Johann Rihosek (5 June 1869 – 21 November 1956) was an

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 ...

n engineer and locomotive designer. He was born in

Maków Podhalański Maków Podhalański (known as ''Maków'' until 1930) is a town in southern Poland, on the Skawa river. Population: 5,738 (2006). Since 1999 situated in Sucha County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeships of ...

, in

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

Galicia (present-day

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

) on 5 June 1869. Rihosek attended the middle school at Olmütz and later studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

at the

Vienna Technical University TU Wien () is a public research university in Vienna, Austria. The university's teaching and research are focused on engineering, computer science, and natural sciences. It currently has about 28,100 students (29% women), eight faculties, and ...

Career

In 1893 he took up his post as a

design engineer A design engineer is an engineer focused on the engineering design process in any of the various engineering disciplines (including civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, textiles, aerospace, nuclear, manufacturing, systems, and struct ...

with the Wiener Lokomotivfabrik Floridsdorf. From 1897 he worked in the ''Department for Locomotive and Coach Construction'' headed by

Karl Gölsdorf Karl Gölsdorf (8 June 1861 – 18 March 1916) was an Austrian engineer and locomotive designer. Early life Karl Gölsdorf was born on 8 June 1861 in Vienna, the son of Louis Adolf Gölsdorf. Even as a schoolboy he was introduced to locomotive ...

within the Imperial Royal Railway Ministry. After Gölsdorf's death in 1916 Rihosek became his successor. 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 ...

and its consequences placed heavy demands on Rihosek, because the lack of materials led to problems in the manufacture of vehicles. Following the dividing up of the locomotive fleet to the new states formed from the breakup of the

Austro-Hungarian empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

, replacements had to be procured. This resulted in the emergence of the following classes: *

ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways ( , formally or () and formerly the or ''BBÖ'' ), now commonly known as ÖBB (), is the national railway company of Austria, and the administrator of Liechtenstein's railways. The ÖBB group i ...

156 (BBÖ 270) * ÖBB 58 (BBÖ 81) * ÖBB 95 (BBÖ 82) In 1924 Rihosek left the ministry (now called the ''Ministry for Trade and Transport'') and became an honorary lecturer for locomotive construction at the Vienna Technical University. In 1936 he became reader there and in 1944 received an honorary doctorate.

Picture gallery

;Locomotives designed by Johann Rihosek File:434.1 digital.jpeg, Steam locomotive 434.1100 in railway museum, Lužná u Rakovníka. OBB class 156, BBO class 270 File:Austria 95112.jpg, ÖBB class 95, former Südbahn class 82, at Payerbach-Reichenau station on the Semmering railway :de:ÖBB 95

Innovations

Rihosek won special acclaim for his development of

railway brake 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, operationa ...

s, where he preferred the use of

compressed air brake 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 We ...

s. He carried out this work in conjunction with the firm of ''Gebrüder Hardy A.G.'', on whose board he sat until his death. In addition he invented the

spark arrestor A spark arrester (sometimes spark arrestor) is any device which prevents the emission of flammable debris from combustion sources, such as internal combustion engines, fireplaces, and wood-burning stoves. Spark arresters play a critical role i ...

and the exhaust steam preheater.

Publications

He published numerous articles in the magazines ''Organ für Fortschritte des Eisenbahnwesens'', ''Zeitschrift des österreichischen Ingenieur- und Architektenverein'', ''Die Lokomotive'' and ''Eisenbahn''.

Death

Rihosek died on 21 November 1956 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. ...

Sources

F. Scholz F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distribution, a conti ...