James Millholland (1812–1875) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

railway master mechanic who is particularly well known for his invention of many railway mechanisms. His association with the

Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...

as master machinist spanned fifty years in the early development of the American railroad. He also founded the locomotive shops at

Mount Savage, Maryland Mount Savage is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Allegany County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 873. A small blue-collar community, Mount Savage lies at the base of Big Sava ...

, the center of the

Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad The Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad (C&P) was an American railroad which operated in Western Maryland. Primarily a coal hauler, it was owned by the Consolidation Coal Company, and was purchased by the Western Maryland Railway (WM) in 1944. ...

. Millholland's inventions and contributions include the cast-iron

crank axle A crank is an arm attached at a right angle to a rotating shaft by which circular motion is imparted to or received from the shaft. When combined with a connecting rod, it can be used to convert circular motion into reciprocating motion, or vic ...

, wooden spring,

plate girder bridge A plate girder bridge is a bridge supported by two or more plate girders. Overview In a plate girder bridge, the plate girders are typically I-beams made up from separate structural steel plates (rather than rolled as a single cross-section), ...

, poppet throttle, anthracite firebox, water grate, drop frame, and steel tires. He was also an early user and advocate of the superheater, the

feedwater heater A feedwater heater is a power plant component used to pre-heat water delivered to a steam generating boiler. Preheating the feedwater reduces the irreversibilities involved in steam generation and therefore improves the thermodynamic efficiency of ...

, and the injector. Several of his innovations were adopted as standard practice by the railroad industry. His son, James A. Millholland, was a railroad executive.

References

*White, John H. "James Millholland and Early Railroad Engineering". Contributions From the Museum of History and Technology #252 (1968): 3-36. {{DEFAULTSORT:Millholland, James 1812 births 1875 deaths People from Mount Savage, Maryland American people in rail transportation