US80450A - gabell - Google Patents

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e.. UABELL, 0F oU1Nor,' 1LLINo1s, ASSIGNOR To' HIMSELF AND- PETER; kr. ABELn or Morrison, KANSAS.

, Letters P afent No. sogsogdarea July 28,1868.

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To ALL WHoM I T MAY coNcERN:

Be it known that'I, S. G.- CABELL,of'Quincy, in the cbunty of Adams, and State of Illinois, havejnvented certain new and usefullmpr'ovexents in Railway-Clearers; and I do hereby declsrethat the following is a full,- clear, end euact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this g specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, like letters-indic'tn'g like parts wherever theyfoccur. o enable 'others skilled in the art to construct and use my invontiolnlI willprocieed to describe it.

My. invention relates yto a. new and'improved method of clearingrailway-rails of ,snow,^ice, insects, grease, and 'similar obstructions; and it' consstsin a novel arrangement of devices, whereby the s team from the loco i motive is used for that purpose; Figure 1 iss side elevation of a. locomotive-engine, with my improvements applied.

Figures 2 Qnd 8ste views of portions detached, and shown more iri detail. A 4

It is will known to engineers Vand others that railway-trains are often stopped or greatly retarded by the slipping of tho'drlvlng-wheels of theengine upon the rails of thetrack;` This is caused sometimes by snow, elect, nice; more frequently by'the oil that drips from, standing-cars at and about ths/tations; andof late, particularly at the West, `by Athe ewa-rms of insects, known Vns grasshoppers, army-worms, and the like," these insectsA existing-'in enormous numbcrs, so that when crushed by the wheels ofthe forward truck, they form-a slimy, slippery mass, so coating the rails and wheels as to destroy' ,the hold of the driving-wheels upon the rails, and thus s top the train. 0n the western prairies, it is found also that the grass 'growing alongsideof therails serves as'an obstacle, :by being crushed, and rendering the rails slippery, especially in those-places where it lgrows'rapidly and is rank and full ofjuice. A V v Y Heret'oforeit hs'beencustomarylto provide each engine with a box of' sand, to A'be strewn upon the rails, to ob'viate these diiculties, but this is objectionable, for several reasons." In the first place, the sand has to be sit'ted and dried, in order toenable it' to` befed with facility throughthe pipes that conduct it from th'c sandboxv to therails; second, it is liable to work into the bearings and working parts of the'engine', thus cutting or grinding'them away, and injuring' the mochinery. Its use also constantly tends to grind and wear away the tires of the drivers, and also the rail, end whon exhausted, as it'frequontly is, at u. distancefrom the station,or any point where it can-bc replaced, the train or engine is rendered helpless.' l

` To remedy'these diliiculties, and ,provide `a means that is more effectual land Valwaysnt hand, I'provide the followingv means for using steam from-the locomotive for t'his purpose, instead of sand.

'.lcthe frame ofthe forward truck of the' locomotive, between the front 'pair of wheels on eacl side, i. secure l a cast-iron box, A, with its'lower end as 'near the rail as will be safe, as shown in iig. 1.- The lower end of this box is perforated with a. series of small holes, ns represented in iig. 3, und its upper end I connect, by a pipe, P, to the stcain-chcst C, by meansofa cock, c, as represented in lig. 1. 4 -F-rozn thestcnmachcst I also extend u. pip'e, 13,'41owxi'in front of the front wheel, 'with it's lower end curved "sTglitIy'fQrWard, and terminating directly overland tas near the rail 'as is safe. The point of` lth is tube B,`4I shape so as to form u. curved mouth, corresponding in form tv tlt'e top ofthe rail, as represented in fig. 2.

The cock cis what'istermed a..twoway cock, so that when opened, it will admit steam fromV the chest C. .into both the pipe B and the box A nt the same time` 'lhelstcam thus admitted to the pipe and the box will be ejected upon the rail with a force corrspondingrto the pressure in the steam-chest, and will blow ofi` from the rail any loose material, such as li,'h t`snow, inseots,' &c, At the Sametime, the steam from the pipe B will also tend t'o-mclt any adhering snow oricc that may be upon thc rail, and in case'it should not entirelycloarthe rail, and there should beleft any adhering icc, the latter would bc crushed andloosencd by the passage over it of the forward wheel, when .the steamA from the box A will remove the particles, and thus 'leave a clean rail for the driving-wheels, as they advance. l p

In the ofinsects, the pipe B would probably be s uioicut alone, withoutrthe box; and if desired, the

l como 2 cock c may be so arranged ns to admit steam toeitber one alone,- or to both at one, as'may, be found necessaryV in practice. Where oil or grease is the cause of :the dcuity, the box A is the most eicient, as the steam from it impingcs directly upon tbc rail in numerous small jets, with great force, and thereby e'ebtually cleans it.

By making the box A of cast iron, I obtain a. suicient body of metal to retain-heat enough, after the steam is shut off, todryv np all ymoisture formedby the condensation off-,the steam in the pipe, and thus prevent the` formation of ice, that would otherwise ll up the perforations in very cold weather.

`1 The cock c may booperated by the'engineezgby means ofa rod, L, as shown in fig. 1. l, Instead of taking the steam from the steamcbest C, it may be taken from the steam-dome D, by means of a'branch-pipe, I, on each side, as shown in red in g. In that ease,'a two-way cock, a, will be used, and

op'eratedby a rod, "e, as shown.

This plan,for some reasons, is preferred, as a single cock and rod will suice to admit the steam onl both ,Y

sides at once.

` In all cases, the pipes should be protected by some non-conducting coverin'g,`to prevent radiation of the heat, andA condensation of the steam in the'ppes.

By these means, I provide a very simple and eicient method of clearing the rails, an'dlone thas is ever Aready for use when there is s'tean' in the boiler.

Ivam awarethat devices exist and have been patented for removing,` snow, ice, grease, Sie., 'from railroadtracks, by forcing jets-of steam through tubes upon the rails, and therefore I do not'clam broadly this means or method of accomplishing suohre'sults but that my invention is an improvement upon existing devices; and therefore l i v l Y What I claim, is The arrangement of the steam-box A and the, pipe B, with the two-Way cock c and rod L, constructed substantially as and for the purpose herein s et forth. v A 1 S. Gr. CABELL. Witnesses: u

B; MU'NN, W. C. DODGE.

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