David Brooks (inventor)
Encyclopedia
David Brooks was an Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
inventor, remembered for an innovative insulator for telegraph
lines in 1864 and 1867. He patented it while working for the Central Pacific Railroad
. His patents allowed the railroad to more easily communicate with construction crews building the First Transcontinental Railroad
in America.
The insulator had a thick metal casing around blown glass; the assembly was held together with molten sulfur. Out of the tube extends a "ramshorn" rod that held the telegraph wires. It was mounted into holes drilled into the bottom of wooden crossarms attached to poles.
Prior to the invention, Brooks worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad
, which in the 1850s received permission to build its own telegraph line, having bought necessary patents. Brooks was the railroad's first superintendent of telegraphs, appointed in 1852.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
inventor, remembered for an innovative insulator for telegraph
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
lines in 1864 and 1867. He patented it while working for the Central Pacific Railroad
Central Pacific Railroad
The Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
. His patents allowed the railroad to more easily communicate with construction crews building the First Transcontinental Railroad
First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
in America.
The insulator had a thick metal casing around blown glass; the assembly was held together with molten sulfur. Out of the tube extends a "ramshorn" rod that held the telegraph wires. It was mounted into holes drilled into the bottom of wooden crossarms attached to poles.
Prior to the invention, Brooks worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
, which in the 1850s received permission to build its own telegraph line, having bought necessary patents. Brooks was the railroad's first superintendent of telegraphs, appointed in 1852.