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George Westinghouse
Nothing perhaps sums up George Westinghouse's accomplishments better than the wording on his memorial erected in 1930 close to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA:
"George Westinghouse accomplished much to mankind through his ingenuity, persistence, courage, integrity and leadership. By the invention of the air brake and automatic signalling devices he led the world in the development of applications for the promotion of speed, safety and economy of transportation. By his early vision of the value of the alternating current electric system he brought about a revolution in the transmission of electric power. His achievements were great, his energy and enthusiasm boundless, and his character beyond reproach; a shining example for the encouragement of American youth."
This memorial was financed by the voluntary contributions of over 60,000 employees of the companies he began, which illustrates another of his achievements in developing harmonious working arrangements with his employees, in contrast to most of his contemporary industrialists.
Westinghouse's early battles with Thomas Edison over AC versus DC current and with J.P. Morgan over the Niagara Falls generating system and indeed other aspects of his extraordinary career, have been well documented in books by Jonnes1, Skrabec2 and Prout.3
By 1894 after signing the contracts for three huge 5,000 hp generators for Niagara and increasing levels of business for electric motors (especially for rail- and tramways) and other components, Westinghouse decided he needed to build a new plant. Forty acres were purchased in East Pittsburgh's Turtle Creek valley and construction began on what would become one of the largest and most modern factories in America, if not the world. The plant comprised over 2 million sq ft.4 It was designed by Thomas Rodd (1849-1929).
Rodd was born in England, but the family emigrated to Philadelphia in 1856. At the age of thirteen he enrolled in the US Navy and served throughout the Civil War, after which he entered the US Naval Academy, but resigned before graduation bent upon an engineering career. Following employment with the chief engineer and surveyor of the City of Philadelphia, he entered service with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1872. There he worked his way up from rodman to become chief engineer of the company in 1901. Terms of employment were clearly...