science

List of railway pioneers

List of railway pioneers is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of railway pioneers rather than just read about it. In short: A railway pioneer is someone who has made a significant contribution to the historical development of the railway (US: railroad). This definition includes locomotive engineers, railway construction engineers, operators of railway companies, major railway investors and politicians, of national and international importance for the development of rail transport.

Key takeaways

List of railway pioneers belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of railway pioneers to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of railway pioneers from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A railway pioneer is someone who has made a significant contribution to the historical development of the railway (US: railroad). This definition includes locomotive engineers, railway construction engineers, operators of railway companies, major railway investors and politicians, of national and international importance for the development of rail transport. Where possible, inclusion in this list should be justified by an appropriate reference (see talk page).

Technical development of the railways

Austria

Germany

Switzerland Roman Abt, Abt rack railway system, points for funicular railways Jakob Buchli development of single-axle drive, Buchli drive Bruno Hildebrand, founder and CEO of the Swiss Northeastern Railway. Emil Huber-Stockar, pioneer of the electric traction with high-tension, low frequency AC Eduard Locher, rack with horizontal engagement Anatole Mallet, Mallet locomotive Niklaus Riggenbach, first mountain railway in Europe with rack system, steam locomotive braking system Emil Strub, Strub rack railway system René Thury, engineer, "King of DC", experimental rack railway in 1884 at Montreux, responsible for many inventions especially involving series coupling of electric motors

United Kingdom William Adams (1823–1904), locomotive superintendent of North London Railway, 1858–1873; Great Eastern Railway 1873–1878 and London & South Western Railway 1878–1895, inventor of Adams bogie William Bridges Adams (1797–1872), author, inventor and locomotive engineer. Inventor of Adams axle John Blenkinsop, first locomotives with rack system and rack rails Charles Beyer, designer, co-founder and manager of Beyer, Peacock & Company for many years Louis Brennan, inventor of a monorail Isambard Kingdom Brunel, railway pioneer, construction of the Great Western Railway Oliver Bulleid, unorthodox locomotive designer, CME of Southern Railway, designed the most powerful Pacifics in Britain Thomas Russell Crampton, Crampton locomotive Robert Francis Fairlie, Fairlie locomotive Sir John Fowler, 1st Baronet, London railway, locomotives Herbert William Garratt, inventor of the Garratt locomotive Nigel Gresley, designer of world-record holding locomotive, Mallard Timothy Hackworth, built Hedley's Puffing Billy and locomotives for the Stockton & Darlington Railway, Participant in the Rainhill trials William Hedley, designer of the Puffing Billy Charles Lartigue, Lartigue Monorail Joseph Locke, next to the Stephensons and Brunel, one of the most important English railway pioneers Thomas Newcomen, first practical static steam engine Benjamin Outram, civil engineer, surveyor and industrialist. Pioneer in the building of canals and tramways. John Ramsbottom, mechanical engineer who invented inter alia the Ramsbottom safety valve, the displacement lubricator, and the water trough Sir Vincent Litchfield Raven KBE, was CME of the North Eastern Railway from 1910 to 1922 George Stephenson, first economically usable steam locomotive Robert Stephenson, son of George, winner of the Rainhill trials William Stroudley, one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers of the 19th century, working principally for London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. Designed some of the most famous and longest lived steam locomotives of his era Patrick Stirling, CME of the Great Northern Railway where his famous 8 ft singles (4-2-2's) were the principal express engines for many years, achieving world-wide fame Richard Trevithick, "father of the locomotive", built first practical steam locomotive at Penydarran in Wales in 1804 Charles Blacker Vignoles, inventor of the Vignoles rail profile James Watt, improvements to the steam engine Francis Webb, CME of the London & North Western Railway, a pioneer in the use of steel for locomotives William Wilson, first locomotive driver in Germany

United States Horatio Allen, designed world's first articulated locomotive in 1832 Matthias William Baldwin, Baldwin Locomotive Works, the world's largest steam locomotive manufacturer Peter Cooper, first locomotive built in the US Charles F. Kettering, developed high-speed, 2-stroke diesel engines especially for rail traction William K. MacCurdy, developed the Hydra-Cushion in 1954 to ease stress on freight cars for Southern Pacific Sylvester Marsh, first mountain railway in the world with a rack system William Norris, founded the Norris Locomotive Works and pioneered the use of the 4-2-0 (Norris type) locomotive in America during the 1840s George Mortimer Pullman, Pullman Palace Car Company William Robinson, inventor of the track circuit Thomas Rogers, mechanical engineer and founder of Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works of Paterson, New Jersey Ephraim Shay, inventor of the Shay locomotive Frank Julian Sprague, "Father of electric traction" in the US, tramway, train safety system Robert L. Stevens, inventor of the Flanged T rail George S. Strong, introduced new locomotives types in American much in advance of their time Samuel M. Vauclain, Baldwin Locomotive Works, patented the Vauclain compound engine. Axel Vogt, mechanical engineer of the Pennsylvania Railroad 1887–1919, responsible for many of the beautifully proportioned and elegantly designed Pennsylvania classes, considerable influence on modern U.S. locomotive design George Westinghouse, designed the first through compressed air brake in trains Ross Winans, prolific inventor and builder of early American locomotives

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Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of railway pioneers

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of railway pioneers claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of railway pioneers before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of railway pioneers ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of railway pioneers

In research: List of railway pioneers appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of railway pioneers in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of railway pioneers is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Locomotive builders and designers, People in rail transport, Rail transport-related lists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of railway pioneers outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of railway pioneers in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of railway pioneers means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is List of railway pioneers in simple terms?

Why does List of railway pioneers matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of railway pioneers?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of railway pioneers.