James Alex Trane (April 29, 1857 – January 24, 1936) was a

Norwegian-American Norwegian Americans ( nb, Norskamerikanere, nn, Norskamerikanarar) are Americans with ancestral roots in Norway. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the latter half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the ...

inventor and industrialist. He was the co-founder of

Trane Trane is a manufacturer of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, along with building management systems and controls. The company is a subsidiary of Trane Technologies, a company focused on manufacturing HVAC and refrigerat ...

Biography

James Alex Trane was born in

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

, Norway. He was an immigrant to the United States who settled in

La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...

in 1864, finding work as a steamfitter and plumber. In 1885, he opened his own plumbing shop. Besides being a steamfitter and a plumber, James Trane was also an inventor. He designed a new type of low-pressure steam heating system, Trane vapor heating.

Reuben Trane Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portuguese ...

, James' son, earned a Mechanical Engineering degree (B.S. 1910) at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

and joined his father's plumbing firm. In 1913, James and Reuben incorporated The Trane Company. By 1916, the Tranes were no longer in the plumbing business, but rather were focusing their attention on manufacturing heating products. In 1925, Reuben Trane invented a new type of heat transfer device known as the convector radiator. It consisted of a new style of heat exchanger in a sheet metal cabinet—a highly efficient, lightweight replacement for the bulky, slow-responding castiron radiator. In 1931, The Trane Company developed its first air conditioning unit, the Trane unit cooler, and in 1938 its first centrifugal refrigeration machine, the Turbovac.

References

External links

Trane official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trane, James 1857 births 1936 deaths People from Tromsø People from La Crosse, Wisconsin Norwegian emigrants to the United States 19th-century American inventors 20th-century American inventors American industrialists American company founders American business executives Ingersoll Rand people