Johann Brotan (24 June 1843 – 20 November 1918) was an Austrian

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

, specialising in

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

construction.Kirsche (1978), p. 144.

Biography

Johann Brotan was born in Klattau, now

Klatovy Klatovy (; ) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monument zone. Administr ...

in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. He studied at the Imperial-Royal Polytechnic Institute (''k. k. Polytechnisches Institut'') in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. He worked for the state telegraph construction department, for Theis Railway Company, the Hungarian Eastern Railway and the Lemberg-Czernowitz-Jassy Railway before joining the

Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways The Imperial-Royal State Railways () abbr. ''kkStB'') or Imperial-Royal Austrian State Railways (''k.k. österreichische Staatsbahnen'',The name incorporating "Austrian" appears, for example, in the 1907 official state handbook (''Staatshandbuch'' ...

(''kaiserlich-königliche österreichische Staatsbahnen'' or ''k.k.St.B.'') in 1890. In 1902 he became the executive of the ''k.k.St.B.'' workshop at Gmünd, later the repair shop at Vienna's '' Westbahnhof''. He retired in 1912 and, according to one source, :de:Johann Brotan died in Vienna on 20 November 1918. According to other sources,Ransome-Wallis (1959), p. 497. he is believed to have died in 1923, but trace of him was lost in the disorganisation following the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He is known for his invention of the most successful semi water-tube locomotive boiler, known as the

Brotan boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-generat ...

, first fitted in 1902.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brotan, Johann 1843 births 1918 deaths Engineers from Austria-Hungary People from Klatovy Austrian railway pioneers Austrian railway mechanical engineers Austrian people of German Bohemian descent

Biography

See also

References

Sources