Resource Type

Track Walker's Tool. (open access)

Track Walker's Tool.

Patent for a new and improved track-walker's tool. This design "consist[s] of a sectional handle or body having a claw-bar and spiking-maul at one end and a wrench at the opposite end, the said wrench being provided with a stud upon one face, the distance between the outer face of said stud and the outer surface of the maul when the sections are joined together and the maul faces the stud being such as to correspond to the standard distance between rails" (lines 14-23).
Date: December 2, 1890
Creator: Rohrbach, Gabriel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate Latch. (open access)

Gate Latch.

Patent for a new and improved gate latch. This design consists in "[a] gate-latch comprising a slotted-sleeve, a pivoted and spring-actuated latch-plate, and a bolt mounted to turn in the latch-plate and extend through the sleeve, and provided with a transverse pin" (lines 98-102).
Date: August 5, 1890
Creator: Rohrbach, Gabriel
System: The Portal to Texas History