Frank Julian Sprague (July 25, 1857 in
Milford, Connecticut
Milford is a coastal city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located between New Haven and Bridgeport. The population was 50,558 at the 2020 United States Census. The city includes the village of Devon and the borough of Woodmont. ...
– October 25, 1934) was an American inventor who contributed to the development of the
electric motor
An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate f ...
,
electric railways, and
electric elevators. His contributions were especially important in promoting
urban development by increasing the size cities could reasonably attain (through better transportation) and by allowing greater concentration of business in commercial sections (through use of electric elevators in
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...
s).
[ He became known as the "Father of Electric Traction". Demonstrating an aptitude for science and mathematics, Sprague secured an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1874 and, after graduation in 1878 and 2 years at sea, resigned to pursue his career in electrical engineering.
]
Early life and education
Sprague was born in Milford, Connecticut
Milford is a coastal city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located between New Haven and Bridgeport. The population was 50,558 at the 2020 United States Census. The city includes the village of Devon and the borough of Woodmont. ...
, in 1857 to David Cummings Sprague and Frances Julia King Sprague, a school teacher His mother died when he was ten, and was sent by his father to live with an aunt in New York. He attended Drury High School
Drury High School is a public school in North Adams, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the North Adams Public School District, it serves students in grades 7-12 from North Adams, and the towns of Clarksburg, Florida, and Monroe.
Current ...
in North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 12,961 as of the 2020 census. Best known as the home of the largest contemporary ...
, and excelled in mathematics. After graduating high school, Sprague went to Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, th ...
, to take an entrance exam for West Point
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
, but somehow unexpectedly was taking the four day entrance exam for the United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...
. He got the highest score (twelve others took the exam), and to go to the school he needed to borrow money. A local contractor and a bank loaned him four thousand dollars, and he travelled to Maryland. There, he graduated seventh (out of thirty-six) in the class of 1878.
Career
United States Navy, inventor
He was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
. During his ensuing naval service, he first served on the USS ''Richmond'', then the USS ''Minnesota''. While in Asia, Sprague wrote stories he filed for the Boston Herald
The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Puli ...
. While his ship was in Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...
, in 1881, Sprague invented the inverted type of dynamo
"Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, )
A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundati ...
. After he was transferred to the USS ''Lancaster'', the flagship of the European Squadron, he installed the first electric call-bell system on a United States Navy ship. Sprague took leave to attend the International Exposition of Electricity of 1881 in Paris and the Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
Exhibition in Sydenham, England in 1882, where he was on the jury of awards for gas engines, dynamo
"Dynamo Electric Machine" (end view, partly section, )
A dynamo is an electrical generator that creates direct current using a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundati ...
s and lamps.
Engineer for Edison
In 1883, Edward H. Johnson, a business associate of Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...
, persuaded Sprague to resign his naval commission to work for Edison. Sprague, who began at a salary of $2,500, was neither happy with his salary nor his assignments. Sprague wanted to focus on motors, while motors bored Edison, who was consumed in making his incandescent lighting work. Edison sent Sprague to run the construction departments where Edison had built central power stations for his lighting systems in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, and Brockton, Massachusetts
Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population is 105,643 as of the 2020 United States Census. Along with Plymouth, it is one of the two county seats of Plymouth County. It is the sixth-largest city in Mas ...
.
Sprague did important work for Edison, including correcting Edison's system of mains and feeders for central station distribution.
In 1884, he decided his interests in the exploitation of electricity lay elsewhere, and he left Edison to found the Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company.
Electrical pioneer
By 1886, Sprague's company had introduced two important inventions: a constant-speed, non-sparking motor with fixed brushes, and regenerative braking
Regenerative braking is an energy recovery mechanism that slows down a moving vehicle or object by converting its kinetic energy into a form that can be either used immediately or stored until needed. In this mechanism, the electric traction mo ...
, a method of braking that uses the drive motor to return power to the main supply system. His motor was the first to maintain constant speed under varying load. It was immediately popular and was endorsed by Edison as the only practical electric motor available. His regenerative braking system was important in the development of the electric train and the electric elevator.
Electric streetcars
Sprague's inventions included several improvements to designs for systems of electric streetcars
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ar ...
collecting electricity from overhead line
An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as:
* Overhead catenary
* Overhead contact system (OCS)
* Overhead equipm ...
s.[ Middleton, William D. (1966). ''The Time of the Trolley'', pp. 63–73. Milwaukee: Kalmbach Publishing. .] He improved designs for a spring-loaded trolley pole
A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" (electrified) overhead wire to the control and the electric traction motors of a tram or trolley bus. It is a type of current collector. ...
that had been developed in 1885 by Charles Van Depoele, devised a greatly improved mounting for streetcar motors
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...
and better gear designs, and proved that regenerative braking was practical. After testing his trolley system in late 1887 and early 1888, Sprague installed the first successful large electric street railway system – the Richmond Union Passenger Railway in Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
, image_map =
, mapsize = 250 px
, map_caption = Location within Virginia
, pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
, pushpin_label = Richmond
, pushpin_m ...
, which began passenger operation on February 2, 1888. Long a transportation obstacle, the hills of Richmond included grades of over 10%, and were an excellent proving ground for acceptance of his new technology in other cities, in contrast to the cable cars which climbed the steepest grades of Nob Hill
Nob Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States that is known for its numerous luxury hotels and historic mansions. Nob Hill has historically served as a center of San Francisco's upper class. Nob Hill is among the hig ...
in San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...
at the time.
By the summer of 1888, Henry M. Whitney of the West End Street Railway in Boston had witnessed the simultaneous startup of multiple streetcars on a single power source and had signed up for conversion. By January 1889, Boston had its first electric streetcars — which would be the first in the Americas to go underground some eight years later — and which had become so popular and noteworthy that poet Oliver Wendell Holmes composed a verse about the new trolley pole technology, and the sparking contact shoe at its apex:
:Since then on many a car you'll see
:A broomstick as plain as plain can be;
:On every stick there's a witch astride—
:The string you see to her leg is tied.
Within a year, electric power had started to replace more costly horsecar
A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar.
Summary
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, w ...
s in many cities. By 1889 110 electric railways incorporating Sprague's equipment had been begun or planned on several continents. In 1890, Edison, who manufactured most of Sprague's equipment, bought him out, and Sprague turned his attention to electric elevators. However, he continued to be interested in the use of electricity for urban transportation and proposed a major expansion of London's Underground in 1901.
Sprague's system of electric supply was a great advantage in relation to the first bipolar U-tube overhead lines, in everyday use since 1883 on the Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram
Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram or ''Mödling and Hinterbrühl Local Railway'' ( German: ''Lokalbahn Mödling–Hinterbrühl'') was an electric tramway in Austria, running 4.5 km (2.8 mi) from Mödling to Hinterbrühl, in the southwe ...
.
Electric elevators
While electrifying the streetcars of Richmond, the increased passenger capacity and speed gave Sprague the notion that similar results could be achieved in vertical transportation — electric elevator
An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They ...
s. He saw that increasing the capacity of elevator shafts would not only save passengers' time but would also increase the earnings of tall buildings, with height limited by the total floor space taken up in the shaftways by slow hydraulic-powered elevators.
In 1892, Sprague founded the Sprague Electric Elevator Company. Working with Charles R. Pratt he developed the Sprague-Pratt Electric Elevator, the first of which was installed in the Postal Telegraph Building in 1894. The company developed floor control, automatic elevators, acceleration control of car safeties, and a number of freight elevators. The Sprague-Pratt elevator
An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They ...
ran faster and with larger loads than hydraulic or steam elevators, and 584 elevators had been installed worldwide. Sprague then sold his company to the Otis Elevator Company
Otis Worldwide Corporation ( branded as the Otis Elevator Company, its former legal name) is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets elevators, escalators, moving walkways, and related equipment.
Based in Farmington, Connec ...
in 1895.
Multiple unit train controls
Sprague's experience with electric elevators lead him to devise a multiple unit
A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train cont ...
system of electric railway operation, which accelerated the development of electric traction. In the multiple-unit system, each car of the train carries electric traction motors. By means of relays energized by train-line wires, the engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...
(or motorman) commands all of the traction motors in the train to act together. For lighter trains there is no need for locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...
s, so every car in the train can generate revenue. Where locomotives are used, one person can control all of them.
Sprague's first multiple unit order was from the South Side Elevated Railroad (the first of several elevated railways locally known as the "L") in Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. This success was quickly followed by substantial multiple-unit contracts in Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and Boston, Massachusetts.
New York: Grand Central, elevators in skyscrapers
From 1896 to 1900 Sprague served on the Commission for Terminal Electrification of the New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mi ...
, including the Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, where he designed a system of automatic train control to ensure compliance with trackside signals. He founded the Sprague Safety Control & Signal Corporation to develop and build this system. Along with William J. Wilgus, he designed the Wilgus-Sprague bottom contact third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...
system used by the railroads leading into Grand Central Terminal.
During World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, Sprague served on the Naval Consulting Board. Then, in the 1920s, he devised a method for safely running two independent elevators, local and express, in a single shaft, to conserve floor space. He sold this system, along with systems for activating elevator car safety systems when acceleration or speed became too great, to the Westinghouse Company.
Legacy
Sprague's developments in electric traction let cities grow larger, while his development of the elevator permitted greater concentration in their commercial sections and increased the profitability of commercial buildings. Sprague's inventions made modern light rail and rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
systems possible, which today still function on the same principles.
The iconic Sprague-Thomson rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles ca ...
of the Paris Métro, in service from 1908 to 1983, are still referred to as ("Sprague trainsets") today.
Sprague's engines were used as far afield as Sydney Harbour
Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane Cove and Parramatta River, Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or harbor, natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. T ...
in Australia. A five-horsepower Lundell electric motor used at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard
The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...
between 1900 and 1980 is now in the collection of the National Museum of Australia
The National Museum of Australia, in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''National Muse ...
in Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
.
Awards and recognition
Sprague was awarded the gold medal In Paris at the International Exposition of Electricity in 1889,[ the grand prize at the ]Louisiana Purchase Exposition
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...
in 1904,[ the ]Elliott Cresson Medal
The Elliott Cresson Medal, also known as the Elliott Cresson Gold Medal, was the highest award given by the Franklin Institute. The award was established by Elliott Cresson, life member of the Franklin Institute, with $1,000 granted in 1848. The ...
in 1904,[ and the Edison Medal of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (now ]Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...
), for "meritorious achievement in electrical science, engineering and arts as exemplified in his contributions thereto" in 1910.[
In addition, he received the ]Franklin Medal
The Franklin Medal was a science award presented from 1915 until 1997 by the Franklin Institute located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. It was founded in 1914 by Samuel Insull.
The Franklin Medal was the most prestigious of the various awar ...
in 1921 and was posthumously awarded the John Fritz Gold Medal
The John Fritz Medal has been awarded annually since 1902 by the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) for "outstanding scientific or industrial achievements". The medal was created for the 80th birthday of John Fritz, who lived betw ...
in 1935.[''Electrical World'']
Obituary
November 10, 1934
Personal life
Sprague was twice married, first to a Mary Keatinge, and thereafter to Harriet Chapman Jones.[ Frank and Mary had one son, Frank Desmond. Frank and Harriet had two sons and a daughter: Robert C. Sprague (also an inventor), Julian K. and Frances A. Remembering his father, Robert wrote in 1935:
Sprague died on October 25, 1934.][ He was buried with full U.S. Navy honors at ]Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...
in Virginia.[ His wife Harriet was interred with him after her death in 1969. After Sprague's death, Harriet turned over a substantial amount of material from his collection to the ]New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) ...
, where it remains today accessible to the public via the rare books division. Other papers, including six volumes of congratulatory letters and photographs presented to Sprague on the occasion of his 75th birthday, is held at the Chapin Library, Williams College
Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kille ...
.
In 1959, Harriet Sprague donated funds for the Sprague Building at the Shore Line Trolley Museum at East Haven, Connecticut, not far from Sprague's boyhood home in Milford. The museum is the oldest operating trolley museum in the United States and has one of the largest collections of trolley artifacts in the United States.
Frank's son Robert C. Sprague would go on to found and lead the Sprague Electric Company as its president (1926-1953) and CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
(1953-1987). At its peak, Sprague Electric employed 12,000 people worldwide with plants in Scotland, France, Italy, and Japan, in addition to multiple locations in the United States, to become a leading manufacturer of capacitors and other electronic components. Sprague Electric was eventually acquired by General Cable in 1979 and then Vishay Intertechnology in 1992.
Frank and Harriet's grandson Peter Sprague, an entrepreneur, would become CEO of National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer which specialized in analog devices and subsystems, formerly with headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The company produced power management integrated circuits, display dr ...
(1965-1995).
In remembrance and popular culture
In 1999, grandsons, John L. Sprague and Peter Sprague cut the ribbon and started an 1884 Sprague motor at a new exhibit at the Shore Line Trolley Museum, where a permanent exhibit, "Frank J. Sprague: Inventor, Scientist, Engineer", tells the story of the role of the "Father of Electric Traction" and the role of electricity in the growth of cities.
In 2012, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum
The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum is a museum in Washington, Pennsylvania, dedicated to operation and preservation of streetcars and trolleys. The museum primarily contains historic trolleys from Pennsylvania, but their collection includes examples ...
adopted a stray cat, naming it after Sprague: Frank the Trolley Cat.
In 2017, Sprague was the subject of a documentary episode, called ''The Race Underground'', on season 29 of American Experience series that premiered on PBS television stations. It partly chronicled the beginnings of the Boston-area MBTA's streetcar network, which described him as "The Forgotten Hero of the American Subway".[Doug Most]
The Forgotten Hero of the American Subway
PBS
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Frank J. Sprague Papers (#628)
East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
* ttp://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Frank_J._Sprague IEEE Biography of Sprague
Vishay Electronics Company History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprague, Frank
1857 births
1934 deaths
Edison Pioneers
American inventors
American electrical engineers
United States Naval Academy alumni
IEEE Edison Medal recipients
American railroad mechanical engineers
People from North Adams, Massachusetts
Military personnel from Connecticut
American railroad pioneers
Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
People from Milford, Connecticut
Naval Consulting Board
Engineers from Connecticut
John Fritz Medal recipients