William Buchanan (locomotive designer): Difference between revisions
→Mid life and career: first vehicle in the world to have traveled faster than 100 miles per hour |
Sennecaster (talk | contribs) →Sources: PDnotice |
||
| Line 50: | Line 50: | ||
*{{cite book|last=Staufer|first=Alvin F.|year=1967|title=New York Central's Early Power |publisher=Staufer Books & Prints|isbn=9780944513019}} |
*{{cite book|last=Staufer|first=Alvin F.|year=1967|title=New York Central's Early Power |publisher=Staufer Books & Prints|isbn=9780944513019}} |
||
*{{cite journal |last= V6_No1|title= William Buchanan |journal= Locomotive Engineering |volume= 6|issue=1 |year=1893|publisher= Angus Sinclair |page=290|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=llo2WKIa_nwC&dq=born+%22William+Buchanan%22+locomotive+designer+%22New+York+Central%22&pg=PA290|oclc=}} |
*{{cite journal |last= V6_No1|title= William Buchanan |journal= Locomotive Engineering |volume= 6|issue=1 |year=1893|publisher= Angus Sinclair |page=290|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=llo2WKIa_nwC&dq=born+%22William+Buchanan%22+locomotive+designer+%22New+York+Central%22&pg=PA290|oclc=}} |
||
*{{cite journal |last= V12_No1|title= William Buchanan |journal= Railroad Men |volume= 12|issue=8 |year=1898|publisher= YMCA New York, Railroad Branch |page=302|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Cg1AQAAMAAJ&dq=born+%22William+Buchanan%22+locomotive+designer+%22New+York+Central%22&pg=RA2-PA302|oclc=}} |
*{{cite journal |last= V12_No1|title= William Buchanan |journal= Railroad Men |volume= 12|issue=8 |year=1898|publisher= YMCA New York, Railroad Branch |page=302|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Cg1AQAAMAAJ&dq=born+%22William+Buchanan%22+locomotive+designer+%22New+York+Central%22&pg=RA2-PA302|oclc=}} {{Source-attribution}} |
||
*{{cite journal |last= V183_part1|title= Obituary - William Buchanan |journal= Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers |volume= 183|issue=1 |year=1911|publisher= Institution of Civil Engineers (Great Britain) |page=331|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101050733227&view=1up&seq=351&skin=2021&q1=Buchanan|oclc=}} |
*{{cite journal |last= V183_part1|title= Obituary - William Buchanan |journal= Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers |volume= 183|issue=1 |year=1911|publisher= Institution of Civil Engineers (Great Britain) |page=331|url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101050733227&view=1up&seq=351&skin=2021&q1=Buchanan|oclc=}} |
||
Revision as of 18:22, 5 September 2022
William Buchanan | |
|---|---|
 circa 1893 | |
| Born | March 6, 1830 |
| Died | January 20, 1910 (aged 79) |
| Occupation | mechanical engineer |
| Known for | designing of train locomotives for New York Central Railroad |
William Buchanan (March 6, 1830 – January 20, 1910) was an American mechanical engineer specializing in designing train locomotives. He spent most of his career designing fast steam train locomotives for the New York Central Railroad. He is most noted for designing the 999 locomotive, the first to travel in excess of 100 miles (160 km) per hour. He designed and improved freight locomotives for hauling heavy commercial freight. He was an authority on mechanical engineering in America and Europe and was elected to membership of the Institute of Civil Engineers of London.
Early life
William Buchanan was born in Dumbarton, Scotland, on March 6, 1830.[1] He came to America with his parents when he was a child. Buchanan's father was a mechanic and blacksmith and he followed in his father's footsteps. In his early teens he learned the blacksmith and machinist trades in the Burden Iron Works at Troy, New York.[1] When he was seventeen years old in 1847 he became employed at the Albany and Schenectady Railroad as an apprentice in the machine shops of the company at Albany, New York. Early in his career he did mechanical work on the DeWitt Clinton train. The railroad company then consisted six trains.[2]
Buchanan came to New York City in September 1849 and at that time the first train traveled from New York City to Peekskill, New York. He worked as a machinist in the machine shops of the Hudson River Railroad until July 1851.[1] He then ran a locomotive as an engineer on the New York City line until December. He was then promoted to shop foreman at the beginning of 1852,[1] and in June 1853 master mechanic of the Southern Division of the Hudson River Railroad, which had headquarters in New York City.[2]
Mid life and career
The locomotive power of the Hudson River Railroad and Troy and Greenfield Railroad were put under Buchanan's custody in 1859. The New York and Harlem Railroad was added in 1880 to his list of locomotive power responsibilities to manage. Buchanan was made main director in 1881 in charge of the locomotive power of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad (NYC&HRRR). He was promoted in 1885 to the superintendent position of locomotive power and vehicle rolling stock of the NYC&HRRR. The West Shore Railroad was leased to New York Central Railroad in 1886 and at that time Buchanan was given the responsibilities of managing the locomotive engines and passenger cars in addition to the other duties he already had.[2]
Buchanan made many improvements in locomotives from the West Albany machine shops, one of which was the design of the famous powerful New York Central and Hudson River Railroad locomotive No. 999.[1] He purposely designed the train to be the first to exceed the 100 mile per hour limit.[3] A high-speed locomotive was proposed by the company's executives to pull their premier express train to the 1893 Chicago's World's Fair.[1] Buchanan designed the new state of the art train engine at the West Albany shops in February 1893 and started construction in March. The construction of the massive locomotive was finished in April. It had the wheel configuration of a standard American locomotive - four leading wheels, four driving wheels, and no trailing wheels (4-4-0). He designed unusually large driving wheels that were 86 inches (220 cm) in size to improve traction on the railroad tracks. The locomotive was given the number 999 because it was thought to be a number that would impress the public.[4] The locomotive pulled the New York state express train of vehicles at a speed of 102 miles per hour (164 km/h) for a test run from Rochester, New York, to Buffalo on May 9, 1893.[1] This was the first vehicle in the world to have traveled faster than 100 miles per hour.[5][6]
The next day the experienced engineer Charlie H. Hogan drove the train to a clocked speed of 112.5 miles per hour (181.1 km/h), a world record for a steam locomotive.[3][7][8] Buchanan's 999 locomotive has been permanently preserved at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.[9] Buchanan redesigned and improved existing locomotives as heavy duty freight locomotives, one of which hauled the longest and heaviest grain-laden train ever put together. Many of his state-of-the-art designs for enormous train locomotives were adopted by other railroad companies. He was recognized as an authority upon all matters relating to mechanical engineering both in America and Europe.[2]
Later life and death
Buchanan was elected a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers of London in 1891, which was an honor that only a few American engineers had received as of 1911. He retired from the railroad business in 1899 after working for the New York Central for 18 years.[10] He died at his home at South Norwalk, Connecticut, on January 20, 1910.[11]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g V6_No1 1893, p. 290.
- ^ a b c d V12_No1 1898, p. 302.
- ^ a b Eula 2022, p. Historian's Note.
- ^ CT7_29 1994, p. 116.
- ^ AJ7_19 1994, p. 17.
- ^ THMD999 2022, p. 32251.
- ^ Staufer 1967, pp. 70–75.
- ^ TBG5_12 1893, p. 8.
- ^ BCE9_25 1962, p. 9.
- ^ Vol48 1910, p. 208.
- ^ V183_part1 1911, p. 331.
Sources
- Staufer, Alvin F. (1967). New York Central's Early Power. Staufer Books & Prints. ISBN 9780944513019.
- V6_No1 (1893). "William Buchanan". Locomotive Engineering. 6 (1). Angus Sinclair: 290.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - V12_No1 (1898). "William Buchanan". Railroad Men. 12 (8). YMCA New York, Railroad Branch: 302.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- V183_part1 (1911). "Obituary - William Buchanan". Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 183 (1). Institution of Civil Engineers (Great Britain): 331.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Vol48 (1910). "Obituary". Railway Age Gazette. 48 (1). Simmons-Boardman Publishing Company: 208.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Eula, Michael J. (2022). "Empire State Express No. 999". 999. Genesee County History Department. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
- THMD999 (2022). "Site for Erector Shop". Albany in Albany County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic). The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - TBG5_12 (May 12, 1893). "Postscript / Two Miles A Minute". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com
.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - AJ7_19 (July 19, 1994). "Chama Hosting Stamp Ceremonies". Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque, New Mexico. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com .
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - CT7_29 (July 29, 1994). "Engine 999 repeating history". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. p. 116 – via Newspapers.com .
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - BCE9_25 (September 25, 1962). "Museum Gets 'Old 999' Engine; Set Speed Mark". Battle Creek Enquirer. Battle Creek, Michigan. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com .
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
