Herbert Thacker Herr

American engineer
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Quick Facts
Born:
March 19, 1876, Denver, Colo., U.S.
Died:
Dec. 19, 1933, Philadelphia (aged 57)

Herbert Thacker Herr (born March 19, 1876, Denver, Colo., U.S.—died Dec. 19, 1933, Philadelphia) was a U.S. engineer who made important improvements in steam turbines. After working for various U.S. railroads as a machinist and draftsman for seven years, Herr became a general superintendent of the Norfolk & Western Railway, Roanoke, Va., in 1906. Two years earlier he had invented a braking device to control trains having several locomotives and had devised a mechanism that regulated braking power according to the weight of the car. Herr’s work on train brakes brought him to the attention of George Westinghouse, who installed ...(100 of 228 words)