John Haswell (20 March 1812 – 8 June 1897) was a Scottish engineer and locomotive designer.

Biography

Haswell was born on 20 March 1812 in Lancefield, Glasgow,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, studied at ''

Anderson's University The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

'' in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and worked for 22 years in the shipbuilding office of ''

William Fairbairn Sir William Fairbairn, 1st Baronet of Ardwick (19 February 1789 – 18 August 1874) was a Scotland, Scottish civil engineer, structural engineer and shipbuilder. In 1854 he succeeded George Stephenson and Robert Stephenson to become the third ...

& Co''. In 1837 at the prompting of Matthias Schönerer, who was also heavily involved in the

Budweis–Linz–Gmunden Horse-Drawn Railway The Budweis–Linz–Gmunden Horse-Drawn Railway (German: ''Pferdeeisenbahn Budweis–Linz–Gmunden''; Czech: ''Koněspřežná dráha České Budějovice–Linec–Gmunden'') was the second public railway line to be opened in mainland Europe (af ...

, he drew up plans for the repair shop of the Wien-Raaber railway (later

Lokomotivfabrik der StEG In 1839 the Lokomotivfabrik der StEG became the first Austrian locomotive works to be founded and it produced many influential locomotive designs. The factory was built in 1839 by the Vienna-Raab Railway between the Vienna Südbahnhof and Vienn ...

), and in 1839 became entrusted with carrying them out, along with the mechanical engineer ''Kraft''. When the workshop had been built, the first of its kind in Austria, he took over its management and oversaw, not just repair work, but also the construction of new rolling stock for the railway. ''Inter alia'' he was responsible for: * the first six-coupled

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

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 ...

''FAHRAFELD'' (1846) * participating in the Semmering competition in 1851 with the locomotive ''VINDOBONA'', a model for the subsequent Engerth mountain locomotives * the first eight-coupled, steam locomotive in Austria ''WIEN–RAAB'' (1855), the pattern for heavy freight locomotives on the continent for many years * the

steam brake A steam brake is a type of brake for steam locomotives and their tenders, whereby a steam cylinder works directly on the brake linkages. Steam brakes were primarily used on railways where vacuum brakes were used to brake the train, but where th ...

first used on the ''STEYERDORF'' (1861) * the first four-cylinder locomotive, the ''DUPLEX'' (1861) * the hydraulic forging press (1862), that first enabled the forging of heavy machine components in dies (today at the Vienna Museum of Technology) * Corrugated iron firebox (1872) In 1882 Haswell resigned from his position. He died on 8 June 1897 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. ...

and rests in a grave dedicated to his honour at the

Döbling Cemetery The Döbling Cemetery (Döblinger Friedhof) is a cemetery in the Districts of Vienna, 19th district of Döbling in Vienna, Austria. Location The cemetery lies in the south of Döbling on the border to Währing in the Katastralgemeinde of Oberdö ...

(Group 10, number 1) in Vienna.

References

Sources

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 ...

: ''Lokomotivbau in Alt-Österreich 1837–1918''.

Verlag Slezak {{Short pages monitor

Biography

See also

References

Sources