- Anthony Reckenzaun
Anthony Reckenzaun (1850-1893) was an electrical engineer who worked in the
UK and theUSA .Reckenzaun worked on electric tramcars and
electric boat s. He is probably best known for applyingworm gear drive to tramcars. This was not a great success on full-size vehicles but was later very widely used on electrically-powered model railway locomotives.Early life and education
Born in
Graz ,Austria in 1850 and died ofconsumption at his home inStockwell ,London at 2 a.m. on11 November 1893 . He was 43 years old. [There are numerous obituaries in contemporary electrical industry and kindred journals, see: Journal of the Society of Arts, Vol.42,17 November 1893 , p.20.]At an early age he had first-hand opportunities of practical engineering, seeing the operations in the
ironworks of his father who carried out large contracts forbrewery plants, tanneries, buildings andrailway materials - especially for the Hungarian railways [The Electrician , Vol.XXXII,17 November 1893 , p.66 (London: The Electrician)] . After receiving a practical education at theTechnical School inGraz , and with a view to widening hisengineering knowledge, he moved to England in 1872.Life and work in England
He was first employed by
Messrs Ravenhill, Miller & Co , the notedsteam engine manufacturers andmarine engineers ofLondon . WhenJohn Richard Ravenhill left thepartnership in 1875, the business transferred to the works of his former co-partners,Messrs Easton and Anderson ofErith , Kent -engineers ,millwrights , andlead pipe manufacturers, and Reckenzaun followed the firm.In connection with the
Erith ironworks , Reckenzaun establishedevening classes for the workmen, lecturing inmachine construction and drawing , andsteam . First, however, he had to qualify himself under the rules of theSouth Kensington Science and Art Department in these subjects, which he took withfirst class honours . Afterwards he attended the course of lectures given to qualifiedscience teachers at theRoyal School of Mines in 1877 and 1879. Again he obtained first class passes in steam andmechanics .Electrical engineering work
After visiting the Paris Exposition of 1878, he determined to pursue a career in
electrical engineering and attended ProfessorWilliam Edward Ayrton 's lectures atFinsbury Technical College which later became the City and Guilds. At the time of his death he was vice-president of theOld Students' Association of that body.He returned to Paris for the 1881 exhibition, studying the electrical exhibits at the
Palais d'Industrie over three months. When he returned toEngland , he briefly joined theFaure Electric Accumulator Company before accepting the post ofengineer to the Electrical Power Storage Company.In connection with the
E.P.S. company he undertook much original and pioneering work on various forms ofelectric traction . In 1882 he designed the first significantelectric launch driven by storage batteries, named 'Electricity ' [Illustrated withwood engravings in theElectrical Review , Vol.XI, No.255,14 October 1882 , pp.296 and 297] Soon afterwards he was building anelectric tramcar which was exhibited in March 1883 on theWest Metropolitan Tramways Company 's line inLondon .From 1884 onwards Reckenzaun continued his electrical work independently, to build boats, cars and
electric motor s for various purposes. He conducted numerous investigations intoelectric traction andpatent ed improvements insecondary batteries ,electric motors ,electric meters and related devices [Search Reckenzaun US patents via Google Patents] . He was an earlyelectric motor designer and, paid particular attention tobogie cars andworm-gear in this connection. This was not a great success on full-size vehicles but was later very widely used on electrically-powered model railway locomotives.His storage battery tramcars were tried out on a number of tramlines, in the
U.K. but mainly in the U.S., where his inventions wereassigned to theElectric Car Company of America and his brotherFrederick Reckenzaun , based inNew York developed associated electrical businesses and was his representative there.His traction motors were applied to the first large scale
telpher age system for theSussex Portland Cement Company atGlynde in 1885. Thetelpher age system, had originally been tested on the estate of Mr M.R. Pryor atWeston ,Somerset and also a line inPeru by ProfessorFleeming Jenkin in association with ProfessorsWilliam Edward Ayrton andJohn Perry and theTelpherage Company, Limited .Perhaps one of his most noteworthy developments came in
electric launches . On13 September 1886 the boat 'Volta ' made the double voyage fromDover toCalais and back. He also built perhaps the first significant electric boat in the United States, named 'Magnet '. [For a very useful summary of his work over this period, with illustrations of machinery, see [http://www.archive.org/details/electricmotorits00martrichMartin, Thomas Commerford (1892) The electric motor : and its applications (available via theInternet Archive ).] .Professional and scientific societies
He was a member of, and contributor of papers to, various professional and scientific bodies, both English and International. In 1882 he was elected a member of the Society of Arts. On
16 January 1884 he read a paper before that society on 'Electric Launches '. [Journal of the Society of Arts, Vol.32, No.1626,18 January 1884 , pp.135-147] On20 April 1887 he gave a paper on 'Electric Locomotion'. [Journal of the Society of Arts, Vol.35,22 April 1887 , pp.556-568] For this latter paper he received the society'ssilver medal . [ Journal of the Society of Arts, Vol.35, No.1803,10 June 1887 , p.733]On
1 November 1887 he was elected anAssociate Member , and on6 December the same year, a full member of theAmerican Institute of Electrical Engineers [ See Transactions of theAmerican Institute of Electrical Engineers , Vol.X, 1893, pp.667-668]In 1889 he was elected to the I.E.E.|Society of Telegraph-Engineers and Electricians now the
Institution of Engineering and Technology . In December 1892 theI.E.E. awarded him theParis Electrical Exhibition Premium for his paper on 'Load diagrams and the cost of electric traction'.He also gave papers at the
British Association , theAmerican National Electric Light Association and theVienna Electro-Technical Society .In later years he associated himself with the
General Electric Company andGreenwood and Batley and was a regular contributor to the electrical journals of the day. He published a collection of much of his work onelectric traction was published in 1892 byBiggs & Co , London, entitled 'Electric traction on railways and tramways'.Miscellaneous
He was a friend of the noted British inventors
Magnus Volk andMoritz Immisch References and sources
External links
* [http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications5/londoners-29.htm chapter 29 of Alfred Rosling Bennett's 1924 work 'London and Londoners in the Eighteen-Fifties and Sixties' - The Victorian Dictionary - compiled by Lee Jackson]
* [http://www.iee.org/TheIEE/Research/Archives/FindingAids/Biographies/bluebook_qt.cfm Institution of Engineering and Technology website]
* [http://books.google.com Google Book Search - search references in Victorian electrical journals]
* [http://www.london-gazette.co.uk The London Gazette - see probate notice, Issue no.26477, p.398 (19 Jan 1894)]
* [http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?
]
* [http://www.yeoldesussexpages.com/history/brighton/volks/jackson1.htm Photo of Reckenzaun worm gear drive]
* [http://www.marygordon.org.uk/batteries.htm Mary Gordon Electric Boat]
* [http://www.rsa.org.uk website of the 'Society of Arts', or rather - Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce]
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