Colton direct current railway motor
date: label: date made
content: 1846
name: label: associated user
content: unknown
label: maker
content: Colton, Gardiner Q.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Old exhibit label reads: "Original Colton Electric Railway Motor, 1846. Made and used by Dr. Gardner Q. Colton, an American physician and lecturer on electrical phenomena. This motor consists of two magnets, so arranged that the metal bears placed on the ends of the rocking arm are attracted as the magnets are alternately energized, imparting a reciprocal motion to the arm. This motion is transmitted through a driving rod to a wheel geared to the driving wheels of the chassis."
label: Description (Brief)
content: Rewiring of chassis appears to have been done with modern solid insulation wire. No extant maker's markings. Pamphlet: "The First Electric Engine Ever Driven On a Track by Electricity;" T. C. Martin, "The Electric Railway Work of Dr. Colton in 1847....The First Use of Track as Circuit," Electrical Engineer Vol. 16., July 19, 1893.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
label: Exhibition
content: Lighting a Revolution
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: From Andrew J. Dam
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: EM.001577
label: accession number
content: 6671
label: catalog number
content: 001577
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Electric Motor
label: Object Name
content: electric motor
label: Other Terms
content: Electric Motor; Electromagnetic Devices
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 in x 12 in x 5 in; 20.32 cm x 30.48 cm x 12.7 cm