US707840A - Method of ballasting railway-tracks. - Google Patents

Description

Patented Aug. 26, |902. w. GoLnlE. METHOD 0F BALLASTING RAILWAY TRACKS.

(Application led Jan. 10, 1.902.)

` (No M odel.)

NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM GOLDIE, OF IVILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

lVlETHOD OF BALLASTING RAILWAY-TRACKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 707,840, dated August 26, 1902. Application filed January 10, 1902. Serial No. 39,147. (No model.)

To (if/ 1072/071?, it mrtg/Concern):

Beit known that I, TILLIAM GOLDIE, a resident of l/Vilkiusburg,` in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania`, have invented a new andI useful. Improvement in Methods of Ballasting Railway-Tracks; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to the surfacing of railroad-tracks; and its object is to provide a method for bringing the tracks to and holding them at aproper surface without the necessity of tampiug, which is the main means now employed on the ordinary steam-railroads for such purposes.

In a patent granted to me June ll, 1901, No. 676,128, is described at length the method of constructing and ballasting ordinary steamrailroad tracks and the causes which make it necessary to surface said tracks, all of which need not be repeated here. Suffice it to say that the ordinary Way of surfacing a track consists inv raising the deiiected ties slightly by means of jacks and then packing or tamping the ballast under them by means of shovels or tamping-tools. As stated in said patent, this method of surfacing tracks is objectionable, because it is liable to disturb the solid bed of ballast under the tie formed by the weight of the trains, and after the surfacing has been accomplished in this manner the track necessarily rests on a fresh portion of gravel or stone, which is liable again to pack and sink under the weight of the trains, so that repeated surfacing of the track is necessary to maintain it in good condition. In said patent is also described and claimed a method of surfacing railroad-tracks whereby these objections are overcome, said method consisting, briefly stated, in injecting under the ties and upon the permanent solid bed formed thereunder cement in a plastic state, by the setting or hardening of which a solid support for the tie is formed. In carrying out this method in order to inject the plastic cement under the ties it is necessary that the latter be of such a consistency that it will flow readily, and by reason of the fluidity thereof vit may happen that a train passing over the track before this plastic mass has set or hardened will force the same from under the tie,

thereby leaving the latter Without a proper support.

It is the object of thc present invention to overcome this possible defect in the method described in my patent aforesaid, and the said invention is an improvement upon said method; and it consists,generally stated.,in injecting the cement or similar material under the tie in a practically dry state and simultaneously imparting thereto sufficient mois- .tnre to insure the setting of the cement, but Anot sufficient to render the same plastic or fluid, so that after having been packed solidly under the tie itcannotbecomedisplaced by a passing train, but will, remain ,in that position and set or harden by reason of thc moisture imparted thereto.

The invention also includes certain other improvements, such as raising the track, supporting alternate ties While injecting the cement under the unsupported ones, and then subsequently treating the supported ties, placing dam-plates at the sides of the ties to confine the cement, and, if necessary, tamping at the sides of the ties near the end before injecting the cement in order to confine the flow of the latter, moistening the cement by means of a spray of atomized water, and other improvements which will hereinafter be particularly set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a track, illustrating the method of surfacing the same. Fig. 2 is a side View of the necessary apparatus and a cross-sectional view of the track. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the track, illustrating means for supporting the ties; and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of the track on the line 5 5, Fig. 2.

In carrying out the invention I may employ any suitable quick-setting cement, such as Portland cement or cement of like character, the purpose being to provide solid interposed beds between the ties and the ballastbeds on Which the ties have been seated, which will conformV substantially to both the ballast-bed and the lower surface of the tie. The cement may be and preferably is mixed with sand or similar material, and the term cement as used in the specilication and claims is therefore to be understood as including not only such cement when used alone, but also when used with sand, lime, or even line gravel or other material. This cement is to be injected either mechanically or under duid-pressure, preferably the latter, under the ties and substantially in a dry state,

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being, however, slightly moistenedl -either simultaneously or before or after it is injected, so that it will set quickly to form a solid bed,.but not sufficiently to render it so f plastic or mobile that it can be forced from Y,it disturbs said solid bed of ballast previously formed under the tie.

For the practice of my invention I may employ any suitable apparatus, the drawings showing very simple apparatus suitable for the purpose; but it will be understood -that the invention is not limited in this particular.

The invention is illustrated as forming cement bodies or beds near the ends of the ties underneath the rails, leaving the central portion of the ties supported merely upon the ballast, so as to prevent center binding. The ties 1 shown are the ordinary wooden ones,although theinvention may be employed with metallic ties, if desired or necessary. The rails 2 are generally located from fifteen to eighteen inches from the ends of the ties, and the purpose of the invention is to form a cement support under the rails, so as to give a direct support thereto. The ties rest upon the usual ballast-bed 3, and the ballast is filled in between the tracks, as at 4, which interfilling extends up toward or to the tops of the ties. Anysuitable mechanicalsupport for holding the track to the desired level at different points may be employed, such as the shims or wedges 5, which may be placed under the ends of the ties, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, or may be placed between the ties and the rails, as shown and described in the patent above referred to. These shims are simply two taperingr pieces of wood, one being inserted under the tie and the other being driven between it and the tie or the ballastbed, thereby raising the tie and giving a sufficiently-strong support to sustain the track while the cement beds are being formed under the ties. In place of these shims ordinary lifting-jacks or other means may be employed, and said jacks may of course be used to raise the track to permit the placing of the shims 5 thereunder. These shims or other means are inserted under 'the ends of any suitable number of ties to give the temporary support to the track, and the cement beds are then formed under the other ties. The lballast 4 between the ties forms side walls to conline the space under each tie, and thereby confine the iiow of the cement; but if this is not suiiicient the operator will, after the tie has been raised and supported on the shims, tam p the ballast in at the sides of the tie near the end thereof, as at 6, and also on the inside of the rail, as at 7, and will also tamp the same under the outer end of the tie, as at 8, thereby leaving a space or chamber 9 underneath the tie under the rail, which space is to be filled with the cement. The tamping in of the ballast at the points 6, 7, and 8 will to a great extent confine the flow of the cement. The workman will then place at the side of the tie at lthe surface of the ballast 4, underneath the rail, the dam-plate 10, thereby forming a dam to prevent the cement from {iowing baekwardly from under the tie. This dam-plate is simply a metal plate of the proper width and length and is provided with a sharpened edge or, better still, with prongs 11, which is or are driven into the side of the tie to hold the plate in place. The dam-plate is also provided with a nippled opening 12,

to which is secured the outer end of a hose or pipe 13, leading from the injecting apparatus. If necessary or desired, a similar damplate, but without the nippled opening 12, may be placed on the opposite side of the tie to prevent the cement from being forced out at said opposite side. It is also desirable to insert under the end of the tie and into the chamber'Q a drainage mold-bar 14, which is merely a long bar inserted under the tie for a greater distance than the cement bed is to be formed, so as to insure the formationof a drainage-canal 15 for conducting away any Water that may collect under the middle of the tie, thereby preventing rotting of the latter.

The apparatus illustrated in the drawings for injecting the cement consists of the injector pipe or hose 13, connected to the nippled opening ot' the plate l0 or otherwise suitably projecting into the chamber 0r space 9 under the tie, a funnel or other suitable =vessel 16 communicating with said pipe or hose, and a suitable source of fluid-pressure,

y a stand 19 for this purpose, which stand, however,V is merely diagrammatic. The fluidpressure for forcing the material under the tie may be either air or steam.; but as the latter is the easier to generate I prefer to use the same. The injector pipe or hose 13 has a bend or elbow 21 just below the funnel 16, and the steam-pipe 17 projects into the injector pipe or hose 13 at this bend and has its end lying below the opening from the funnel 16, so that the steam will act on the principle of an ordinary injector and draw the cement out of the funnel 16 and force it through the hose or pipe 13 down underneath the tie. Any suitable means may be used for slightly moistening the said cement as it is forced under the tie; but I prefer to introduce a small water-pipe 2O into the steam-pipe, as shown,

so that the iiow of the steam or other iuid- IOO IIO

pressure will draw a fine stream of water into the pipe 17 and at the same time atomize it and thoroughly mingle it with the cement as the latter is forced by the fluid-pressure under the tie.

In carrying out the method the cement or the mixed cement and sand or gravel are placed in a dry state in the funnel 16. The cover 1S is closed down, and after the apparatus has been properly connected to the damplate 10 fluid-pressure, such as steam, is admitted through the pipe 17, the valve 2l in the water-pipe being opened. The flow of the steam or other pressure draws a stream of water through the pipe 20, atomizes the same, forces the same out at the end of the steam-pipe 17, and simultaneously draws the dry cement and other material down out of the funnel 1G, mixing it with the atomized water and forcing the mixed mass through the pipe 13 into the space or chamber 9 underneath the tie. The cement is thus injected in a slightly-moistened condition between the tie and the solid ballast-bed 3, spreading out under the same and being confined by the dam-plates and the walls or sides ofthe ballast et between the ties, thereby completely filling such space and conforming to the ballast-bed 3 and the bottom and sides of the tie, so forming a solid interposed bed underneath the tie which gives support to the tie for its full width and conforms substantially t0 the under face of the tie and to the top face of the ballast. The fluid-pressure is maintained until the entire space under the tie is filled with a solid mass of very slightly moistened cement, which mass is not sufficiently fluid to be displaced by a passing train, but which contains sufficient moisture to rapidly set. The apparatus is then disconnected, the dam-plates l0 and moldingbar 14 removed, and the method repeated on other ties. After all of the unsupported ties have been thus treated and the cement has set the shims 5 are removed from the alternate ties, and they in turn are treated in the manner above described.

In the use of the invention the regular solid compacted beds of ballast under the ties formed by the Weight of the passing trains are not in any way disturbed, but instead of that a solid support conforming to anyirregularities in such ballast-bed on the under face of the tie is provided, this bed being of the full width of the tie and giving a broad solid support thereto. The main difficulties due to tamping ballast under the ties are overcome, and at the same time the tracks can be kept in continuous use, the cement mass forced under the ties being of such consistency that it cannot be displaced by the weight of the passing train,but such mass nevertheless containing sufficient moisture to set and form solid beds. The cement intermingles with sand or gravel ballast and forms a mass having irregular surfaces, so that it is free from the objection of ordinary sand or gravel ballast, in that the passing trains suck in under the smooth tiesl and force out sand, thereby rendering travel disagreeable and gradually carrying off and loosening the ballast and making resurfacing necessary.

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

1. The method of surfacing railroad-tracks, consisting in injecting cement under the ties to form supporting-beds therefor, said cement being moistened sufficiently to cause the same to set but not sufficiently to render the same fluid or mobile.

2. The method of surfacing railroad-tracks, consisting in injecting cement under the ties to form supporting beds therefor, and simultaneously therewith supplying suflicient moisture thereto to cause the same to set but not to become fiuid orpmobile.

3. The method of surfacing railroad-tracks, consisting in injecting cement under the ties to form supporting-beds therefor, and simultaneously therewith moistening` the same with a spray of atomized water.

4. The method of surfacing railroad-tracks, consisting in raising the tie and then injecting cement under the same to form supporting-beds therefor, said cement being slightly moistened to cause the same to set but not sufficiently to cause the same to become fluid or mobile.

5. The method ofsurfacingrailroad-tracks, consisting in tamping the ballast under the ends of the ties, and injecting cement under the ties underneath the rails to form supporting-beds therefor, said cement being moisp tened sufficiently to cause it to set but not sufficiently to cause it to iioW or become plastic.

G. The method ofsurfacingrailroad-tracks, consisting in placing dam-plates at the sides of the tics underneath the rails and injecting cement under the ties to form supportingbeds therefor, said cement being moistened sufficiently to cause it to set but not sufficiently to cause it to fiow or become plastic.

7. The method of surfacing railroad-tracks, consisting in injecting under the ties by means of duid-pressure cement to form supporting-beds therefor, and simultaneously therewith admitting a small stream of water to the fluid-pressure pipe whereby the water is atomized and mingled with the cement.

S. The method of surfacing railroad-tracks, which consists in injecting under the ties by means of Huid-pressure cement in a practically dry state, and simultaneously therewith drawing by means of said Huid-pressure a small stream of water into the duid-pressure pipe whereby the water is atomized and mixed with the cement.

In testimony whereof I, the said VILLIAM GOLDIE, have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM GOLDIE.

Vitnesses:

F. W. WINTER, ROBERT C. To'rTEN.

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