Review of Lessons 101-104

Lesson 101: Air Brakes

Railroads were expanding by the 1860s. They used steam operated train brakes. The brake men had dangerous jobs. They would wait till the train was almost at the stop and then they would run from the top of one train car to the next and they would turn the brakes, all, for a 1.50$ a day. Many men were killed every day. If they were killed, no one cared except for their families. Most of them were immigrants. They had to sit on top of the cars all day. 1,000s were killed every year.
George Westinghouse Jr. was born in 1846 in New York. His father owned a machine shop and George was a talented young man. He joined the army in the Civil War and then he joined the navy. He went to collage but he dropped out. He did not like his classes. He invented a couple engines when he was 19 and then he saw a terrible accident. Two trains collided because they could not stop in time. So when he was 22 in 1862 he invented the air brakes.
The air brakes used a tank valve and piping. High pressured air powered the pistons which pushed the brake shoe which pushed the brake block against the wheel. It was operated by one valve and it was failsafe. It eliminated the need for brake men.
He gave a demonstration in which he was going to take a small train 8 miles and then come back. The train went into a tunnel and when it came out there was a cart stopped on the tracks! Westinghouse slammed on the brakes and the train came to a stop 4 feet from the cart. 1,000s of lives were saved every year because of the brakes.
Westinghouse got in to electricity and he and Edison had a nasty fight over DC vs AC power. In the end, Westinghouse won when he lit up the World’s Fair in Chicago.

Lesson 102: Traffic Light

The world was changing from horse drawn carriages to automobiles. Cities got bigger and roads got busier. There was confusion over which side of the road to drive on. Bridge officers were created to direct traffic but people still got ran over.
J.P. Knight was born in England in 1828. He worked for the railway when he was12 and when he was 20 he became a traffic manager. He was very talented and improved a lot of things on the railway. He invented the traffic light in 1868.
The traffic light helps regulate the flow of traffic and it creates order. The green light says go, the yellow light says slow down, and the red light says stop.
Knight’s lights were gas lights. And they spread to America. They were improved with electricity in 1914. In 1920 the 4 way signaling was invented by a policeman. Computers were linked to the lights in the 1950s.
The traffic lights reduced police labor and that let more policemen be on hand for solving crimes. They increase traffic flow and save lives every year.

Lesson 103: Tape Measure

Measuring tools have been around for ages. Measuring units were cubits, feet, and sometimes people used metal rods. The folding ruler was invented in 1851.
Alvin .J. Fellows was born in Connecticut. The year is not known. A spring tape measure was invented in England and Fellows improved the design. He invented the modern tape measure in 1868.
A tape measure is a flexible ruler. It is a long piece of metal tape wound around a cylinder in a coil for compact storage. They are easy to use and very portable.
Fellows placed ads in newspapers and that got people interested in the product. Then, a man invented a better tape measure.
Tape measures help improve the job. You can use them to make accurate cuts and houses are built better because of that.

Lesson 104: Pipe Wrench

Oil was discovered in the 1840s. Edwin Drake drilled the first successful oil well in 1859. Then, John Rockefeller started dominating the industry. Oil pipelines appeared in the 1860s, and pipe fitting and pluming became a big business. But, a tool was needed to fix the pipe lines.
Daniel Stillson was born in 1826 in New Hampshire. He joined the navy and learned how to operate machine tools. Then, he moved to Massachusetts. He developed the pipe wrench in 1869.
The design of the pipe wrench has not changed in over 100 years. It is designed to grip iron pipe and has an adjustable head. It enables quick, easy tightening.
Stillson sold his patent for 80,000 $. That would be about 1.4 million $ in today’s money. Trimo became the major manufacturing company along with Riged.
The wrench made it easy to build long pipelines. And plumbers use it every day.

This week I have two favorite inventions. The tape measure and the pipe wrench. I enjoyed learning about the pipe wrench and the tape measure because my family uses those two items. Almost every day we use the tape measure.