Rare George Westinghouse Signed 1895 Letter with invention content. “As soon as the gas engine matter is far enough advanced…”

“If someday they say of me that in my work I have contributed something to the welfare and happiness of my fellow man, I shall be satisfied." -George Westinghouse Westinghouse was 19 years old when he created his first invention, the rotary steam engine. Around this time, he witnessed a train wreck where two engineers saw one another, but were unable to stop their trains in time using the existing brakes. A brakemen had to run from car to car, on catwalks atop the cars, applying the brakes manually on each car, something Westinghouse saw as inefficient.In 1869, at age 22, Westinghouse invented a railroad braking system using compressed air. The Westinghouse system used a compressor on the locomotive, a reservoir and a special valve on each car, and a single pipe running the length of the train (with flexible connections) which both refilled the reservoirs and controlled the brakes, allowing the engineer to apply and release the brakes simultaneously on all cars.George Westinghouse is a