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1 Boutheroue, Guillaume
SUBJECT AREA: Canals[br]b. Loire Valley (?), France d. 1648[br]French canal entrepreneur.[br]Nothing is known of Boutheroue's early life, but he later became Controller of the salt store at Sully-sur-Loire and in 1623 he was the Poor Rate and Tax Collector at Beaugency. Ten years later he was described as "King's Counsellor". In 1638, jointly with his brother-in-law Jacques Guyon, he obtained letters patent from Louis XIII authorizing them to complete the Canal de Briare, which was commenced by Cosnier to connect the Loire and the Seine but was abandoned on the death of Henri IV. In anticipation of their proposed work they were granted full proprietary rights in the canal, subject to holding the canal in fief from the king, and were ennobled. In order to raise the necessary funds they were allowed to bring in others as shareholders; a partnership was formed and included Boutheroue's brother François. After many difficulties largely stirred up by the riparian owners, the 37-mile (60 km) canal was completed and opened to navigation in 1642. Another brother, Hector, also worked on the canal and later, in 1655, directed the navigation works on the Lot.JHB -
2 Cosnier, Hugues
[br]b. Angers (?) or Tours (?), Franced. between July 1629 and March 1630[br]French engineer.[br]Cosnier was probably an Angevin as he had property in Tours although he lived in Paris; his father was valet de chambre to King Henri IV. Although he qualified as an engineer, he was primarily a man of ideas. On 23 December 1603 he obtained a grant to establish silkworm breeding, or sericulture, in Poitou by introducing 100,000 mulberry plants, together with 200 oz (5.7 kg) of mulberry seed. He had 2,000 instruction leaflets on silkworm breeding printed, but his project collapsed when the Poitevins refused to co-operate. Cosnier then distributed the plants and seeds to other parts of France. The same year he approached Henri IV with the proposal to build a canal from the Loire to the Seine, partly via the Loing, from Briare to Montargis. On the king's acceptance of his proposal, Cosnier on 11 March 1604 undertook to complete the canal, which necessitated crossing the ridge between the two rivers, over a three-year period for 505,000 livres. The Canal de Briare, as it became known, with thirty-six locks including the flight of seven at Rogny, was almost complete in 1610; however, the death of Henri IV led to its abandonment. Cosnier offered to complete it at his own expense, but his offer was refused. Instead, his accounts were examined and it was found that he had already exceeded his authorized credits by 35,000 livres. In settlement, after some quibbling, he was awarded the two seigneuries of Trousse near Briare. Cosnier then suggested encircling the Paris suburbs with a canal which would not only be navigable but would also provide a water supply for fountains and drains. His proposal was accepted in 1618, but the works were never started. In the 1620s the marquis d'Effiet proposed the completion of the Canal de Briare and Cosnier was invited to resume work. Before anything more could be done Cosnier died, some time between July 1629 and March 1630, and the work was again abandoned. The canal was ultimately completed by Boutheroue in 1642, but the seven locks at Rogny remain a dramatic monument to Cosnier's ability.[br]Further ReadingP.Pinsseau, 1943, Le Canal Henri IV ou Canal de Briare, Paris. G.Fagniez, 1897, L'Economie sociale de la France sous Henri IV, Paris.JHB -
3 Chapelon, André
[br]b. 26 October 1892 Saint-Paul-en-Cornillon, Loire, Franced. 29 June 1978 Paris, France[br]French locomotive engineer who developed high-performance steam locomotives.[br]Chapelon's technical education at the Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, Paris, was interrupted by extended military service during the First World War. From experience of observing artillery from the basket of a captive balloon, he developed a method of artillery fire control which was more accurate than that in use and which was adopted by the French army.In 1925 he joined the motive-power and rolling-stock department of the Paris-Orléans Railway under Chief Mechanical Engineer Maurice Lacoin and was given the task of improving the performance of its main-line 4–6–2 locomotives, most of them compounds. He had already made an intensive study of steam locomotive design and in 1926 introduced his Kylchap exhaust system, based in part on the earlier work of the Finnish engineer Kyläla. Chapelon improved the entrainment of the hot gases in the smokebox by the exhaust steam and so minimized back pressure in the cylinders, increasing the power of a locomotive substantially. He also greatly increased the cross-sectional area of steam passages, used poppet valves instead of piston valves and increased superheating of steam. PO (Paris-Orléans) 4–6–2s rebuilt on these principles from 1929 onwards proved able to haul 800-ton trains, in place of the previous 500-ton trains, and to do so to accelerated schedules with reduced coal consumption. Commencing in 1932, some were converted, at the time of rebuilding, into 4–8–0s to increase adhesive weight for hauling heavy trains over the steeply graded Paris-Toulouse line.Chapelon's principles were quickly adopted on other French railways and elsewhere.H.N. Gresley was particularly influenced by them. After formation of the French National Railways (SNCF) in 1938, Chapelon produced in 1941 a prototype rebuilt PO 2–10–0 freight locomotive as a six-cylinder compound, with four low-pressure cylinders to maximize expansive use of steam and with all cylinders steam-jacketed to minimize heat loss by condensation and radiation. War conditions delayed extended testing until 1948–52. Meanwhile Chapelon had, by rebuilding, produced in 1946 a high-powered, three-cylinder, compound 4–8–4 intended as a stage in development of a proposed range of powerful and thermally efficient steam locomotives for the postwar SNCF: a high-speed 4–6–4 in this range was to run at sustained speeds of 125 mph (200 km/h). However, plans for improved steam locomotives were then overtaken in France by electriflcation and dieselization, though the performance of the 4–8–4, which produced 4,000 hp (3,000 kW) at the drawbar for the first time in Europe, prompted modification of electric locomotives, already on order, to increase their power.Chapelon retired from the SNCF in 1953, but continued to act as a consultant. His principles were incorporated into steam locomotives built in France for export to South America, and even after the energy crisis of 1973 he was consulted on projects to build improved, high-powered steam locomotives for countries with reserves of cheap coal. The eventual fall in oil prices brought these to an end.[br]Bibliography1938, La Locomotive à vapeur, Paris: J.B.Bailière (a comprehensive summary of contemporary knowledge of every function of the locomotive).Further ReadingH.C.B.Rogers, 1972, Chapelon, Genius of French Steam, Shepperton: Ian Allan.1986, "André Chapelon, locomotive engineer: a survey of his work", Transactions of the Newcomen Society 58 (a symposium on Chapelon's work).Obituary, 1978, Railway Engineer (September/October) (makes reference to the technical significance of Chapelon's work).PJGR -
4 Lartigue, Charles François Marie-Thérèse
[br]b. 1834 Toulouse, France d. 1907[br]French engineer and businessman, inventor of the Lartigue monorail.[br]Lartigue worked as a civil engineer in Algeria and while there invented a simple monorail for industrial or agricultural use. It comprised a single rail carried on trestles; vehicles comprised a single wheel with two tubs suspended either side, like panniers. These were pushed or pulled by hand or, occasionally, hauled by mule. Such lines were used in Algerian esparto-grass plantations.In 1882 he patented a monorail system based on this arrangement, with important improvements: traction was to be mechanical; vehicles were to have two or four wheels and to be able to be coupled together; and the trestles were to have, on each side, a light guide rail upon which horizontal rollers beneath the vehicles would bear. Early in 1883 the Lartigue Railway Construction Company was formed in London and two experimental prototype monorails were subsequently demonstrated in public. One, at the Paris Agricultural Exhibition, had an electric locomotive that was built in two parts, one either side of the rail to maintain balance, hauling small wagons. The other prototype, in London, had a small, steam locomotive with two vertical boilers and was designed by Anatole Mallet. By now Lartigue had become associated with F.B. Behr. Behr was Managing Director of the construction company and of the Listowel \& Ballybunion Railway Company, which obtained an Act of Parliament in 1886 to built a Lartigue monorail railway in the South West of Ireland between those two places. Its further development and successful operation are described in the article on Behr in this volume.A much less successful attempt to establish a Lartigue monorail railway took place in France, in the départment of Loire. In 1888 the council of the département agreed to a proposal put forward by Lartigue for a 10 1/2 mile (17 km) long monorail between the towns of Feurs and Panissières: the agreement was reached on the casting vote of the Chairman, a contact of Lartigue. A concession was granted to successive companies with which Lartigue was closely involved, but construction of the line was attended by muddle, delay and perhaps fraud, although it was completed sufficiently for trial trains to operate. The locomotive had two horizontal boilers, one either side of the track. But the inspectors of the department found deficiencies in the completeness and probable safety of the railway; when they did eventually agree to opening on a limited scale, the company claimed to have insufficient funds to do so unless monies owed by the department were paid. In the end the concession was forfeited and the line dismantled. More successful was an electrically operated Lartigue mineral line built at mines in the eastern Pyrenees.It appears to have reused equipment from the electric demonstration line, with modifications, and included gradients as steep as 1 in 12. There was no generating station: descending trains generated the electricity to power ascending ones. This line is said to have operated for at least two years.[br]Bibliography1882, French patent no. 149,301 (monorail system). 1882, British patent no. 2,764 (monorail system).Further ReadingD.G.Tucker, 1984, "F.B.Behr's development of the Lartigue monorail", Transactions of the Newcomen Society 55 (describes Lartigue and his work).P.H.Chauffort and J.-L.Largier, 1981, "Le monorail de Feurs à Panissières", Chemin defer régionaux et urbains (magazine of the Fédération des Amis des Chemins de FerSecondaires) 164 (in French; describes Lartigue and his work).PJGRBiographical history of technology > Lartigue, Charles François Marie-Thérèse
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5 Papin, Denis
SUBJECT AREA: Domestic appliances and interiors[br]b. 22 August 1647 Blois, Loire et Cher, Franced. 1712 London, England[br]French mathematician and physicist, inventor of the pressure-cooker.[br]Largely educated by his father, he worked for some time for Huygens at Ley den, then for a time in London where he assisted Robert Boyle with his experiments on the air pump. He supposedly invented the double-acting air pump. He travelled to Venice and worked there for a time, but was back in London in 1684 before taking up the position of Professor of Mathematics at the University of Marburg (in 1669 or 1670 he became a Doctor of Medicine at Angers), where he remained from 1687 to 1695. Then followed a period at Cassel, where he was employed by the Duke of Hesse. In this capacity he was much involved in the application of steam-power to pumping water for the Duke's garden fountains. Papin finally returned to London in 1707. He is best known for his "digester", none other than the domestic pressure-cooker. John Evelyn describes it in his diary (12 April 1682): "I went this Afternoone to a Supper, with severall of the R.Society, which was all dressed (both fish and flesh) in Monsieur Papins Digestorie; by which the hardest bones of Biefe itself, \& Mutton, were without water, or other liquor, \& with less than 8 ounces of Coales made as soft as Cheeze, produc'd an incredible quantity of Gravie…. This Philosophical Supper raised much mirth among us, \& exceedingly pleased all the Companie." The pressure-cooker depends on the increase in the boiling point of water with increase of pressure. To avoid the risk of the vessel exploding, Papin devised a weight-loaded lever-type safety valve.There are those who would claim that Papin preceded Newcomen as the true inventor of the steam engine. There is no doubt that as early as 1690 Papin had the idea of an atmospheric engine, in which a piston in a cylinder is forced upwards by expanding steam and then returned by the weight of the atmosphere upon the piston, but he lacked practical engineering skill such as was necessary to put theory into practice. The story is told of his last trip from Cassel, when returning to England. It is said that he built his own steamboat, intending to make the whole journey by this means, ending with a triumphal journey up the Thames. However, boatmen on the river Weser, thinking that the steamboat threatened their livelihood, attacked it and broke it up. Papin had to travel by more orthodox means. Papin is said to have co-operated with Thomas Savery in the development of the lat-ter's steam engine, on which he was working c. 1705.[br]Further ReadingCharles-Armand Klein, 1987, Denis Papin: Illustre savant blaisois, Chambray, France: CLD.A.P.M.Fleming and H.R.S.Brocklehurst, 1925, A History of Engineering.Sigvar Strandh, 1979, Machines, Mitchell Beazley.IMcN
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