US61967A - Globgre westing-house - Google Patents

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y @peut :engageant @una i GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE, JR., OF SOHENEGTADY, EW YORK.

Letters .Patent No. 61,967, dated February 12, 1,867.

nrnovsn RAILROAD SWITCH.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, Geenen Wnsrruenousn, Jr., of Schenectady, Schenectady county, and Stato of New York, have invented a new and useful improvement inPortable Railroad Switches; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact ,description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art toimake and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a portion of thetrack of a railroad .with my improvement applied to one of the rails,-

Figure 2 is a 'longitudinal sectionof the track, showing also my improved switch` in side view.

Figure 3 is. an under side view of the switch arranged for transportation or for stowingaway.`

The object of this invention-is to provide ready and eilicient means for replacing locomotives and cars upon the track oi' a railway from which they have run oit. It consists ina portable switch, which is adapted to be used with equal elliciency on the right and lefthand sides of the track. i

The letter A-'designates the rails of a railway, and B the ordinary ties. C is the frog or body of the switchY made in one piece. I prefer to make it of` 'steel in one peceby casting; but `the mode of making itrI leave for the subjcct of another application for Letters Patient. The under side o f the frog is groqved lengthwise, s'o that it can lie upon and fit over the rail A, the edges of which it overlaps and encloses, as is seen in fig. 2i. The frog O`l1as a right and left-hand branch track, D D, at one end, which tracks run into one, designated by the letter I, at the other end of thefrog, grooves HH being made across them at or near the place where they unite, to allow thetianges of the wheels of a locomotive or car to run across the frog so as to reach the inside of the track. The parts F of the right and Aleft 4branch tracks D D are lowered so as to bring their under surfaces down upon the ties, thereby forming rests, which support and always give a solid bearing to the frog. The ends of the said branch tracks-.D D are cut down, as isl seen in fig. 2, and are provided with pins G, which enter holes in the under side of a switch-bar, E, the said bar being thereby hinged toone or the other of the said branch tracks, according as itis applied to the one onthe right or left-hand side. Theend ,of` ther/switchbar is curved, and works in a socket made for it in the adjacent shoulders of the branch tracks D, so as to make a hinge-joint, which allows the bar to be moved horizontally towards and away from the rail A without discon;

`necting it from the rest'of the lswitch or disturbing its proper relations with the branch track D, to which it isi connected. Each branch track D is made so as to receive the saidswitch-bar, and allow it to be hinged orx pivoted thereto, as shown in the drawing, so that 'the bar can be applied to either one at pleasure'. The restsF F come upon the ties B in the same manner upon opposite sides of the rail A,-and the frog has, consequently, always a {i1-m bearing. The length of the 'switch-bar E is greater or less, according to the distance of 'the ties from cach other. i When the apparatus is applied to a rail, A, it is adjusted thereon so that the rests F and the free or outer-end of the bar shall each have a bearingvon one of the ties B. The under side of the bar near its free end' is bevelled, so` as to Aallow it to come squarely upon one of the ties. Each rail A. of a track is to be provided with a switch of the construction here shown; and since each switch -will be a duplicate of the' other I have only shown one, the application of which to the rail A will enable any one acquainted with theart to understand how to apply a duplicate 4switch to the other rail when it is desired to replace a locomotive o .car

upon a railway track. The apparatus is secured to the rail on which it is placed by means of a set-screw, seen` in figs. 1 and 3. When the switch'bar is not inv use it is lifted oil' from the apparatus, andl is .packedin the groove which is formed on the under side of the frog to receive the rail in which condition the wholcswitch is'in readiness for transportation or for beingstowed away, the switch-bar being then held fast in the bottom v of the frog by thc set-screw aforesaid. The'free end of the switch-har E on' its underside is roughened or'corrugated to prevent it fro'iuslipping or moving laterally when receiving,` the impact of the wheel of a car. 'A The length of the bar is such as to allow its end to rest on one ofi-the ties B, the upper surfaces of the rests F being `inclined backwards, so as to give the bar a irmfsupport thereon, and to bring the upper surface of the bar into or nearly into the same plane with the surfaces of the branch tracks D D. It will be observed that the outer end of the 'part I of the frog which is direct-ly over the rail A is bevelled oil', so as torlnake the inclination from the frog to the rail as gentle as possible. My improvement prevents the flange or otherY part of the wheel of n. car from striking against theside or edge of the rail when it is being replaced, since the part I of the track on the frog always guides the wheel smoothly to its propel' positionon the-rail A; and it does this for either rail of a track, whether the rail be approached by a wheel from the right or left-hand side. It will also he observed that the bearinr surface of the parts F, on which the switch-bar rests, has a considerablelength, the object being to prevent thcfrog from being' tilted when a wheel is running up ion the har, and. also to allow the apparatus toY be moved along upon a rail for proper adjustment of the free end of the bar to bring it over one of' the ties.4

This prolongation allows the switch-bar to bear on the top of said parts F for some distance behind the joint, and it is therefore not necessary in adjusting the-'apparatus on a rail to bring the place of such joint vertically over a tie, it being suiicic'nt, inV order to secure a firm bearing, and prevent the apparatus from tilting when a wheel ascends it, that the end only of the rest lor part Fcome over atie. This result is duo to such prolongation of the parts 'F of the branch tracks D, with which the switch-barnis put in connection, as above explained. The free ond of the switch-bar should rest on one ot' the ties; and the length of the bar and the position of the rests F are such that the jointed-end of the bar shall also ,have a solid bearing,.through the rest F beneath it, on another tie, whatever may be the adjustment and position of the apparatus on the rail A, Instead of making ,rests F on the under eide of the branch tracks, and having the joints on the upper sides, the reverse arrangement may be made, viz, the joints may be made on the under side,land the joint end of the switch-bar be allowed to come between said branchY track and the tie, and thus be made to support the apparatus at that point; but I prefer the arrangement shown in the drawing.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A port-able railroad switch, having double branch tracks D D, which converge, as shown, and are intersected by grooves H H, substantially as set forth.

2. I also claim the double-grooved frog:r C, having branch tracks D, in combination with the switch-bar E, substantially as set forth.

3. I also claim the extension of the rests'F of the branch tracks D backwards, so as to form a bearing surface for the switch-bar behind its joint, substantially as'shown. v

4.- I also claim the combination of the double grooves, the right and left branch tracks, and the'track I-at the forward end of the frog C, substantially as shown.

GEORGE WEs'rINeHoUsE. Jn.

Witnesses:

J. VAN SAN'WfooRD, S. EDWARDS TODD.

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