George Westinghouse Jr. was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age of 19. Westinghouse saw the potential of using alternating current for electric power distribution in the early 1880s and put all his resources into developing and marketing it. This put Westinghouse's business in direct competition with Thomas Edison, who marketed direct current for electric power distribution. In 1911 Westinghouse received the American Institute of Electrical Engineers's (AIEE) Edison Medal "For meritorious achievement in connection with the development of the alternating current system." He founded the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1886.
A railway air brake is a railway brake power braking system with compressed air as the operating medium. Modern trains rely upon a fail-safe air brake system that is based upon a design patented by George Westinghouse on April 13, 1869. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company was subsequently organized to manufacture and sell Westinghouse's invention. In various forms, it has been nearly universally adopted.
Westinghouse may refer to:
Westinghouse Works, 1904 is a collection of American short silent films, each averaging about three minutes in length. The films were taken from April 18, 1904 to May 16, 1904 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and document various Westinghouse manufacturing plants. They were made by G. W. "Billy" Bitzer of the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, were shown at the Westinghouse Auditorium at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, and may have been made for that purpose. At least 29 films were produced and 21 remain in the collection which is now a part of the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
A railway brake is a type of brake used on the cars of railway trains to enable deceleration, control acceleration (downhill) or to keep them immobile when parked. While the basic principle is similar to that on road vehicle usage, operational features are more complex because of the need to control multiple linked carriages and to be effective on vehicles left without a prime mover. Clasp brakes are one type of brakes historically used on trains.
American Standard Companies was a manufacturer of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, plumbing fixtures, and automotive parts. The company was formed in 1929 through the merger of the American Radiator Company and Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company forming the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation. The name was simplified to American Standard in 1967.
The Westinghouse Air Brake Company was founded on September 28, 1869 by George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Earlier in the year he had invented the railway air brake in New York state.
Union Switch & Signal was an American company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which focused on railway signaling equipment, systems and services. The company was acquired by Ansaldo STS in 1988, operating as a wholly-owned company until January 2009, when US&S was renamed "Ansaldo STS USA" to operate as a subsidiary of Ansaldo in the Americas and Asia.
An air brake or, more formally, a compressed-air-brake system, is a type of friction brake for vehicles in which compressed air pressing on a piston is used to apply the pressure to the brake pad or brake shoe needed to stop the vehicle. Air brakes are used in large heavy vehicles, particularly those having multiple trailers which must be linked into the brake system, such as trucks, buses, trailers, and semi-trailers, in addition to their use in railroad trains. George Westinghouse first developed air brakes for use in railway service. He patented a safer air brake on March 5, 1872. Westinghouse made numerous alterations to improve his air pressured brake invention, which led to various forms of the automatic brake. In the early 20th century, after its advantages were proven in railway use, it was adopted by manufacturers of trucks and heavy road vehicles.
The Westinghouse Brake & Signal Company Ltd was a British manufacturer of railroad signs. Founded by George Westinghouse, it was registered as "Westinghouse Brake Company" in 1881. The company reorganised in 1920, associating with Evans O'Donnell, and Saxby and Farmer which merged to form the "Westinghouse Brake & Saxby Signal Company". The 'Saxby' would be dropped from their title in 1935.
Knorr-Bremse AG is a German manufacturer of braking systems for rail and commercial vehicles that has operated in the field for over 110 years. Other products in Group's portfolio include intelligent door systems, control components, air conditioning systems for rail vehicles, torsional vibration dampers, and transmission control systems for commercial vehicles. In 2022, the Group's workforce of over 31,000 achieved worldwide sales of EUR 7.15 billion.
Electronically controlled pneumatic brakes are a type of railway braking systems.
Westinghouse Brakes may refer to:
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, commonly known as Wabtec, is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower Industries Corporation in 1999. It is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
WABCO was a U.S.-based provider of electronic braking, stability, suspension, and transmission automation systems for heavy-duty commercial vehicles.
The Westinghouse Air Brake Company General Office Building in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania is a building from 1890. It was listed on the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation in 1975, National Register of Historic Places in 1987. Originally built as an office building for the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, it housed the George Westinghouse Museum from 2006 to 2016. In 2016 it was sold to the Priory Hospitality Group with the intention of being developed into a boutique hotel. However, the 2020 global pandemic affected those plans and it was announced in November 2021 that the building will be used for an art academy and to house classrooms for the Westighouse ArtsAcademy, a nearby high school.
WABCO Holdings, Inc. is an American provider of electronic braking, stability, suspension and transmission automation systems for heavy duty commercial vehicles. Their products are present in many commercial vehicles as truck, bus, trailer and off-highway vehicles, but only fill niche roles.
The Transit Expressway Revenue Line (TERL), commonly known as Skybus, was a proposed people mover rapid transit system developed by Westinghouse for the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the 1960s–1970s. In contrast to the traditional streetcars then in use, the technology used a dedicated elevated concrete track and rubber-tired driverless cars. A demonstrator was built and operated in the South Hills area but political opposition killed the deployment of a larger system.
Haulpak was a very successful line of off-highway mining trucks. The name was used from 1953 until around 1999; the line continues under the Komatsu name. The name was adopted as Wabco Haulpak when R. G. LeTourneau's business was bought by Wabco, and the Haulpak name continued through Wabco's purchase by American Standard, the operation's purchase by Dresser Industries, the merger into Komatsu-Dresser, and for a time after Komatsu took over complete ownership from Dresser.
Aventics is a manufacturer of pneumatic components and systems with facilities in Laatzen, Germany; Bonneville, France; Lexington, United States; Eger, Hungary; and Changzhou, China. The Lexington pneumatics facility manufactures pneumatic valves, pneumatic cylinders, directional control valves, pressure control valves, electro-pneumatic valves, solenoid valves, pneumatic fittings, flow controls, actuators, marine propulsion controls and more.
