My first 18 years were spent in Kistler, West Virginia, one of numerous neighborhoods dependent upon the coal mining, steel and railroad industries. Like all coal communities, Kistler was scattered along the narrow Appalachian valley wherever the terrain allowed, sharing the sparse space between creek and mountains with the railway system. Trains chugging within forty-five feet of my bedroom window wove their way through each day’s living. At night when sleep eluded me, I welcomed the distant warning whistle as it broke through the thick blackness surrounding my comfort. Flexing crossties provided a muffled, thud-like baseline for the rhythm created by shifting couplings, spikes hitting strikeplates and wheels rubbing rails. This became my favorite lullaby. I often would drift off before the music and streaking silhouette faded around the bend. This mechanical symphony would not have been possible were it not for the efforts of one man in faithful pursuit of a soothing solution to his own restlessness.
Elijah McCoy spent his first 15 years on a 160-acre farm in Canada near Lake Erie exploring his fascination with tools and machines before traveling to Scotland to study mechanical engineering. After becoming a master mechanic and engineer, he came to the United States and began working as a fireman/oilman for the Michigan Central Railroad. Although this position was vastly beneath his abilities, McCoy accepted the challenge of starting wherever he could. He was required to shovel coal at the rate of two tons per hour into intensely hot engines. There was little time for rest. He also had to lubricate the engines and freight cars by bending and reaching with an oilcan. Despite this demeaning and exhausting work, he found the energy and resolve to work through a longstanding problem with steam engines.
In 1872, he developed the first automatic lubricator called the "Lubricator Cup.” This self-regulating device utilized steam pressure from the engine to continuously oil moving parts. This eliminated the downtime caused by periodic equipment shutdowns that were necessary to prevent overheating and permit manual lubrication. McCoy’s device was such a breakthrough, it became commonplace to ask for “The Real McCoy” when purchasing machinery.
With the addition of McCoy’s automatic lubrication system, steam engines worldwide became more dependable and productive. This allowed steam-powered railway transportation to contribute significantly to America’s economic, urban and social successes in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Since steam was also used in ships, mines, mills and factories, the Industrial Revolution gained considerable momentum from the accumulated economies.
With this in mind, compare the omission of Elijah McCoy’s innovations from timelines highlighting significant events of the Industrial Revolution with the inclusion of Bessemer’s steel-making process although competing processes were instituted in each of the next two decades. Elijah McCoy was a prolific inventor who improved his own inventions and received over 55 patents. When he perfected the graphite lubricator to accommodate locomotives fueled with superheated steam, he called it his greatest achievement because of the unique and complex problem it solved. It was 1915, 43 years after his original design and he was 72 years old.
Elijah McCoy’s intellectual capital soothed the engines of the Industrial Revolution as they churned steadily, connecting communities to new opportunities, especially capitalistic endeavors. Ironically, Elijah McCoy’s parents escaped enslavement by America via the Underground Railroad, yet McCoy returned and provided greater freedoms to generations of Americans by making “above ground” railroad transportation more viable. A transportation system allowing efficient movement of people, livestock, raw materials and finished goods continues to be the cornerstone of an effective infrastructure.
Placing Elijah McCoy’s steadfast spirit, investment in solutions and critical contributions to the Industrial Revolution in their proper historical context should penetrate our perceptions and go a long way towards soothing the internal frictions of a restless nation. Meanwhile, I long for the whistle, the harmony, the calm.
