US601645A - Rail-sustaining bar - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

G BAR.

W. GOLDI RAIL SUSTAININ I Patented Apr. 5,1898.

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Arnim RAIL-SUSTAINING BAR.

SPECIFICATION forming* part f Letters Patent No. 601,645, dated .April 5, 1898.

Application filed April 17, 1897.

To all whom, it nur/y concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM GoLDIE, a resident of Wilkinsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rail- Supporting Bars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to the support of the ordinary railroad-rail upon wooden cross-ties,- its object being to provide for the support of the rail on the cross-tie in. `such way as to provide for the proper cushioning of the rail upon the wooden tie, while protecting the tie from wear of the rail, and at the same time to provide a cheap sustaining means and one which overcomes the principal diiiiculties heretofore experienced with what were known as wear or tie plates. The most efficient means for supporting the rail upon the tie heretofore employed has been a tie-plate, which by means of ribs or prongs held to the tie, the plate extending on each side of the rail and being preferably provided with a shoulder against which the rail tted to resist the lateral strain lof the rail, While the plate 'hadl spike-holes or slots in which the spikes tted, thel spikes in this Way acting withthe plates in sustainin g the lateral strain. In the ordinary use of such tie-plates difficulties have been encountered,which may be briefly stated as follows; y Where these plates were to be placed upon a tie which had previously been worn, so as to protect the surface thereof, and the rail had worn into thev faceof thetie, it was necessary to lift the rail and adze a level surface on the tie sufficiently large to receive the plate, which increased the labor and cost of applying these plates to tracks already laid. When the plates were applied either to new tracks or tracks previously laid, as the principal strain was on the center of the plate,while the prongs or engaging devices were either located or extended out beyond the base of the rail, the plate was liable to bend or, as it is termed, buckle under the strain, and in so doing lift the prongs or longitudinal flanges out of the tie where the plate extended beyond the rail-basewhen the plate was liable to slide on the tie or, as it was termed, skate, which rendered the track noisy, insecure, and un- Serial No. 632,586. (No model.)

safe, because it increased both the longitudinal or pulling strain and the lateral strain upon the spikes, which were then the only means of holding the plates. On account of the large amount of metal employed in these plates it was not practicable to form them of sufficient thickness to overcome these difficulties and market them at reasonable rates. Another difficulty found with the ordinary tie-plate was that it gave support at irregular distances, this arising from the fact that the railroad-ties were of different widths, according to the trees from which they Were obtained, the ties varyingin width from about Vseven to sixteen inches, and these ties being kplaced about the same distance apart, (say about eight inches,) without reference to their width, so that the spaces between the points at which the plates were located varied; and as the ordinary tie-plate supported `the rail above the face of the tie when doing efficient Work this rendered the wave motion arising from the strain of the passing train on the ties,which are slightly yielding, irregular and threw greater strain upon the entire track. By my invention these several difficulties are overcome, while at the same time an exceedingly cheap and efficient support between the tie vand rail isprovided.

It consists, generally stated, in aA rail-sustaining bar of lengthA corresponding approximately1 to the Width of the rail-base andhaving a lateral upwardly-projecting shoulder at one end and lateral downwardly-projecting prongs at each `end.

It also consists in certain other improvements hereinafter more fully setv forth and claimed. l

To enable others skilled in theart to make and use my invention, I will describe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawings, in whichy Figures l and 2 are perspective views of the preferred forms of, the rail-supporting bar, Fig. 1 illustrating the preferred form for use in soft wood, such as cedar, while Fig. 2 represents the preferred form for use with hard wood, such as oak. Fig. 3 is a perspective section showing the supportingbar seated in the tie with the rail resting thereon, showing the same as applied to a new tie. Fig. 4 is a like view showing the same applied IOO to an old tie in order to prevent further wear. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of portions of two rails resting on several ties and showing the .rails meeting and the use of thel supportingbar in connection with the meeting joints of the rails.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each view.

I have illustrated the invention in the two preferred forms of the same.

The bar A (shown in Fig. l) has the body portion a, which illustrates the principle of the use of a bar having a comparatively narrow surface and thick or rigid body, the purpose being to form as narrow a surface as practicable to give the support and to have a body at least sufliciently thick or rigid to prevent bending or buckling of the bar as the same is forced down into the tie. The bar is preferably made about one inch in width and about three-eighths of an inch in thickness for ordinary uses, though it is not intended to limit it to these dimensions. provided with downwardly-proj ecting pron gs to hold it to the tie, and I prefer to locate these prongs in the manner shown in the drawingsMnamely, at each end of .the barand ralso prefer that the prongs shall be of the full Width of the bar. The prongs may, however, be located at any suitable place under the bar and one or more prongs be used, as found desirable. The function of the prong or prongs is, of course, to hold the bar securely to the tie and provide lateral resistance to its movement, and I find the preferable constructiony to be that above stated, where the prongs b c extend downwardly from the ends of the bar and at right angles to the length thereof and are of the full width of the bar, so that when driven into the tie they provide lateral resistanceto the movement of the bar for thefull width thereof and so assist the shoulder d thereof in sustaining the rail against lateral strain. I thus obtain maximum resistance to lateral strain with minimum width and weight of bar.

Where the bar is to be used with soft-wood ties, such as cedar or cypress, I prefer the form of prong illustrated in Fig. l, the upper portion e of the prong being of practically the same thickness for some distance below the bar and the body then tapering, as at f, toward the point, while the point has the diagonal cutting edges g g formed thereon and extending from the center of the point upwardly. With such a point the diagonal cutting edges sever the fiber on different planes and so prevent the bunching of the same, while the inclined faces spread the fiber, and above the same the upper portion e of the prong, the faces of which are parallel, fills the hole made by the prong and prevents the entrance of water into the same. The prongs shown in Fig. 2 are substantially of the same shape, except that the base is formed with a chisel cutting edge, as at h, it being found that such edge is better adapted for hard wood, such The bar is as oak. The form of the shoulder d can be varied as desired, it being preferred, however, that a shoulder of considerable height be employed to prevent the lifting and riding of the rail over the same and it being preferred that the shoulder be placed directly over the prong b, so as to bring the weight of the rail as near as practicable over such prong. The length of the bar preferably corresponds approximately to the width of the rail-base, so that the other prong c will either be under the rail-base or close to the samethat is, the rail will bear on the bar at a point so close to the prong or to that end of thebar as to prevent any such strain on the bar as would give tendency to bending or buckling thereof, as found in the ordinary tie-plate. For example, according to the varying widths of rail-bases--from four to ive and one-half inches-it would be preferred to employ three or more different lengths of bars to accommodate the several widths of rail-bases.

When the rail-sustaining bar is employed in the laying of new track, all that is necessary is to place the bar under the rail with the shoulder d against the outer edge of the l rail-base and give it a slight blow to properly locate it and start it into the cross-tie. The trains in passing over the rail will then force the bar down onto the tie and in a short time embed it in the tie, so bringing the top face g 7e of the rail-sustaining bar even with the top face of the wooden tie, and at the same time compressing the fiber of the wood under the bar to such extent as to harden and compact it and provide by means of this compacted 2 fiber a body to resist further downward movement of the bar. these bars are distributed one on a tie or two In the laying of the track on a tie, according to the width of the tie.

i For example, where a narrow tie is employed one would naturally be placed near the center thereof and where a broad tie is employed one would be naturally placed near each outer edge, so giving support for the rail at two points on that tie, and, considering the irregular width of the ties above stated, in this way support can be given at more regular points than with the ordinary tie-plates, so enabling the trackmen to make a more uniform and regular distribution of metal. A

, further advantage found in this connection is that the trackmen can distribute th e metal according to the strain brought on any particu lar part of the track. For example, on straight track one such bar would be all that would joints further advantage is found, as illustrated in Fig. 5, where the two rails p p are connected by the angle-bars q, and the rail-sus- ICO IIO

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taining bars (one or more) can be interposed under each rail near its end and in such position as to enable the spikes r to be inserted in the slots r of the angle-bars without inter-` Y serted on track already laid and in ties into which the rails have pressed or worn on account of the narrowness of the bar, and, further, because it corresponds in length approximately to the Width of the rail-base, it is only necessary to draw the spikes and lift the rail sufficiently high to insert the bar under the same and in position so that as pressure cornes upon the rail from the next passing train-it can force this bar down into the tie, the necessity for adzing off the face of the tie being overcome and the pressure of the train upon the rail embedding the bar in the tie in the same manner as described in.

making new track. This reduces materially the labor of track repair and does away with one of the most serious difficulties of protecting the tie in track already laid.

With track having these rail-sustaining bars, while wear or further wear into the tie is prevented by means of the bar, which gives this result as efficiently as a wide plate, yet the rails do rest upon the ties, and the cushioning or yielding action of the Wood surface is obtained to a greater extent than where a wide tie-plate is used,and therefore easier-riding track is provided, while, as above shown, the points of support can be arranged at more regular distances and the number of the bars employed can be regulated according to the strain brought upon that particular part of the track, whether it be straight or curved or of heavy grade. The liability of the heavy strain brought upon the bar from the pass.- ing train causing the bending or buckling of the bar is also prevented, because the prong or prongs are located either under or close to the rail-base, which naturally distributes the strain over the entire supporting-surface of the bar. In the preferred form of sustainingbar illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 a further important advantage is obtained in resisting lateral strain in the fact that the prong or prongs can be made the full width ofthe bar and provide a face to resist such strain of width corresponding to that against which the rail-base bears without severing too great width of liber of the tie, as would be the case if a long flange were employed extending for the full width of an ordinary tie-plate.

The bars can be formed rapidly and cheaply by well-known means, such as by rolling and shearing, and can be produced at about onethird the cost of efficient tie-plates, so that they can be used as freely as the ordinary spike.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A narrow rigid rail-sustaining bar of length corresponding approximately to the Width of the rail-base, and having a lateral upwardly-projecting shoulder at one end and lateral downwardly-projecting prongs at or near each end, substantially as set forth.

2. A narrow rigid rail-sustaining bar having lateral downwardly-projecting prongs at or near the ends, the upper portions of the prongs being the full Widthof the bar, substantially as set forth.

3. A narrow rigid rail-sustaining bar having an upwardly-projecting lateral shoulder at one end, and a downwardly-projecting prong directly under the shoulder, substantially as set forth. l

4. In combination with a rail and tie, a railsustaining bar of length corresponding approximatelyto the Width of the rail-base and having an upwardly-projecting shoulder at one end to sustain lateral strain, and downwardly-projecting prongs at each end, the upper portions of which are the full width vof the bar,said bar being interposed transversely of the rail and being adapted to be pressed bodily into the tie, substantially as set forth. In testimony whereof I, the said WILLIAM GOLDIE, have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM GOLDIE.

Witnesses:

ROBT. D. TorfrnN, ROBERT C. ToTTEN.

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