Horatio Allen | |
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| Born | (1802-05-10)May 10, 1802 |
| Died | December 31, 1889(1889-12-31) (aged 87) |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Occupation | Civil engineer |
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Horatio Allen (May 10, 1802 – December 31, 1889) was an Americancivil engineer and inventor, and President ofErie Railroad in the year 1843–1844.[1]
Born inSchenectady, New York, he graduated fromColumbia University in 1823, and was appointed Assistant Engineer of theDelaware and Hudson Canal Company (precursor to therailroad). In 1827 he quit the Canal Company and went to England to study the emerging rail road technology, particularly locomotives. He was therefore asked to arrange for the construction of 3 locomotives for the Canal Company's projected railway (as per his June 25, 1880 letter to the editor of the New York Times). There he made the acquaintance of engineerGeorge Stephenson. In 1829 he operated the firststeam locomotive, one of the ones he ordered for the D&H, to run inAmerica, theStourbridge Lion, which ran successfully atHonesdale, Pennsylvania on August 8, 1829.
From 1829 to 1834 he was the chief engineer of theSouth Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company, at that time the longest railway in the world (about 136 miles/218 km). He was the inventor of the so-called "swiveling truck" for railway cars. He wroteThe Railroad Era: First Five Years of its Development (1884).
In his other activities, from 1838 to 1842 he was principal assistant engineer of theCroton Aqueduct, the major water supply system forNew York City; in 1842 he became connected with theNovelty Iron Works, a major builder ofmarine steam and other engines; at various times chief engineer and president of theErie Railway; consulting engineer for thePanama Railway and theBrooklyn Bridge; and in 1872 and 1873 was president of theAmerican Society of Civil Engineers. He died on December 31 1889 in New Jersey
In 1924 theDelaware and Hudson Railway built its first experimentalhigh-pressure locomotive, No. 1400 and named it"Horatio Allen".[2]
"Allen, Horatio".The Biographical Dictionary of America. Vol. 1. 1906. p. 85.| Business positions | ||
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| Preceded by | President ofErie Railroad 1843–1844 | Succeeded by |
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