﻿540 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  sometimes 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  a 
  half 
  mile 
  from 
  the 
  station. 
  As 
  the 
  locomotive 
  

   and 
  cars 
  drew 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  waiting 
  platform 
  all 
  hands 
  there 
  took 
  hold, 
  

   dug 
  their 
  heels 
  in 
  the 
  ground 
  and 
  held 
  on 
  till 
  a 
  dead 
  stop 
  resulted. 
  

   An 
  adaptation 
  of 
  the 
  ordinary 
  wagon 
  brake 
  with 
  wooden 
  brake 
  shoes 
  

   followed 
  soon 
  after, 
  and 
  a 
  brakeman 
  was 
  added 
  to 
  the 
  crew, 
  who 
  when 
  

   the 
  time 
  came 
  for 
  brakes, 
  dropped 
  a 
  horizontal 
  lever 
  out 
  of 
  its 
  notch 
  

   at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  a 
  car 
  and 
  stood 
  on 
  it. 
  This 
  scheme 
  worked 
  fairly 
  well 
  

   until 
  locomotive 
  builders, 
  in 
  response 
  to 
  the 
  demand 
  of 
  industrialists 
  

   for 
  faster 
  freight 
  service, 
  designed 
  speedier 
  machines, 
  capable 
  of 
  run- 
  

   ning 
  not 
  15 
  but 
  30 
  and 
  sometimes 
  40 
  miles 
  an 
  hour. 
  About 
  this 
  time, 
  

   too, 
  four-wheeled 
  car 
  trucks 
  came 
  into 
  use 
  and 
  the 
  combination 
  of 
  

   speed 
  and 
  additional 
  wheels 
  was 
  just 
  too 
  much 
  for 
  the 
  old 
  lever 
  brake. 
  

   By 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  stages 
  it 
  was 
  replaced 
  by 
  a 
  hand 
  wheel 
  to 
  operate 
  iron 
  

   shoe 
  brakes 
  applied 
  to 
  both 
  trucks 
  of 
  a 
  car. 
  If 
  cars 
  were 
  properly 
  

   coupled, 
  a 
  brakeman 
  could 
  work 
  two 
  adjoining 
  cars 
  by 
  simply 
  stepping 
  

   from 
  one 
  platform 
  to 
  the 
  other. 
  This 
  was 
  so 
  far 
  ahead 
  of 
  all 
  previous 
  

   devices 
  that 
  the 
  railroads 
  spent 
  thousands 
  of 
  dollars 
  to 
  equip 
  their 
  

   rolling 
  stock, 
  hoping 
  thereby 
  to 
  reduce 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  train 
  wrecks, 
  

   both 
  of 
  freight 
  and 
  passenger 
  trains, 
  which 
  were 
  increasing 
  at 
  an 
  

   appalling 
  rate. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  a 
  matter 
  of 
  regrettable 
  history 
  that 
  the 
  man 
  who 
  invented 
  this 
  

   new 
  braking 
  system, 
  Willard 
  J. 
  Nichols, 
  never 
  received 
  a 
  penny 
  of 
  

   reward. 
  He 
  was 
  a 
  car-shop 
  foreman 
  on 
  the 
  Hartford 
  & 
  New 
  Haven, 
  

   now 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  York, 
  New 
  Haven 
  & 
  Hartford 
  Kailroad. 
  Like 
  

   manj^ 
  other 
  railroad 
  men 
  he 
  had 
  been 
  trying 
  for 
  years 
  to 
  devise 
  some 
  

   better 
  form 
  of 
  brake, 
  and 
  when 
  he 
  finally 
  perfected 
  his 
  idea 
  he 
  applied 
  

   it 
  to 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  cars 
  of 
  his 
  employer. 
  He 
  did 
  not 
  patent 
  his 
  product 
  

   so 
  that 
  others 
  appropriated 
  its 
  valuable 
  features, 
  and 
  obtained 
  patents 
  

   in 
  their 
  own 
  names. 
  To 
  them 
  went 
  the 
  money 
  paid 
  by 
  the 
  railroads. 
  

  

  This 
  was 
  the 
  type 
  of 
  brake 
  generally 
  used 
  in 
  the 
  fifties 
  and 
  sixties. 
  

   With 
  one 
  brakeman 
  to 
  each 
  two 
  cars 
  a 
  train 
  could 
  be 
  brought 
  to 
  a 
  stop 
  

   from 
  a 
  running 
  speed 
  in 
  about 
  half 
  a 
  mile. 
  But, 
  as 
  traflSc 
  on 
  the 
  pre- 
  

   vailing 
  single-track 
  roads 
  became 
  more 
  congested, 
  many 
  were 
  the 
  

   collisions, 
  accomj^anied 
  in 
  many 
  instances 
  with 
  large 
  losses 
  of 
  life 
  and 
  

   property. 
  The 
  public 
  naturally 
  blamed 
  the 
  railroads. 
  The 
  railroads, 
  

   in 
  turn, 
  pinned 
  the 
  responsibility 
  partly 
  on 
  the 
  brakes, 
  and 
  were 
  about 
  

   convinced 
  that 
  nothing 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  a 
  real 
  improvement 
  could 
  be 
  

   devised, 
  when 
  a 
  young 
  New 
  York 
  State 
  Yankee 
  came 
  forth 
  with 
  his 
  air 
  

   brake 
  system. 
  ' 
  

  

  GEORGE 
  WESTINGHOUSE 
  

  

  George 
  Westinghouse 
  was 
  born 
  October 
  6, 
  1846, 
  in 
  Central 
  Bridge, 
  

   N. 
  Y., 
  a 
  little 
  village 
  not 
  very 
  far 
  from 
  Schenectady. 
  His 
  father 
  

   although 
  born 
  and 
  bred 
  a 
  farmer, 
  was 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  engaged 
  in 
  a 
  small 
  

   way 
  in 
  manufacturing 
  a 
  thrashing 
  machine 
  containing 
  improvements 
  

   of 
  his 
  own 
  invention, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  his 
  patented 
  wdnnowing 
  machine 
  and 
  

  

  