﻿542 
  ANNUAL 
  KEPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  young 
  man. 
  I 
  went 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  ground 
  before 
  completing 
  my 
  inven- 
  

   tion, 
  and 
  my 
  patents 
  are 
  broad 
  enough 
  to 
  cover 
  everything." 
  This 
  

   did 
  not 
  deter 
  Westinghouse, 
  however. 
  It 
  seemed 
  to 
  him 
  that 
  to 
  

   draw 
  the 
  chain 
  taut 
  by 
  a 
  steam 
  engine 
  piston 
  would 
  be 
  better 
  than 
  a 
  

   windlass, 
  but 
  he 
  quicldy 
  realized 
  that 
  a 
  locomotive 
  with 
  room 
  for 
  a 
  

   cylinder 
  and 
  piston 
  large 
  enough 
  to 
  take 
  up 
  the 
  chain 
  slack 
  of 
  a 
  20-car 
  

   train 
  did 
  not 
  exist. 
  Like 
  other 
  inventors 
  worldng 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  prob- 
  

   lem, 
  he 
  considered 
  individual 
  steam 
  cylinders 
  for 
  the 
  brake 
  gearing 
  of 
  

   each 
  car, 
  only 
  to 
  discard 
  the 
  plan 
  as 
  unfeasible. 
  He 
  could 
  not 
  help 
  

   feeling, 
  however, 
  that 
  the 
  idea 
  of 
  each 
  car 
  having 
  its 
  own 
  brake- 
  

   actuating 
  mechanism 
  was 
  the 
  correct 
  one, 
  if 
  only 
  some 
  other 
  form 
  of 
  

   energy 
  than 
  man 
  or 
  steam 
  power 
  could 
  be 
  found. 
  He 
  did 
  find 
  it 
  in 
  

   a 
  most 
  unexpected 
  way. 
  

  

  To 
  help 
  a 
  young 
  lady 
  through 
  normal 
  school 
  he 
  had 
  subscribed 
  to 
  

   a 
  magazine 
  called 
  " 
  The 
  Living 
  Age." 
  The 
  first 
  number 
  he 
  received 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  boring 
  of 
  the 
  Mount 
  Cenis 
  Tunnel 
  through 
  

   the 
  Alps, 
  and 
  told 
  of 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  rock 
  drills 
  operated 
  by 
  compressed 
  air. 
  

   What 
  caught 
  Westinghouse 
  's 
  attention 
  was 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  air 
  was 
  

   transmitted 
  through 
  pipes 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  3,000 
  feet 
  without 
  any 
  appre- 
  

   ciable 
  loss 
  in 
  effectiveness, 
  and 
  he 
  knew 
  then 
  that 
  compressed 
  air 
  

   was 
  the 
  energy 
  he 
  should 
  use 
  for 
  his 
  brake. 
  

  

  From 
  this 
  time 
  on 
  things 
  moved 
  rapidly. 
  Every 
  waking 
  moment 
  

   was 
  given 
  to 
  working 
  out 
  the 
  air-brake 
  system. 
  The 
  desertion 
  of 
  his 
  

   car-replacer 
  partners 
  forced 
  him 
  to 
  go 
  to 
  Pittsburgh 
  to 
  find 
  another 
  

   manufacturer. 
  When 
  he 
  found 
  one 
  who 
  would 
  make 
  the 
  replacer, 
  and 
  

   take 
  him 
  on 
  as 
  a 
  salesman, 
  he 
  filed 
  a 
  caveat 
  on 
  his 
  air-brake 
  system 
  with 
  

   the 
  Patent 
  Oflace 
  in 
  Washington. 
  After 
  that, 
  in 
  discussion 
  with 
  rail- 
  

   road 
  men 
  about 
  the 
  car 
  replacer, 
  he 
  also 
  talked 
  air 
  brake. 
  It 
  was 
  an 
  

   uphill 
  fight 
  lasting 
  a 
  good 
  many 
  months. 
  He 
  had 
  no 
  money 
  to 
  speak 
  

   of 
  so 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  to 
  find 
  some 
  one 
  to 
  subsidize 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  one 
  

   outfit 
  in 
  order 
  that 
  he 
  might 
  equip 
  a 
  train 
  and 
  give 
  a 
  demonstration. 
  

   After 
  many 
  vicissitudes, 
  including 
  the 
  paying 
  of 
  a 
  hundred 
  dollars 
  to 
  

   have 
  an 
  expert 
  tell 
  him 
  his 
  invention 
  was 
  good 
  for 
  nothing, 
  the 
  

   superintendent 
  of 
  the 
  division 
  of 
  the 
  Panhandle 
  Kailroad 
  extending 
  

   from 
  Pittsburgh 
  to 
  Steubenville, 
  Ohio, 
  agreed 
  to 
  give 
  the 
  brake 
  a 
  trial 
  

   and 
  he 
  found 
  a 
  manufacturer 
  in 
  Pittsburgh 
  who 
  would 
  make 
  the 
  

   equipment. 
  

  

  A 
  locomotive 
  and 
  four 
  passenger 
  cars 
  were 
  fitted 
  up 
  soon 
  afterward, 
  

   and 
  one 
  day 
  in 
  September, 
  1868, 
  the 
  train 
  pulled 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  Pittsburgh 
  

   station, 
  the 
  cars 
  filled 
  with 
  invited 
  guests. 
  It 
  got 
  under 
  way 
  quickly 
  

   and 
  was 
  speeding 
  along 
  at 
  30 
  miles 
  an 
  hour 
  when 
  suddenly 
  every 
  one 
  

   heard 
  the 
  grating 
  sound 
  of 
  the 
  brakes, 
  suffered 
  a 
  violent 
  jar, 
  and 
  the 
  

   train 
  stopped. 
  Rubbing 
  their 
  shins 
  and 
  pushing 
  dents 
  out 
  of 
  their 
  

   hats, 
  the 
  passengers 
  limped 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  cars 
  in 
  time 
  to 
  see 
  that 
  the 
  

   cow-catcher 
  of 
  the 
  engine 
  was 
  just 
  about 
  4 
  feet 
  away 
  from 
  a 
  man 
  

  

  