The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1877-04-21
Ross Winans.

whose long and useful life terminated
Wednesday morning, was one of the
strongly marked men of his genera
ton. He had peculiar traits that
would have made him a conspicuous
character, no matter what calling he
had chosen. We believe that he be-
gan life as a farmer, and never served
an apprenticeship to the business in
which he won SO much distinction.
When the laying of railroad tracks
and building of locomotives was an
untried experiment, Mr.. Winans
devoted himself to the study of what
may be called the possibilities of the
new mode of transportion. At that
time Baltimore was the centre of the
railroad excitement, and Mr.. Winans
left his New Jersey farm and came
here to contribute his skill and in
vestive genius to the solution of the
difficult problem.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
had just begun the construction of
locomotives at the Mount Glare
shops, which were then owned by
Hillingham & Davis, when the ju-
nior member of the firm (Mr. Phin-
eas Davis was accidentally killed by
the explosion of an engine. Mr..
Winans succeeded him in the firm,
and for the next twenty five or thirty
years devoted himself to the study
of mecnanics and the improvement
of railroad machinery. He was a
most laborious and patient investiga-
tor, and when he supposed that he
had discovered the germ of useful
invention he continued to expert
ment with it until all its capabilities
were exhausted. Although not a
practical mechanic he was a self
taught draughtsman, and took much
delight in celebrating his inventions
on paper. He kept dra awing board
at his home, as we'll as at his shop,
and when developing some mechan-
ical appliance in which he was par.
ticularly interested he paid little need
to the flight of time.
Mr.. Winans was not the inventor
CT the railroad locomotive, but it
grew in his shop from the quaint
looking little motor that might have
been seen standing in front of the
Maryland Building at the Centennial
Exhibition, to the ponderous and
powerful "camel back" the strong,
est puller that has ever been put up
on railroad track. A few of them
are still used for drawing heavy
freight trains up steep grades, but no
new ones are made and this race of
laborious giants, of which Mr.. Wi
mans was the father, will soon be ex-
tinct. He took much pride in his
I progeny, and up to his retirement
from business, and possibly to the
day of his death, stoutly maintained
that they were superior to the small
Ter locomotives that crowded them
from the track.
Unlike most discoverers and inyen-
tors, Mr.. Winans was emlnently sue
cessful in business. He had a prac-
tical turn of mind that saved him
from the usual fate of the thinker
and investigator. His shop at Mount
Clare became one of the most famous
in the land, and as many as four
hundred men were employed when
the famous "camel backs" were still
in favor with the railroad companies.
Some of the best machinists in the
country were trained at Mount Clare,
and the proprietor of at least one of
the principal Baltimore founderies
was an apprentice there. When the
"camel backs" fell into disfavor Mr..
Winans retired from the manufacture
ing business. and for the last twenty
years has lived in comparative re-
tirement. although he never lost his
love for the mechanic arts, and quite
recently he exhibited working
model ofhis own designing, intended
to demonstrate the practicability of
purifying the stagnant waters of the
harbor by creating artificial currents.
AS already intimated Mr.. Winans
regarded the freight locomotive i'm
vented and built by him as the best
railroad motor in existence, and he
never could be convinced to the con-
trary. About the year 1856 the Off
GERS of the Baltimore and Ohio COM
pany began to weigh the heavy cost
Of keeping their tracks in repair
against the advantages derived from
the use of the powerful" "camel backs"
and reluctantly came to the conclu-
sion that it would be more economi-
cal to use locomotives of less weight,
even at the sacrifice of a certain
amount of pulling power. Mr..