Revolving Signal. (open access)

Revolving Signal.

Patent for a new and improved revolving signal-light: "[t]he combination, with a car-axle and a shaft driven thereby, of the lateral supporting stems carrying signaling-lanterns glazed in alternating colors, a shifting-lever acting alternately upon studs or stops of the said shaft, said shaft having a sliding movement, and gearing alternately with said signal-carrying stems" (lines 82-89).
Date: August 20, 1889
Creator: Warren, John W. & Radford, Samuel H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electric Railway. (open access)

Electric Railway.

Patent for an electric railway that has the electric conductor on or under the ground, in a tube. The tube gets electricity to the trains via contact-pieces embedded in the tube, and it collapses whenever the train wheels go over it. The tube and conductor are kept safe in a u-shaped hanger underground.
Date: January 12, 1897
Creator: Lomb, George W. C.
System: The Portal to Texas History