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1 Trevithick, Richard
[br]b. 13 April 1771 Illogan, Cornwall, Englandd. 22 April 1833 Dartford, Kent, England[br]English engineer, pioneer of non-condensing steam-engines; designed and built the first locomotives.[br]Trevithick's father was a tin-mine manager, and Trevithick himself, after limited formal education, developed his immense engineering talent among local mining machinery and steam-engines and found employment as a mining engineer. Tall, strong and high-spirited, he was the eternal optimist.About 1797 it occurred to him that the separate condenser patent of James Watt could be avoided by employing "strong steam", that is steam at pressures substantially greater than atmospheric, to drive steam-engines: after use, steam could be exhausted to the atmosphere and the condenser eliminated. His first winding engine on this principle came into use in 1799, and subsequently such engines were widely used. To produce high-pressure steam, a stronger boiler was needed than the boilers then in use, in which the pressure vessel was mounted upon masonry above the fire: Trevithick designed the cylindrical boiler, with furnace tube within, from which the Cornish and later the Lancashire boilers evolved.Simultaneously he realized that high-pressure steam enabled a compact steam-engine/boiler unit to be built: typically, the Trevithick engine comprised a cylindrical boiler with return firetube, and a cylinder recessed into the boiler. No beam intervened between connecting rod and crank. A master patent was taken out.Such an engine was well suited to driving vehicles. Trevithick built his first steam-carriage in 1801, but after a few days' use it overturned on a rough Cornish road and was damaged beyond repair by fire. Nevertheless, it had been the first self-propelled vehicle successfully to carry passengers. His second steam-carriage was driven about the streets of London in 1803, even more successfully; however, it aroused no commercial interest. Meanwhile the Coalbrookdale Company had started to build a locomotive incorporating a Trevithick engine for its tramroads, though little is known of the outcome; however, Samuel Homfray's ironworks at Penydarren, South Wales, was already building engines to Trevithick's design, and in 1804 Trevithick built one there as a locomotive for the Penydarren Tramroad. In this, and in the London steam-carriage, exhaust steam was turned up the chimney to draw the fire. On 21 February the locomotive hauled five wagons with 10 tons of iron and seventy men for 9 miles (14 km): it was the first successful railway locomotive.Again, there was no commercial interest, although Trevithick now had nearly fifty stationary engines completed or being built to his design under licence. He experimented with one to power a barge on the Severn and used one to power a dredger on the Thames. He became Engineer to a project to drive a tunnel beneath the Thames at Rotherhithe and was only narrowly defeated, by quicksands. Trevithick then set up, in 1808, a circular tramroad track in London and upon it demonstrated to the admission-fee-paying public the locomotive Catch me who can, built to his design by John Hazledine and J.U. Rastrick.In 1809, by which date Trevithick had sold all his interest in the steam-engine patent, he and Robert Dickinson, in partnership, obtained a patent for iron tanks to hold liquid cargo in ships, replacing the wooden casks then used, and started to manufacture them. In 1810, however, he was taken seriously ill with typhus for six months and had to return to Cornwall, and early in 1811 the partners were bankrupt; Trevithick was discharged from bankruptcy only in 1814.In the meantime he continued as a steam engineer and produced a single-acting steam engine in which the cut-off could be varied to work the engine expansively by way of a three-way cock actuated by a cam. Then, in 1813, Trevithick was approached by a representative of a company set up to drain the rich but flooded silver-mines at Cerro de Pasco, Peru, at an altitude of 14,000 ft (4,300 m). Low-pressure steam engines, dependent largely upon atmospheric pressure, would not work at such an altitude, but Trevithick's high-pressure engines would. Nine engines and much other mining plant were built by Hazledine and Rastrick and despatched to Peru in 1814, and Trevithick himself followed two years later. However, the war of independence was taking place in Peru, then a Spanish colony, and no sooner had Trevithick, after immense difficulties, put everything in order at the mines then rebels arrived and broke up the machinery, for they saw the mines as a source of supply for the Spanish forces. It was only after innumerable further adventures, during which he encountered and was assisted financially by Robert Stephenson, that Trevithick eventually arrived home in Cornwall in 1827, penniless.He petitioned Parliament for a grant in recognition of his improvements to steam-engines and boilers, without success. He was as inventive as ever though: he proposed a hydraulic power transmission system; he was consulted over steam engines for land drainage in Holland; and he suggested a 1,000 ft (305 m) high tower of gilded cast iron to commemorate the Reform Act of 1832. While working on steam propulsion of ships in 1833, he caught pneumonia, from which he died.[br]BibliographyTrevithick took out fourteen patents, solely or in partnership, of which the most important are: 1802, Construction of Steam Engines, British patent no. 2,599. 1808, Stowing Ships' Cargoes, British patent no. 3,172.Further ReadingH.W.Dickinson and A.Titley, 1934, Richard Trevithick. The Engineer and the Man, Cambridge; F.Trevithick, 1872, Life of Richard Trevithick, London (these two are the principal biographies).E.A.Forward, 1952, "Links in the history of the locomotive", The Engineer (22 February), 226 (considers the case for the Coalbrookdale locomotive of 1802).See also: Blenkinsop, JohnPJGR -
2 Corliss, George Henry
SUBJECT AREA: Steam and internal combustion engines[br]b. 2 June 1817 Easton, Washington City, New York, USAd. 21 February 1888 USA[br]American inventor of a cut-off mechanism linked to the governor which revolutionized the operation of steam engines.[br]Corliss's father was a physician and surgeon. The son was educated at Greenwich, New York, but while he showed an aptitude for mathematics and mechanics he first of all became a storekeeper and then clerk, bookkeeper, salesperson and official measurer and inspector of the cloth produced at W.Mowbray \& Son. He went to the Castleton Academy, Vermont, for three years and at the age of 21 returned to a store of his own in Greenwich. Complaints about stitching in the boots he sold led him to patent a sewing machine. He approached Fairbanks, Bancroft \& Co., Providence, Rhode Island, machine and steam engine builders, about producing his machine, but they agreed to take him on as a draughtsman providing he abandoned it. Corliss moved to Providence with his family and soon revolutionized the design and construction of steam engines. Although he started working out ideas for his engine in 1846 and completed one in 1848 for the Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Company, it was not until March 1849 that he obtained a patent. By that time he had joined John Barstow and E.J.Nightingale to form a new company, Corliss Nightingale \& Co., to build his design of steam-engines. He used paired valves, two inlet and two exhaust, placed on opposite sides of the cylinder, which gave good thermal properties in the flow of steam. His wrist-plate operating mechanism gave quick opening and his trip mechanism allowed the governor to regulate the closure of the inlet valve, giving maximum expansion for any load. It has been claimed that Corliss should rank equally with James Watt in the development of the steam-engine. The new company bought land in Providence for a factory which was completed in 1856 when the Corliss Engine Company was incorporated. Corliss directed the business activities as well as technical improvements. He took out further patents modifying his valve gear in 1851, 1852, 1859, 1867, 1875, 1880. The business grew until well over 1,000 workers were employed. The cylindrical oscillating valve normally associated with the Corliss engine did not make its appearance until 1850 and was included in the 1859 patent. The impressive beam engine designed for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition by E. Reynolds was the product of Corliss's works. Corliss also patented gear-cutting machines, boilers, condensing apparatus and a pumping engine for waterworks. While having little interest in politics, he represented North Providence in the General Assembly of Rhode Island between 1868 and 1870.[br]Further ReadingMany obituaries appeared in engineering journals at the time of his death. Dictionary of American Biography, 1930, Vol. IV, New York: C.Scribner's Sons. R.L.Hills, 1989, Power from Steam. A History of the Stationary Steam Engine, Cambridge University Press (explains Corliss's development of his valve gear).J.L.Wood, 1980–1, "The introduction of the Corliss engine to Britain", Transactions of the Newcomen Society 52 (provides an account of the introduction of his valve gear to Britain).W.H.Uhland, 1879, Corliss Engines and Allied Steam-motors, London: E. \& F.N.Spon.RLH -
3 Bouton, Georges Thadé
SUBJECT AREA: Automotive engineering[br]b. 22 November 1847 Paris, Franced. November 1938[br]French pioneer in automobile manufacture.[br]Bouton was the son of a painter and learned mechanics at Honfleur and Paris. In 1870 he was fighting in Les Mobiles de Calvados, and in 1881, having finished his training, he joined his brother-in-law, Trepardoux, to open a workshop in rue de la Chapelle for the construction of steam engines for scientific toys. The comte de Dion discovered the workshop and became associated with it in 1882. They also built steam-boilers for automobiles. In 1883 they built their first quadricycle, and in 1887 their first steam tricycle. These were followed in 1892 and 1893 by a car and a steam tractor. After the appearance of the petrol engine they put in hand a star-shaped four-cylinder engine of this type, but it was not until 1895 and 1898 that the first de Dion-Bouton single-cylinder tricycle and their petrol bicycle, respectively, came out. From 1899 the manufacture of de Dion-Bouton was concentrated on the voiturette. Georges Bouton was responsible for the manufacture of all these machines and took part in the first motor races.[br]Further Reading1933, Dictionnaire de biographie française.IMcN -
4 Murray, Matthew
SUBJECT AREA: Land transport, Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Railways and locomotives, Steam and internal combustion engines[br]b. 1765 near Newcastle upon Tyne, Englandd. 20 February 1826 Holbeck, Leeds, England[br]English mechanical engineer and steam engine, locomotive and machine-tool pioneer.[br]Matthew Murray was apprenticed at the age of 14 to a blacksmith who probably also did millwrighting work. He then worked as a journeyman mechanic at Stockton-on-Tees, where he had experience with machinery for a flax mill at Darlington. Trade in the Stockton area became slack in 1788 and Murray sought work in Leeds, where he was employed by John Marshall, who owned a flax mill at Adel, located about 5 miles (8 km) from Leeds. He soon became Marshall's chief mechanic, and when in 1790 a new mill was built in the Holbeck district of Leeds by Marshall and his partner Benyon, Murray was responsible for the installation of the machinery. At about this time he took out two patents relating to improvements in textile machinery.In 1795 he left Marshall's employment and, in partnership with David Wood (1761– 1820), established a general engineering and millwrighting business at Mill Green, Holbeck. In the following year the firm moved to a larger site at Water Lane, Holbeck, and additional capital was provided by two new partners, James Fenton (1754–1834) and William Lister (1796–1811). Lister was a sleeping partner and the firm was known as Fenton, Murray \& Wood and was organized so that Fenton kept the accounts, Wood was the administrator and took charge of the workshops, while Murray provided the technical expertise. The factory was extended in 1802 by the construction of a fitting shop of circular form, after which the establishment became known as the "Round Foundry".In addition to textile machinery, the firm soon began the manufacture of machine tools and steam-engines. In this field it became a serious rival to Boulton \& Watt, who privately acknowledged Murray's superior craftsmanship, particularly in foundry work, and resorted to some industrial espionage to discover details of his techniques. Murray obtained patents for improvements in steam engines in 1799, 1801 and 1802. These included automatic regulation of draught, a mechanical stoker and his short-D slide valve. The patent of 1801 was successfully opposed by Boulton \& Watt. An important contribution of Murray to the development of the steam engine was the use of a bedplate so that the engine became a compact, self-contained unit instead of separate components built into an en-gine-house.Murray was one of the first, if not the very first, to build machine tools for sale. However, this was not the case with the planing machine, which he is said to have invented to produce flat surfaces for his slide valves. Rather than being patented, this machine was kept secret, although it was apparently in use before 1814.In 1812 Murray was engaged by John Blenkinsop (1783–1831) to build locomotives for his rack railway from Middleton Colliery to Leeds (about 3 1/2 miles or 5.6 km). Murray was responsible for their design and they were fitted with two double-acting cylinders and cranks at right angles, an important step in the development of the steam locomotive. About six of these locomotives were built for the Middleton and other colliery railways and some were in use for over twenty years. Murray also supplied engines for many early steamboats. In addition, he built some hydraulic machinery and in 1814 patented a hydraulic press for baling cloth.Murray's son-in-law, Richard Jackson, later became a partner in the firm, which was then styled Fenton, Murray \& Jackson. The firm went out of business in 1843.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsSociety of Arts Gold Medal 1809 (for machine for hackling flax).Further ReadingL.T.C.Rolt, 1962, Great Engineers, London (contains a good short biography).E.Kilburn Scott (ed.), 1928, Matthew Murray, Pioneer Engineer, Leeds (a collection of essays and source material).C.F.Dendy Marshall, 1953, A History of Railway Locomotives Down to the End of theYear 1831, London.L.T.C.Rolt, 1965, Tools for the Job, London; repub. 1986 (provides information on Murray's machine-tool work).Some of Murray's correspondence with Simon Goodrich of the Admiralty has been published in Transactions of the Newcomen Society 3 (1922–3); 6(1925–6); 18(1937– 8); and 32 (1959–60).RTS -
5 Rastrick, John Urpeth
[br]b. 26 January 1780 Morpeth, Englandd. 1 November 1856 Chertsey, England[br]English engineer whose career spanned the formative years of steam railways, from constructing some of the earliest locomotives to building great trunk lines.[br]John Urpeth Rastrick, son of an engineer, was initially articled to his father and then moved to Ketley Ironworks, Shropshire, c. 1801. In 1808 he entered into a partnership with John Hazledine at Bridgnorth, Shropshire: Hazledine and Rastrick built many steam engines to the designs of Richard Trevithick, including the demonstration locomotive Catch-Me-Who-Can. The firm also built iron bridges, notably the bridge over the River Wye at Chepstow in 1815–16.Between 1822 and 1826 the Stratford \& Moreton Railway was built under Rastrick's direction. Malleable iron rails were laid, in one of the first instances of their use. They were supplied by James Foster of Stourbridge, with whom Rastrick went into partnership after the death of Hazledine. In 1825 Rastrick was one of a team of engineers sent by the committee of the proposed Liverpool \& Manchester Railway (L \& MR) to carry out trials of locomotives built by George Stephenson on the Killingworth Waggonway. Early in 1829 the directors of the L \& MR, which was by then under construction, sent Rastrick and James Walker to inspect railways in North East England and report on the relative merits of steam locomotives and fixed engines with cable haulage. They reported, rather hesitantly, in favour of the latter, particularly the reciprocal system of Benjamin Thompson. In consequence the Rainhill Trials, at which Rastrick was one of the judges, were held that October. In 1829 Rastrick constructed the Shutt End colliery railway in Worcestershire, for which Foster and Rastrick built the locomotive Agenoria; this survives in the National Railway Museum. Three similar locomotives were built to the order of Horatio Allen for export to the USA.From then until he retired in 1847 Rastrick found ample employment surveying railways, appearing as a witness before Parliamentary committees, and supervising construction. Principally, he surveyed the southern part of the Grand Junction Railway, which was built for the most part by Joseph Locke, and the line from Manchester to Crewe which was eventually built as the Manchester \& Birmingham Railway. The London \& Brighton Railway (Croydon to Brighton) was his great achievement: built under Rastrick's supervision between 1836 and 1840, it included three long tunnels and the magnificent Ouse Viaduct. In 1845 he was Engineer to the Gravesend \& Rochester Railway, the track of which was laid through the Thames \& Medway Canal's Strood Tunnel, partly on the towpath and partly on a continuous staging over the water.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFRS 1837.Bibliography1829, with Walker, Report…on the Comparative Merits of Locomotive and Fixed Engines, Liverpool.Further ReadingC.F.Dendy Marshall, 1953, A History of Railway Locomotives Down to the End of the Year 1831, The Locomotive Publishing Co.R.E.Carlson, 1969, The Liverpool \& Manchester Railway Project 1821–1831, Newton Abbot: David \& Charles.C.Hadfield and J.Norris, 1962, Waterways to Stratford, Newton Abbot: David \& Charles (covers Stratford and Moreton Railway).See also: Stephenson, RobertPJGR -
6 Stumpf, Johann
SUBJECT AREA: Steam and internal combustion engines[br]fl. c. 1900 Germany[br]German inventor of a successful design of uniflow steam engine.[br]In 1869 Stumpf was commissioned by the Pope Manufacturing Company of Hertford, Connecticut, to set up two triple-expansion, vertical, Corliss pumping engines. He tried to simplify this complicated system and started research with the internal combustion engine and the steam turbine particularly as his models. The construction of steam turbines in several stages where the steam passed through in a unidirectional flow was being pursued at that time, and Stumpf wondered whether it would be possible to raise the efficiency of a reciprocating steam engine to the same thermal level as the turbine by the use of the uniflow principle.Stumpf began to investigate these principles without studying the work of earlier pioneers like L.J. Todd, which he later thought would have led him astray. It was not until 1908, when he was Professor at the Institute of Technology in Berlin- Charlottenburg, that he patented his successful "una-flow" steam engine. In that year he took out six British patents for improvements in details on his original one Stumpf fully realized the thermal advantages of compressing the residual steam and was able to evolve systems of coping with excessive compression when starting. He also placed steam-jackets around the ends of the cylinder. Stumpf's first engine was built in 1908 by the Erste B runner Maschinenfabrik-Gesellschaft, and licences were taken out by many other manufacturers, including those in Britain and the USA. His engine was developed into the most economical type of reciprocating steam engine.[br]Bibliography1912, The Una-Flow Steam Engine, Munich: R. Oldenbourg (his own account of the una-flow engine).Further ReadingH.W.Dickinson, 1938, A Short History of the Steam Engine, Cambridge University Press; R.L.Hills, 1989, Power from Steam. A History of the Stationary Steam Engine, Cambridge University Press (both discuss Stumpf's engine).H.J.Braun, "The National Association of German-American Technologists and technology transfer between Germany and the United States, 1844–1930", History of Technology 8 (provides details of Stumpf's earlier work).RLH -
7 Donkin, Bryan III
SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, Steam and internal combustion engines[br]b. 29 August 1835 London, Englandd. 4 March 1902 Brussels, Belgium[br]English mechanical engineer.[br]Bryan Donkin was the eldest son of John Donkin (1802–54) and grandson of Bryan Donkin I (1768–1855). He was educated at University College, London, and at the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Métiers in Paris, and then served an apprenticeship in the firm established by his grandfather. He assisted his uncle, Bryan Donkin II (1809–93), in setting up paper mills at St Petersburg. He became a partner in the Donkin firm in 1868 and Chairman in 1889, and retained this position after the amalgamation with Clench \& Co. of Chesterfield in 1900. Bryan Donkin was one of the first engineers to carry out scientific tests on steam engines and boilers, the results of his experiments being reported in many papers to the engineering institutions. In the 1890s his interests extended to the internal-combustion engine and he translated Rudolf Diesel's book Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat Motor. He was a frequent contributor to the weekly journal The Engineer. He was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, as well as of many other societies, including the Royal Institution, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Société Industrielle de Mulhouse and the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure. In his experimental work he often collaborated with others, notably Professor A.B.W.Kennedy (1847–1928), with whom he was also associated in the consulting engineering firm of Kennedy \& Donkin.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsVice-President, Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1901. Institution of Civil Engineers, Telford premiums 1889, 1891; Watt Medal 1894; Manby premium 1896.Bibliography1894, Gas, Oil and Air Engines, London.1896, with A.B.W.Kennedy, Experiments on Steam Boilers, London. 1898, Heat Efficiency of Steam Boilers, London.RTS -
8 Curr, John
[br]b. 1756 Kyo, near Lanchester, or in Greenside, near Ryton-on-Tyne, Durham, Englandd. 27 January 1823 Sheffield, England[br]English coal-mine manager and engineer, inventor of flanged, cast-iron plate rails.[br]The son of a "coal viewer", Curr was brought up in the West Durham colliery district. In 1777 he went to the Duke of Norfolk's collieries at Sheffield, where in 1880 he was appointed Superintendent. There coal was conveyed underground in baskets on sledges: Curr replaced the wicker sledges with wheeled corves, i.e. small four-wheeled wooden wagons, running on "rail-roads" with cast-iron rails and hauled from the coal-face to the shaft bottom by horses. The rails employed hitherto had usually consisted of plates of iron, the flange being on the wheels of the wagon. Curr's new design involved flanges on the rails which guided the vehicles, the wheels of which were unflanged and could run on any hard surface. He appears to have left no precise record of the date that he did this, and surviving records have been interpreted as implying various dates between 1776 and 1787. In 1787 John Buddle paid tribute to the efficiency of the rails of Curr's type, which were first used for surface transport by Joseph Butler in 1788 at his iron furnace at Wingerworth near Chesterfield: their use was then promoted widely by Benjamin Outram, and they were adopted in many other English mines. They proved serviceable until the advent of locomotives demanded different rails.In 1788 Curr also developed a system for drawing a full corve up a mine shaft while lowering an empty one, with guides to separate them. At the surface the corves were automatically emptied by tipplers. Four years later he was awarded a patent for using double ropes for lifting heavier loads. As the weight of the rope itself became a considerable problem with the increasing depth of the shafts, Curr invented the flat hemp rope, patented in 1798, which consisted of several small round ropes stitched together and lapped upon itself in winding. It acted as a counterbalance and led to a reduction in the time and cost of hoisting: at the beginning of a run the loaded rope began to coil upon a small diameter, gradually increasing, while the unloaded rope began to coil off a large diameter, gradually decreasing.Curr's book The Coal Viewer (1797) is the earliest-known engineering work on railway track and it also contains the most elaborate description of a Newcomen pumping engine, at the highest state of its development. He became an acknowledged expert on construction of Newcomen-type atmospheric engines, and in 1792 he established a foundry to make parts for railways and engines.Because of the poor financial results of the Duke of Norfolk's collieries at the end of the century, Curr was dismissed in 1801 despite numerous inventions and improvements which he had introduced. After his dismissal, six more of his patents were concerned with rope-making: the one he gained in 1813 referred to the application of flat ropes to horse-gins and perpendicular drum-shafts of steam engines. Curr also introduced the use of inclined planes, where a descending train of full corves pulled up an empty one, and he was one of the pioneers employing fixed steam engines for hauling. He may have resided in France for some time before his death.[br]Bibliography1788. British patent no. 1,660 (guides in mine shafts).1789. An Account of tin Improved Method of Drawing Coals and Extracting Ores, etc., from Mines, Newcastle upon Tyne.1797. The Coal Viewer and Engine Builder's Practical Companion; reprinted with five plates and an introduction by Charles E.Lee, 1970, London: Frank Cass, and New York: Augustus M.Kelley.1798. British patent no. 2,270 (flat hemp ropes).Further ReadingF.Bland, 1930–1, "John Curr, originator of iron tram roads", Transactions of the Newcomen Society 11:121–30.R.A.Mott, 1969, Tramroads of the eighteenth century and their originator: John Curr', Transactions of the Newcomen Society 42:1–23 (includes corrections to Fred Bland's earlier paper).Charles E.Lee, 1970, introduction to John Curr, The Coal Viewer and Engine Builder's Practical Companion, London: Frank Cass, pp. 1–4; orig. pub. 1797, Sheffield (contains the most comprehensive biographical information).R.Galloway, 1898, Annals of Coalmining, Vol. I, London; reprinted 1971, London (provides a detailed account of Curr's technological alterations).WK / PJGR -
9 Hackworth, Timothy
[br]b. 22 December 1786 Wylam, Northumberland, Englandd. 7 July 1850 Shildon, Co. Durham, England[br]English engineer, pioneer in construction and operation of steam locomotives.[br]Hackworth trained under his father, who was Foreman Blacksmith at Wylam colliery, and succeeded him upon his death in 1807. Between 1812 and 1816 he helped to build and maintain the Wylam locomotives under William Hedley. He then moved to Walbottle colliery, but during 1824 he took temporary charge of Robert Stephenson \& Co.'s works while George Stephenson was surveying the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway and Robert Stephenson was away in South America. In May 1825 Hackworth was appointed to the Stockton \& Darlington Railway (S \& DR) "to have superintendence of the permanent (i.e. stationary) and locomotive engines". He established the workshops at Shildon, and when the railway opened in September he became in effect the first locomotive superintendent of a railway company. From experience of operating Robert Stephenson \& Co.'s locomotives he was able to make many detail improvements, notably spring safety valves. In 1827 he designed and built the locomotive Royal George, with six wheels coupled and inverted vertical cylinders driving the rear pair. From the pistons, drive was direct by way of piston rods and connecting rods to crankpins on the wheels, the first instance of the use of this layout on a locomotive. Royal George was the most powerful and satisfactory locomotive on the S \& DR to date and was the forerunner of Hackworth's type of heavy-goods locomotive, which was built until the mid-1840s.For the Rainhill Trials in 1829 Hackworth built and entered the locomotive Sans Pareil, which was subsequently used on the Bol ton \& Leigh Railway and is now in the Science Museum, London. A working replica was built for the 150th anniversary of the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway in 1980. In 1833 a further agreement with the S \& DR enabled Hackworth, while remaining in charge of their locomotives, to set up a locomotive and engineering works on his own account. Its products eventually included locomotives for the London, Brighton \& South Coast and York, Newcastle \& Berwick Railways, as well as some of the earliest locomotives exported to Russia and Canada. Hackworth's son, John Wesley Hackworth, was also an engineer and invented the radial valve gear for steam engines that bears his name.[br]Further ReadingR.Young, 1975, Timothy Hackworth and the Locomotive, Shildon: Shildon "Stockton \& Darlington Railway" Silver Jubilee Committee; orig. pub. 1923, London (tends to emphasize Hackworth's achievements at the expense of other contemporary engineers).L.T.C.Rolt, 1960, George and Robert Stephenson, London: Longmans (describes much of Hackworth's work and is more objective).E.L.Ahrons, 1927, The British Steam Railway Locomotive 1825–1925, London: The Locomotive Publishing Co.PJGR -
10 Darby, Abraham
SUBJECT AREA: Metallurgy[br]b. 1678 near Dudley, Worcestershire, Englandd. 5 May 1717 Madely Court, Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, England[br]English ironmaster, inventor of the coke smelting of iron ore.[br]Darby's father, John, was a farmer who also worked a small forge to produce nails and other ironware needed on the farm. He was brought up in the Society of Friends, or Quakers, and this community remained important throughout his personal and working life. Darby was apprenticed to Jonathan Freeth, a malt-mill maker in Birmingham, and on completion of his apprenticeship in 1699 he took up the trade himself in Bristol. Probably in 1704, he visited Holland to study the casting of brass pots and returned to Bristol with some Dutch workers, setting up a brassworks at Baptist Mills in partnership with others. He tried substituting cast iron for brass in his castings, without success at first, but in 1707 he was granted a patent, "A new way of casting iron pots and other pot-bellied ware in sand without loam or clay". However, his business associates were unwilling to risk further funds in the experiments, so he withdrew his share of the capital and moved to Coalbrookdale in Shropshire. There, iron ore, coal, water-power and transport lay close at hand. He took a lease on an old furnace and began experimenting. The shortage and expense of charcoal, and his knowledge of the use of coke in malting, may well have led him to try using coke to smelt iron ore. The furnace was brought into blast in 1709 and records show that in the same year it was regularly producing iron, using coke instead of charcoal. The process seems to have been operating successfully by 1711 in the production of cast-iron pots and kettles, with some pig-iron destined for Bristol. Darby prospered at Coalbrookdale, employing coke smelting with consistent success, and he sought to extend his activities in the neighbourhood and in other parts of the country. However, ill health prevented him from pursuing these ventures with his previous energy. Coke smelting spread slowly in England and the continent of Europe, but without Darby's technological breakthrough the ever-increasing demand for iron for structures and machines during the Industrial Revolution simply could not have been met; it was thus an essential component of the technological progress that was to come.Darby's eldest son, Abraham II (1711–63), entered the Coalbrookdale Company partnership in 1734 and largely assumed control of the technical side of managing the furnaces and foundry. He made a number of improvements, notably the installation of a steam engine in 1742 to pump water to an upper level in order to achieve a steady source of water-power to operate the bellows supplying the blast furnaces. When he built the Ketley and Horsehay furnaces in 1755 and 1756, these too were provided with steam engines. Abraham II's son, Abraham III (1750–89), in turn, took over the management of the Coalbrookdale works in 1768 and devoted himself to improving and extending the business. His most notable achievement was the design and construction of the famous Iron Bridge over the river Severn, the world's first iron bridge. The bridge members were cast at Coalbrookdale and the structure was erected during 1779, with a span of 100 ft (30 m) and height above the river of 40 ft (12 m). The bridge still stands, and remains a tribute to the skill and judgement of Darby and his workers.[br]Further ReadingA.Raistrick, 1989, Dynasty of Iron Founders, 2nd edn, Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust (the best source for the lives of the Darbys and the work of the company).H.R.Schubert, 1957, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry AD 430 to AD 1775, London: Routledge \& Kegan Paul.LRD -
11 Donkin, Bryan II
[br]b. 29 April 1809 London, Englandd. 4 December 1893 Blackheath, Kent, England[br]English mechanical engineer.[br]Bryan Donkin was the fifth son of Bryan Donkin I (1768–1855) and was educated at schools in Bromley (Kent), London, Paris and Nantes. He was an apprentice in his father's Bermondsey works and soon became an active and valuable assistant in the design and construction of papermaking, printing, pumping and other machinery. In 1829 he was sent to France to superintend the construction of paper mills and other machinery at Nantes. He later became a partner in the firm which in 1858 received an order to construct and set up a large paper mill at St Petersburg. This work took him to Russia several times before its completion in 1862. He obtained several patents relating to paper-making and steam engines. He was elected an associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1835 and a member in 1840.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsMember, Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers 1859; President 1872.RTS -
12 Transportation
Portugal's transportation system consists of 820 kilometers (492 miles) of navigable waterways, 3,630 kilometers (2,178 miles) of railroad, and 73,660 kilometers (44,196 miles) of roads, of which 12,660 (7,596 miles) are unpaved. Improving Portugal's roads and railroads were major priorities during the Estado Novo. In 1946, all of Portugal's private railroad companies were amalgamated into one, the Companhia Portuguesa de Caminhos de Ferro, which was granted a monopoly for rail transport. In 1959, the electrified line from Lisbon to Cascais and the Lisbon metro (subway) opened. Steam engines were gradually replaced with electric and diesel locomotives. During the Estado Novo, the length of Portugal's road network increased threefold and were considered good by European standards in 1950. However, accelerated economic development and the increase in the number of vehicles during the 1960s and 1970s outstripped road capacity, and Portuguese roads became the most dangerous in western Europe.Bridge building was also an Estado Novo priority, with bridges over the Douro at Oporto and the suspension bridge (the longest in Europe) at Lisbon being the most impressive examples. The Estado Novo also improved port facilities in Lisbon and Oporto, and built a new deep-water port at Sines. The Estado Novo also built airports at Lisbon (Portela), Oporto (Pedras Rubras), Faro in the Algarve, and Funchal on Madeira to encourage tourism. In 1946, a government-owned airline, Transportes Aéreas Portugueses (TAP), was created and began operating flights within Portugal and to the major cities of western Europe, several larger cities in the United States, South America, and the capital cities of Portugal's colonies in Africa.After joining the European Union (EU), Portugal began an ambitious program to modernize its transportation networks in 1986. During the 1990s, the nationalized railroad, airline, trucking, and bus companies were restructured and/or privatized. With the help of EU monies, Portugal's road network was upgraded and superhighways ( auto estradas) completed from Lisbon to Oporto and Faro in the Algarve, and from Lisbon and Oporto into Spain. Portugal's railroad network was upgraded to handle high-speed trains (TGVs) between the country's major cities and to Madrid. To facilitate logistics during Expo '98, a new metro station (Oriente) was opened and a new bridge (Vasco da Gama Bridge) built across the Tagus. In the meantime, Lisbon's international airport at Portela, despite steady improvements, could no longer accommodate efficiently the increasing air traffic. An important part of the plan to modernize the Lisbon region's transportation system is the long-debated construction of an additional airport, across the Tagus River, with adjoining roads and underground metro, set to open between 2010 and 2012. -
13 use
utilisation ⇒ 1 (a), 1 (b) emploi ⇒ 1 (a), 1 (c) consommation ⇒ 1 (a) usage ⇒ 1 (a)-(d), 1 (f), 1 (g) besoin ⇒ 1 (d) se servir de ⇒ 2 (a), 2 (b) utiliser ⇒ 2 (a), 2 (c) employer ⇒ 2 (a) prendre ⇒ 2 (a), 2 (e) profiter de ⇒ 2 (b) consommer ⇒ 2 (c) finir ⇒ 2 (c)(a) (utilization → of materials) utilisation f, emploi m; (consumption → of water, resources etc) consommation f; (being used, worn etc) usage m;∎ the use of brick in building l'emploi ou l'utilisation de la brique dans la construction;∎ to stretch (out) with use se détendre à l'usage;∎ to wear out with use s'user;∎ the dishes are for everyday use c'est la vaisselle de tous les jours;∎ ready for use prêt à l'emploi;∎ directions or instructions for use (on packaging) mode d'emploi;∎ for your personal use (on packaging) pour votre usage personnel;∎ for customer use only (sign) réservé à notre clientèle;∎ Medicine for external/internal use only (on packaging) à usage externe/interne;∎ for use in case of emergency (sign) à utiliser en cas d'urgence;∎ the film is for use in teaching le film est destiné à l'enseignement;∎ in general use d'emploi courant, d'utilisation courante;∎ not in use, out of use (machine, system) hors d'usage; (lift, cash point) hors service;∎ the phrase is no longer in use l'expression est inusitée ou ne s'utilise plus;∎ to come into use entrer en service;∎ to go out of use (machine) être mis au rebut;∎ steam engines went out of use in 1950 on a cessé d'utiliser ou d'employer les machines à vapeur en 1950;∎ to make use of sth se servir de ou utiliser qch;∎ schools are making increasing use of audio-visual aids les écoles se servent de plus en plus de supports audiovisuels;∎ to make good use of, to put to good use (machine, money) faire bon usage de; (opportunity, experience) tirer profit de(b) (ability or right to use) usage m, utilisation f;∎ we gave them the use of our car nous leur avons laissé l'usage de notre voiture;∎ he only has the use of one arm il n'a l'usage que d'un bras;∎ she lost the use of her legs elle a perdu l'usage de ses jambes;∎ the old man still has the full use of his faculties le vieil homme jouit encore de toutes ses facultés(c) (practical application) usage m, emploi m;∎ this tool has many uses cet outil a de nombreux usages ou emplois;∎ we found a use for the old fridge nous avons trouvé un emploi pour le vieux frigo;∎ humorous I have my uses il m'arrive de servir à quelque chose∎ do you have any use for this book? avez-vous besoin de ce livre?;∎ to have no use for sth ne pas avoir besoin de qch; figurative n'avoir que faire de qch;∎ I have no use for idle gossip je n'ai que faire des cancans;∎ this department has no use for slackers il n'y a pas de place pour les fainéants dans ce service∎ to be of use (to sb) être utile (à qn), servir (à qn);∎ this dictionary might be of use to you ce dictionnaire pourrait vous être utile ou vous servir;∎ were the instructions (of) any use? est-ce que le mode d'emploi a servi à quelque chose?;∎ I found his advice to be of little use, his advice was of little use to me je n'ai pas trouvé ses conseils très utiles;∎ the book would be of more use if it had illustrations le livre serait plus utile s'il contenait des illustrations;∎ it's not much use cela ne sert pas à grand-chose;∎ he's not much use as a secretary il n'est pas brillant comme secrétaire;∎ they were no use at all during the move ils n'ont rien fait pendant le déménagement;∎ you're no use! tu n'es bon à rien!;∎ it's or there's no use complaining inutile de ou ça ne sert à rien de se plaindre;∎ there's no use shouting ça ne sert à rien de crier, (c'est) inutile de crier;∎ it's no use, we might as well give up c'est inutile ou ça ne sert à rien, autant abandonner;∎ I tried to convince her but it was no use j'ai essayé de la convaincre mais il n'y avait rien à faire;∎ is it any use calling her? est-ce que ça servira à quelque chose de l'appeler?;∎ what's the use of waiting? à quoi bon attendre?, à quoi ça sert d'attendre?;∎ oh, what's the use? à quoi bon?;(f) Linguistics usage m;∎ that's an old-fashioned use c'est un usage vieilli(a) (put into action → service, tool, skills) se servir de, utiliser; (→ product, name) utiliser; (→ method, phrase, word) employer; (→ vehicle, form of transport) prendre;∎ these are the notebooks he used ce sont les cahiers dont il s'est servi ou qu'il a utilisés;∎ is anyone using this book? est-ce que quelqu'un se sert de ou a besoin de ce livre?;∎ it's very easy to use c'est très facile à utiliser;∎ am I using the term correctly? est-ce comme ça qu'on utilise le terme?;∎ I'd like to use my language skills more j'aimerais utiliser davantage mes connaissances en langues;∎ I always use public transport je prends toujours les transports en commun;∎ we use this room as an office nous nous servons de cette pièce comme bureau, cette pièce nous sert de bureau;∎ what is this used for or as? à quoi cela sert-il?;∎ it's used for identifying the blood type cela sert à identifier le groupe sanguin;∎ I use it for opening or to open letters je m'en sers ou je l'utilise pour ouvrir les lettres;∎ I used the money to rebuild my garage j'ai utilisé ou employé l'argent pour reconstruire mon garage;∎ what battery does this radio use? quelle pile faut-il pour cette radio?;∎ my car uses unleaded petrol ma voiture marche à l'essence sans plomb;∎ may I use the phone? puis-je téléphoner?;∎ to use force/violence avoir recours à la force/violence;∎ the police often use tear gas la police a souvent recours au gaz lacrymogène;∎ to use one's intelligence/intuition faire marcher son intelligence/intuition;∎ to use diplomacy user de diplomatie;∎ to use discretion agir avec discrétion;∎ to use one's influence user de son influence;∎ use your imagination! utilise ton imagination!;∎ use your initiative! fais preuve d'initiative!;∎ use your head or your brains! réfléchis un peu!;∎ use your eyes! ouvrez l'œil!;∎ familiar he could certainly use some help un peu d'aide ne lui ferait pas de mal;∎ familiar we could all use a holiday! nous aurions tous bien besoin de vacances!□∎ use it to your advantage! profitez-en!;∎ he's only using you to get ahead il ne fait que se servir de toi pour avancer;∎ I feel used j'ai l'impression qu'on s'est servi de moi∎ the car's using a lot of oil la voiture consomme beaucoup d'huile;∎ have you used all the shampoo? as-tu utilisé tout le shampooing?∎ they used the workers well ils ont bien traité les ouvriers, ils ont bien agi envers les ouvriers;∎ I consider I was ill used je considère qu'on ne m'a pas traité comme il faut;∎ how's the world been using you? comment ça va?[ju:z] (only in past tense) they used to live here (avant) ils habitaient ici;∎ he used to drink a lot il buvait beaucoup avant;∎ it used to be true c'était vrai autrefois;∎ it used to be a pleasant town to live in autrefois c'était une ville agréable;∎ things aren't what they used to be les choses ne sont plus ce qu'elles étaient;∎ she can't get about the way she used to elle ne peut plus se déplacer comme avant;∎ she never used to smoke elle ne fumait pas avant;∎ we used not or we didn't use to eat meat avant, nous ne mangions pas de viande;∎ did he use to visit her? venait-il la voir avant?;∎ do you travel much? - I used to vous voyagez beaucoup? - autrefois, oui(consume) consommer, prendre; (exhaust → paper, soap) finir; (→ patience, energy, supplies) épuiser;∎ she used up the leftovers to make the soup elle a utilisé les restes pour faire un potage;∎ did you use up all your money? as-tu dépensé tout ton argent?;∎ the paper was all used up il ne restait plus de papier -
14 Alleyne, Sir John Gay Newton
SUBJECT AREA: Metallurgy[br]b. 8 September 1820 Barbadosd. 20 February 1912 Falmouth, Cornwall, England[br]English iron and steel manufacturer, inventor of the reversing rolling mill.[br]Alleyne was the heir to a baronetcy created in 1769, which he succeeded to on the death of his father in 1870. He was educated at Harrow and at Bonn University, and from 1843 to 1851 he was Warden at Dulwich College, to the founder of which the family claimed to be related.Alleyne's business career began with a short spell in the sugar industry at Barbados, but he returned to England to enter Butterley Iron Works Company, where he remained for many years. He was at first concerned with the production of rolled-iron girders for floors, especially for fireproof flooring, and deck beams for iron ships. The demand for large sections exceeded the capacity of the small mills then in use at Butterley, so Alleyne introduced the welding of T-sections to form the required H-sections.In 1861 Alleyne patented a mechanical traverser for moving ingots in front of and behind a rolling mill, enabling one person to manipulate large pieces. In 1870 he introduced his major innovation, the two-high reversing mill, which enabled the metal to be passed back and forth between the rolls until it assumed the required size and shape. The mill had two steam engines, which supplied the motion in opposite directions. These two inventions produced considerable economies in time and effort in handling the metal and enabled much heavier pieces to be processed.During Alleyne's regime, the Butterley Company secured some notable contracts, such as the roof of St Paneras Station, London, in 1868, with the then-unparalleled span of 240 ft (73 m). The manufacture and erection of this awe-inspiring structure was a tribute to Alleyne's abilities. In 1872 he masterminded the design and construction of the large railway bridge over the Old Maas at Dordrecht, Holland. Alleyne also devised a method of determining small quantities of phosphorus in iron and steel by means of the spectroscope. In his spare time he was a skilled astronomical observer and metalworker in his private workshop.[br]Bibliography1875, "The estimation of small quantities of phosphorus in iron and steel by spectrum analysis", Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute: 62.Further ReadingObituary, 1912, Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute: 406–8.LRDBiographical history of technology > Alleyne, Sir John Gay Newton
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15 Maudslay, Henry
SUBJECT AREA: Mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic engineering[br]b. 22 August 1771 Woolwich, Kent, Englandd. 15 February 1831 Lambeth, London, England[br]English precision toolmaker and engineer.[br]Henry Maudslay was the third son of an ex-soldier and storekeeper at Woolwich Arsenal. At the age of 12 he was employed at the Arsenal filling cartridges; two years later he was transferred to the woodworking department, adjacent to the smithy, to which he moved when 15 years old. He was a rapid learner, and three years later Joseph Bramah took him on for the construction of special tools required for the mass-production of his locks. Maudslay was thus employed for the next eight years. He became Bramah's foreman, married his housekeeper, Sarah Tindale, and, unable to better himself, decided to leave and set up on his own. He soon outgrew his first premises in Wells Street and moved to Margaret Street, off Oxford Street, where some examples of his workmanship were displayed in the window. These caught the attention of a visiting Frenchman, de Bacquancourt; he was a friend of Marc Isambard Brunel, who was then in the early stages of designing the block-making machinery later installed at Portsmouth dockyard.Brunel wanted first a set of working models, as he did not think that the Lords of the Admiralty would be capable of understanding engineering drawings; Maudslay made these for him within the next two years. Sir Samuel Bentham, Inspector-General of Naval Works, agreed that Brunel's system was superior to the one that he had gone some way in developing; the Admiralty approved, and an order was placed for the complete plant. The manufacture of the machinery occupied Maudslay for the next six years; he was assisted by a draughtsman whom he took on from Portsmouth dockyard, Joshua Field (1786–1863), who became his partner in Maudslay, Son and Field. There were as many as eighty employees at Margaret Street until, in 1810, larger premises became necessary and a new works was built at Lambeth Marsh where, eventually, there were up to two hundred workers. The new factory was flanked by two houses, one of which was occupied by Maudslay, the other by Field. The firm became noted for its production of marine steam-engines, notably Maudslay's table engine which was first introduced in 1807.Maudslay was a consummate craftsman who was never happier than when working at his bench or at a machine tool; he was also one of the first engineers to appreciate the virtues of standardization. Evidence of this appreciation is to be found in his work in the development of the Bramah lock and then on the machine tools for the manufacture of ship's blocks to Marc Brunel's designs; possibly his most important contribution was the invention in 1797 of the metal lathe. He made a number of surface plates of the finest quality. The most celebrated of his numerous measuring devices was a micrometer-based machine which he termed his "Lord Chancellor" because, in the machine shop, it represented the "final court of appeal", measuring to one-thousandth of an inch.[br]Further Reading1934–5, "Maudslay, Sons \& Field as general engineers", Transactions of the Newcomen Society 15, London.1963, Engineering Heritage, Vol. 1, London: Institution of Mechanical Engineers. L.T.C.Rolt, 1965, Tools for the Job, London: Batsford.W.Steeds, 1969, A History of Machine Tools 1700–1910, Oxford: Oxford University Press.IMcN -
16 Rowland, Thomas Fitch
SUBJECT AREA: Mining and extraction technology[br]b. 15 March 1831 New Haven, Connecticut, USAd. 13 December 1907 New York City, USA[br]American engineer and manufacturer, inventor of off-shore drilling.[br]The son of a grist miller, Rowland worked in various jobs until 1859 when he established his own business for the construction of wooden and iron steamships and for structural iron works, in Greenpoint, Long Island, New York. In 1860 he founded the Continental Works and during the American Civil War he started manufacturing gun carriages and mortar beds. He fitted out many vessels for the navy, and as a contractor for John Ericsson he built heavily armoured war vessels.He continued shipbuilding, but later diversified his business. He devoted great attention to the design of gas-works, constructing innovative storage facilities all over the United States, and he was concerned with the improvement of welding iron and steel plates and other processes in the steel industry. In the late 1860s he also began the manufacture of steam-engines and boilers for use in the new but expanding oil industry. In 1869 he took out a patent for a fixed platform for drilling for oil off-shore up to a depth of 15 m (49 ft). With this idea, just ten years after Edwin Drake's success in on-shore oil drilling in Titusville, Pennsylvania, Rowland pioneered the technology of off-shore drilling for petroleum in which the United States later became the leading nation.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsAmerican Society of Civil Engineers: Director 1871–3, Vice-President 1886–7, Honorary Member 1899.Further Reading"Thomas Fitch Rowland", Dictionary of American Biography.1909, "Memoir", Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers 62:547–9.WK -
17 Whitworth, Sir Joseph
[br]b. 21 December 1803 Stockport, Cheshire, Englandd. 22 January 1887 Monte Carlo, Monaco[br]English mechanical engineer and pioneer of precision measurement.[br]Joseph Whitworth received his early education in a school kept by his father, but from the age of 12 he attended a school near Leeds. At 14 he joined his uncle's mill near Ambergate, Derbyshire, to learn the business of cotton spinning. In the four years he spent there he realized that he was more interested in the machinery than in managing a cotton mill. In 1821 he obtained employment as a mechanic with Crighton \& Co., Manchester. In 1825 he moved to London and worked for Henry Maudslay and later for the Holtzapffels and Joseph Clement. After these years spent gaining experience, he returned to Manchester in 1833 and set up in a small workshop under a sign "Joseph Whitworth, Tool Maker, from London".The business expanded steadily and the firm made machine tools of all types and other engineering products including steam engines. From 1834 Whitworth obtained many patents in the fields of machine tools, textile and knitting machinery and road-sweeping machines. By 1851 the company was generally regarded as the leading manufacturer of machine tools in the country. Whitworth was a pioneer of precise measurement and demonstrated the fundamental mode of producing a true plane by making surface plates in sets of three. He advocated the use of the decimal system and made use of limit gauges, and he established a standard screw thread which was adopted as the national standard. In 1853 Whitworth visited America as a member of a Royal Commission and reported on American industry. At the time of the Crimean War in 1854 he was asked to provide machinery for manufacturing rifles and this led him to design an improved rifle of his own. Although tests in 1857 showed this to be much superior to all others, it was not adopted by the War Office. Whitworth's experiments with small arms led on to the construction of big guns and projectiles. To improve the quality of the steel used for these guns, he subjected the molten metal to pressure during its solidification, this fluid-compressed steel being then known as "Whitworth steel".In 1868 Whitworth established thirty annual scholarships for engineering students. After his death his executors permanently endowed the Whitworth Scholarships and distributed his estate of nearly half a million pounds to various educational and charitable institutions. Whitworth was elected an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1841 and a Member in 1848 and served on its Council for many years. He was elected a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1847, the year of its foundation.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsBaronet 1869. FRS 1857. President, Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1856, 1857 and 1866. Hon. LLD Trinity College, Dublin, 1863. Hon. DCL Oxford University 1868. Member of the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers 1864. Légion d'honneur 1868. Society of Arts Albert Medal 1868.Bibliography1858, Miscellaneous Papers on Mechanical Subjects, London; 1873, Miscellaneous Papers on Practical Subjects: Guns and Steel, London (both are collections of his papers to technical societies).1854, with G.Wallis, The Industry of the United States in Machinery, Manufactures, andUseful and Ornamental Arts, London.Further ReadingF.C.Lea, 1946, A Pioneer of Mechanical Engineering: Sir Joseph Whitworth, London (a short biographical account).A.E.Musson, 1963, "Joseph Whitworth: toolmaker and manufacturer", Engineering Heritage, Vol. 1, London, 124–9 (a short biography).D.J.Jeremy (ed.), 1984–6, Dictionary of Business Biography, Vol. 5, London, 797–802 (a short biography).W.Steeds, 1969, A History of Machine Tools 1700–1910, Oxford (describes Whitworth's machine tools).RTS -
18 Stephenson, George
[br]b. 9 June 1781 Wylam, Northumberland, Englandd. 12 August 1848 Tapton House, Chesterfield, England[br]English engineer, "the father of railways".[br]George Stephenson was the son of the fireman of the pumping engine at Wylam colliery, and horses drew wagons of coal along the wooden rails of the Wylam wagonway past the house in which he was born and spent his earliest childhood. While still a child he worked as a cowherd, but soon moved to working at coal pits. At 17 years of age he showed sufficient mechanical talent to be placed in charge of a new pumping engine, and had already achieved a job more responsible than that of his father. Despite his position he was still illiterate, although he subsequently learned to read and write. He was largely self-educated.In 1801 he was appointed Brakesman of the winding engine at Black Callerton pit, with responsibility for lowering the miners safely to their work. Then, about two years later, he became Brakesman of a new winding engine erected by Robert Hawthorn at Willington Quay on the Tyne. Returning collier brigs discharged ballast into wagons and the engine drew the wagons up an inclined plane to the top of "Ballast Hill" for their contents to be tipped; this was one of the earliest applications of steam power to transport, other than experimentally.In 1804 Stephenson moved to West Moor pit, Killingworth, again as Brakesman. In 1811 he demonstrated his mechanical skill by successfully modifying a new and unsatisfactory atmospheric engine, a task that had defeated the efforts of others, to enable it to pump a drowned pit clear of water. The following year he was appointed Enginewright at Killingworth, in charge of the machinery in all the collieries of the "Grand Allies", the prominent coal-owning families of Wortley, Liddell and Bowes, with authorization also to work for others. He built many stationary engines and he closely examined locomotives of John Blenkinsop's type on the Kenton \& Coxlodge wagonway, as well as those of William Hedley at Wylam.It was in 1813 that Sir Thomas Liddell requested George Stephenson to build a steam locomotive for the Killingworth wagonway: Blucher made its first trial run on 25 July 1814 and was based on Blenkinsop's locomotives, although it lacked their rack-and-pinion drive. George Stephenson is credited with building the first locomotive both to run on edge rails and be driven by adhesion, an arrangement that has been the conventional one ever since. Yet Blucher was far from perfect and over the next few years, while other engineers ignored the steam locomotive, Stephenson built a succession of them, each an improvement on the last.During this period many lives were lost in coalmines from explosions of gas ignited by miners' lamps. By observation and experiment (sometimes at great personal risk) Stephenson invented a satisfactory safety lamp, working independently of the noted scientist Sir Humphry Davy who also invented such a lamp around the same time.In 1817 George Stephenson designed his first locomotive for an outside customer, the Kilmarnock \& Troon Railway, and in 1819 he laid out the Hetton Colliery Railway in County Durham, for which his brother Robert was Resident Engineer. This was the first railway to be worked entirely without animal traction: it used inclined planes with stationary engines, self-acting inclined planes powered by gravity, and locomotives.On 19 April 1821 Stephenson was introduced to Edward Pease, one of the main promoters of the Stockton \& Darlington Railway (S \& DR), which by coincidence received its Act of Parliament the same day. George Stephenson carried out a further survey, to improve the proposed line, and in this he was assisted by his 18-year-old son, Robert Stephenson, whom he had ensured received the theoretical education which he himself lacked. It is doubtful whether either could have succeeded without the other; together they were to make the steam railway practicable.At George Stephenson's instance, much of the S \& DR was laid with wrought-iron rails recently developed by John Birkinshaw at Bedlington Ironworks, Morpeth. These were longer than cast-iron rails and were not brittle: they made a track well suited for locomotives. In June 1823 George and Robert Stephenson, with other partners, founded a firm in Newcastle upon Tyne to build locomotives and rolling stock and to do general engineering work: after its Managing Partner, the firm was called Robert Stephenson \& Co.In 1824 the promoters of the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway (L \& MR) invited George Stephenson to resurvey their proposed line in order to reduce opposition to it. William James, a wealthy land agent who had become a visionary protagonist of a national railway network and had seen Stephenson's locomotives at Killingworth, had promoted the L \& MR with some merchants of Liverpool and had carried out the first survey; however, he overreached himself in business and, shortly after the invitation to Stephenson, became bankrupt. In his own survey, however, George Stephenson lacked the assistance of his son Robert, who had left for South America, and he delegated much of the detailed work to incompetent assistants. During a devastating Parliamentary examination in the spring of 1825, much of his survey was shown to be seriously inaccurate and the L \& MR's application for an Act of Parliament was refused. The railway's promoters discharged Stephenson and had their line surveyed yet again, by C.B. Vignoles.The Stockton \& Darlington Railway was, however, triumphantly opened in the presence of vast crowds in September 1825, with Stephenson himself driving the locomotive Locomotion, which had been built at Robert Stephenson \& Co.'s Newcastle works. Once the railway was at work, horse-drawn and gravity-powered traffic shared the line with locomotives: in 1828 Stephenson invented the horse dandy, a wagon at the back of a train in which a horse could travel over the gravity-operated stretches, instead of trotting behind.Meanwhile, in May 1826, the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway had successfully obtained its Act of Parliament. Stephenson was appointed Engineer in June, and since he and Vignoles proved incompatible the latter left early in 1827. The railway was built by Stephenson and his staff, using direct labour. A considerable controversy arose c. 1828 over the motive power to be used: the traffic anticipated was too great for horses, but the performance of the reciprocal system of cable haulage developed by Benjamin Thompson appeared in many respects superior to that of contemporary locomotives. The company instituted a prize competition for a better locomotive and the Rainhill Trials were held in October 1829.Robert Stephenson had been working on improved locomotive designs since his return from America in 1827, but it was the L \& MR's Treasurer, Henry Booth, who suggested the multi-tubular boiler to George Stephenson. This was incorporated into a locomotive built by Robert Stephenson for the trials: Rocket was entered by the three men in partnership. The other principal entrants were Novelty, entered by John Braithwaite and John Ericsson, and Sans Pareil, entered by Timothy Hackworth, but only Rocket, driven by George Stephenson, met all the organizers' demands; indeed, it far surpassed them and demonstrated the practicability of the long-distance steam railway. With the opening of the Liverpool \& Manchester Railway in 1830, the age of railways began.Stephenson was active in many aspects. He advised on the construction of the Belgian State Railway, of which the Brussels-Malines section, opened in 1835, was the first all-steam railway on the European continent. In England, proposals to link the L \& MR with the Midlands had culminated in an Act of Parliament for the Grand Junction Railway in 1833: this was to run from Warrington, which was already linked to the L \& MR, to Birmingham. George Stephenson had been in charge of the surveys, and for the railway's construction he and J.U. Rastrick were initially Principal Engineers, with Stephenson's former pupil Joseph Locke under them; by 1835 both Stephenson and Rastrick had withdrawn and Locke was Engineer-in-Chief. Stephenson remained much in demand elsewhere: he was particularly associated with the construction of the North Midland Railway (Derby to Leeds) and related lines. He was active in many other places and carried out, for instance, preliminary surveys for the Chester \& Holyhead and Newcastle \& Berwick Railways, which were important links in the lines of communication between London and, respectively, Dublin and Edinburgh.He eventually retired to Tapton House, Chesterfield, overlooking the North Midland. A man who was self-made (with great success) against colossal odds, he was ever reluctant, regrettably, to give others their due credit, although in retirement, immensely wealthy and full of honour, he was still able to mingle with people of all ranks.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsPresident, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, on its formation in 1847. Order of Leopold (Belgium) 1835. Stephenson refused both a knighthood and Fellowship of the Royal Society.Bibliography1815, jointly with Ralph Dodd, British patent no. 3,887 (locomotive drive by connecting rods directly to the wheels).1817, jointly with William Losh, British patent no. 4,067 (steam springs for locomotives, and improvements to track).Further ReadingL.T.C.Rolt, 1960, George and Robert Stephenson, Longman (the best modern biography; includes a bibliography).S.Smiles, 1874, The Lives of George and Robert Stephenson, rev. edn, London (although sycophantic, this is probably the best nineteenthcentury biography).PJGR -
19 Sickels, Frederick Ellsworth
[br]b. 20 September 1819 Gloucester County, New Jersey, USAd. 8 March 1895 Kansas City, Missouri, USA[br]American inventor of a steam-inlet cut-off valve mechanism for engines and steam steering apparatus for ships.[br]Sickels was educated in New York City, where his father was a practising physician. As he showed mechanical aptitude, at the age of 16 he joined the Harlem Railroad as a rod man, and a year later became a machinist in the Allaire Works in New York, studying physics and mechanics in his spare time. He perfected his cut-off mechanism for drop valves in 1841 and patented it the following year. The liberating mechanism allowed the valve to fall quickly onto its seat and so eliminated "wire-drawing" of the steam, and Sickels arranged a dashpot to prevent the valve hitting the seat violently. Through further improvements patented in 1843 and 1845, he gained a considerable fortune, but he subsequently lost it through fighting patent infringements because his valve gear was copied extensively.In 1846 he turned his attention to using a steam engine to assist the steering in ships. He filed a patent application in 1849 and completed a machine in 1854, but he could not find any ship owner willing to try it until 1858, when it was fitted to the August. A patent was granted in 1860, but as no American ship owners showed interest Sickels went to England, where he obtained three British patents; once again, however, he found no interest. He returned to the United States in 1867 and continued his fruitless efforts until he was financially ruined. He patented improved compound engines in 1875 and also contributed improvements in sinking pneumatic piles. He turned to civil engineering and engaged in railway and bridge construction in the west. In about 1890 he was made Consulting Engineer to the National Water Works Company of New York and in 1891 became Chief Engineer of its operations at Kansas City.[br]Further ReadingDictionary of American Biography, 1935, Vol. XVII, New York: C.Scribner's Sons. C.T.Porter, 1908, Engineering Reminiscences, reprinted 1985, Bradley, Ill.: Lindsay Publications (comments on his cut-off valve gear).H.G.Conway, 1955–6, "Some notes on the origins of mechanical servo systems", Transactions of the Newcomen Society 29 (comments on his steam steering apparatus).RLHBiographical history of technology > Sickels, Frederick Ellsworth
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20 Kirk, Alexander Carnegie
[br]b. c.1830 Barry, Angus, Scotlandd. 5 October 1892 Glasgow, Scotland[br]Scottish marine engineer, advocate of multiple-expansion in steam reciprocating engines.[br]Kirk was a son of the manse, and after attending school at Arbroath he proceeded to Edinburgh University. Following graduation he served an apprenticeship at the Vulcan Foundry, Glasgow, before serving first as Chief Draughtsman with the Thames shipbuilders and engineers Maudslay Sons \& Field, and later as Engineer of Paraffin Young's Works at Bathgate and West Calder in Lothian. He was credited with the inventions of many ingenious appliances and techniques for improving production in these two establishments. About 1866 Kirk returned to Glasgow as Manager of the Cranstonhill Engine Works, then moved to Elder's Shipyard (later known as the Fairfield Company) as Engineering Manager. There he made history in producing the world's first triple-expansion engines for the single-screw steamship Propontis in 1874. That decade was to confirm the Clyde's leading role as shipbuilders to the world and to establish the iron ship with efficient reciprocating machinery as the workhorse of the British Merchant Marine. Upon the death of the great Clyde shipbuilder Robert Napier in 1876, Kirk and others took over as partners in the shipbuilding yard and engine shops of Robert Napier \& Sons. There in 1881 they built a ship that is acknowledged as one of the masterpieces of British shipbuilding: the SS Aberdeen for George Thompson's Aberdeen Line to the Far East. In this ship the fullest advantage was taken of high steam temperatures and pressures, which were expanded progressively in a three-cylinder configuration. The Aberdeen, in its many voyages from London to China and Japan, was to prove the efficiency of these engines that had been so carefully designed in Glasgow. In the following years Dr Kirk (he has always been known as Doctor, although his honorary LLD was only awarded by Glasgow University in 1888) persuaded the Admiralty and several shipping companies to accept not only triple-expansion machinery but also the use of mild steel in ship construction. The successful SS Parisian, built for the Allan Line of Glasgow, was one of these pioneer ships.[br]Principal Honours and DistinctionsFellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.FMWBiographical history of technology > Kirk, Alexander Carnegie
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