physics

T. H. Paul

T. H. Paul is a physics 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 T. H. Paul rather than just read about it. In short: Thomas Haig Paul (March 10, 1820 – May 15, 1890) was a locomotive manufacturer in Frostburg, Maryland. He is credited with building the first narrow-gauge locomotive in the United States in 1864.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Thomas Haig Paul (March 10, 1820 – May 15, 1890) was a locomotive manufacturer in Frostburg, Maryland. He is credited with building the first narrow-gauge locomotive in the United States in 1864.

Biography He was born as one of nine children to Agnes (née Haig) and Alexander Paul in New York City. His parents and two older siblings had come to the United States from Scotland in 1818. The family soon moved to Paterson, New Jersey, where he began his apprenticeship as a mechanic. He served as the "Master Mechanic" for the Mount Savage, Maryland, shop of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad from 1854 to 1855. Paul married Marian M. Neff (May 31, 1834 – May 15, 1890), daughter of Joanna (née Small) and John Neff, in Reading, Pennsylvania, on November 7, 1854. The couple had two children, John Thomas Haig Paul (January 30, 1856) and Ella Marian Paul (April 23, 1857). Ella married, on April 8, 1885, Howard Hitchins, son of Adam E. Hitchins (co-founder of Hitchins Brothers Company, along with his brother Owen, a mercantile company in Frostburg). Thomas H. Paul and Son Iron Works opened in 1855 to build mining cars and mining machinery. The "son" was John Thomas Haig Paul. Paul built a narrow gauge (three feet) locomotive weighing eight tons for the Franklin Coal Company in 1871. With the Depression of 1882–85, the company ran into financial trouble in early 1883. The company moved from Allegany County to Baltimore in February 1883. At the time, the company owed Betts Machine Company approximately US$5,000. Betts, falling into financial troubles of their own because of the depression, filed a lawsuit against Thomas H. Paul & Sons (including principals Thomas H. Paul and John T. H. Paul) to collect the money owed to them. Betts also accused Paul of transferring assets in order to hide them from creditors and to avoid being served legal papers. On May 10, 1884, the foundry in Frostburg was sold by the Allegany County sheriff's department. In June 1889, Paul traveled to Trinidad, Colorado, to see about either opening a branch foundry there or moving the company entirely. Instead, a branch foundry was constructed in Sioux City, Iowa, in August 1889. The property for the foundry and residence of the Paul family was sold in February 1898. He received a patent, number 330,261, for a Planer-Chuck, to plane the edges on locomotive links, on November 10, 1885, and then number 463,282, for a "Gas Stove and Radiator" on November 17, 1891. Paul and his son obtained a patent (filed December 12, 1893), number 530,237, for a gas engine on December 4, 1894. The patent was unique in the use of rocker arms and intake and exhaust values, providing a simpler value-control mechanism. Marian M. Paul died of dropsy in Frostburg on May 15, 1890, at the age of 55. Paul's son, John Thomas Haig Paul, died in Chicago, Illinois, on March 4, 1929.

References

Stakem, Patrick H. T. H. Paul & J. A. Millhollland: Master Locomotive Builders of Western Maryland, 2011, PRRB Publishing, ASIN B004LGT00U.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with T. H. Paul

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what T. H. Paul claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, 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 T. H. Paul 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 T. H. Paul 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 T. H. Paul

In research: T. H. Paul appears in physics 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 T. H. Paul 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: T. H. Paul is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1820 births, 1890 deaths, 19th-century American mechanical engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for T. H. Paul 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 T. H. Paul in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what T. H. Paul 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.
Explain T. H. Paul out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is T. H. Paul in simple terms?

Thomas Haig Paul (March 10, 1820 – May 15, 1890) was a locomotive manufacturer in Frostburg, Maryland. He is credited with building the first narrow-gauge locomotive in the United States in 1864.

Why does T. H. Paul matter?

Because it connects several physics 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 T. H. Paul?

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 T. H. Paul.