by the cable above described. It is formed with a rectangular groove or channel open at the base and adapted to receive the rectangular cable, which should fit snugly therein, (see Fig. 6,) so as to prevent angular movement of the rail and cable relatively to each other.

In order to adapt the rail to be used in connection with cables of different sizes, I construct it, as shown in Fig. 2, with a removable side G, which may be moved in or out relatively to the main body G. In such case the parts G G are bolted together by bolts g extending therethrough and through the cable.

`IVhere a small or light cable is to be used in connection with rails of standard size, blocks or filling-pieces H, of wood or other suitable material, maybe employed, as shown in Fig. 2.

Having now described my invention, I claim- 1. A rectangular cable composed of a series of flat iiexible strips laid with their flat sides together and bolted or riveted at intervals, each strip comprising a succession of pieces connected together by interlocking joints, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a cable of the character described the combination of strips of one or more kinds of material united at the ends by dovetail joints assembled in break-joint order and riveted or otherwise suitably secured together in series, substantially as shown and described.

3. In an elevated railway the combination with the track structure of support-ing poles or columns crossing each other and bolted together, the upper crossed ends extending out beyond the point of connection a sui-fr cient distance to serve as outriggers for the vertical connecting bars whereby the track is suspended from said poles.

1l. The combination with the elevated roadway, the crossed shear-poles, and the vertical hanger rods connecting the roadway with the tops of the poles, as shown and described, of the plates orwashers interposed between the poles at the point of intersection to separate the same and permit the hanger rods at opposite sides to depend in the same transverse plane.

5. The combination of an elevated roadway or track bed, supports extending above the same at opposite sides thereof, connections between the road way or track bed extending from near the sides thereof to the supports above, track rails located outside of said connections, and other track rails located between said connections, whereby provision is made for two systems of cars running sie multaneously in the same direction or in opposite directions on the same roadway or track bed.

6. The combination of a suspended track sustained by connections between the track rails, and a longitudinally divided truck body extending beneath the roadway and provided with wheels adapted to run on the track rails, the two parts of said truck body being hinged together, as shown,whereby provision is made for removing or replacing the same at any point in the line.

7. rlhe combination of a suspended roadway or track bed, track-rails thereon, a car truck adapted to travel beneath the roadway with its wheels on the track rails above, said truck being longitudinally divided into two IOO parts, and a flexible connection between Said angular groove or Channel for the reception of 1o parts, whereby the wheels are adapted to be said cable.

removed from, or placed on, the track rails In Jestlmony whereof I aix. my signature by Changing the angular relation between in presence of two Witnesses.

the connected truck members.

S. The combination of a horizontally ex- ROBERT M. FRY'ER. tending suspended Cable rectangular in Gross VVtnesSes: Section, and a track rail sustained thereby, \V. C. AVERY, the Said rail having in its under side :L reet- T. J. FRYER,

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