Carl Roman Abt was a Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 mechanical engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

, inventor and entrepreneur

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

. He made groundbreaking innovations in rack-and-pinion railways

Rack railway

A rack-and-pinion railway is a railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail...

, giving his name to one of the most widely-used systems developed for mountain railways, the Abt rack system.

Biography

Abt was born on 16 July 1850 in Bünzen

Bünzen, Switzerland

Bünzen is a municipality in the district of Muri in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.-History:Prehistoric items have been found scattered on the banks of the former moraine, as well as Roman era objects. The modern municipality of Bünzen is first mentioned in 1259 as Bunzina...

. In 1882, while working in Paris, he designed and patented his rack-railway system that enabled at least one tooth of the rack to be permanently engaged. It was first used on the Blankenburg to Tanne narrow-gauge railway in the Harz Mountains of Germany. Abt also developed the self-regulating "Abt Switch" for funicular

Funicular

A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...

 railways and led the construction of 72 mountain railway

Mountain railway

A mountain railway is a railway that ascends and descends a mountain slope that has a steep grade. Such railways can use a number of different technologies to overcome the steepness of the grade...

s worldwide including the Visp-Zermatt

BVZ Zermatt-Bahn

The Brig-Visp-Zermatt-Bahn – officially known between 1991 and 2002 as the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn – is a metre gauge railway in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. Its 44 kilometre long line links the communities of Brig and Visp in the Rhone Valley with Täsch and the car free holiday resort of Zermatt...

, Gornergrat

Gornergratbahn

The Gornergratbahn is a nine-kilometre metre-gauge mountain rack railway, with Abt rack system. It leads from Zermatt, Switzerland , up to the Gornergrat...

, Furka-Oberalp

Furka-Oberalp-Bahn

The Furka–Oberalp-Bahn is a narrow gauge mountain railway in Switzerland with a gauge of . It runs in the Graubünden, Uri and Canton of Valais. Since January 1, 2003 it is part of the Matterhorn Gotthard Bahn when it merged with the BVZ Zermatt-Bahn....

 and Ferrovia Monte Generoso

Monte Generoso Railway

The Monte Generoso Railway or Ferrovia Monte Generoso is a mountain railway line in the Italian speaking canton of Ticino, in south-east Switzerland. The line runs from Capolago, on Lake Lugano, to a terminus near the summit of Monte Generoso. The summit offers extensive views over the Lombardy...

 railways. The most famous railway built with the Abt system is the Arica to La Paz line

Arica-La Paz railway

The Arica-La Paz railway or Ferrocarril de Arica-La Paz was built by the Chilean government under the Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1904 between Chile and Bolivia. It was inaugurated on 6 March 1912, and is the shortest line from the Pacific Coast to the interior. It is long, of which is in...

 in Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

.

In 1903, as president of the Gotthardbahn

Gotthardbahn

Gotthardbahn was the name of a private Swiss railway company which operated the railway line from Immensee to Chiasso . Nowadays this term usually does not refer to that company, but to the railway line itself...

 company, Abt led buy-back negotiations with the Confederation during the nationalisation of private railway companies. He received many honours, including an honorary doctorate

Honorary degree

An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...

 (Doctor honoris causa) from the Technical University of Hannover

Leibniz University of Hannover

The University of Hanover, officially the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover or LUH, is a university located in Hanover, Germany. It was founded in 1831 and is one of the oldest universities focussing on science and technology in Germany...

 and the John Scott Medal in 1882. He was also a patron and connoisseur of the arts, a member of the Swiss Federal Art Commission from 1904-1907 and the President of the Swiss Art Association from 1905-1911.

Pastimes

Abt was a keen collector of hammered gold artwork; he would not let go of any coin or medal whose special beauty aroused his artistic interest. His coin and art collection was auctioned off after his death on 1 May 1933 in Luzern, aged 82.

Sources

• Herring, Peter (2000). Ultimate Train, Dorling Kindersley Limited, London, 2000, p. 144. ISBN 0-7513-0698-3
• Wägli, Hans G. (2005). Carl Roman Abt. In: Sieben Bergbahnpioniere. Zürich 2005. S. 23--34. Schweizer Pioniere der Wirtschaft und Technik. Bd. 81.

External links

• Works about Carl Roman Abt in the catalogue of the Swiss National Library
  Swiss National Library
  The Swiss National Library is the national library of Switzerland. It is part of the Federal Office of Culture. Under the terms of the law which governs it, it is charged with collecting, cataloging and conserving information in all fields and disciplines, and in any medium, connected with...
  
  
• World Rack Railways