Railway track scale patentIn 1857, the first U.S. patent for a railway track scale was issued to Thaddeus Fairbanks (No. 16,381). Such a platform scale was introduced by the E. and T. Fairbanks and Company of St. Johnsbury, Vermont. It was designed to weigh railway cars either alone or in train. The platform of the scale was fitted with two rails arranged in line with the railway track such that cars and carriages could readily be rolled on and off. The mechanism beneath was set in a pit. It was constructed with suitable levers and bearings to permit weighing a great range of loads accurately. Thaddeus and his brother built their company's scale business starting over two decades earlier with their invention of a platform scale for merchandise, which they patented 30 Jun 1831. |
