A grader , also commonly referred to as a road grader , motor grader , or simply blade , is a form of heavy equipment with a long blade used to create a flat surface during grading . Although the earliest models were towed behind horses, and later tractors , most modern graders are self-propelled and thus technically "motor graders".
82-614: The Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation ( WABCO ) was an American company founded on September 28, 1869 by George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . Earlier in the year he had invented the railway air brake in New York state. After having manufactured equipment in Pittsburgh for a number of years, he began to construct facilities and plants east of the city where homes for his employees were built. In 1889,
164-463: A ripper , scarifier , or compactor . A blade forward of the front axle may also be added. For snowplowing and some dirt grading operations, a main blade extension can also be mounted. Capacities range from a blade width of 2.50 to 7.30 m (8 to 24 ft) and engines from 93–373 kW (125–500 hp ). Certain graders can operate multiple attachments, or be designed for specialized tasks like underground mining. In civil engineering "rough grading"
246-499: A 1.5-MW 1200 rpm unit for the Hartford Electric Light Company . Westinghouse also developed steam turbines for maritime propulsion. The basic problem was that large turbines ran most efficiently at around 3000 rpm, while an efficient propeller operated only at about 100 rpm. This required reduction gearing, but designing reduction gearing that could operate at both high rpm and at high power
328-560: A barely competitive DC lighting system just different enough to get around Edison’s patents. In 1885 Westinghouse imported several Gaulard–Gibbs transformers and a Siemens AC generator , to begin experimenting with AC networks in Pittsburgh . Stanley, assisted by engineers Albert Schmid and Oliver B. Shallenberger , dramatically improved the Gaulard–Gibbs transformer design, creating the first practical and manufacturable transformer. In 1886, with Westinghouse's backing, Stanley installed
410-405: A better way to mine and extract copper from "lean" ores that were not particularly rich in the metal. Success is this venture would have helped him compete in the electrical businesses that used much copper. He was unsuccessful in this project: no new copper reduction process was found and the mine was not profitable. He had founded the town of Duquesne to use as his company headquarters; it is now
492-559: A building to electrical exhibits. It was a key event in the history of AC power, as Westinghouse demonstrated the safety, reliability, and efficiency of a fully integrated alternating current system to the American public. Westinghouse's demonstration of their ability to build a complete AC system at the Columbian Exposition was instrumental in the company getting the contract for building a two-phase AC generating system,
574-501: A compressed air system. His first braking system used an air compressor and an air reservoir in the locomotive, with a single compressed air pipe running the length of the train and with flexible connections between cars. That line controlled the brakes, allowing the engineer to apply and release the brakes simultaneously on all cars. A charter for what would eventually become the Westinghouse Air Brake Company
656-472: A deployed system capable of transmitting electricity for many miles near London, Turin, and Rome. They had found that AC electricity could be "stepped up" in voltage by a transformer for transmission and then "stepped down" by another transformer for lower voltage consumer use. This innovation made it possible for large, centralized power plants to generate electricity and supply it over long distances to both cities and places with more dispersed populations. This
738-456: A ghost town. Duquesne grew to over 1,000 residents and the mine reached its peak production in the mid-1910s. Westinghouse also began to work on heat pumps that could provide heating and cooling. When Westinghouse claimed he was after a perpetual motion machine , the British physicist William Thomson ( Lord Kelvin ), one of his many correspondents, told him that such a machine would violate
820-567: A hydroelectric AC power plant, the Ames Hydroelectric Generating Plant near Ophir, Colorado which supplied AC power to the Gold King Mine 3.5 miles away. This was the first successful demonstration of long-distance transmission of industrial-grade alternating current power and utilized two 100 hp Westinghouse alternators, one working as a generator producing 3,000-volt, 133-Hertz, single-phase AC, and
902-478: A lot of attention, in part because of a spectacular flaming blowout of the Haymaker Well in 1878. After visiting the well and recognizing its commercial potential, he undertook drilling for gas on his estate Solitude (today's Westinghouse Park ) in Pittsburgh. Early in the morning of May 21, 1884, the drilling crew struck a pocket of gas at a depth of 1500 feet, and the resulting blast of dirt and water blew
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#1732783524357984-844: A promotion to the rank of corporal before being honorably discharged in November 1863. A month later he joined the Union Navy. He served as an Acting Third Assistant Engineer on the gunboat USS Muscoota and then on the ship USS Stars and Stripes through the end of the war. These ships were used to blockade Southern port cities. After his discharge in August 1865, Westinghouse returned to his family and enrolled at Union College in Schenectady, but he quickly lost interest and dropped out during his first term. He further developed his skills in his father's company shop. Westinghouse
1066-450: A range of innovative products, including scrapers , cranes and bulldozers until 1967, when it shortened its name to "Wabco". In 1968 American Standard purchased Wabco. WABCO's direct successor companies include WABCO Vehicle Control Systems , a commercial vehicle air brake manufacturer now owned by ZF Friedrichshafen ; and Wabtec , a railway equipment manufacturer, which have been owned and operated independently of each other since
1148-609: A spreading public perception that the high voltages used in AC distribution were unsafe and deadly. Edison even suggested that a Westinghouse AC generator should be used in the State of New York's new electric chair . Westinghouse also had to deal with another AC rival, the Thomson-Houston Electric Company , which had constructed 22 power stations by the end of 1887 and by 1889 it had acquired another competitor,
1230-561: A train, and they married in August of that year. They were married for 47 years, and had one son, George Westinghouse III, who in turn had six children. From 1871, George and Marguerite Westinghouse maintained a large home in Pittsburgh called Solitude, building up from an existing house on land purchased by George in 1871. They were part of a social class of very rich local industrialists and money managers including neighbors and associates Henry Clay Frick , Henry J. Heinz , William Thaw , Andrew Mellon , and Richard Beatty Mellon , and
1312-464: A train. To remedy that condition, George Westinghouse invented the quick-action triple valve in 1887. This triple valve system was tested by George Westinghouse on the CB&;Q West Burlington hill (Iowa) during 1887. It automatically vents air from the brake pipe locally on each car, which applies the brakes more quickly. For the air brake to be employed on electric railways, an air compressor that
1394-517: A while. In 1891, Westinghouse's company was in trouble. The near collapse of Barings Bank in London triggered the financial panic of 1890 , causing investors to call in their loans. The sudden cash shortage forced the company to refinance its debts. The new lead lenders demanded that Westinghouse cut back on what looked to them like his excessive spending on the acquisition of other companies, research, and patents. Also in 1891, Westinghouse built
1476-576: Is a machine pulled by horses used for constructing canals and ditches in sandy soil. The design of the Fresno Scraper forms the basis of most modern earthmoving scrapers, having the ability to scrape and move a quantity of soil, and also to discharge it at a controlled depth, thus quadrupling the volume which could be handled manually. The Fresno scraper was invented in 1883 by James Porteous. Working with farmers in Fresno, California, he had recognised
1558-403: Is best known for his creation of the railway air brake and for being a pioneer in the development and use of alternating current (AC) electrical power distribution . During his career, he received 362 patents for his inventions and established 61 companies, many of which still exist today. His invention of a train braking system using compressed air revolutionized the railroad industry around
1640-632: Is headquartered in Bern , Switzerland. WABCO Holdings was floated in a 2007 initial public offering by American Standard , WABCO's owners for 30 years. On 28 March 2019, it was announced that WABCO Holdings was to be bought by ZF Friedrichshafen for $ 7 billion US dollars, with the transaction completed in 2020. The United States Department of Justice stipulated that WABCO's North American heavy-vehicle steering components business (chiefly R.H. Sheppard Company, as acquired in 2017), had to be sold in order to preserve competition in this field. The first form of
1722-412: Is maintained in the train pipe and in the auxiliary air cylinders. To apply the brakes to all of the cars at about the same time, pressure is released from the train pipe, causing the triple valve on each car to apply the brakes. To release the brakes on each car, pressure is increased in the train pipe until an excess pressure above that of the pressure in each auxiliary cylinder is reached, which throws
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#17327835243571804-401: Is performed by heavy equipment such as wheel tractor-scrapers and bulldozers . Graders are used to "finish grade", with the angle, tilt (or pitch), and height of their blade capable of being adjusted to a high level of precision. Graders are commonly used in the construction and maintenance of dirt and gravel roads. In constructing paved roads , they prepare a wide flat base course for
1886-581: Is powered by electricity is required. Powerful electric locomotives were produced by the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company and by other companies. In the 1930s, the company developed a wheel slide protection system called Decelostat that worked with its air brake. George Westinghouse George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was a prolific American inventor , engineer , and entrepreneurial industrialist based in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . He
1968-541: The Adams Power Plant , at Niagara Falls, NY, in 1895. The company was subcontracted to build ten 5,000 horsepower (3,700 kW) 25 Hz AC generators at this plant. Westinghouse's Niagara Power Station No. 1, as it was then called, remained in operation in the Niagara transformer house until the plant closed in 1961. At the same time, a contract to build the three-phase AC distribution system
2050-591: The Brush Electric Company . Thomson-Houston was expanding its business while trying to avoid patent conflicts with Westinghouse, arranging deals such as agreements over lighting company territory, paying royalties to use the Stanley transformer patent, and allowing Westinghouse to use its Sawyer–Man incandescent bulb patent. In 1890, the Edison company, in collusion with Thomson-Houston, arranged for
2132-651: The Grand Army of the Republic , a fraternal organization of Union Civil War veterans, held a week-long convention in Pittsburgh. George Westinghouse, being a veteran himself, hosted an evening of dinner and entertainment for more than 5,000 attendees at the newly constructed, but not yet active main buildings of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in East Pittsburgh. He took on
2214-691: The Haulpak truck range, were re-branded by Dresser and continued to trade. In 1988 Dresser entered into a joint-venture with Komatsu Ltd and the truck range continued to be manufactured. The company has two 21st century successors, which are independent of each other. One, which continues to design and manufacture railway air brakes in Wilmerding , Pennsylvania, merged with locomotive manufacturer MotivePower to form Wabtec . The other, now known as WABCO Holdings , designs and manufactures control systems for commercial road vehicles, including air brakes, and
2296-568: The Pennsylvania Railroad and its mainly blue-collar inhabitants. In the 1890s, the Air Brake Company employed 3,000 citizens from the surrounding Pittsburgh area, but the bulk of its workforce consisted of the firm's employees lived in the vicinity of Wilmerding. Wilmerding developed rapidly around this new and growing company, and the town soon became known for this industry. A little under one third of its population
2378-637: The Rankine Generating Station , also known as The Canadian Niagara Power Generating Station, the Canadians contracted with Westinghouse for eleven 25 Hertz generators of the same Tesla-inspired design, rated for a total generating capacity of 100 MW. That facility opened in 1905 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Despite continuing success in his other businesses, Westinghouse's main interest shifted to electric power. At
2460-418: The "Westinghouse Electric Corporation". The Westinghouse company installed thirty more AC-lighting systems within a year, and by the end of 1887 it had 68 alternating current power stations compared to 121 DC-based stations Edison had installed over seven years. This competition with Edison led, in the late 1880s, to what became known as the " war of currents ". Thomas Edison and his company joined and promoted
2542-478: The British engineer Charles Algernon Parsons began experimenting with steam turbines , starting with a 10-horsepower (7.5 kW) turbine. In 1895, Westinghouse bought rights to the Parsons turbine, and his engineers improved its technology and increased its scale. In 1898, Westinghouse demonstrated a 300-kilowatt generating unit, replacing reciprocating engines in his air-brake factory. The next year, he installed
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2624-603: The Edison patent design. By the beginning of 1893, Westinghouse engineer Benjamin Lamme had made great progress in developing an efficient version of Tesla's induction motor. In that work he was aided by his sister and fellow Westinghouse engineer Bertha Lamme Feicht . Westinghouse Electric started branding their complete polyphase AC system as the "Tesla Polyphase System", announcing Tesla's patents gave them patent priority over other AC systems and stating their intention to sue any patent infringers. This World's Fair devoted
2706-827: The Westinghouse Company workshop. The company produced farm equipment such as the Westinghouse Farm Engine . At the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, the then 14-year-old attempted to run away from home to enlist, but was stopped by his father. In June 1863 his parents allowed him to enlist, first in the 12th Regiment of the New York National Guard and then in the 16th Regiment of the New York Cavalry. He earned
2788-719: The Westinghouses leased and then in 1901 purchased the Blaine House mansion in Washington D.C. Marguerite Westinghouse was reputed to host frequent and lavish entertainments there. In 1918, his former Pittsburgh home, Solitude, was razed and the land given to the City of Pittsburgh to establish Westinghouse Park . The house in Erskine Park was sold by the family in 1917 and subsequently demolished. Earlier in 1894,
2870-621: The aftermath of a collision where engineers on two trains, approaching each other on the same track, had seen each other but were unable to stop their trains in time due to the existing brake systems. At that time, brakemen had to run along catwalks on the top of the cars, manually applying the brakes. Coordinating that process was tricky and dangerous. It also meant trains could not exceed ten cars in length, and thousands of brakemen died or were maimed each year. In 1869, at age 23, Westinghouse first publicly demonstrated his revolutionary new railroad braking system in Pittsburgh. It stopped trains using
2952-436: The air brake consisted of an air pump, a main reservoir ( pressure vessel ), and an engineer's valve on the locomotive, and of a train pipe and brake cylinder on each car. One problem with this first form of the air brake was that braking was applied to the first cars in a train much sooner than to the rear cars, resulting in shocks and damages when the rear cars bunted against the cars ahead of them. The main objection, however,
3034-438: The air brake manufacturing facility was moved to Wilmerding, Pennsylvania , and the company's general office building was built there in 1890. In 1921 the company began manufacturing a modified air brake system for installation in trucks and heavy vehicles. In 1953 WABCO entered the heavy equipment marketplace, buying the assets of leading equipment designer R.G LeTourneau. An entity known as "LeTourneau-Westinghouse" sold
3116-977: The angle and cant of the front wheels. Many models also allow frame articulation between the front and rear axles, which allows a smaller turning radius in addition to allowing the operator to adjust the articulation angle to aid in the efficiency of moving material. Other implement functions are typically hydraulically powered and can be directly controlled by levers , or by joystick inputs or electronic switches controlling electrohydraulic servo valves . Graders are also outfitted with modern digital grade control technologies, such as those manufactured by Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc. , Trimble Navigation , Leica Geosystems , or Mikrofyn. These may combine both laser and GPS guidance to establish precise grade control and (potentially) "stateless" construction. Manufacturers such as John Deere have also begun to integrate these technologies during construction. Early graders were drawn by humans and draft animals . The Fresno Scraper
3198-469: The brothers Andrew Carnegie and Thomas Carnegie . Their guests included Nicola Tesla , Lord Kelvin , and congressman (and future president) William McKinley . By 1893, they had constructed Erskine Park in Lenox, Massachusetts , which they used as a summer home, in part as a respite from the gritty industrial environment of Pittsburgh. It was named for the family of Marguerite's grandparents. In 1898,
3280-549: The class which they belonged to, with their class being determined by the amount of money they made per month. Their contribution ranged from fifty cents to $ 1.50, which in turn (in case of disability) would pay out benefits for thirty-nine consecutive weeks. According to Wilmerding News during this time, about 76% of WA&B's employees held a plan membership with the company. The Westinghouse Air Brake company continued producing products in Wilmerding, with various managers over
3362-556: The company instituted new policies for its employees. For example, in 1869, it was one of the first companies to institute a 9-hour work day and a 55-hour work week, at a time when typical working days spanned between 10 and 12 hours (and sometimes more), and where a 60-hour work week was only considered moderate. WA&B also got the reputation for being the first industry in America to adopt half holidays on Saturday afternoons. Various benefit options were also instituted in order to improve
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3444-637: The dependence of the Central San Joaquin Valley on irrigation, and the need for a more efficient means of constructing canals and ditches in the sandy soil. In perfecting the design of his machine, Porteous made several revisions on his own and also traded ideas with William Deidrick, Frank Dusy, and Abijah McCall, who invented and held patents on similar scrapers. The era of motorization by traction engines , steam tractors , motor trucks , and tractors saw such towed graders grow in size and productivity. The first self-propelled grader
3526-407: The dignity of man and part of his intellectual property. Westinghouse, unlike Edison, did not put his name on all company patents as co-inventor. Westinghouse was not in favor of labor unionization. He did not reject workers who belonged to a union, but he did not like collective bargaining arrangements where his workers might strike for issues not related to conditions at his own factories. There
3608-413: The early 1880s, Westinghouse's interest in railroad switching and natural gas distribution led him to become involve in the then-new field of electrical power distribution. Electric lighting of streets using arc lighting was already a growing business with many companies building systems powered by either locally generated direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC). At the same time, Thomas Edison
3690-435: The expenses of the necessary building preparations and all the expenses of transporting people to and from the site by rail. Grader Typical graders have three axles , with the steering wheels in front, followed by the grading blade or mouldboard, then a cab and engine atop tandem rear axles. Some graders also have front-wheel drives for improved performance. Some graders have optional rear attachments, such as
3772-424: The final road surface . Graders are also used to set native soil or gravel foundation pads to finish grade before the construction of large buildings. Graders can produce canted surfaces for drainage or safety. They may be used to produce drainage ditches with shallow V-shaped cross-sections on either side of highways. Steering is performed via a steering wheel , or a joystick capable of controlling both
3854-449: The first electric chair to be powered with a Westinghouse AC generator. Westinghouse tried to block this move by hiring the best lawyer of the day to (unsuccessfully) defend William Kemmler , the first man scheduled to die in the chair. The War of Currents ended in 1892 when financier J. P. Morgan forced Edison General Electric to switch to AC power and then pushed Edison out of the company he had founded. Edison General Electric company
3936-468: The first multiple-voltage AC power system in Great Barrington, Massachusetts . The demonstration lighting system was driven by a hydroelectric generator that produced 500 volts AC, which was then stepped down to 100 volts to light incandescent bulbs in homes and businesses. That same year, Westinghouse founded the " Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company "; in 1889 he renamed it
4018-683: The first rubber-tire self-propelled grader, the Caterpillar Auto Patrol, released in 1931. In addition to their use in road construction, graders may also be used to perform roughly equivalent work. In some locales such as Northern Europe , Canada , and places in the United States , graders are often used in municipal and residential snow removal . In scrubland and grassland areas of Australia and Africa , graders are often an essential piece of equipment on ranches , large farms , and plantations to make dirt tracks where
4100-433: The laws of thermodynamics . Westinghouse replied that might be the case, but it made no difference. If he couldn't build a perpetual motion machine, he would still have a heat pump system that he could patent and sell. After the broader introduction of the automobile , Westinghouse invented a compressed air shock absorber for their suspension systems. The shock absorber was the last of the 362 patents he received, and it
4182-400: The lines kept the brakes disengaged. An air reservoir was also placed on each car. With the improved design, any interruption or break in the line automatically caused the train to stop. During the next decade, building on his earliest inventions, Westinghouse expanded his interest to railway signaling and track-switching systems. Previously, signaling relied on oil lamps and track switching
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#17327835243574264-452: The local Y.M.C.A, to obtain better workers. Additionally, WA&B catered to its workers who lost their ability to work, by providing an early form of a disability insurance plan. To insure a certain income to employees who might have been unfit for work because of illness or injury, an ordered sum would be paid to the beneficiary. Any employee under 50 was eligible for membership after a physical examination. The members contributed according to
4346-511: The mid-twentieth century. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company was established by George Westinghouse in 1869. In 1889, the Air Brake plant was moved to Wilmerding, Pennsylvania , a small farming town located 14 miles (23 km) outside of Pittsburgh. At the time, was only inhabited by about 5,000 people. Socialism was strong in Wilmerding, and it was thought to be “The Ideal Town” for the company because of its location immediately adjacent to
4428-497: The next three years, he developed devices and secured more than 30 patents for this technology. He used the Philadelphia Company to develop gas wells and to promote gas usage both for commercial and residential purposes. By 1886, the Philadelphia Company owned 58 wells and 184 miles of distribution piping in the Pittsburgh area, and by 1887, it served over 12,000 private homes and 582 industrial customers throughout
4510-490: The non-busy season, half routinely found themselves unemployed. This was not surprising, given that Wilmerding was a one-industry town, and thus unprofitable periods translated directly into a lower standard of living in the area. In the early 1900s, the Westinghouse Company built houses on a tract of land that it had purchased. In turn, it then sold those homes to its workers at an economical price. The company also offered educational and cultural activities, usually run through
4592-533: The other used as an AC motor. In May 1892, Westinghouse Electric won the bid to power and illuminate the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago with alternating current, substantially underbidding General Electric to get the contract. To meet the contract's demands, he had to quickly develop a new type of incandescent lightbulb based on the Sawyer–Man patent he had obtained, ensuring it did not infringe on
4674-409: The outset, the available generating sources were hydro turbines where falling water was available, and reciprocating steam engines where it was not. Westinghouse felt that existing reciprocating steam engines were clumsy and inefficient, and he wanted to develop rotating engines that would be more elegant. His first patent had been a rotary steam engine, but it proved impractical at the time. In 1884,
4756-531: The potential of using alternating current (AC) for electric power distribution. In 1886, he founded the Westinghouse Electric Corporation . Westinghouse's electric business directly competed with Thomas Edison 's, who was promoting direct current (DC) electricity. Westinghouse Electric won the contract to showcase its AC system to illuminate the "White City" at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The company went on to install
4838-429: The project needed was awarded to General Electric. The early to mid-1890s saw General Electric, backed by financier J. P. Morgan , engaged in costly takeover attempts and patent battles with Westinghouse Electric. The competition was so costly that in 1896 a patent-sharing agreement was signed between the two companies. The agreement stayed in effect until 1911. Following the success of the first Niagara Falls plant,
4920-427: The rights to inventor Nikola Tesla 's brushless AC induction motor along with patents for a new type of electric power distribution, polyphase alternating current. The acquisition of a feasible AC motor gave Westinghouse a key patented element for his system, but the financial strain of buying up patents and hiring the engineers needed to build it meant that the development of Tesla's motor had to be put on hold for
5002-507: The son of Emeline (Vedder) and George Westinghouse Sr., a farmer and machine shop owner. The Westinghouse ancestors came from Westphalia in Germany, moving first to England and eventually emigrating to the US. The family name had been anglicized from Westinghausen. From his youth, Westinghouse displayed a talent for machinery and business. He was encouraged by his father and was assigned tasks in
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#17327835243575084-490: The state. In 1889, as his involvement with the generation and distribution of electricity was surging, Westinghouse resigned as president of the Philadelphia Company, but he remained on its board. Growth in the natural gas business slowed in the 1890s, hindered by supply problems and ongoing safety concerns related to gas distribution in homes and businesses. However, the Philadelphia Company continued to grow, spawning enterprises such as Equitable Gas and Duquesne Light . In
5166-494: The time, especially in contrast to the conditions endured by workers in the nearby steel mills. Westinghouse was broadly admired by his workers. Privately, they referred to him as "the Old Man". An indication of his progressive attitude was that when Westinghouse engineers invented things, they were allowed to keep their names on the patents, though assigning rights to use them to the company. Westinghouse viewed this as part of
5248-461: The top off the derrick. It took Westinghouse a week to devise a method to cap the flow of gas. He was encouraged to develop a system to deliver gas to heat and light area homes and businesses. Eventually, several natural gas derricks towered above his estate's Victorian-era gardens. In modern times there is no above-ground trace left of these derricks. That year, Westinghouse acquired a dormant utility charter for "The Philadelphia Company", and over
5330-403: The triple valve so as to close the inlet to the brake cylinder and open the inlet to the auxiliary reservoir from the train pipe, thus allowing the equilibrium of the two pressures to be reached. Although the plain automatic air brake was a great improvement over the straight air brake, in an emergency the system still applied the brakes to the last cars in a train later than to the first cars in
5412-399: The working and living conditions of the firm's employees. The Air Brake plant prospered, and the surrounding community thrived alongside it. By 1905, over two million freight, passenger, mail, baggage, and express cars and 89,000 locomotives were equipped with Westinghouse Air Brakes. However, business was seasonally variable, and there were dips as well. Wilmerding men complained that, during
5494-567: The world's first large-scale, AC power generation plant at Niagara Falls, New York, which opened in August 1895. Ironically, among many other honors, Westinghouse received the 1911 Edison Medal of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers "for meritorious achievement in connection with the development of the alternating current system". George Westinghouse was born in 1846 in the village of Central Bridge, New York (see George Westinghouse Jr. Birthplace and Boyhood Home ),
5576-442: The world. He founded the Westinghouse Air Brake Company in 1869. He and his engineers also developed track-switching and signaling systems, which lead to the founding of the company Union Switch & Signal in 1881. In the early 1880s, he developed inventions for the safe production, transmission, and use of natural gas. This sparked the creation of a whole new energy industry. During this same period, Westinghouse recognized
5658-745: The years. However, with the shedding of Pittsburgh's industrial past, the company had become proportionally less important. In 1930 Westinghouse Automotive Air Brake Company merged with Bendix Corporation to form the Bendix-Westinghouse Automotive Air Brake Company. Between 1967 and 1983 Wabco competed, initially successfully, for market share in the heavy equipment marketplace. In 1984 its full range, including motor graders , off-highway trucks , dump trucks and motor scrapers , plus its manufacturing facilities, were sold to Dresser Industries . The only performing segment of its construction and mining division,
5740-409: Was a huge advantage over the low voltage DC systems being marketed by Edison ’s electric utility, which limited generating stations to a transmission range of about a mile due to losses cause by the low voltages and high currents used. Westinghouse recognized AC's potential to achieve greater economies of scale as a way to create a truly competitive electrical system, instead of simply piecing together
5822-692: Was also the headquarters of several companies, particularly Westinghouse Air Brake . Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing was located a mile further down the Turtle Creek valley east of Pittsburgh. The worker houses were outfitted with running water, electricity, gas, and often space for small gardens. Homeownership was facilitated through periodic salary deductions. There was a pension and an insurance system. Factories were well-lit, ventilated, and were outfitted with medical facilities and personnel for treating injuries. All these accommodations, at Westinghouse's expense, were considered highly innovative at
5904-560: Was awarded posthumously, four years after his death. Westinghouse was the first industrial employer in the United States to give workers a five-and-a half day work week, starting in June 1881. Saturdays were made half holidays to promote community involvement and personal development. Westinghouse had observed the practice while visiting England. The planned community of Wilmerding , PA was home to many Westinghouse employees, and it
5986-539: Was difficult since any slight misalignment would shake the powertrain to pieces. Westinghouse and his engineers invented an automatic self-alignment system that finally made turbine power practical for large vessels. In 1889, Westinghouse purchased several mining claims in the Patagonia Mountains of southeastern Arizona and formed the Duquesne Mining & Reduction Company. He hoped to invent
6068-457: Was filed in July of that year. Although the system was successful, as demonstrated when it prevented a serious mishap in front of assembled witnesses, it was hardly fail-safe. Any rupture or disconnection in the air line left the train without brakes. Over the next two years, Westinghouse and his engineers addressed the problem by inverting the process, designing valves so that constant pressure in
6150-566: Was just 19 when he received his first patent for a rotary steam engine . At age 21, he invented a car replacer, a device used to guide derailed railroad cars back onto the tracks, and a reversible "frog" , a rail junction piece used to switch trains between different tracks. In 1868, Westinghouse moved with his wife to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to access better and less expensive steel for the manufacture of his railroad frogs, and there he began to develop his recently invented railroad air brake concept. During his travels, Westinghouse had witnessed
6232-522: Was launching the first DC electric utility designed to light homes and businesses with his patented incandescent bulb . In 1884, Westinghouse began developing his own DC domestic lighting system and hired physicist William Stanley to help work on it. In 1885, Westinghouse became aware of the concept of an electrical transformer introduced by Frenchman Lucien Gaulard and Englishman John Gibbs. Guido Pantaleoni, an Italian engineer in his employ, alerted Westinghouse to their aready-patented transformer and
6314-574: Was made in 1920 by the Russell Grader Manufacturing Company, which called it the Russell Motor Hi-Way Patrol. These early graders were created by adding the grader blade as an attachment to a generalist tractor unit. After purchasing the company in 1928, Caterpillar went on to truly integrate the tractor and grader into one design—at the same time replacing crawler tracks with wheels to yield
6396-568: Was merged with the Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric , a conglomerate controlled by the board of Thomson-Houston. During this period, Westinghouse continued to pour money and engineering resources into the goal of building a completely integrated AC system — obtaining the Sawyer–Man lamp by buying Consolidated Electric Light, and developing components such as an induction meter , and obtaining
6478-581: Was only one strike at any Westinghouse company while he was in charge. It was a 1903 action at Westinghouse Machine Company, which was rushing to illuminate the 1904 St. Louis Worlds Fair . Westinghouse responded by immediately hiring replacements for those employees who walked out. Despite that action, American labor and union organizer Samuel Gompers is reputed to have said "If all business leaders and moguls treated their employees as well as George Westinghouse, there’d be no need for any labor unions". In 1867, Westinghouse met Marguerite Erskine Walker on
6560-486: Was performed manually. Westinghouse's designs changed all that. In 1882, Westinghouse founded the Union Switch and Signal Company to manufacture, market, install, and maintain these innovative control systems, which were eventually adopted by railroads around the world. By 1883, Westinghouse had become interested in natural gas. Gas had recently been discovered in nearby Murrysville , Pennsylvania, and it attracted
6642-499: Was somehow related, and more often than not one would end up raising their children in the same home that they were raised in. Local business prospered as well. Many of the passengers that were departing from or coming into Wilmerding stopped to shop at these stores along the narrow sidewalk before heading home. Working conditions at the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WA&B) were more than adequate, and
6724-450: Was that it was not an automatic brake, i.e. even a minor mishap like a broken coupling left the entire train without any brake power at all. In 1872, George Westinghouse invented the automatic air brake by inventing the triple valve and by equipping each car with its own air cylinder. Air pressure is maintained in the auxiliary reservoirs and in the train pipe at all times when the brakes are not applied. An equilibrium of air pressure
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