Charles Joseph Van Depoele (27 April 1846,

Lichtervelde Lichtervelde () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises only the town of Lichtervelde. On January 1, 2006 Lichtervelde had a total population of 8,400. The total area is 25.93 km² which g ...

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

, Belgium – 18 March 1892,

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

, US) was an

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, inventor, and pioneer in

electric railway A railway electrification system supplies electric power to Rail transport, railway trains and trams without an on-board Prime mover (locomotive), prime mover or local fuel supply. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling pa ...

technology, including the first

trolley pole A trolley pole is a tapered cylindrical pole of wood or metal, used to transfer electricity from a "live" (electrified) overhead wire to the control and the electric traction motors of a tram or trolley bus. It is a type of current collector. Th ...

Biography

Early life in Belgium

Van Depoele was born as Carolus Josephus Vandepoele in

, Province of West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, the son of Pieter-Joannes Vandepoele, a furniture maker from

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

, and his wife, Marie-Theresia Algoet. Three months after his birth, the family moved to

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

. At a young age, he dabbled in electricity, and became so thoroughly infatuated with the subject that he entered upon a course of study and experiment in

Poperinghe Poperinge (; french: Poperinghe, ； vls, Poperienge) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, Flemish Region, and has a history going back to medieval times. The municipality comprises the town of Poperinge pr ...

. In 1861, while at college, he produced his first light with a battery of forty

Bunsen cell The Bunsen cell is a zinc-carbon primary cell (colloquially called a "battery") composed of a zinc anode in dilute sulfuric acid separated by a porous pot from a carbon cathode in nitric or chromic acid. Cell details The Bunsen cell is abou ...

s. Later, he moved to

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where he attended regularly the lectures and experiments of the Imperial Lyceum from 1864 to 1869.

Move to the US

In 1869 he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and took up his residence in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, where he made a living by manufacturing furniture. He did not abandon his electrical pursuits, experimenting with

electric lighting An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...

electric generator In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy) or fuel-based power (chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, gas ...

s and

electric motor An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...

s, and eventually forming the Van Depoele Electric Manufacturing Company.

Electric railways

As early as 1874, Van Depoele began investigations into the field of electric locomotion. Van Depoele's first

was laid in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

early in 1883, and he exhibited another at an exposition in that city later in the same year. In 1885, he invented and demonstrated the first

, Middleton, William D. (1967). ''The Time of the Trolley'', pp. 63–65, 67. Milwaukee:

Kalmbach Publishing Kalmbach Media (formerly Kalmbach Publishing Co.) is an American publisher of books and magazines, many of them railroad-related, located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. History The company's first publication was ''The Model Railroader'', which be ...

. . a device used by electric streetcars (trams) to collect current from

overhead wires An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipment ...

, introducing it publicly on a line installed temporarily at the

Toronto Industrial Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day, ...

in autumn 1885, reportedly reaching 65 mph. Fellow inventor

Frank J. Sprague Frank Julian Sprague (July 25, 1857 in Milford, Connecticut – October 25, 1934) was an American inventor who contributed to the development of the electric motor, electric railways, and electric elevators. His contributions were especially ...

was studying similar ideas at the same time. Sprague improved the designDunbar, Charles S. (1967). ''Buses, Trolleys & Trams''. Paul Hamlyn Ltd. (UK), p. 46. Republished 2004 with . and is sometimes credited as the trolley pole's inventor. Near the end of 1887, thirteen North American cities had electric railways in operation; nine of these systems were designed by Van Depoele, and used overhead lines to transmit electric current from an

electrical generator In electricity generation, a generator is a device that converts motive power (mechanical energy) or fuel-based power (chemical energy) into electric power for use in an external circuit. Sources of mechanical energy include steam turbines, gas ...

to the

electric locomotive An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...

s on the rails.

Electric lighting

Van Depoele sold his electric motor business and related patents to the

Thomson-Houston Electric Company The Thomson-Houston Electric Company was a manufacturing company which was one of the precursors of the General Electric company. History The Thomson-Houston Electric Company was formed in 1882 in the United States when a group of Lynn, Massa ...

in early 1888. He briefly thereafter devoted his efforts to his electric lighting business, until he sold that concern also to Thomson-Houston in mid-1889.

Patents

A prolific inventor, Van Depoele was granted at least 243 United States

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

s between 1881 and 1894 for various electric inventions including railway systems, lights, generators, motors, current regulators, pumps, telpher systems, batteries, hammers, rock drills, brakes, a gearless locomotive, a coal-mining machine, and a pile-driver.

Recognition

He received the most recognition for his role in the development of electric railways; George Herbert Stockbridge wrote in 1891, "It is probably only just to Mr. Van Depoele to say that he is entitled to more credit than any other one man for the exploitation of electricity as a motive power."

Death

Van Depoele died on 18 March 1892 at the age of 45 in

, leaving a wife and several children. ''This article incorporates text from the references listed below, publications now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

.''

References

Bibliography

* Obituary, "Charles J. Van Depoele." ''Western Electrician'', 26 March 1892 (Volume 10, No. 13)
page 193
* "Obituary"., ''Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers'', 19 April 1892 (Volume 9, No. 4)
pages 175–178
* Charles Holt, "Development of Electric Railways.", ''The New England Magazine'', October 1888 (Volume 6, No. 36), pages 551–566. * Douglas McKillop, "The Father of the Trolley: A Biographical Sketch of Charles J. Van Depoele", ''The Electrical Age'', December 1905 (Volume 35, No. 6)
pages 440–443
* Frankland Jannus, "Life and Labor of Van DePoele", ''The Electrical Journal'', 1 May 1896 (Volume 1, No. 23)
pages 449–453
* "Notes and Queries.", ''Manufacturer and Builder'', October 1887 (Volume 19, No. 10), pages 239–240. * George Herbert Stockbridge, "Later History of Electricity.", ''The New England Magazine'', April 1891 (Volume 10, No. 2), pages 183–193.

External links

Charles Van Depoele Papers
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Depoele, Charles Joseph 1846 births 1892 deaths 19th-century American inventors 19th-century Belgian inventors Belgian emigrants to the United States