Patent No. 900309.
A brilliant but inglorious invention
He had pinned so much hope on his technical development. It had potential, Leonhard Weiß knew. In 1924, he installed a track curve with a radius of 35 meters for a customer, Deutsche Gelatinefabrik A.G. in Göppingen. Such tight bends are normally a problem for rail traffic, as the enormous forces and resulting friction cause rails and wheels to wear quickly. There is also always a risk of derailment, especially with heavily loaded vehicles. This is why complicated and failure-prone turntables are often used.
Leonhard Weiß has come up with a successful technical solution to this problem: a counterrail is bolted to the inside of the curve, which provides greater safety. An outer rail is designed so that the wheels rise in the rail and the vehicle travels slightly diagonally through the curve. Thanks to this triple-rail curve, it was possible to connect the factory yard with the coal bunkers and establish direct rail traffic. The construction was officially approved in July 1924. At the meeting, the curve was first tested with a wagon loaded with 3,324 kilos of gelatine. This was followed by a second wagon carrying 8,500 kilos of coal. In addition to the company's representatives, Baumann, the senior civil servant, certified that the system was working properly and that the curve design had proved itself over the years.
In the same year, Leonhard Weiß registered a utility model for his curve. All his knowledge and experience as a contractor went into his patent no. 900309. As in road construction, he used a concrete platform of finely crushed gravel as the substructure - a cheaper option that also had the advantage of reducing weed growth. The head of the outer rail is also milled to ensure that the wheel tyre enters evenly and safely.
Kräutle, a senior government building official, was impressed by the Göppingen idea and described the curve as follows: In the Weiß design, the track sections of the curved track with a radius of 35 m are mounted on concrete and a special rolled profile is used for the outer rail, in the wide head of which the ramp is milled out with the special feature of a small counter-slope at the entrance to the wheel rim."
Leonhard Weiß hoped to make money from his patent. Three years later, in 1927, the Dortmund-based "Fabrik für Feld- und Industriebahnen" was interested in manufacturing his curve. By this time, the LEONHARD WEISS curve was already being used by the Reichsbahndirektion Stuttgart. Now, at last, nothing stood in the way of the breakthrough of his invention. Except the slow wheels of bureaucracy.
Registration in the central register in Berlin was still pending. In August 1927, the Dortmund company finally withdrew the order on the grounds that the design protection was not valid. Although the government architect personally tried to speed up the process and said that "nothing stands in the way" of the curve being installed, the order was ultimately not placed.
In October 1927, the curve was approved - unfortunately too late. Other manufacturers also launched 'run-up curves' during these years. In particular, those of Klöckner-Werke in Osnabrück or the 'Deutschlandkurve' of Maschinenfabrik Deutschland GmbH became well known.
In 1931, when Leonhard Weiß was fighting for the survival of his company during the economic crisis, he once again pinned all his hopes on his invention. He applied for a patent for his curve in France, the Netherlands, England, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria, but despite considerable interest, he was unable to find a buyer.
When orders from the Reichsbahn increased again from 1933, Leonhard Weiß gave up trying to sell his curve. Nevertheless, it continued to be used. Having proved successful in the Stuttgart area, the 'Weiss design' was used on Reichsbahn lines throughout the country. However, patent no. 900309 never achieved the fame it deserved.